OTTAWA – Low-income households and recent immigrants may be underrepresented in future Ottawa Neighbourhood Studies because of the government’s decision to replace the long-form census with a voluntary survey, said the lead investigator of the study.
In late June, the federal government announced it will scrap the long-form census as of 2011
The study will lose critical data for their research without the mandatory long-form census because immigrants and poor households will not likely participate in a voluntary survey, said psychology professor and lead investigator Elizabeth Kristjansson.
The Ottawa Neighbourhood Study looks at social and economic disparities among communities in the city of Ottawa, Krsitjansson explained in a phone interview. To check out the study, click here.
“We know that minorities and low-income people tend not to respond to surveys so we don’t know how well they will be represented in this new [voluntary] census,” she said.
The Ottawa Neighbourhood Study has been an important source for city planners in the past to have data for health care and community service planning in Ottawa. As one example, Kristjansson said the city has used data from the study to identify which communities in Ottawa would benefit from full-day kindergartens.
The study was recently presented to an advisory committee at city hall. It showed there was unequal access to health care services, recreation and quality food in low-income neighbourhoods of Ottawa, which in turn was linked to higher rates of hospitalization, teen pregnancy and low birth rate.
Twenty per cent of the study’s information is collected from previous long-form census data, according to the study’s website.
The Liberal MP David McGuinty, who represents Ottawa South, said in a phone interview he believes the end of the mandatory long-form census is “a disgrace” that will have long term consequences for all of Canada, including local studies such as the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study.
“We are going to suffer because this kind of information is indispensible,” he said. “You need good information to make intelligent decisions on how to invest in Canadians.”
Following the government’s decision to replace the long-form census in July, the Minister of Industry, Tony Clement, released a statement defending the decision.
“The government made this decision because we do not believe Canadians should be forced, under threat of fines, jail, or both, to disclose extensive private and personal information,” he said. “We believe it is not appropriate to compel citizens to divulge how many bedrooms they have in their houses or what time they leave for work in the morning.”
The long-form census has been replaced by a National Household Survey which will be a voluntary survey sent out to 4.5 million households, according to Statistics Canada’s website.
At the Banff Avenue Community House, located in the low-income neighbourhood of Ledbury in south-central Ottawa, director Sylvie Manser said residents will have little incentive to fill out a voluntary survey.
“They are living the day to day stuff. They don’t know that this report is being compiled so that government would see the realities of our city, so why would they do it?”
Representing the Ledbury community housing neighbourhood, Manser said she has referred to the information collected by the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study in her applications for the grant money used to fund community services.
An economist at Carleton University, Rodney Nelson, said he believes the end of the mandatory long-form census, “is a way the government can hide certain economic discrepancies.”
Nelson said it is a shame because without the data, it is difficult for any government branch to evaluate the success or failure of their policies.
Kristjansson said she hopes the new voluntary survey will nevertheless give the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study enough data to continue tracking health and income disparity in future years.
“Everybody uses [the long-form census] data and there is no other source for it. I guess we will just see what happens with this next [voluntary] census and we will just hope it gets turned around in the future.”
Wander Woman 