Census questions derail Stockwell Day's

[CHIMO]

Reporters questioned the apparent hypocrisy of the government. It’s scrapping the long-form census because it contends Canadians should not be jailed for not filling it out, but it’s continuing with the mandatory short form, which includes the threat of jail time and fines if not filled out.

Mr. Day’s defence? “Some basic data is needed. We haven’t run into people or groups or agencies who have a concern with some very basic data,” he said. “The mandatory nature of criminalizing Canadians for not wanting to give the more extensive data in the long form is simply not tenable and that’s why we are doing away with it.”

Mr. Day doesn’t buy the view that crime rates are declining. Rather, he maintains crime is going unreported in Canada at “alarming” rates.

“It shows we can’t take a Liberal view to crime which is, some would suggest, that it is barely happening at all,” Mr. Day said. “Still, there are too many situations of criminal activity that are alarming to our citizens and we intend to deal with that.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/census-questions-derail-stockwell-days-economic-performance/article1660338/

Absolutely mind boggling. And we have this character, not only in our Federal government, but as a cabinet member. Next thing we hear is about him leaning on a building and knocking it down!

Crime statistics not accurate, Day suggests
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/08/03/canada-economy-stockwell-day.html
Tuesday, August 3, 2010 | 1:35 PM ET


Tories won’t compromise on census
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/census/article/843306--tories-won-t-compromise-on-census?bn=1

You can't make this stuff up.

[tuvor]

1. He somehow knows that unreported crimes are rising?

Wow, you expect politicians to dole out the bullshit, but damn...

[CHIMO]

2. Yep

So now they, Conservatives, will be putting the accused of the unreported crimes into jail!

Guess that they don't need the courts any longer.

The implications of this attitude is .... Well one only has to imagine Harper's mind set.

[tuvor]

3. Spokeswoman cites StatsCan to back Day up, StatsCan begs to differ

A spokeswoman for Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said the comments were backed up by research from Statistics Canada that revealed a drop in the percentage of self-described victims who reported crimes that were committed against them. The agency's data concluded that only 34 per cent of self-described victims said they reported the incidents to police in 2004, down from 42 per cent in 1993 and 37 per cent in 1999.

But Statistics Canada quickly shot down Day's assumption, saying the data cannot be compared to police-reported crime statistics, since they surveyed only eight types of crimes as opposed to the hundreds of crimes investigated by police.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/mocked+online+over+crime+comments/3357152/story.html

The conservative government grasps at the straws they belittle, and the straws refuse to cooperate. Beautiful.