Monday, August 30, 2010

Outrage About Census, Less About Pro-Coercive Census, More About Anti-Harper

Gary Slywchuk from the Winnipeg Free Press says this brouhaha over the census is farcical.
He applauds the governments decision to take away the threats of fines and jail time if you don't fill out the long form census and points out there have been 8,000 stories in the news, way more than health care or the economy in which  are issues that all Canadians are concerned about.
On Aug. 11, the federal government announced its intention to, in Industry Minister Tony Clements' words, "introduce legislation this fall to remove threats of jail time for persons refusing to fill out the (2011) census and all mandatory surveys administered by the federal government."
This seemed pretty innocuous and something I personally applauded. I don't know about you, but threats aren't the greatest way to get me to do something.
But, since then, there have been more than 8,000 news stories on the census -- way more articles and commentaries than on our health-care system (just more than 1,000) and only a smidgen fewer than articles and commentaries on the economy. Come on, people, where are your priorities?

Those letters to the editor he points out are less pro-coercive but more anti-Harper.
As for the number of letters to the editor in various publications, it seems obvious, at least to me, that many of the writers were less pro-coercive census than anti-Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

I tend to agree.   If you notice, all that rhetoric has been coming from the anti-Harper, anti-Conservative minions in the media and else where.  Their MO is to find anything to slag the PM and his government about and make them look bad.  My sense is they hate this PM and this government, want them out and will do anything it takes.  It gets more pathetic everyday.

They  thought this issue would resonate with voters, it has  not much like many other issues they thought would. The fact is the general public just does not care about this issue.  What average Joe and Mary Sixpack are concerned about is jobs, economy, their kids, health care not this.