Ottawa

And now, algebra

In keeping with today’s theme, here is Mike Moffatt sorting out the time cost of the new census.

We haven’t considered the x variable, however.  It could be that the long-form census will only be filled out by people who are particularly efficient at filling out the form.  This would mean that the value of x under the old system is higher than the value of x under the new system.  But of course, this would also mean that we’re admitting that the new system provides a biased sample, and is therefore unreliable!

In other words, the changes to the census have either increased the administrative burden on Canadians or provide near worthless data or both.  Increasing the time cost of the census to Canadians by over 20% should not be ignored.

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