Is this bad for us? Provenzano thinks so

NEWS RELEASE

CHRISTIAN PROVENZANO LIBERAL CANDIDATE FOR SAULT STE. MARIE & AREA

************************* Census changes terrible for Northern communities

The Harper governments recent decision to scrap the mandatory long form census puts vulnerable Canadians at risk.

The Canadian census is the single most important tool that allows local government, health districts, and community service providers the ability to identify and respond to shifting patterns of need in their community.

The mandatory long form census ensures that the data StatsCan collects includes everyone: jobless Canadians, women, Aboriginals, visible minorities and the disabled.

Without this information, we are at risk of leaving ourselves in the dark.

"We need to know more about our community, not less," Provenzano remarked. "This information helps us learn about the most vulnerable in our community and how we can help. The message Harper is sending is very clear: He just doesn't want to know."

Provenzano adds his name to an unprecedented Canada-wide backlash that includes doctors, religious groups, academics, city planners and economists that are opposed to the Harper governments changes.

People like:

- James Turk, executive director, Canadian Association of University Teachers

- Pierre Marcel Desjardins, économiste, SRC Atlantique

- Elizabeth Beale, president, Atlantic Provinces Economic Council

- Rosella Melanson, directrice générale du Conseil consultatif sur la condition de la femme du Nouveau-Brunswick

- Marni Cappe, president, Canadian Institute of Planners

- Karen Peterson, managing director, Ancestry.ca

Lise Ouellett, directrice, L'Association francophone des municipalités du Nouveau-Brunswick

- Craig Alexander, president of Canadian Association for Business Economics and chief economist for TD Bank

- Pierre Marcel Desjardins, économiste

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