OTTAWA—A whimsical old proverb is our new reality. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
By quietly junking the mandatory long-form census, Conservatives are blinding Canadians to truths they need to know about themselves. Damaging to the rest of us, Stephen Harper gains another political advantage by keeping the country in the dark.
Yanking a familiar page from the U.S. Republican playbook, Conservatives are pandering to the fringe conspiratorial notion that big government is prying too deeply into private lives. That suspicion can be a useful democratic safeguard when sagely applied. But it’s dead wrong and demonstrably foolish when directed at the single most valuable source of domestic data in a global information age.
For the first time in decades, 20 per cent of households won’t be required to answer some 50 questions that ultimately paint a national self-portrait. Instead, one in three homes will be asked to voluntarily provide what statisticians warn will be a misleading snapshot.
Priceless insight will be lost in this kowtowing to know-nothing dogma. Instead of shining the clear light of fact on who we are, how we live and work, Canadians will be stumbling around in the gloom of ignorance.
Painful as that may be to our intellectual shins, it gives Harper a solid leg up in the continuing effort to convince voters the Prime Minister knows best. Without detailed data it will be easier to promote and defend public policies that appeal to coffee shop conclusions that wither under closer scrutiny.
Dumbing down a Canada that increasingly must compete on its wits is dangerous. It means the country’s course will be shaped more by assumption and emotion than by proof and reason.
From the Prime Minister’s perspective, that’s pleasing. In an instructive moment here a couple of years ago, Harper encouraged loyalists to ignore experts and go with their gut.
On that particular brisk Ottawa winter afternoon the issue of the day was crime. Despite falling rates, Harper was promoting a toss-away-the-key agenda that’s now forecast to add a staggering $5 billion annually to the tax bill of a nation already deep in deficit.
Focusing on feel-good retribution instead of effective rehabilitation isn’t just costly; it’s a proven U.S. failure. Still, keeping more people in jail longer easily passes the conventional wisdom test. Debunking it requires a hurts-the-head explanation too long and layered to fit on a campaign bumper sticker.
Crime is far from the only example of the partisan benefits of preaching simple solutions to complex problems. From climate-change denial to straw man attacks on a long-gun registry police chiefs insists saves lives, comforting illusions are routinely pitted against inconvenient truths.
Distrust of elites is understandable. Greedy bankers melting down financial markets, rolling in dough executives pocketing bonus billions while laying off workers and cynical politicians breaking promises all contribute to the precipitous erosion of public confidence.
All of that is as true as it is worrying. None of it justifies the wilful deconstruction of Canada’s data motherlode.
Credible information is the starting point for sound decisions. Municipal, provincial and federal planners rely on the census for that information, as do businesses, academics and ordinary folks curious about their changing world.
A staple of collective self-awareness, the census is our national mirror. Arbitrarily and without debate or justification, Conservatives are blurring Canada’s reflected image by poking a stick in the eye of knowledge.
Welcome to the land of the blind where the one-eyed man is king.
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James Travers' column appears Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.