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Vive le Canada: Canadian Census Issue "Not a Hoax"

More feedback about the Canadian Census:

For those Canadian readers who are questioning my previous postings about StatsCan and our upcoming census -- and those of you who thought that this was perhaps a hoax -- I have re-posted a letter I received today from Vive le Canada.ca. They will be running a boycott of the census. Details are provided below:

One additional fact to note--please be aware that the original contract between Statistics Canada and Lockheed Martin did not in fact ensure that Lockheed had no access to data. Statistics Canada contacted Vive le Canada.ca after we ran an action boycotting the census test a couple of years ago (a test which Lockheed Martin also participated in) and informed us that the census contract had been changed to ensure that the company would have no access to data. This was of course due to a national outcry which included not only a boycott of the census test but coverage of our action in the Toronto Star and elsewhere, and over 3000 email form letters sent to the Industry Minister through our site. So please be aware that any security now is due to public outrage and our original protests. Also be aware that Statistics Canada originally assured us that the census info was safe BEFORE the test boycott, which was apparently not true since they later changed the contract to make it safe, allegedly. Makes it difficult to trust their word.


Unfortunately, we remain concerned regarding privacy mainly because a) if Statistics Canada does not have the expertise to create the software and hardware they have contracted out to Lockheed Martin, then they likely do not have the expertise to ensure that there are no security breaches in said hardware, b) Lockheed Martin is a company known for corruption and rules breaking and c) there have been similar instances in the U.S. reported in mainstream papers, such as a case where over a million census records were obtained secretly by defence contractor and space company NASA and used in a "terrorist screening program", despite assurances from the US Census Bureau that the data was safe. Ultimately, as Don says, if privacy is breached we will likely never know and the question is whether we want to take that risk.


However, as Don has pointed out this only one of the reasons that Lockheed Martin's involvement with the census is an issue. The others are myriad and include Lockheed Martin's role as manufacturer of WMD, its role as private interrogator contractor in places like Guantanamo Bay, its manufacture of weapons banned in other countries such as land mines and DU weaponry, its continued lobbying of and influence on the US government and foreign policy, its leadership of the "ballistic missile defence program", and of course the fact that Lock-Mart is a huge beneficiary of the Iraq war.


And of course there is the original issue of why this contract was outsourced and privatized in the first place, and then because of NAFTA why Lockheed Martin was able to outcompete Canadian companies for our own census.


You can read all of our own information including background and sources at:
http://census.vivelecanada.ca


Vive le Canada.ca will be running a boycott of the census, including directing readers to Don's site if they want to engage in minumum cooperation.


But the bottom line is I can most certainly assure you this is NOT a hoax, as I have personally run actions on this and spoken to both Statistics Canada and Statistics Canada employees numerous times.


Sincerely,
Susan Thompson
founder, http://www.vivelecanada.ca

posted by Annamarie at 3:09 AM