C-346
First Session, Forty-first Parliament,
60 Elizabeth II, 2011
HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA
BILL C-346
An Act to amend the Statistics Act (Chief Statistician and mandatory long-form census)
first reading, November 16, 2011
NOTE
2nd Session, 41st Parliament
This bill was introduced during the First Session of the 41st Parliament. Pursuant to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons, it is deemed to have been considered and approved at all stages completed at the time of prorogation of the First Session. The number of the bill remains unchanged.
Mr. Masse
411231
SUMMARY
This enactment amends the Statistics Act to require the Governor in Council to consult with the leader of every recognized party in the House of Commons before appointing the Chief Statistician of Canada and to make that appointment from a list of candidates submitted by a search committee appointed by the Minister designated by the Governor in Council for the purposes of that Act.
Further, this enactment provides that the census of population taken under section 19 of the Act must be taken using a long-form census questionnaire. It also removes the punishment of imprisonment for a person convicted of the offence of providing false or misleading information.
Available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address:http://www.parl.gc.ca
1st Session, 41st Parliament,
60 Elizabeth II, 2011
house of commons of canada
BILL C-346
An Act to amend the Statistics Act (Chief Statistician and mandatory long-form census)
R.S., c. S-19
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: 
1. (1) Subsection 4(1) of the Statistics Act is replaced by the following:
Chief Statistician
4. (1) Subject to subsection (1.1), the Governor in Council may appoint an officer called the Chief Statistician of Canada to be the deputy of the Minister for the purposes of this Act and to hold office during pleasure.
Consultation
(1.1) The Governor in Council shall, after consulting with the leader of every recognized party in the House of Commons, appoint the Chief Statistician from a list of candidates submitted by the search committee referred to in section 4.1.
(2) Section 4 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):
Guidelines
(2.1) The Chief Statistician shall
(a) in accordance with internationally recognized best practices, including applicable ethical standards, establish guidelines respecting sources of statistical information and its collection, analysis, processing, stor- age and publication; and
(b) post on the Statistics Canada website
(i) the guidelines referred to in paragraph (a), and
(ii) any material that he or she considers necessary to facilitate the interpretation of any statistical information that has been published by his or her office.
Annual update
(2.2) The Chief Statistician shall update the guidelines referred to in paragraph (2.1)(a) on an annual basis.
2. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 4:
Appointment of search committee
4.1 (1) The Minister shall appoint a search committee to prepare a list of candidates for consideration by the Governor in Council when making an appointment under subsection 4(1.1).
Composition of search committee
(2) The search committee shall be composed of three persons each of whom is
(a) a former Clerk of the Privy Council;
(b) a former Chief Statistician of Canada;
(c) a former Governor of the Bank of Canada;
(d) the Chairman of the National Statistics Council; or
(e) the President of the Statistical Society of Canada.
No reimbursement or remuneration
(3) No member of the search committee shall be reimbursed for any expenses or paid any remuneration in respect of their duties as a member of the committee.
3. Section 19 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):
Mandatory long-form census questionnaire
(4) The census taken at the time and in the manner set out in this section must include the use of a long-form census questionnaire and the distribution of that questionnaire to at least 20% of all households or whatever percentage of households is determined to be necessary by the Chief Statistician to ensure an accurate statistical representation of the Canadian population and its constituent groups.
Definition of “long-form census questionnaire”
(5) In this section, “long-form census questionnaire” means a census questionnaire that conforms substantially, in length and substantive scope, to the long-form census used to take the census in 1971 and at intervals thereafter to meet the requirements of this section.
4. The portion of section 31 of the Act after paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:
is, for every refusal or neglect, or false answer or deception, guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.
Published under authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons