To the author: Please do not confuse your opinion with fact. When offering your opinion, please state that it is opinion and offer arguments to support it.  Consider this statement - ".... he cancelled the census to starve the government of data that could be used to justify programs that Conservatives oppose. It truly was an act of political vandalism." You state that as a fact when it is only your unsubstantiated opinion. Here is another explanation; Countries like Australia force citizens to vote, they take the view that this is a civic duty. Canada takes a different view. Some in Canada believe that the government should force its citizens to complete the census, that it is a civic duty. The Harper government felt that this infringed upon Canadian's civil liberties. I don't know if this explanation is any more true than the nefarious one that you have advanced, but your statement that, "There was no reasonable case for cancelling the census." is patently wrong.