In the 2006 Census, this website did not advocate outright refusal to complete the census, which would contravene the Statistics Act. We promoted (and still advocate), instead of outright refusal, the strategy of minimum cooperation

We were amazed, however, by the number of messages we received from Canadians who said: To heck with minimum cooperation, we refuse outright to complete the census.

They were not alone. The Chief Statistician has admitted in an interview "we had 94-per-cent response rate in 2006. That means 6 per cent of the population didn’t respond. That’s 2 million people."

Interestingly, only 65 prosecutions were launched for alleged refusal to complete that census. To our knowledge, no one has ever gone to jail. The maximum fine is $500, although actual penalties that we know about have ranged from absolute discharge, to a $300 fine.

We can only speculate. Those few who were prosecuted seem to have made public statements, or told Statistics Canada directly and unambiguously, that they did not file a census return. This made the task of prosecution easy, since those persons provided evidence against themselves. In a legal sense, they self-incriminated.

We are not lawyers, but from what we have heard, it seems that if anyone has decided not to file a census return, perhaps the best way to avoid prosecution is never to state publicly that you outright refuse to complete the census. If you write or e-mail Statistics Canada, you could complain about the Census without stating flatly that you will not or did not complete it.

And some of our viewers suggest that since the census is sent by StatsCan to households, not to named individuals, one could tell the Census rep at the door that someone else (unnamed) in the household is looking after the census. But you would avoid stating flatly that you will not complete the Census. We are told that the legal onus is on StatsCan to prove that you, personally, refused to file a census return.

Again, we are not lawyers, but other comments we have heard also seem to make sense--the fact that StatsCan's system may not have registered the receipt of a census return wouldn't necessarily prove that you did not send one in. For example, your census return could have been lost in the mail system.

Given that over 2 million Canadians did not answer the 2006 census and that only 65 prosecutions were launched, it seems that the probability of prosecution is extremely low.

If Statistics Canada wants to reduce the number of refusals and the number of citizens using our recommended minimum cooperation techniques, StatsCan should immediately end the outrageous involvement in our Census of outside corporations like weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin (Canada) --corporations which many consider unethical and destructive.

So again, each Canadian must decide whether or not to complete the Census and National Household Survey. We are not advocating outright refusal. But based on past experience, millions of Canadians will likely refuse. And those who decide not to refuse can opt instead for the minimum cooperation techniques that this website advocates.