Bill C-626: An Act to amend the Statistics Act (appointment of Chief Statistician and long-form census)

C-626 Second Session, Forty-first Parliament, 62-63 Elizabeth II, 2013-2014 HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA BILL C-626 An Act to amend the Statistics Act (appointment of Chief Statistician and long-form census) first reading, September 22, 2014 Mr. Hsu 412211 SUMMARY This enactment amends the Statistics Act to establish a process to appoint the Chief Statistician of Canada. It also prescribes additional duties for the Chief Statistician and increases the independence of the Chief Statistician in carrying out his or her duties. Further, it provides for a long-form questionnaire to be used for taking the census of population under that Act. Available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address:http://www.parl.gc.ca 2nd Session, 41st Parliament, 62-63 Elizabeth II, 2013-2014 house of commons of canada BILL C-626 An Act to amend the Statistics Act (appointment of Chief Statistician and long-form census) Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: R.S., c. S-19 1. (1) Section 4 of the Statistics Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1): Consultation (1.1) When appointing the Chief Statistician, the Governor in Council shall, after consulting with the leader of every recognized party in the House of Commons, choose a candidate from a list prepared by the search committee established in section 4.1. (2) The portion of subsection 4(2) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following: Duties (2) The Chief Statistician shall (3) Subsection 4(2) of the Act is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (a) and by adding the following after that paragraph: (a.1) in accordance with internationally rec-ognized best practices, including applicable ethical standards, establish guidelines respecting sources of statistical data and the methods and procedures used in its collection, analysis, processing, storage and publication; (a.2) post, maintain and archive on the Statistics Canada website (i) the guidelines referred to in paragraph (a.1), 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; (a.3) keep the public informed about the importance of gathering accurate statistical information, including by means of the census; (a.4) consult stakeholders — including the governments of the provinces, the National Statistics Council and data users — on matters pertaining to the census, including the questions to be asked in any census taken by Statistics Canada under section 19 or 20; and 2. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 4: Establishment of search committee 4.1 (1) The Minister shall establish a search committee to prepare a list of candidates for consideration by the Governor in Council when making an appointment under subsection 4(1). Members of search committee (2) The search committee shall consist of three persons, each of whom holds or has held one of the following offices or positions: (a) Clerk of the Privy Council; (b) Chief Statistician of Canada; (c) Governor of the Bank of Canada; (d) Chairman of the National Statistics Council; (e) President of the Statistical Society of Canada; (f) President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research; (g) President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; or (h) President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. No remuneration or reimbursement (3) No member of the search committee shall receive remuneration for the performance of their duties or be reimbursed for any expenses incurred in the course of performing those duties. 3. Section 7 of the Act is replaced by the following: Rules and instructions 7. (1) The Minister may, by order, prescribe such rules, instructions, schedules and forms as the Minister deems requisite for conducting the work and business of Statistics Canada, for the collecting, compiling and publishing of statistical data and other information and for the taking of any census authorized by this Act and, in doing so, must take into account any guidelines established under paragraph 4(2)(a.1). Publication (2) Every order made under subsection (1) shall be published in the Canada Gazette not later than 30 days after it is made if the sources, methods and procedures proposed therein for the collection, analysis, processing, storage or publication of any statistics and information fall within the scope of those set out in any guidelines established under paragraph 4(2)(a.1). 4. Section 8 of the Act is renumbered as subsection 8(1) and is amended by adding the following: Publication (2) Every order made under subsection (1) shall be published in the Canada Gazette not later than 30 days after it is made. 5. (1) Section 19 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2): Long-form census questionnaire (2.1) 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 its distribution to the percentage of households the Chief Statistician considers necessary to ensure an accurate statistical representation of the Canadian population and its constituent groups. Precision (2.2) For greater certainty, section 31 applies in respect of a refusal or neglect to furnish information in relation to a population census. (2) Section 19 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3): Definition of “long-form census questionnaire” (4) In this section, “long-form census questionnaire” means a census questionnaire (a) that conforms to generally accepted methods of collection of statistical or other information; (b) that provides for data series continuity and the maintenance or improvement of data quality; and (c) that conforms, in length and scope and with such modifications as changing circumstances require — including new sources of data or data collection practices —, to the long-form census used to take the census in 1971 and every five years from 1981 to 2006. 6. (1) Subsection 21(1) of the Act is replaced by the following: Census questions 21. (1) The Chief Statistician shall, by order, prescribe the questions to be asked in any census taken by Statistics Canada under section 19 or 20. (2) Subsection 21(2) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following: Publication (2) Chaque arrêté pris en vertu du paragraphe (1) est publié dans la Gazette du Canada au plus tard trente jours après qu’il a été pris. 7. Section 22 of the Act is renumbered as subsection 22(1) and is amended by adding the following: Publication (2) The Minister shall publish, in the Canada Gazette, any direction he or she made under subsection (1) not later than 30 days after it is given to the Chief Statistician if the sources, methods and procedures proposed therein for the collection, analysis, processing, storage or publication of any statistics and information fall within the scope of those set out in any guidelines established under paragraph 4(2)(a.1). 8. 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