SASKATOON — A Saskatchewan woman who was found guilty of refusing to fill out the long-form census has been given an absolute discharge, but that may not be the end of her fight.
Sandra Finley says she’s happy with the court’s decision Thursday not to fine her or send her to jail. But she isn’t pleased with the verdict handed down last week in Saskatoon provincial court by Judge Sheila Whelan.
“Am I going to jump up and down because I got an absolute discharge? Well, no, it’s part of the unfolding process and her guilty verdict still stands,” said Finley. “So we are going to review, once again, the grounds for appeal and my expectation is that it’s most likely that we will proceed with appeal of the verdict in spite of the absolute discharge in sentencing.”
Finley balked at filling out the 2006 long-form census because Statistics Canada had purchased the software from U.S. defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin in 2003. The agency said only federal employees would have access to the data collected, but that did not assuage Finley and others who protested the link to Lockheed.
She also said the questions violated her right to privacy.
Finley, who estimates she has spent about $10,000 arguing the case, faced a fine of up to $500 and a jail sentence of up to three months.
An absolute discharge means a person is deemed not to have been convicted — but the finding of guilt remains. The person may appeal the determination of guilt.
Finley’s argument is that the judge erred in the verdict.
“It stands as a ruling that we don’t have that charter right to privacy of personal information and I believe strongly that is a misinterpretation or a misapplication of the law and that the charter right needs to be upheld.”
If she appeals, the papers could be filed with the court next week, Finley said. The long-form census caused a different ruckus last year when the federal government said it would no longer make it mandatory. The government said some Canadians found the mandatory nature of the form coercive and the detailed questions intrusive.
The head of Statistics Canada quit over the issue. Chief statistician Munir Sheikh said it would be impossible to compile all the information about the country’s society that the agency provides without data from the long form. He also predicted the Conservative plan to replace the compulsory questionnaire with a voluntary one wouldn’t work.
Several premiers also protested, saying they based provincial policies and programs in part on what the long-form census provided.
The short census remains mandatory for all Canadians and will still be based on Lockheed Martin technology. There is still a penalty for refusing to fill out the short version.