Census Deal Bombs With Canadians

October 20, 2003 OTTAWA - The Council of Canadians is calling on Canadians to take a stand against the federal government’s contract with Lockheed Martin to deliver the 2006 census.

U.S. weapons giant Lockheed Martin recently signed a multi-million dollar deal to play a key role in the collection of data for the 2006 census.

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Canadian government must give equal consideration to U.S. corporations when contracting out services such as the census. This includes corporations with questionable records like Lockheed Martin.

"As a direct result of free trade agreements like NAFTA, an American company and one of the world’s largest weapons manufacturers will soon has access to the most confidential information about Canadians," says Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians.

"Our government has negated its fundamental responsibility to provide key services like the census," says Barlow. "And worse yet, it has signed trade agreements that allow this service to be contracted out to a U.S. corporation."

"The idea that a private company will have access to my private information is profoundly repulsive. In a democracy, there are things that only a government should do, and a census is one of them," says Guy Caron, Campaigner for the Council of Canadians.

"Subcontracting a duty of a democratic government to the private sector is characteristic of the current U.S. administration. That Canada is adopting these methods clearly demonstrates the urgent need to stop the ongoing integration of Canada within the U.S."

The Council of Canadians is demanding that the federal government immediately cancel its contract with Lockheed Martin, and that Statistics Canada be given the funding and capacity to fully carry out an activity as important as the Canadian census. Canadians can join the fight against Lockheed Martin by emailing a letter to the PM.

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