Canada Hate Crime Increase Driven By Incidents Targeting Muslims, Arabs: StatCan

OTTAWA — Canadians are in denial about hate crimes, advocates said Tuesday, as Statistics Canada released new figures documenting a spike in police-reported incidents in 2015.

The agency reported crimes motivated by hate against the Muslim population rose by 61 per cent that year, with 159 incidents compared with 99 in 2014.

Canada's Wealth Gap Has Spiked Since Start Of Century: StatsCan

Wealth inequality widened in Canada between 1999 and 2012, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

Although all income groups saw at least some increase in wealth, the bottom 60 per cent of households saw their overall share of the country's wealth decline. And the wealth gap between the top 20 per cent and the bottom 20 per cent nearly doubled in that time.

Munir Sheikh: Bad Info From NHS Will Lead To Bad Planning

Important statistical information has become so unreliable that the government would be better off making policy decisions based on no information at all, says the former head of Statistics Canada.

Munir Sheikh, who quit his job as the chief statistician of StatCan in 2010, said Friday that the current National Household Survey (NHS) will lead to bad planning — on everything from where to put more bus shelters to the types of social programs that best serve Canadians.

Harper undermining data that informs government decision-making, and he likes it like that

“Lies, damn lies and statistics.” Maybe Prime Minister Stephen Harper was onto something when he abolished the requirement for mandatory participation in Canada’s census collection.

After all, who cares about a weakened system of national data?  The average citizen, who marks the only x on the ballot that counts, likely agrees with the quote made famous by Mark Twain.

Statistics are for geeks. The complex numbers that form the basis for public policy decisions usually cause most people’s eyes to glaze over.

Cancellation of long-form census taking toll on Statistics Canada data

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cancellation of the long-form census has started to take a toll on Statistics Canada's data.

The agency released its final tranche of the 2011 census last week, focusing on languages, but it included a big warning that cautions data users about comparing key facts against censuses of the past.

"Data users are advised to exercise caution when evaluating trends related to mother tongue and home language that compare 2011 census data to those of previous censuses," Statistics Canada states bluntly in a box included in its census material.