| Nearly 1,000 e-mails of support have been sent to an Alberta organization leading the charge against the federal government’s plan to contract out a test run of the 2006 census to an American company, says the woman behind the campaign.
Susan Thompson, an Edmontonian who runs a Web site (www.vivelecanada.ca) to support Canadian nationalism, helped alert the public to the census controversy. She says the plan has struck a chord with many citizens who are concerned that free trade deals are selling out Canada.
"I think sometimes it’s hard for people to get their heads around trade and economics… but this is a concrete, real-world example and it gets people thinking about things," Thompson says. "Some people are planning on boycotting the census… obviously they are quite upset about this if they are willing to risk a significant fine."
The debate surrounds the federal government’s awarding of a contract for preliminary work on the 2006 census to a Canadian subsidiary of American giant Lockheed Martin.
Thompson says she is opposed to the plan because it potentially puts confidential information on every Canadian in the hands of one of the world’s largest arms and defence contractors. She argues that the contract for such a fundamental part of Canadian life should be given to a Canadian firm.
"There’s is a lack of trust because this is an American company," she says. "I think people are a little reluctant to fill out all the (census) information in the first place, and even more so when it is a subsidiary of an American company."
A spokesperson for Public Works and Government Services Canada, which awarded the contract on behalf of Statistics Canada, says the contract was secured fair and square by Lockheed Martin under Canada’s free trade laws.
"(The contract was) subject to NAFTA, which opened it up to international bids," says Irene Aguzzi. "Four proposals were received… and Lockheed Martin Canada Inc. was the one company to meet the requirements."
Aguzzi says the federal government has received about 1,000 letters from Canadians on the issue, but adds that the contract won’t be scrapped and there’s no reason to worry about confidential information falling into American hands.
"No, the contract is not being reconsidered. It was awarded in a (proper) procurement process," Aguzzi says. "All confidential info will remain in Canada."
The case has similarities to the recent awarding of a contract by Washington D.C. to a Canadian firm. Public backlash against the idea of a Canadian firm running an American city’s animal shelter was fierce in the U.S. – the Canadian firm’s owner said he received death threats – and the city’s mayor recently cancelled the contract.
Thompson says she hopes the backlash that is emerging in Canada will convince the federal government to rethink the Lockheed Martin contract. She also wants the controversy to get Canadians thinking about the implications of free trade.
"There’s an impression that we are just going to integrate with the U.S. and its almost a closed debate at this point," Thompson says. "I think Canadian citizens are starting to think about this and the other side is coming up more and more saying ‘Who asked us?’" |
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