The British Columbia Cycling Coalition is wading into a debate over the future of Canada's long-form census. Earlier this summer Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper decided the mandatory long-form should be scrapped because of privacy concerns. Since that announcement countless organizations and local governments have voiced their opposition.
One of the many areas covered in the census looks at where people work and their commuting patterns. In a letter to the Prime Minister, BCCC president Jack Becker argued the data is vital to city planning and the “only reliable data of this type for many jurisdictions.”
“Without this data, it will be difficult and more expensive to determine the levels of growth in cycling and thus quantify the economic, health and other benefits of the investments in cycling infrastructure made by all levels of government,” Becker wrote.
In his letter Becker pointed out that bicycle infrastructure has benefited from federal stimulus spending. And he is “convinced that the mode share for cycling is growing as a result of these investments.”
BCCC isn’t the only bicycle-focused group using census data. Bike Vancouver (which is run by the City) crunched numbers from the 2006 census and determined cycling to be the fastest mode of transportation in Vancouver.
The 2001 census coincided with a transit strike in Vancouver. Upcoming 2011 census data is needed more than ever, according to Becker, as it will provide “the first useable five-year interval data since 1996; but, this will not be possible if the long-form becomes voluntary.”
The BCCC is encouraging people to write letters of support for the long-form census to Industry Minister Tony Clement.
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