BY CONNIE WOODCOCK,TORONTO SUN

A lawyer friend of mine gets really touchy when he thinks government is messing around too much in his life.

So when the National Household Survey arrived in his mailbox a few weeks ago, he wasn’t thrilled.

The NHS, in case you’ve forgotten, is the new name for what used to be the mandatory long form census.

The Conservative government did away with the long form last year, claiming people found it too intrusive, despite loud criticism from all sides that it’s the only way to collect reliable data.

The NHS is voluntary and was sent to one in three Canadians rather than the one in four who received the old one.

My lawyer friend had only two weeks earlier done his duty as a citizen and filled out the mandatory short form census and sent it back the day after he received it. He knew the NHS was to be voluntary but just to make sure, he called his local member of Parliament and asked if he had to fill it out.

No, he was told, the NHS is voluntary so “I threw the damn thing out,” he says.

And that was that, or so he thought.

But Statistics Canada wasn’t done with him.

One afternoon, a man knocked on his door and asked him to complete his form, telling him it was simple to answer the 65 questions and he would help if necessary.

“He was very nice, but I said it was supposed to be voluntary,” my friend says.

Awhile later, my friend came home to find a notice tucked in his front door once again asking him to complete the NHS and pointing out another official would be around to see him soon. It also included a little guilt trip.
“Statistics Canada has not received your 2011 National Household Survey questionnaire,” it said. “Your participation in this voluntary survey will help your community plan for services such as child care, schooling, family services, housing, roads and public transportation and skills training for employment. Please complete the survey now....”

Back at his door

Sure enough, several days later, two people arrived at his door, once again reciting the mantra: It’s voluntary, it’s easy, we’ll even help you do it.

Once again, he refused and so far, no more officials have shown up.

“How often do you have to say no?” my friend wonders.

Weeks later, he’s still amazed he was visited so many times to complete the NHS. He’s not sure but he thinks he may also have received a phone call. He calls it “baffling.”

For one thing, he lives in rural Ontario so visiting him once isn’t easy, let alone three times. And for another, it’s supposed to be voluntary so why the high pressure tactics?

“My impression is that they’re implying this is really a compulsory thing,” he says. “It’s a very expensive process.”

A spokesman for Statistics Canada admitted my friend’s experience was not typical. They rarely send two people to the door unless there’s some danger. And there are usually only two follow-ups, not three or more.

And, yes, it’s expensive to do all this. The budget for both short form census and NHS is $660 million, compared to $567 million in 2006. The deluge of advertising alone cost $13 million. The cost per household is down — from about $45 in 2006 to $43 this year — but still huge.

Statistics Canada isn’t ready to discuss the rate of response just yet. It’s too early, the spokesman said. So there’s no way to tell how well this new “voluntary” system is working.

The spokesman would say only it’s “proceeding much according to our plan.”

We still don’t know whether the survey will work and produce valid statistics — or whether all that arm twisting has been a complete waste of time and money.