Re: CivicAccess-discuss Canada Census on line

[Judyth Mermelstein]

Richard Houston <[hidden email]> wrote in part:
>Not sure if this falls into civicaccess's mandate but I figured I would
>pass it on.
>
>Today I tried to fill out my census info on-line (www.census2006.ca).
>When I tried to get started I got this
>
>"Your browser does not meet the minimum requirements to access this site
>...

From my perspective, it certainly does! This is precisely the kind of thing which makes much public information and consultation INaccessible to large numbers of citizens. It should not be necessary to have a recent, powerful computer with a specific version of a commercial operating system in order to do what all citizens are supposed to be able to do.

Besides, as I recall, the federal government had decided 2-3 years ago that it should make all its Web sites more accessible to the public (I think to the "AA" level as per http://www.w3.org/wai/ ). Many departments (including Elections Canada) are still heavy users of PDFs but, on the whole, most sites in the ".gc.ca" domain can be used with a text-only browser or screen-reader.

I can't think why it would be assumed at StatsCan that only people with the most recent browsers would need access to the online form, and it's certainly not that difficult to set one up that would work with other browsers and be fully cross-platform. In any case, they awarded the contract to a private company --U.S. defense industry giant Lockheed-Martin, no less (maybe Russell should look into submitting an Offer of Service to StatsCan? only NAFTA means they can't favour a Canadian supplier now that they've stopped doing the work in-house). Apparently the desire to save money on civil servants by encouraging online submissions and using automated scanning for paper forms overrode considerations like ensuring complete confidentiality of data and full accessibility for Canadians.

That being said, though, having got my census form yesterday and taken a good look at it, there was another flaw in the planning which I don't recall from previous censuses: namely, lousy instructions.

We are not supposed to be filling out the forms now, whether online or on paper: Census Day is May 16th and that is the exact date for which the information is needed. Whoever wrote the form apparently assumed nobody would open the envelope until then and so the "fill in online today" instruction would be appropriate. However, people generally open their mail when they get it and those who are really well-organized and Internet-savvy would naturally want to deal with the census form and get it out of the way.

Of course, I could be wrong about the above. From a statistician's point of view, it makes no sense to skew the results of the census by taking advance predictions rather than firm data about the real census date. On the other hand, if saving money is more important to them than statistical accuracy, they may just be cutting corners because if 6 million Canadians tried to use the site on a single day, it would most likely crash. (The anticipated savings would have to be huge to justify the $13-million ad campaign they're launching to promote it.)

>So I called the help desk. I asked them why I get this messages and that
>I met all the requirements with one small exception. I was on Linux.
>I was told that Linux was not supported and I would have to use Windows
>or Mac to access the site.

Don't we all know already that "help desk" is a misnomer and they're usually staffed with clerks who know little or nothing about the system but serve to insulate the people who could really help from being bothered by the public?

For what it is worth, the site isn't exactly Mac-accessible either. It works *only* with "Safari 1.2.4 with Web kit 125.5.7" and the Apple Java Virtual Machine version 1.4.2_5 -- which means  that even on this G3 with OS 10.2, and slightly earlier versions of Safari and Java installed, it would do me no good to try. The "good news" is that one can at least find this out with a "Classic" OS and older browser: the information pages are accessible (even with graphics off) but you do need to have Javascript enabled and they loaded pretty slowly given that the site can't have been mobbed yet. Still, a significant proportion of Mac users won't be able to file online and it wouldn't surprise me if somebody argued next time that there weren't enough people filing from Macs to justify making it accessible on that platform, either.

Windows people, interestingly enough, can use Internet Explorer right back to 5.0.1 but only Netscape 7.0 or higher. It does make me wonder a bit about how secure the process really is ...  it seems to me even 128-bit encryption can be broken and MSIE makes it awfully easy for third parties to capture data. Of course, they also show a marked preference for people with high-speed connections (35-45 minutes for the long form, 7-8 for the short one)

By the way, at http://www22.statcan.ca/ccr07/ccr07_006_e.htm StatsCan assures us that  Lockheed-Martin contractors will not be handling the data or handing it over to anyone but StatsCan. Personally, I think it's pretty disingenuous of somebody to make it sound as if the contractor supplying the data-collecting hardware and software were on a par with the printers who only get to see the blank forms before they go out -- especially since it so often doesn't occur to people that putting a file in the Windows "Recycle Bin" does not constitute secure erasure!

I believe the privacy and confidentiality pages were rewritten once the http://www.countmeout.ca campaign started to get some attention.

>I asked him why this was and the help desk guy
>told me that as Linux was not all that popular so it was not supported
>and would not likely be supported anytime soon. I took some time to try
>and educate this gentleman about how the Internet should not have a
>specific operating system requirement but I don't think he was really
>listening or cared.

Why would he? It's not his problem and he sure as heck won't have any influence on the higher-ups at StatsCan, let alone Lockheed-Martin.
>Is there any one I can contact on this in the government or is there a
>anything the group can do to bring open standers argument to Census
>Canada's website? As this is census update time I am sure that there are
>other Linux users out there that are having issues. I am not pushing a
>Linux agenda here but I am pushing for open standards for the government
>of Canada's website.

I couldn't find anything but the toll-free numbers at http://www.census2006.ca
-- 1 877 594-2006 and TTY/TTD: 1 888 243-0730 (free of charge). There seems to be no Web form or e-mail address or anyone's name on the site.

I should think the people who most need to hear/read the complaints are Ivan Fellegi, Chief Statistician of Canada and Maxime Bernier who is the Minister responsible: <[hidden email]> should reach him in theory, or write
Hon. Maxime Bernier,
Minister of Industy,
House of Commons,
Ottawa Ont., K1A 0A6

>I know the group is just starting to get going but is this maybe a good
>starting point for some action?
>
>If not any help in pointing me in the direction of someone I can contact
>to complain would be much appreciated.

You might want to contact your own MP as well as Fellegi and Bernier. He/she would be the person most likely to care whom you'll vote for next time. Depending on who it is, he/she may be open to learning about deficiencies not only in the census and Linux/Mac accessibility but also in the specs included in the contract awarded to a foreign supplier.

You might also want to complain to your friends and neighbours so as to get them thinking about these issues, too. "Sunshine is the best disinfectant" and it wouldn't hurt to have more people reminding our current federal government that it promised better transparency and accountability and Canadians don't want to settle for less.

Regards,

Judyth

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Judyth Mermelstein   "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
Montreal, QC         <[hidden email]>
Canada H4C 2P9       <[hidden email]>
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"A word to the wise is sufficient. For others, use more."
"Un mot suffit aux sages; pour les autres, il en faut plus."