I wonder if it's about the money

Money matters.

Though it can't buy me love and is at the root of many evils, we have to deal with it many tines per day, maybe more than we'd like.

I thought about money when reading a recent article about the federal government's decision related to the census.

(Yes, the census. Where have you been? It's been big news for the last week in Canada. My gosh, we live in such an interesting country).

I read:

"While critics accuse the Harper government of pursuing a right-wing ideological agenda with its switch to a voluntary long-form census, many so-called progressive European countries (e.g., Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark) are eliminating the census altogether." (July 23, London Free Press)

Then I thought, is it an ideological issue or financial issue? Something else?

I don't know, but I do know many countries have over-spent for years. Annual deficits are the rule, not the exception. Canada's national debt is the largest it has ever been in human history. Greece is wobbly. England is feeling the pinch financially.

Perhaps many governments around the world are realizing that, fiscally speaking, much must change.

Maybe our Prime Minister realizes Canada is headed for the poor house. Maybe he is putting a lot of things under the microscope to try to save money, e.g., the Canadian Pension Plan, the production of pennies, how many haircuts we should be allowed per month. Maybe this is just the beginning of doing hundreds of things differently because money doesn't grow on trees anymore.

I read that Britain is considering 'cancelling its census outright after the next survey in 2011... the decision is partly driven by budgetary concerns.'

So... about our census.

I wonder if it's about the money.

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What is the cheapest way to collect important information about Canadians?

This is not a quiz.

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