EKOS Extra: Who <3s you, mandatory long form census?
By Kady O'Malley According to one of the bonus rounds in the latest packet of EKOS-bot-sought public opinion, 56.3 percent of Canadians do -- or, at the very least, believe that shifting to a voluntary questionnaire will result in the loss of "vital information" -- while 26 percent view the now-at-least-temporarily-kiboshed mandatory long form "was an unnecessary violation of privacy," and 17.7 percent had no response.
What's particularly noteworthy, however, is that the numbers are remarkably consistent throughout the country, as well as every other way that EKOS sliced 'n' diced it in the crosstabs, whether by region, age and gender, or even political leaning. Yes, just 33.2 percent of Conservatives sided with the government on privacy concerns, while 48.9 percent agree with those who say the post-long-form census will no longer be "truly representative."
Obligatory methodological details: the poll was done over two weeks -- from August 18-31 -- which works out to a margin of error of 1.64. Now, I know what some of you are thinking right this minute: "But Kady, you pointedly ignore the first week of EKOS results when it comes to party preferences, so why on earth would you give this roll-up -- with its two week old data -- any credence at all? Isn't that wildly inconsistent?" Which is a fair question, really, but the thing is, when it comes to questions on issues -- rather than if-there-was-an-election-today fantasy ballot box polls, that is -- I'm a little less stringent about ensuring fresh data, provided that there are no major developments while the bots were in the field that could moot the earlier results. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
Anyway, since the results for that particular question were buried at the very end of the data package, tucked behind the leader approval numbers -- which, if can I be totally, if tangentially, honest for a moment, I find absolutely eye-rollingly tedious, but more importantly, largely unrelated or relatable to overall party preference, which is why I generally just skim the topline numbers to see if anything really wacky jumps out -- I've extracted and Scribdified the three relevant pages. Share and enjoy!
Ekos Census Poll
