Lethbridge woman calls census “too intrusive and too personal”

The 2021 Canadian Census has received a tepid response from some Albertans.

A Lethbridge woman told Lethbridge News Now that she believes some of the questions in the population count survey are intrusive and a little too personal. “The first question I didn’t like was my exact date of birth. The old census used to be that they just asked how many people are in the home, are they male or female and what is the general age group,” the woman said.

“Now they want your name, your exact date of birth, if anybody is living in your home, you know, who they are, if anybody is temporarily in your home – who are they and where are they from? What other languages do you speak, other than English? What is the language you use in your home, what was your sex at birth, what is your sex now – male, female or other, and specify. That was way out of line, that question.” The southern Alberta woman remarked that she was “still the same sex that I was born with, but some people that aren’t might be very touchy about saying that.” She also noted that the federal government “went way too far with the census.” “It’s looking like a regime, instead of the Government of Canada and you’re wondering why they’re asking these questions. Then, they’re saying what was your language at birth and what are you using in your home – it’s almost as if they’re looking for illegal immigrants, too. You don’t know what the government is looking for.” Another question she had an issue with revolved around people that are temporarily living in someone’s home.

She said, “if you had an aunt that was staying at your home for a month because she just lost her husband, you’d have to detail that, and I thought that was way out of line.” “That’s what’s disturbing is it’s so personal and so probing that you can’t even have somebody staying in your home without detailing who it is and why – it’s almost starting to look like a regime here.”

The woman noted that she and her friends listed their concerns in the comments section that’s available at the end of the 2021 census, but she does not believe that will make much of a difference.