A spokesman for Lockheed Martin could not be reached for comment.
The next census will involve about 13.6 million households and will be the first to be offered online. About 20 per cent of respondents are expected to file electronically, Mr. Arora said.
Public concerns were unwarranted, he added, because census work would be conducted under security in Statistics Canada facilities with no external connections through which information could leak.
But the NDP exulted in the government's reversal.
"Hats off ... to all those who persuaded Statistics Canada that the integrity of the census was at stake," said NDP parliamentary leader Bill Blaikie in the House of Commons.
The government would sustain a penalty "in the tens of thousands of dollars," for breaking the second phase of its three-phase contract with Lockheed Martin, Mr. Arora said.
The phase involved the conducting of a mini-census of 300,000 homes and used as a preparatory step before the 2006 main census. The government would not be penalized for breaking the third phase of the contract, which actually involved the main census.
The first phase of the contract -- in which baselines for the census were established -- has already been completed.
Lockheed Martin had been selected in 2001 among other bidders, marking the first time census software had been purchased from the private sector.
Electronic data processing could cut up to three months off compilation of census figures, Mr. Arora said, meaning the 2006 results could be ready by January 2007.
Stumble It!
Mr Arora says" The next census will involve about 13.6 million households and will be the first to be offered online. About 20 per cent of respondents are expected to file electronically, Mr. Arora said.
Public concerns were unwarranted, he added, because census work would be conducted under security in Statistics Canada facilities with no external connections through which information could leak."
All this for the 20% that are expected to use the internet, this is a complete waste of money. Stats Can is too inept to write its own software but they want us to believe they are smart enough to make sure that the data is secure. Mr Arora says there are no external connections, if so how is the data getting in to the computers? What is the point of people using the internet if there are no connections? This is just silly, they have a person answering questions who doesn't understand the subject of the questions.
We should all refuse to use the internet to fill out the census survey and if Lockheed Martin software is used then we should refuse to fill out the census forms altogether. We should demand that Census Canada hire its own full time software team to design and maintain the software. If they will acquiesce to our demands we will fill out the census. Lets put some Canadians to work and keep the money in the community!
Mr Arora says" The next census will involve about 13.6 million households and will be the first to be offered online. About 20 per cent of respondents are expected to file electronically, Mr. Arora said. Public concerns were unwarranted, he added, because census work would be conducted under security in Statistics Canada facilities with no external connections through which information could leak."
All this for the 20% that are expected to use the internet, this is a complete waste of money. Stats Can is too inept to write its own software but they want us to believe they are smart enough to make sure that the data is secure. Mr Arora says there are no external connections, if so how is the data getting in to the computers? What is the point of people using the internet if there are no connections? This is just silly, they have a person answering questions who doesn't understand the subject of the questions.
We should all refuse to use the internet to fill out the census survey and if Lockheed Martin software is used then we should refuse to fill out the census forms altogether. We should demand that Census Canada hire its own full time software team to design and maintain the software. If they will acquiesce to our demands we will fill out the census. Lets put some Canadians to work and keep the money in the community!</i>
I think Mr. Arora was talking about the concerns that the data would end up in the U.S. From what I understand, the census website is controlled by Statistics Canada and that once the data is "inside the house", it stays there. That's probably what he meant. I hear that they have a way to call in the data too...like an 800 number or something. I guess that the paper forms plus the 800 service will make up the rest of the respondents (e.g. the other 80%). How much is the contract with Lockheed? How much did it cost us to run the 2001 census? I've never heard of Blaise. Is it a software program? or a complete hardware/software system?