Census, sense and consensus

Some are calling it “Census Gate,” and believe that this is the end of the Conservative minority government. Others are calling the uproar “nonsense.” Some are looking at the Canadian Census through ideological eyes, and are trying to make sense of the entire process. Others are looking for consensus on what is quickly becoming an issue for the Canadian public.

Whatever your personal view, censuses are not new. The first recorded census was taken by the Babylonians in 3800 B.C. China counted 16 million in a census it did more than 4,000 years ago. The Roman Empire conducted one every five years. Ultimately, it came to be regarded as the “who owns what” in the world, and it became a critical tool for governance.

Now, for the first time in 35 years in Canada, the Census is being changed. Industry Minister Tony Clement advised Parliament that the mandatory long-form 61-question census form that went to one in five homes will be replaced with a voluntary household survey that will be sent to 30 per cent of Canadian households. The mandatory short-form, an eight-question census, will remain every citizen’s responsibility.

Canada is not alone in this review of the Census. Britain is processing whether next year’s census will be their last. The Scandinavians have been pioneering this. Denmark has tracked their citizens without a traditional census for decades. There are other tools in our modern society that can be drawn upon to build the databases necessary for governance.

Drug or drugs?

If you think the United States has a national emergency when its borders are perforated by Mexican drug lords, what about the potential problem that exists along the longest, unprotected border in the world? This border, commonly known as the International Boundary, separating Canada from the US, is 8,891 kilometres of under-protected space.

Drug running – smuggling dope – is big business in Canada. In July 2005 law enforcement personnel arrested three men who had built a 360-foot tunnel under the border separating British Columbia and Washington State, a tunnel that they intended to use to smuggle marijuana. Maybe they were encouraged by the fact that the Canadian public has been equally divided on whether or not marijuana should be decriminalized.

No matter who the drug provider is, it all boils down to money. Be it the consumption of illegal or legal drug use, the bottom line remains: it is a bonanza for pushers. One has to wonder whether the emerging social philosophy of helping people kick the hard, illegal drugs by substituting them with government approved or pharmaceutically provided, soft drugs, isn’t just another way to access underground profit.

I am not sure whether we have really learned from history. In the 1850’s, when trade with the Orient opened up opium addiction, an epidemic hit North America. Addicts were weaned off the drug with a “non-addictive” substitute, morphine. It wasn’t long before morphine was treated with another “non-addictive” substitute, heroin. Heroin, in turn, was treated with “Adolphine,” in honour of Hitler, and was later renamed methadone.

Universities or pluraversities?

Did you know that UBC Okanagan (formerly Okanagan College) dates back 47 years to 1963? I remember the excitement I felt as a seventeen-year-old attending my first classes on the KLO campus, September 1969. I was passionate about the pursuit of knowledge, and relished the opportunity to expand my intellectual horizons.

What I encountered was a rude awakening. Four of the five most consequential life questions were clearly being addressed: one, origin – where did we come from (science) two, identity – who are we (psychology) three, meaning, why are we here (philosophy) and four, destiny – where are we going (literature).

One question was not dealt with. From my vantage point, this lack became a serious flaw and a missing link in the educational dynamic. It had to do with the matter of morality and the question, “how should we live,” which has more to do with faith or religion. Eventually, the answer to that question became more important to me and I left Okanagan College to pursue a degree in Religion.

The idea of a university goes back a long time. For instance, the Hebrews had schools of prophets, and the Athenians drew students for close to 1,000 years, becoming a central metropolis for knowledge in the ancient world. The idea of teachers and students gathering to learn specific knowledge is not a new fad and fashion.

However, the modern concept of university is based upon medieval times, and emerges from the original Latin “universitas magistrorum et scholarium,” describing specialized “associations of students and teachers with collective legal rights usually guaranteed by charters issued by princes, prelates, or the towns in which they were located” (Wikipedia).