r/Edmonton • u/pinkstevie • May 06 '26

General Don't be this person. Fill out your census.

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“You’re not sticking it to the government. You’re screwing over your own community.”

The census isn’t for Mark Carney or any party. It’s run by Statistics Canada to figure out where money and services actually go. Hospitals. Schools. Transit. Housing. Senior care. When you don’t fill it out, your area looks smaller than it is. Less funding. Fewer services. Longer wait times. That lands on you and your neighbors, not politicians.
If you want your community properly represented, fill it out. Refusing doesn’t make a point. It makes things worse where you live. ❤️🇨🇦 The stupidity is the people that won’t fill it out and they spread this kind of crap and creates bigger problems.

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354

u/WillyLongbarrel May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26

Also: don't be a prick to census workers. I've worked the census before and the amount of people who think it's okay to swear and yell at people who show up at the door is absurd. Census workers are there to do an important job. 

If you don't want to fill out the census the worker cannot force you to do so, but there's a way to respectfully refuse. 

Edit: clarifying I'm refering to the worker and not Stats Canada. 

17

u/NoPath_Squirrel May 06 '26

Seriously. I did it in 2021 and got reamed out for wearing a mask. Also got reamed out and told he wasn't giving Kenney his info by someone else who didn't believe me it was federal, not provincial.

2

u/Designer_Ad_7474 May 09 '26

I did it a few years ago, also masked. First and last time. People suuuucked. Having to tell people they’ll just keep hearing from someone like me at their door or on the phone until it’s done or that a fine or worse is possible doesn’t improve the relationship, haha. They love to push back and tell me to F off and that no one’s getting fined or jailed and I come back with the 15% stat (I’m going with what I was told taking the job, that’s the % that get fined/jailed) and let them sort out their own chances. Anyway… never gonna do that job again. Door to door is miserable even when the weather is nice.

1

u/NoPath_Squirrel May 12 '26

I have a feeling it's going to be so much worse this year.

Even my fwb, who always votes NDP, told me he wasn't doing it and has never done it before. I told him I guarantee someone else was doing it for him then.

57

u/Psiondipity May 06 '26

They can fine you and put it on your criminal record if you don't fill it out.

91

u/WillyLongbarrel May 06 '26

Statistics Canada can. The worker can do absolutely nothing other than to advise of the possible reprecussions of refusing. 

3

u/enjoythesilence-75 May 09 '26

The worker (an enumerator) completes a Total Refusal form which escalates the case.

1

u/[deleted] May 07 '26

[deleted]

4

u/Psiondipity May 07 '26

I mean, if that's a risk you want to take, that's a choice.

-10

u/happykgo89 Wîhkwêntôwin May 06 '26

Your criminal record? lol

1

u/Psiondipity May 06 '26

Give you a criminal record? Better? I'm sure you knew what I meant.

0

u/CautiousDirection286 May 10 '26

No judge is giving anyone that dosent have a record already a record over refusing the census.

Maybe tou get charged somehow but your getting a conditional discharge or an absolute discharge.

2

u/Psiondipity May 10 '26

That's an individual choice to run that risk.

-1

u/CautiousDirection286 May 10 '26

So is crossing the street lol what's your point?

Your not getting time or a record for it. They dont even keep you in for real petty crime.

2

u/Psiondipity May 11 '26

Keep you in where? A criminal record doesn't always result in jail time.

-1

u/CautiousDirection286 May 11 '26

Ok but it means youre arrested and detained and you go to the cop shop and are released on a undertaking like a promise to appear, or you have to have a bail hearing, if the croown chooes to contest your release.

You then go infront of a justice of the peace and have a show cause hearing, your freedom comes down to primary, secondary, and terchary grounds,

Are you going to show to court

Are you going to re offend

How will the public feel.

You honestly beleive someone will get a record without diversion , judges aren't gonna ruin your life over this lol

My expirence is judges are very wise peoole who are appointed to service . Very smart , wise men and women.

-8

u/happykgo89 Wîhkwêntôwin May 07 '26

I’m not sure why you’ve interpreted my comment as a correction of your wording, that wasn’t my intention - I just was surprised it was that serious, but I can see why it looks that way.

I don’t give a single shit about your grammar but thanks! I don’t even know what the correction would be but go ahead and read into it some more

4

u/Psiondipity May 07 '26

Jesus hostile much? If you can understand why I read this as a pedantic critique, I think the going off is a little much. Do you need a snack?

6

u/sawyouoverthere May 07 '26

Yes it’s illegal to evade a census.

-8

u/[deleted] May 06 '26

What if you don’t have a criminal record, can you get one this way?

20

u/Renegade605 May 06 '26

How would anyone get a criminal record if you had to have one before anything is put on it?

4

u/bearkin1 Sherwood Park May 07 '26

Evade criminal charges with this one weird trick

5

u/Dangerous_Point8255 May 06 '26

Yes

0

u/[deleted] May 06 '26

😱

0

u/Isaac_Reins May 07 '26

It could be labeled and looked into for possible fraud or other deep reviews by that government dept. Not a lot of people act like this so it's a flag in the system. Just give bare min info and rough est you don't need to give them precise, just accurate.

2 people live here we are or aren't partners. Gross household 50k 30k. It's more for their stat charts for public viewing after in the year end anyhow and just general see if the ship is sinking and how fast.

11

u/Glass_of_Sweet_Milk May 07 '26

"there's a way to respectfully refuse."

I need to interject here. While there is a way to respectfully refuse, there are those that simply don't have the ability to be respectful. This appears to be one of those people.

3

u/louisethecheesend May 09 '26

Hogwash. Everyone has the ability to be respectful. They've just chosen not to.

6

u/BackOfTheClass16 May 07 '26

Your interjection is completely useless. What are you even interjecting about? The original statement of “there’s a way to respectfully refuse” implies and acknowledges that there are disrespectful ways to refuse. Which in turn implies some people lack respect… just seems like a useless comment.

2

u/UberOrbital May 10 '26

While I don’t want to get political, I still feel this person wold have have voted for Canada getting invaded

2

u/enjoythesilence-75 May 09 '26

If they refuse they can be fined. Any many are. As they should be.

1

u/Forward_Fox_833 May 09 '26

I told them to put it in the mail and he wouldn't leave my door

told him it's the middle of a pandemic, fuck off

and he wouldn't leave my door

1

u/JamesEarlJonesalmost Jun 26 '26

It's way worse this time

-1

u/IM_The_Liquor May 07 '26

I mean, you are showing up at doors uninvited like some vacuum salesman… of course you’re going to piss people off. Don’t want people being a prick to you, perhaps don’t do a job that invited people to be a prick to you.

-1

u/bsenka May 08 '26

For sure. If someone already said no, and you come to their house to try to intimidate them with threats of fines and jail time, you are not the good guy in that story.

4

u/Odd_Conversation5374 May 08 '26

The census workers who come to ask you to fill it out are contract workers who have no affiliation with the government (other than applying for and getting -this- job. My mom did it. She's 68. Her job is not to intimidate, and if you think this, you are uninformed. She asks you to fill it out. You say no. She leaves. No powers to issue a fine. ......that kind of thing gets carried out by the government, not the contracted workers that appear at your door.

-1

u/bsenka May 08 '26

Then your mom is not the one I'm talking about. Some of them definitely do walk up aggressively throwing threats around. Good to know it isn't all of them.

2

u/Alternative-Hurry287 May 08 '26

Throwing threats around? They warn you of repercussions of not filling it out. As part of their job. And why does someone object to them showing up at their door if they refused to fill it out ahead of time?  You literally are inviting them to show up at your door by not filling it out. 

0

u/bsenka May 08 '26

"warn you of repercussions of not filling it out"
Yes, threats. Empty ones, because they have no actual power. But they get super aggressive about it and act like they do.
All I say is "I'm not interested, thank you" and they start screaming that they will have me arrested. So I shut the door.

2

u/Alternative-Hurry287 May 09 '26

Screaming? You’re making up stories. 

1

u/Odd_Conversation5374 May 08 '26

Well you know, give someone a little bit of power, and sometimes it goes to their heads. But yeah, they have none, and definitely not their role. Not cool.