Media

OTTAWA, October 22, 2010  —  The University of Ottawa, in collaboration with the Statistical Society of Ottawa, invites you to an expert panel discussion on the role of the long-form census and the recent decision by the Canadian government to eliminate it. Why and how did this happen? What will be the impacts of this decision? What is the future of the Canadian census?

WHAT: Expert panel discussion on the long-form census in Canada

WHEN: Monday, October 25,, 2010, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

WHERE: Desmarais Building, 55 Laurier Avenue East, Room 1160

Panellists will include:

Monica Boyd joined the University of Toronto in 2001 and holds the Canada Research Chair in Immigration, Inequality and Public Policy. Previously, she was the Mildred and Claude Pepper Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Florida State University where she was also a research associate at the Center for the Study of Population and a research affiliate at the Pepper Institute on Aging. A former faculty member at Carleton University in Ottawa, she was also the first incumbent of the Visiting Chair in Public Policy, Social Science Division, at the University of Western Ontario. She has held visiting scholar appointments at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, at Harvard University and at Statistics Canada.

Ernie Boyko was director of Agriculture Statistics and held a variety of positions in other sectors of Statistics Canada, including Corporate Planning, Electronic Data Dissemination, Census Operations and the Library and Information Centre. He has a master's degree in agriculture economics from the University of Manitoba. He started his career with Statistics Canada’s predecessor, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics (DBS), in 1969. Since his retirement in 2004, he has been an adjunct data librarian at Carleton University and has worked internationally in Africa and Asia with the World Bank and the International Household Survey Network in the area of statistical capacity building.

Ivan Peter Fellegi was Canada’s chief statistician from 1985 to 2008. In 1958, he was the first Carleton University student to receive a master’s of science degree. In 1962, he was appointed director of Sampling Research and Consultation Staff at DBS and, in 1971, director general of the Methodology and Systems Branch of Statistics Canada. He was promoted to assistant chief statistician in 1973 and became Statistics Canada’s deputy chief statistician in 1984. On September 1, 1985, with close to 30 years of experience with Statistic’s Canada, Ivan Fellegi was appointed chief statistician of Canada, the position he held until he retired in 2008. In 1992, Fellegi was made a member of the Order of Canada and was elevated to officer in 1998. He is an honorary member of the International Statistical Institute and an honorary fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. During the transition of his native Hungary to democracy, he provided advice on statistical matters. In 2004, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary. Ivan Fellegi is also a recipient of an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa.

Peggy Taillon is president of the Canadian Council on Social Development, Canada's longest-standing social policy and research organization. A passionate advocate for equality and social justice, Peggy Taillon most recently served as senior vice-president of Advocacy and Community Engagement and as chief privacy officer at The Ottawa Hospital. She has used her expertise to influence the development and reform of health and human service systems. She has also been a catalyst for bringing together people and systems, establishing a wide array of networks and organizations anchored by the goals social justice.