Last week Environics Institute President Michael Adams spoke at the Caledon Institute of Social Policy.  His speech, thoughtful, poignant, and at times witty, lamented the federal government's decision to scrap the mandatory long-form census.  By contrast, Adams applauded the "brave Canadian nerds" who have "championed good data".  Nerds like top brass at the Community Data Program:

"The Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD), under the leadership of Peggy Taillon, has pulled together over 25 consortia across the country. These consortia comprise federal, provincial and local government bodies, social agencies such as United Ways, health agencies, police services and the like. They have created the most comprehensive data hub in Canada to increase access to good information, and also to offer more sophisticated analytical capability –all with a view to facilitating the development of data-driven, empirically based social policy, programs, and service delivery.  (To mention just one example, the United Way Poverty by Postal Code project I mentioned earlier relied on the CCSD data program and received analysis support from CCSD.) Environics Analytics is providing access to its Adjusted Census Data for CCSD and its members at no cost. It is also offering a reporting and analytical tool called Envision, at greatly reduced cost."