Subject: Update: Cdn Census outsourced to Lougheed Martin &
Angry Canadian pays off Visa with pennies de
CONTENTS (1) COMMENTS (2) FOLLOW-UP ON 2006
CANADIAN CENSUS, CONTRACTED OUT TO LOUGHEED-MARTIN (3) RELATED STORY:
CTV NEWS, NOV 23, ANGRY CANADIAN PAYS OFF VISA BILL
WITH PENNIES ===============================
(1)
COMMENTS
In April-May 2004 we participated in the huge backlash by
Canadians against Government plans to contract the 2006 census out to
Lougheed-Martin, American "company with a military orientation".
2006
is fast approaching. The letter below from Ivan P. Fellegi,
Chief Statistician of Canada, emphasizes that only 20% of the work will be
done by Lougheed-Martin.
Just as it is odious to me when the
Government enters into contractural arrangements with companies with a
history as corrupt as that of Monsanto, it is repugnant to me when my tax
dollars are used to enrich corporations tied to the American war
machine.
Aside from the question of "with whom do we do business?" is the
question of access to Canadian information held by American companies given
to the American Government through their Patriot Act.
The second
article (thanks to Al Taylor, "Angry Canadian ... ) is related.
I am
wondering whether we are heading into non-compliance with the Census, similar
to non-compliance with the gun registry? If so, it need not have been
the case: Canadians were loud and clear that out-sourcing of the census
is not wanted. Acceptable censuses have been carried out in the
past and can be done again without contracting out. They may not
be state-of-the-art but there are other over-riding considerations
that Canadians insist upon.
And all of that is related to a written
submission I will make to the "Smart Regulations" public consultation process
and circulate to you in the next day or
two.
Remember
the 2006 census by US company? Well....... I received a response to my
email. (INSERT: by Sandra - this is off the internet and not me
speaking.)
It's a generic form response but I'll share it anyways and you
all can tell me what info you derived from it.
Cut and pasted directly
from my email box, Letter from Ivan P. Fellegi, Chief Statistician of
Canada:
Statistics Canada would like to clarify and provide additional
information concerning the contracting out portion of the 2006 Census with
private industry. First of all, I would like to emphasize that only 20% of
the work for the 2006 Census will be contracted out while the remaining 80%
is being done by Statistics Canada. The distribution, collection, follow-up
and storage of questionnaires will be done strictly by Statistics
Canada.
Important improvements and significant changes in the way census
data are collected and captured are required for the 2006 Census. These
changes will move the census from what is now a highly decentralised, manual
collection operation, to a more centralised and automated approach while
addressing the issues of privacy, security, confidentiality and the
provisions of an Internet response option for Canadians. However, these and
other improvements require the implementation of a very complex logistics
and control system.
Why did we decide to contract out a portion of the
software development for the 2006 Census? Simply because, after a painstaking
review, we concluded that we lacked the expertise needed. The 2006 Census
clearly has to offer the option of Internet filing of census returns, and
this has to be integrated with the traditional paper filing option which, of
course, must also be offered. Further complicating the logistics is the fact
that we will be mailing, for the first time, the census questionnaires to
about 65% of all households in Canada. This, together with the need to know
at all times who completed and who did not their census forms (in order to
initiate timely follow-up of those who did not do so) leads to exceptionally
complex logistics.
Traditionally census returns have been key-entered
but that option will no longer be available in 2006. As a result, it will be
necessary to introduce the scanning of the paper returns into the 2006 Census
- and, again, integrate all of that with the Internet-filed returns. The
complexity of these highly technical operations was entirely outside our
range of past experience. When one considers the fact that the census must go
almost flawlessly (because we do not have a second chance), it became
abundantly clear that contracting out was the only realistic option. In
addition to the technical complexities, we also conducted a very thorough
cost benefit analysis of the "buy or make" option, to determine the
appropriate approach for undertaking the significant systems development and
operational activities required for the 2006 Census. The factors considered
included cost, timeliness, integration, risk and the availability
of resources/expertise and while not the only factor in our decision,
the business case was clearly in favour for the private sector.
Incidentally, the same conclusion was reached not only by our US counterpart,
but also by the Office of National Statistics in the UK for their census
systems development and processing activities.
After a lengthy
consultation process with industry, proposals were invited by Public Works
and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) through a Request for Proposal (RFP).
Critical security and confidentiality requirements were built into the RFP to
ensure the protection of census returns. Indeed, these safeguards will be
even higher in 2006 than they were in 2001 or in
earlier censuses.
Under the North American Free Trade Agreement and
World Trade Organization Agreement regulations that governed this
procurement, non-Canadian based firms were eligible to submit a bid. All of
the bidders were Canadian firms, although several were US owned. The
evaluation of proposals was very rigorous, with no opportunity for biasing
the results either in favour of, or against, any one bidder. In addition, an
independent fairness monitor certified that the selection process followed
the terms of the RFP and that the process was fair and objective to all
bidders. Through this process, PWGSC awarded the contract to Lockheed Martin
Canada Inc. to carry out activities in support of the 2006 Census. The firm
will be leading a consortium consisting of IBM Canada and Transcontinental
Printing Inc. Canada and ADECCO Employment Services Ltd
Canada.
Lockheed Martin specifically has a successful track record in
developing and implementing solutions in a census context and has access to
international expertise based on lessons learned in the United States and
United Kingdom censuses. Statistics Canada is capitalizing on this existing
experience and investment.
Statistics Canada will maintain full
control of all aspects of the census. Indeed, the data collected from
Canadians will, at all times, be under the care and full control of
Statistics Canada and everyone working on the census will, as always, be
subject to the provisions and penalties of the Statistics Act. Only census
agents who are sworn to secrecy under the Statistics Act - and subject to
considerable penalties should their oath be violated (including imprisonment
of up to six months) - will have access to individual census information.
Career employees will at all times be in charge of every aspect of census
operations
All contractors will be security screened, and sworn in under
the Statistics Act. As such, they will become Statistics Canada employees,
subject to all the sanctions of the Act.
Stringent safeguards will be
in place to ensure that only information required for the processing
operation is accessible by the contractor. The census processing site will be
strictly isolated from external networks, so unauthorised transmission of
census data would be physically impossible. In addition, all sites will be
subject to 24-hour supervision by our career employees. Needless to say, data
will never be processed or stored outside the country. Processed data will be
stored at Statistics Canada premises.
Statistics Canada has a
well-earned reputation for quality statistics, which in turn depends on the
trust of Canadians. It would never endanger that reputation by exposing to
the slightest risk the confidential data that its respondents provide - let
alone exposing it to access by any foreign country. The confidentiality of
2006 Census returns will be as stringently guarded as in the past; in fact,
technology allows us to implement even better safeguards. We are ready to
expose our plans to any expert scrutiny.
Don Rogers shows off his Visa bill to
Canada AM on Wednesday from CTV's bureau in Ottawa.
CTV.ca News
Staff
Updated: Wed. Nov. 23 2005 8:59 AM ET
When Don Rogers found
out that his bank had outsourced its credit card processing to a U.S. company
-- potentially, he believes, putting his personal information at risk -- he
decided to do something about it.
The 62-year-old retired city councilor
from Kingston, Ont., paid his $230 Visa bill with Citizens Bank of Canada in
985 installments -- often pennies at a time -- in protest.
Rogers
was worried that by allowing a U.S. company to review all his purchases, U.S.
authorities could gain access to his personal information under the Patriot
Act, a controversial piece of legislation that the U.S. hopes will help
them crack down on terrorism but that has privacy advocates
worried.
"This has huge implications for privacy of Canadians," Rogers
told CTV's Canada AM Wednesday, "because once your personal data enters
the United States, it becomes subject to American law.
"The Patriot
Act could kick in and your information could be forcibly turned over to the
American government."
Rogers complained to his bank, but didn't like the
response.
"They were very pleasant at first and sympathetic. But as I
refused to let go of the issue, their position hardened
somewhat."
When the bank refused to stop outsourcing their Visa
billing processing to a company in Georgia, Rogers decided to fight
back.
"I usually pay my credit card statement with one payment each
month, transferring it by Internet from my bank account to my Visa
account," he explained.
"And I thought well, hey, what would happen if
I transferred one cent? So I tried it and it went through. So what I did was
basically pay off a large part of my Visa in one cent and five-cent, nickel
dime payments."
The result was a payment statement that grew to 35
pages long and a half-inch thick.
"It came with a heck of a thump
through the letter slot," Rogers laughs.
The maneuver created a huge
headache for accounting personnel at Citizens Bank and generated a phone call
from the bank's information technology department.
"I told the guy,
'Well, I'm trying to get your bank president's attention. He said 'You have
got his attention'."
Rogers has also gotten the attention of a number of
news outlets who have pressing him for interviews - much to his
satisfaction.
"It is gratifying that the little guy can fight the big
corporations and make an impact."
Rogers says he still isn't sure
whether his stunt is going to make his bank change its policy. He's given
them until Jan. 1, 2006, to return their payment processing back to
Canada.
"The way it was left about a week ago, the last discussion I had
with the bank's vice-president in charge of Visa was that they would
be back to me shortly and we declared a temporary truce. So I'm waiting
to hear from them."
Rogers jokes that the moral of the story is: don't
mess with a retiree -- "retired folks are dangerous. We have time on our
hands" - but he believes that other Canadians should be asking the kinds of
questions he asked.
"Most Canadian credit card holders have no idea
whether their personal data regularly goes down to the United States. They
should ask their bank. It's a legitimate question to ask."
And it you
don't like the answer, try the "Rogers one cent solution", he
recommends.
"I think Canadians have to speak up. There's Canadian
sovereignty involved."
* Copyright 2002-2006 Bell Globemedia
Inc. ============================ Email from: Sandra
Finley Saskatoon, SK 306-373-8078 sabest1@sasktel.net
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