Statistics Canada released the initial results of the voluntary 2011 census on Wednesday. The previous census drew criticism over privacy concerns, prompting an announcement in 2010 that the long-form census would become optional, though the National Statistics Council expressed concerns about the change and proposed that the 2011 census remain mandatory. It isn't immediately clear whether the voluntary census resulted in an erosion in the quality of information gathered by census takers, reports the Ottawa Citizen. Lorne Gunter opines in the National Post that the government has no right to demand information from its citizens and that a voluntary census should produce just as valuable information. 
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