Monday, August 23, 2010

On contrasting goals

Needless to say, it's a plus to see the Canadian Association of Police Boards joining the chorus slamming the Harper Cons' decision to gut the long-form census. But it's worth pointing out as well how nicely the census issue highlights the difference between the Cons and...well, anybody who wants to accomplish anything useful in any policy area.

It's fairly obvious why both police forces and the Cons tend to agree in wanting to talk about crime - the police because it's their job, the Cons because it's a signature issue. But it's only the former who are actually interested in measuring what works to make sure we're actually making progress - while for the Cons, the less reliable information there is available, the better in getting Canadians to feel fear even when it isn't based in fact.

No comments:

Post a Comment