Privacy is extremely precious. It can be lost by force, neglect,
or ignorance. Once our privacy is totally eroded (as it will be)
we face the spectre of dictatorship. We need only glance at the
East German situation prior to the fall of the wall (as an example) to see what can happen to any nation and its people when privacy is lost.

Whilst the Government has the right to ask questions, citizens have
the higher right to refuse to answer. However, it is this writers
belief that basic questions such as name, address, age etc. should
be answered since this, historically, is the ‘head count’ and is one
clear way in which our population figure is recorded.

Canadians MUST stand up for their freedoms. It is vital that we
ensure that our children’s children etc. realize that we fought to
maintain their rights and freedoms. If we do this future generations
will live in a society in which the individual is respected and not
simply considered to be a number. A government which respects
its citizens, and has empathy for their needs, is a strong government, managing a strong country. Governments and citizens
who chose to ignore these qualities are starting a long walk towards
1984.

J. Ridden, Montreal.