Judge Acquits 89-Year-Old for Refusing to Participate in Census

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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89-year-old female activist, who recently gained public attention due to a case filed against her for refusing to take part in census 2011, was finally acquitted by a Toronto judge. Audrey Tobias claims to have refused to take part in the census because StatsCan was going to store the data in software acquired from software from a U.S. military contractor. The court declared that Tobias is not guilty of violating the Statistics Act, as she informed court that she is working as a peace activist since serving with the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service during the Second World War.

Tobias stated that she was “shocked,” when she heard that the Canadian census contract was given to Lockheed Martin, i.e. a notorious U.S.-based security and aerospace company with a product portfolio that includes aircraft, vehicles and technology systems used by military forces worldwide. On Wednesday, judge determined that the government’s decision to prosecute Tobias was a bad public relations move. Later, Tobias alleged that she was “grateful” for the judge’s decision, and revealed that her immediate reaction to the ruling was: “Oh, goodness gracious.”

Inquired if she thinks the case against her was “mean-spirited,” Tobias alleged that she respects the Crown for laying out its position “very carefully and methodically.” She alleged to be largely satisfied with court proceedings and glad that her story made headlines. Speaking about foreign company involvement in census contracts, Tobias stated “I think it is a significant issue for Canadians,” and hoped that “maybe people will know now what our government is about.”