Census Beer

Not satisfied with going south of the border and contracting out computer operations for the 2006 Census to the warmachine maker Lockeed Martin, Stats Canada takes contracting out one step further. Now they are running ads for Census 2006 in Alberta on a scab made beer.

If you are from Western Canada, in particular their home base of Alberta or recently Manitoba where they have been aggressively advertising, you know these guys as the low cost www.damngoodbeer.ca

The only thing good about it is the cheap cost. And how do they get that cost, why the same way they get their watery flavour, they have it brewed south of the border. Mountain Crest Breweries is not a brewery it's a Calgary holding company that contracts out its brewing to a Wisconsin brewery. Its a guy his warehouse, truck and his webpage.

It's the ultiamte NAFTA beer. US made beer shipped to Canada, all they do is take care of the packagining and re-selling. Well now Stats Canada in an effort to get 18-24 year olds to take the Census in Alberta, has teamed up with this scummy company and created Census Beer.

This is a new low for even them. Think so, well maybe not. Stats Canada is just as scummy since it is one of the few government departments that contracts out Census work on a mass scale and still uses piece wage labour.

And besides the lucrative contract paid for by you and me what does this beer front company get? Advertising and demographic data.

And Stats Canada is doing this promotion, in Alberta only, why?

Not enough Albertans between 18 and 24 participate in the federal census, so Statistics Canada has come up with a new gimmick to get their attention: advertising on beer cans. The feds have partnered with Calgary's Mountain Crest Brewing Co. to market Mountain Crest Census Brew 2006, a run of 25,000 six-packs promoting census day on May 16.

Wait a minute I thought it was illegal NOT to participate in the Census.

So if all these folks between 18-24 aren't how does Stats Canada know that? Or are they guessing. And what does that mean for their so called "you must participate or face a fine or jail" threat? Not much guess it's as watered down as the beer.

Wait a minute this is kinda last minute ain't it. Wonder if this is a Tory perk to the beer boy in Calgary.

This story was edited May 6, 2006. See: Correction

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