WINDSOR, ONT.—Former prime minister Paul Martin is accusing the Conservative government of trying to “dumb down” the country by doing away with census information that has been vital to budget-making and Canada’s international reputation.

“This country is not going to be dumbed down by a federal government that doesn’t care if in fact we make good policy based on good evidence,” Martin told a cheering Liberal crowd in his hometown of Windsor on Sunday.

And Ontario’s Finance Minister, Dwight Duncan, says that the province intends to keep up the fight against the Harper’s government’s decision to do away with the mandatory long-form census.

“This is not the way to run a democracy,” Martin told reporters on Sunday, when he and Duncan appeared at a rally in his hometown of Windsor with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.

Martin says he sees the census decision as part of Stephen Harper’s larger attempt to clamp down on information and free discussion among Canadians.

“I think it’s quite conceivable that what we’re dealing with is a government that essentially wants to control the information flow,” he said.

Martin said that in all his years as finance minister, the long-form census data was crucial during his consultations with municipalities and a whole host of medical, hospital and non-governmental organizations.

As well, he said that Canada’s ability to collect and make policy surrounding census data was an object of international admiration.

“It was my experience (at G7 and G20 finance ministers meetings) that Canada’s capacity to collect statistics, and our ability to make policy on those statistics, was admired around the world.”

Martin said. “That we should essentially walk away from that, I think, has got to be causing consternation and real puzzlement elsewhere.”

Martin also said it was a “tragedy” that the controversy provoked the resignation of Statistics Canada chief Munir Sheikh — with whom Martin worked extensively during his years as finance minister and prime minister.

“I know Munir Sheikh very very well and that Munir Sheikh would have to resign on this particular issue is a tragedy,” Martin said. “And you’ve got to ask yourself, what kind of statistician is going to replace him, when every single statistician I know of renown says the long-form census is, without any shadow of a doubt, the best way of going.”

Martin and Duncan linked up with Ignatieff on Sunday to give a boost to the Liberal leader’s summer-long tour of the country. Over the weekend, Ignatieff was speaking to crowds in London and in Windsor, and the tour included a stop at a local fair to watch a demolition derby.

Ignatieff is pitching this tour as a stark contrast to Harper’s style of government, which he repeatedly casts as closed and secretive.

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Martin, who was unseated as prime minister by Harper in the 2005-06 election, also took a couple of shots on Sunday at his successor’s absence from this summer’s political debates, too.

“If you believe in this country, you don’t stay in Ottawa, hidden away for the whole summer where nobody sees you. If you’re the prime minister of the country, you get out and see the people, like Michael Ignatieff has done,” Martin said.

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