Darth Layton badmouths Jedi Order

There is a high-profile national debate in the media that few Canadians actually care about: the recent announcement that the Canadian government will dispense with the long form census,.

There has been little interest in this matter from Canadians who don't rely on the data that the Fraser Institute suggests is taxpayer subsidization for professional researchers and special interest groups extracted by threat of criminal prosecution.

But it's summer and there isn't much news going on now, so the media has to try to stir up action wherever it can.

One of the silliest points of debate on this matter has been the "Jedi Argument" first brought up by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Director of Communications, Dmitri Soudas:

“21,000 Canadians registered Jedi knight as a religion in the 2001 census. Religion is asked every 10 years. We made the 40-page long form voluntary because government should not threaten prosecution or jail time to force Canadians to divulge unnecessary private and personal information. Canadians don't want the government at their doorstep at 10 o'clock at night while they may be doing something in their bedroom, like reading, because government wants to know how many bedrooms they have.”

Do the Jedi want recognition of their numbers or do they oppose government collection of their whereabouts so that it could be used against them again the way the Evil Emperor did when he issued "Order 66?"



It would, on the surface seem there was an alliance between the Galactic peacekeepers and the nefarious forces of anti-Globalization in the NDP. But it turns out, there is a disturbance in the Force.

The NDP, who have been arguing in favour of the long-form census, have disavowed their former allies, the Canadian Jedis.

From the official NDP website:

What do 21,000 Jedis have to do with the Long Form Census? Nothing. What does the long form census have to do with government officials showing up at 10 o'clock at night at Canadians’ doors? Nothing. What does bedtime reading have to do with an accurate statistical portrait of our country’s demographics? Nothing.
But there you have it: the spokesperson for the Prime Minister of Canada talking about Jedis.

The force is weak with these ones.

The NDP have abandoned the Jedi in their battle against the Conservatives. But true to form, the Jedi are not taking this lying down and are continuing the battle to preserve the long form census on their own (through a parody created by The Western Standard).

The Jedi Census parody was created by the Western Standard. But as of a few minutes ago, it seems the Dark Side has hacked it into extinction.  Check back to see which side in the epic battle of silliness will prevail.

This is a war in which the farcical side battles are far more interesting than the issue itself.

h/t Blazing Cat Fur