I have mixed feelings about this:

[isomorphisms]

On the one hand, props to chief statistician Munir Sheikh for resigning on principle. On the other hand, I fear that Tony Clement - who has openly said that Statistics Canada is not an independent agency, and that StatsCan reports to him - will take this opportunity to ensure that the position of chief statistician is filled by someone who is

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[meep]

But at least the replacement will have no credibility whatsoever, which will be the same for the reports coming out of StatsCan.

I doubt the news media will parrot whatever comes out of StatsCan after it has been so blatantly politicized.

[isomorphisms]

Actually, I suspect the opposite:

[StatsCan] has been largely muzzled, no longer permitted to grant interviews and responded to inquiries only with brief e-mailed statements.

Once StatsCan is reborn with a partisan hack at the helm, I'm sure that the government will allow them to grant interviews at will. And there is no shortage of media outlets that value ideology over accuracy.

[meep]

I don't doubt there will be Conrad Black's whatever-it-is flogging the "official" stats, but I would have assumed that many of the papers/TV news/other news outlets in Canada aren't particularly supportive of the Conservatives and would keep pointing out the hackery/unreliability of the stats.

Various papers do that with poll results they find suspect, too, for a variety of reasons.

[isomorphisms]

I hope you're right. And I have a feeling that you'll be right for a few weeks after a new, partisan chief statistician is appointed, and then we'll collectively forget that StatsCan is no longer a reputable organization, but is rather a branch of the ruling party. Not to mention the widespread innumeracy that leads people to just accept at face value any numbers thrown at them...