Hello Gene, You don’t know me, but I check in on your blog from time to time. I’m in need of some advice. I decided to withhold my census in 2006 due to Lockheed Martin technology used to count the census. My wife and I envisioned this protest as part of our Christian witness. Then after 6 months my wife and I decided to return it after defacing its bar codes with the hope that Lockheed Martin would no longer be able to count it, along with a letter explaining our position and our disappointment with Statscan (Statistics Canada).

Then about a month ago I received a summons from the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) asking me to appear in court on June 6th as I was charged by the Justice Department for withholding my census. I was approached by an activist who also was charged who told me only 63 of thousands of people who withheld their census were actually charged, including many thousand of Native Canadians, none of whom were charged (thank God).

This activist and some of the people at Vive Le Canada and Count Me Out [groups advocating greater Canadian control in the age of globalization] would like me to plead not guilty, begin the court process, and involve the media. I talked to a scholar friend of mine who said he had not heard of anyone making this sort of civil disobedience, but that in my situation he would in fact plead not guilty and seek to make the case public. I have started in this direction. But what bothers me is I am not finding any other Christians who are also withholding their census.

I am wondering if this is the hill I want to die on. I am new to peacemaking, and very naive. When I started this whole process, I thought I was heading down the right track, now I have less confidence, especially as the Crown, the judge, and other legal staff didn’t seem to care whether I plead guilty or not, as they felt it would do little good either way. Without really knowing any Canadian peace movement types, I struggle with what to do. So… I thought I’d ask you since we share the same province, I live in Kingston, Ontario. The other activist who has been charged is in Saskatchewan. God Bless, Todd Patrick Stelmach, blog site for further explanation.

Gene Stoltzfus, a founder of Christian Peacemaker Teams answers at his blog Peace Talk.
Todd Stelmach is going to court tomorrow.  I was not aware the Canadian government bought tabulating equipment from Lockheed Martin, and I don’t see any good reason they should have.
Is this a hill I’d be prepared to take a stand on? What are ways we can help Canadians who are willing to go through this process?