Eve Stegenga will have her day in court, but she’ll have to wait for the summer.
The Lund yoga teacher is facing federal charges after she failed to complete the mandatory short-form census in 2011. She is representing herself in court.
Stegenga plead not-guilty to the federal charges under the Statistics Act in court last October. A March 27 court date was set and she was to present the outline of her case in a court appearance February 26. During that appearance, the court determined that Stegenga would need to confirm her witness as an expert. She is also required to file a report to the federal prosecutor outlining her case which revolves around her claims that the Act violates her fundamental rights under Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to unreasonable search and seizure, freedom of expression and conscience.
She said that she did not complete the 2011 census out of concerns she had that Statistics Canada had contracted the services of Lockheed Martin Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of a American defence contractor. It provided the software and print for both the 2006 and 2011 censuses.
Her court date was rescheduled to Thursday, July 17.
Stegenga’s case has attracted the attention of some high profile census resisters. Sitting behind her in her court appearance last week was Saskatchewan community organizer, Sandra Finley, who now lives on Vancouver Island. In 2011 Finley faced similar charges stemming from not completing the 2006 mandatory long-form census for similar reasons. Finley was found guilty, but given an absolute discharge which meant she did not receive a criminal record.
“She’s not a lawyer, but she has helped me and given lots of support,” said Stegenga.
Toronto resident Janet Churnin, also a census resister, was found guilty in January of failing to complete the 2011 census. She was also given an absolute discharge, but sentenced to 50 hours of community service.
