The Harper government's refusal to listen to reason on the long-form census caused the chief statistician to quit Wednesday night - an extraordinary move - and left Statistics Canada in open revolt. Having gotten into this mess, the Conservatives must now retreat, or put the very future of the census itself at risk.

Chief Statistician Munir Sheikh's letter of resignation, from a career public servant who has served in the Privy Council Office, in Finance and as deputy minister of Labour, is exceptional.

Clearly, Mr. Sheikh was not prepared to let the government order up a flawed census, while offering Statscan's own official silence as proof that everything is fine.

Read the entire Globe and Mail article here.