WINNIPEG - New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham says Canada's only officially bilingual province needs good census data.
Graham, who is in Winnipeg for the annual premiers meeting, says his province relies on information from the long census to help it deliver services in English and French to its citizens.
It also needs the information to secure the funding it needs from the federal government to help pay for those services.
Graham says the collection of good data is also important to many non-profit groups.
The Harper government has been under pressure to reverse its decision to stop making the completion of the long census form mandatory.
Graham says the prime minister shouldn't criticize the premiers for reacting to an issue that he created.