In June 2010, Canada’s Conservative majority government made a controversial announcement that the mandatory long form Census of Canada questionnaire would be replaced by the voluntary National Household Survey, as the former was deemed to be too invasive to Canadians’ privacy, threatening imprisonment for non-compliance. This practicum examines the anticipated implications of the Census change through an analysis of existing information – the repository of letters either supporting or contesting the elimination of the mandatory questionnaire. Planning processes are contingent upon understanding socio-economic conditions and demographic distribution. The long form Census is arguably an integral planning tool that provides an indication of community change. This research explores the role of information with respect to planning processes and the use of knowledge in enabling power within or over communities. Finally, this practicum provides suggestions for planners to mitigate changes to statistical information and adapt planning processes.

In June 2010, Canada’s Conservative majority government made a controversial announcement that the mandatory long form Census of Canada questionnaire would be replaced by the voluntary National Household Survey, as the former was deemed to be too invasive to Canadians’ privacy, threatening imprisonment for non-compliance. This practicum examines the anticipated implications of the Census change through an analysis of existing information – the repository of letters either supporting or contesting the elimination of the mandatory questionnaire. Planning processes are contingent upon understanding socio-economic conditions and demographic distribution. The long form Census is arguably an integral planning tool that provides an indication of community change. This research explores the role of information with respect to planning processes and the use of knowledge in enabling power within or over communities. Finally, this practicum provides suggestions for planners to mitigate changes to statistical information and adapt planning processes.

Comedy has typically been derided as second-tier to drama in all aspects of narrative. Throughout history, comedy has seen short shrift in both critical reception and academic investigation. Merit is simply placed on drama far before that of comedy. This is not for comedy’s own lack of skill or craft, but simply for comedy’s misappropriation as a narrative form. Throughout the years, by way of either competition or economic superiority, comedy has been pigeonholed into the typified dramatic structure that drama so thoroughly encapsulates. Being forced into a form that exemplifies complex, climactic structure and explicit character development, comedy in its purest form has suffered through the ages. Gertrude Stein’s theory of Landscape Drama, and, more specifically, immediacy, is best attuned to comedy in its truest form. Comedy does not require sweeping character development, obtuse narrative design, or fantastic spectacle to produce superior works of art. Comedy, when compared to drama, exists best in a much more punctuated format. Stein’s theories, while never intended for comedy, align absolutely perfectly with the comedic genre’s design. And epitomized through long form improv on the stage, and the newly-fashioned digital short made profitable by the proliferation of the internet and digital culture, comedy’s purest form has become more readily available as narrative has progressed throughout history. With this thesis, I intend to display the disparity between comedy and drama due to comedy’s misallotment into a format that does not properly encapsulate it to its most fulfilling embodiment. Through this display, I seek to uncover the debt done to the comedic form from centuries of neglect in academic query and merit in order to best prove comedy’s need for ii critical scrutiny. Further, in doing so I hope to better construe a community of comedic research and criticism in order to create better art and more diverse comedic offerings.