Statistics Canada has been harassing small businesses and intimidating them into working for the government for free, Yukon small business owners maintain.

In a recent interview, Bill Barnie, a local artist and owner of The Frame Shop, said he's been providing free labour for Statistics Canada for more than 10 years. He is now finished filling out forms for the national statistics bureau.

'What I'm telling Statistics Canada is, Leave me alone'; I'm done,' Barnie said.

He said over the past 10 years, and in particular the last few, Statistics Canada has been sending large amounts of paperwork for him to fill out. The agency has been asking for information that is time-consuming to collect, such as energy consumption patterns, inventory figures and income information.

'These things take a long time to fill out. I'm not a bureaucrat walking around with papers in my hand trying to look busy. I'm a small business owner; I have to produce; I have to make a living,' Barnie said. 'Time is money for people like me.'

He said he believes the amount of paperwork and labour involved in assisting Statistics Canada is unreasonable and that small business owners should not be 'targeted' year after year.

'I believe in the catch and release system; I've done my time, let me go.'

Barnie said he was particularly annoyed by a question at the end of the forms he's been receiving. It asks: 'How many hours and minutes did it take you to fill out this form?'

Small businesses never receive anything from Statistics Canada showing what their contribution means, Barnie added. That leads many business owners to believe the information 'goes into a giant black hole.'

After telling Statistics Canada he no longer wants to participate, Barnie added, he was reminded that it is illegal under the Statistics Act to refuse cooperation.

Barnie said he's forwarded his concerns to Yukon MP Larry Bagnell but has received very little in the way of help.

Pat Irvin, owner of Watson Lake Foods Ltd., said he agrees the amount of time and effort it takes to fill out Statistics Canada forms is unreasonable.

'I don't have time to do it (either),' he said.

'I've got a stack of those forms on my desk. I'm not saying I won't do them, I'm just saying I don't have time to fill out those forms.'

Irvin said he'd prefer to see the information collected once a year and included on Revenue Canada's tax form so small business owners could provide all the information at one time, not throughout the year.

'They should have a section on your income tax form that says Revenue Canada will share this information with Statistics Canada,'' he said.

Irvin said the way the system works now, where Statistics Canada sends out forms directly to small businesses to fill out, is 'bullóó.'

Art Webster, owner of Whitehorse's North End Gallery, said while he hasn't been asked to provide information to Statistics Canada for a few years, he too feels the information being requested by the agency could be overwhelming.

'They pick on people every couple of years,' he said.

Webster said while he feels the information is probably important, small businesses do a lot for government such as collecting taxes and filling out statistics forms without any form of compensation.

'It's kind of like free labour,' he said.

Judith Andrew, a vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said Tuesday in Whitehorse she's heard from a number of her members that they're also having problems with Statistics Canada.

Andrew said members of her organization, of whom there are 300 in the Yukon, complain the statistics bureau is asking too much of small business.

'Our biggest case, and the case we're making (to Statistics Canada) is to streamline what's required,' she said.

Her members feel current information packages sent by Statistics Canada to be filled out are too long and time-consuming, Andrew added.

'Currently, the surveys are too long, too complex, too wordy ... (and) come too often,' she said.

'It has also been implied that Statistics Canada uses a bit of a heavy hand (in trying to collect surveys),' she said.

Most business owners, she added, never see the statistical data they've helped create and would have to pay for the information if they wanted to study it.

'If anyone wanted to see the figures (they helped create), they'd have to pay for them,' she said.

Bagnell describes the relationship between small businesses and Statistics Canada as concerning.

'This isn't new; this has been a complaint from small businesses for decades,' Bagnell said this week.

'Statistics Canada has to do a better job of telling business owners what the information is for.

'I've heard these issues both in my previous work with Industry Canada and as my role as an MP. I would say it's a concern.'

Monique Gaudreau, Statistics Canada's Small Business Response Burden Ombudsman, said this morning her organization is aware of the concerns of small business owners.

'We try as much as possible not to bother small businesses,' she told the Star. Statistics Canada has instituted a number of measures to try to help businesses, she added.

'We instituted many means (to help with the problem); the ombudsman is one.

'The ombudsman is a neutral person in place to resolve issues,' she said.

Gaudreau said while her agency tries as much as possible to spread Statistics Canada reporting requirements around to different businesses, Whitehorse has a small business community. That means businesses in the Yukon would likely be asked to contribute more often than businesses in larger centres.

'There are not many businesses in Whitehorse, so unfortunately that means more burden (for small businesses) as opposed to Toronto, where the pool is bigger,' she said.

While she understands some businesses may not want to fill out their surveys, Gaudreau said, the data are both important and a legal requirement.

'This information is used by policy makers in considering things such as the inflation rate, the Bank of Canada interest rates and pensions.

'We're quite receptive (to people who have issues with surveys) but the information is mandatory and required by law.'