At least two people who refused to complete the 2006 Canadian census in protest against a software contract awarded to an arms manufacturer say they are willing to go to jail over the issue.

Todd Stelmach and Sandra Findley have never met, but are linked both by their cause and subsequent legal fight.

The two refused to hand in their 2006 census forms because Lockheed Martin won the contract to upgrade Statistics Canada's software.

The billion-dollar American arms dealer supplies weapons to armies around the world, including the U.S. military for the war in Iraq.

Findley, 59, said she first heard about Lockheed Martin's potential bid for the software contract in 2003 and immediately got in touch with Statistics Canada to voice her concerns.

"(Lockheed Martin) makes billions of dollars through the business of killing people, and destroying the environment in the process of killing people," Findley said from her home in Saskatoon.

"So there's no way that I'm going to see my tax dollars go to help enrich them."

Stelmach's decision to protest against the company's involvement in gathering Canadian data was quite different.

The 32-year-old Kingston, Ont., resident actually filled out his form before he and his wife heard about a census opposition group called Count Me Out.

"We discovered Lockheed Martin was outsourced by [Statistics Canada] to upgrade their software and do a lot of the processing of the 2006 census," said Stelmach.

"This just shocked me and at first I thought it was a bit of a hoax."

A fine or jail time possible

Failing to complete the national census is a federal offence. Findley and Stelmach both face a maximum penalty of three months in jail and a $500 fine.

Stelmach said he met with Crown lawyers on Friday and was offered the opportunity to fill out the form and receive a reduced fine with no jail time.

Stelmach has already refused similar offers and said he will plead not guilty in court Aug. 8.

Findley's court date is set for early 2009.

Statistics Canada forwards the files of people who refuse to fill out the form to federal authorities, who then decide if charges should be laid.

Census branch director-general Peter Morrison said charges are only laid against someone "who has made a very conscious decision numerous times not to comply with the legal requirement of the census."

"It is the law," he said.

The federal government uses the census to determine the level of funding jurisdictions across the country receive. In 2007/2008 nearly $70 billion was transferred, Morrison said.

Most of the 65 people charged for not filing the 2006 census have now complied, he said.

Agreements make bidding international

Morrison called the response to the census a "resounding success," especially on Canada's native reserves.

Still, residents of 22 reserves failed to complete the form, but Morrison blamed the number on rural access.

"You're not going to charge everybody on the reserve because you can't get access to it," he said.

Fifty-two cases of incomplete forms were referred to the federal Justice Department after the 2001 census, with seven people being convicted.

Because of trade agreements such as NAFTA the bidding process for government contracts is open internationally to companies like Lockheed Martin.

Morrison also said concerns the arms dealer would be handling Canadians' personal information is unfounded.

He likened the company's role to that of a programmer upgrading a personal computer.

"Under no circumstances does anyone other than a StatsCan employee, sworn in under the Statistics Act, ever have access to any confidential census information," he said.

Findley and Stelmach both said they've received resounding support from family, friends and co-workers — many of whom had no idea Lockheed Martin was involved in the census.

Both say they're comfortable with their decision and hope the Canadian government will be more "ethical" in the contracts it awards in the future.

"There's no reason on Earth that the Canadian census, any part of it, needed to be contracted out to enrich [Lockheed Martin]," said Findley

The next census is in 2011, with the bidding for the next software contract currently underway.