The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wave goodbye as they complete their cross-Canada tour on Friday, July 8, 2011. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

Royal tour comes to an end

As they wrapped their nine-day tour of Canada, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had nothing but glowing praise for the country.

"I can only say that the experience of this past seven days has exceeded all our expectations. We have been hugely struck by the diversity of this beautiful country, from Ottawa to Quebec, from Prince Edward Island to the Northwest Territories and now the excitement of Calgary," Prince William said.

The duo dazzled at appearances across the country, even touching hearts when they made a surprise stop at the fire-ravaged town of Slave Lake in Alberta.

Visit our royals live blog for full coverage of the tour.

Many CBCNews.ca audience members have been following the journey closesly and it's remained one of our most viewed and most commented stories.

For the most part, comments have been supportive of the young couple's trip, offering thanks and words of encouragement. The pair even managed to win over some reluctant fans.

• "We all should appreciate William and Catherine. The minute they've entered Canada, they've been in a great spirit and with a constant smile. These two didn't have to do what they've been doing; I can see them doing everything with an absolute sincerity." - Ottawa999
• "This visit by William and Kate has brought joy and anticipation to so many people, Canadian and visitors." - Skeenaman
• "I must say, I didn't give a dime about this couple when they first announced their trip to Canada. Now, they have changed my mind completely about them and even about the Royal family. What a fantastic visit they have had." - georgeguill
• "I wasn't really a fan of the monarchy, but this down-to-earth and very gracious couple is starting to win me over." - Dandbert

The royals also managed to shine an international spotlight on Canada, as commenter katwalk1909 noted.

"They have done a wonderful job of letting the world know about areas in Canada that others should visit. There will be more people "google-ing" the lodge and Calgary Stampede as well as sites north of the 60th parallel and Prince Edward Island. This economic spin-off will more than compensate the costs involved."

And others were proud of how the country represented itself.

• "I think Canada put on a real good show at being us, proud Canadians, well done everyone!" - SensibleSam
• "The fact that they chose Canada for Catherine's inaugural foray on to the world stage says a lot about our country and we can be justifiably proud." - GaryJones
• "Canadians have conducted themselves very well during their visit and the rest of the world sees it. We can be proud of our country and our fellow citizens this week." - iafc123

What did you think of the royal visit?

Census woes

When the decision to scrap the mandatory long form census was originally made in 2010, many statisticians feared incomplete or compromised data.

As the summer's final push to collect forms comes to an end, some are suggesting it could be worse than they thought.

Reports suggest that in previous years census workers would call up a household that had not filled out its mandatory long questionnaire, and then pay a visit - or even several - to make sure it was completed.

But now Statistics Canada is accepting incomplete forms without conducting a follow-up.

Don McLeish, president of the Statistical Society of Canada, says partial responses could cause problems in using the data.

Several commenters weighed in with their own concerns, writing about the importance of accurate data collection.

"As a GIS (geographic information systems) technologist, I am appalled the government doesn't believe this is a priority, and made the decision to scrap the long-form census without consulting statistics specialists, and ignoring the resignation of Statistics Canada's then-Chief Statistician Munir Sheikh.

Long-form statistical data is gathered to help planners and other professionals gather accurate data about the country's population, and to better understand the dynamics of communities and to better plan for the particular needs of each community," says GoHabsGo85.

"The decision to scrap the mandatory long form will allow the Federal government to cut millions of dollars in funding simply because the proponents will not have access to the correct information," claims Roving I.

"This data is used extensively by both the private and public sectors for all sorts of economic and social program planning purposes. Governments at all levels cannot plan properly if they don't have accurate information about their populations. Census data used to be considered reliable but now with the conservative government seriously compromising the program, reliability of the data will be questionable," writes johnrod.

What do you think of the census debate? Weigh in.