By CBC News

The Federal Court was to hear a complaint Monday by a French-Canadian group that opposes the government's move to replace the mandatory long-form census with a voluntary survey.

The Federation of Francophone and Acadian Communities of Canada has asked the court in Ottawa to void the new policy from Stephen Harper's government, but it also wants an injunction that would keep the new voluntary national household survey from being distributed this year.

The federation, which has also filed a complaint with Canada's official languages commissioner about the census change, argues that the government's new policy violates not only the Official Languages Act, but also the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In late June, Industry Minister Tony Clement announced the long-form part of the 2011 census would no longer be mandatory because of privacy concerns.

Ever since the move was announced, statisticians, researchers, academics, municipalities, religious groups and others have decried the move, arguing it will result in skewed and unreliable data.

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