I'm not about to dig for something they're unlikely to have been foolish enough to have written down. Do you accept that Reform was explicitly a religious party and that the current Conservative Party is run by former members of Reform? If so then I suppose you'll understand that I'm frightened by the Conservative Party on the basis of leopards and spots.

Playing devils advocate, at least you know what to expect/ suspect. Ignatieff has no real track record to judge him by, he only entered politics 5 years ago.

Pretty hard for Iggy-flop to have a track record....with all the flip-flops....a tough job for sure.

A tack record of sorts I guess

What the opposition has to do anywhere.........

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/c...-sunshine.html

You see that's exactly where it is wrong. I see the Liberals as being left wing, not centerist and the Torys as being slightly to the right. So whoever set up the thing has immediately put a bias into it, imho.

Not everyone is going to agree with the assessments. I would hope it was generated by someone independent with no particular dog in the fight. DOes anyone know or is it just speculation.

Perhaps it was set up based on the views of a majority of Canadians? I was a little surprised to see the conservatives quite so far to the right, but I dont think it was a million miles from the general consensus view.

I still think it would be interesting to see where the party leaders are placed on the chart!

My concern is quite the opposite. The voters think they know what they will get when the Conservatives get their majority (which does seem likely). I suspect they might be in for a shock.

I hadnt considered the posibility that the Canadian electorate was that naive as to expect "more of the same"

I suppose that depends on your stance on social issues. I see their views as being archaic. I believe they oppose gay marriage, abortion on demand, equality in the workplace, freedom of religion. I believe they support spending on colonialism and religion in schools. All of which make them, to my mind, very far to the right. Economically they're less eccentric, essentially coasting on the benefits of previous administrations.

On the social issues listed, do you agree with the positions as described?

And that's the crux of the matter. The CBC is a left leaning corporation. Also some info from the Toronto Sun:

Not surprisingly, the CBC has stonewalled requests to release their formula.

Why the secrecy? CBC spokesman Jeff Keay said there is no bias, "as far as we know." What does that mean? Has Keay even seen the formula? Whose word is he taking that it's fair?

Perhaps he's taking the word of Peter Loewen, the "director of analytics" for the Vote Compass. Loewen just happens to have been a policy adviser for Michael Ignatieff's 2006 Liberal leadership campaign.

No bias?

Or maybe Keay is taking the word of Richard Johnston, on Vote Compass's advisory board. Last month Johnston savaged Stephen Harper in the press, claiming he was destroying the "integrity" of government.

I haven't heard anything about workplace equality or freedom of religion? What are you referring to with regards to colonialism? Some of the best schools are Catholic (I'm not). Economically they are fairly centerist as opposed to the Liberals who are all about Tax and Spend

What do you base this upon? Isn't it just your own speculation as to what Harper may do if he obtains a majority?

Regarding the Vote Compass; If I dug into it why do I suspect that I would also find people associated with it who are also associated with the conservatives? It wouldnt be the first time there has been some selective reporting going on.

You would think a tool like that would necessarily be generated with the involvement of both sides wouldnt you?

Its not really the place of the CBC to get dragged into a political pissing contest, so a steadfast "no comment" is hardly a surprise. Anything else and they will get slaughtered by one side or the other, so they cant really win (and probably should have steered clear of this minefield in the first place)

Based upon him being the person who originally drew up the Reform Parties policies it doesnt seem to be totally without basis.

As in football, it's customary to refer to left and right sided players in reference to the location of a goal placed in the middle of the end lines.

By your view, apparently you'd put one of the goal posts on the right hand corner flag.