CBC vote quiz creator worked for Ignatieff
By Brian Lilley, Parliamentary Bureau, Toronto Sun, Last Updated: March 31, 2011 10:21pm
OTTAWA - The CBC keeps things in the family. The state broadcaster built an online voting tool that's under fire for having a Liberal bias. And it turns out one of the key people behind CBC's Vote Compass worked as a policy advisor on Michael Ignatieff's Liberal leadership campaign in 2006.
Peter Loewen, assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto, is also the director of analytics for the CBC's online vote selection tool. Vote Compass, a 30 question online tool, is supposed to give voters an idea of what party they are most closely aligned. Critics say it's biased towards the Liberals.
"I volunteered in 2006," Loewen says of his work for Ignatieff's first failed bid for the Liberal leadership. "The nature of that work was that I wrote a couple of policy papers on equalization." Loewen denies that his work then has any bearing on the outcome of the Vote Compass now or that the vote picking tool leans to the party he once worked with. Critics from the left and the right have claimed the Vote Compass is flawed.
Professor Kathy Brock of Queen's University told QMI Agency on Tuesday that the CBC's web program gives users a default position of Liberal. NDP critics have said it points their voters to the Liberals or Greens.
Loewen dismisses Brock's criticism but refused to say whether those using the tool were showing up Liberal in greater numbers. "We don't have a representative sample," Loewen said, "They come to us through the CBC website."
CBC has been pushing the voter selection guide on its main network and its all-news channel. In one video promotion, show host George Stroumboulopoulous tells viewers to take the test, "In about five minutes you will know who represents you the best. You might actually be surprised." Some participants are very surprised, mostly to find out they are Liberal.
On Wednesday, CBC responded to the criticism by airing a report that showed students filling out the questionnaire. One student who said she thought of herself as more Conservative came up as a Liberal, another who thought he was more of an NDP supporter also came out Liberal.
Loewen told QMI Agency he had no role in the placement of the parties in the standings or that he is politically biased, noting that he once bought a $100 ticket to a Stephen Harper fundraiser. "I'm a political scientist, I study elections, I study how people vote," Loewen said.
CBC has defended the Vote Compass. A spokesperson for the CBC said they had nothing to do with the methodology.
By Brian Lilley, Parliamentary Bureau, Toronto Sun, Last Updated: March 31, 2011 10:21pm
OTTAWA - The CBC keeps things in the family. The state broadcaster built an online voting tool that's under fire for having a Liberal bias. And it turns out one of the key people behind CBC's Vote Compass worked as a policy advisor on Michael Ignatieff's Liberal leadership campaign in 2006.
Peter Loewen, assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto, is also the director of analytics for the CBC's online vote selection tool. Vote Compass, a 30 question online tool, is supposed to give voters an idea of what party they are most closely aligned. Critics say it's biased towards the Liberals.
"I volunteered in 2006," Loewen says of his work for Ignatieff's first failed bid for the Liberal leadership. "The nature of that work was that I wrote a couple of policy papers on equalization." Loewen denies that his work then has any bearing on the outcome of the Vote Compass now or that the vote picking tool leans to the party he once worked with. Critics from the left and the right have claimed the Vote Compass is flawed.
Professor Kathy Brock of Queen's University told QMI Agency on Tuesday that the CBC's web program gives users a default position of Liberal. NDP critics have said it points their voters to the Liberals or Greens.
Loewen dismisses Brock's criticism but refused to say whether those using the tool were showing up Liberal in greater numbers. "We don't have a representative sample," Loewen said, "They come to us through the CBC website."
CBC has been pushing the voter selection guide on its main network and its all-news channel. In one video promotion, show host George Stroumboulopoulous tells viewers to take the test, "In about five minutes you will know who represents you the best. You might actually be surprised." Some participants are very surprised, mostly to find out they are Liberal.
On Wednesday, CBC responded to the criticism by airing a report that showed students filling out the questionnaire. One student who said she thought of herself as more Conservative came up as a Liberal, another who thought he was more of an NDP supporter also came out Liberal.
Loewen told QMI Agency he had no role in the placement of the parties in the standings or that he is politically biased, noting that he once bought a $100 ticket to a Stephen Harper fundraiser. "I'm a political scientist, I study elections, I study how people vote," Loewen said.
CBC has defended the Vote Compass. A spokesperson for the CBC said they had nothing to do with the methodology.