How to Poo

Purpose

This is a fairly quick 15 question quiz that was designed with the intent to help Canadian voters choose the party that best reflects their views and opinions.

Please take this tool with a grain of salt. It is not meant to be a definitve guide for the clueless voter, but hopefully will provide some insight into the decision-making process leading up to his or her cast ballot.

The policy information for each party was taken from the Ottawa Citizen (published: Sunday, October 12, 2008). The original layout was a table listing points for each of the five federal parties' platforms across 15 main issues. For the quiz, the party names have been hidden and their points have been radnomized within each main issue.

Some have accussed the Ottawa Citizen of being a left-leaning newspaper so please be aware that there is generally some form of bias in the majority of news and other media. There are some attempts at limiting this such as Skewz and FactCheck, but their focus is more on American media.

Lastly, this tool was created with a further objective of helping temper blind obedience to a particular party. Opinions tend to become polarized with one party being preferred and another despised. The article "Does ideology trump facts? Studies say it often does" has this to say: "We like to think that people will be well informed before making important decisions, such as who to vote for, but the truth is that's not always the case... [One study's] findings suggest that facts that contradicted political ideology were simply not taken in; if anything, challenging misbelief with fact checking has the counterintuitive effect of reinforcing that misbelief." Moral of this story: keep an open and critical mind.

Instructions

Under each main issue heading, select (using the radio buttons) the statement(s) that you think best represent your own views on the subject.
Additionally, for each main issue, indicate a weight between 1 (not important at all) to 10 (very important), with 5 being neither important nor unimportant, which reflects how important or relevant the issue is to yourself, to Canadians, etc.
Click the "Score Me" button located at the bottom of the page.
~~GO VOTE!~~

[start]

1. Aboriginals

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Improve aboriginals' education programs Address the wrongs of the residential-schools era for aboriginals attending similar schools not covered by the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement Push for better housing for First Nations and Inuit in the North
	Bring back the Kelowna Accord, and fulfil the commitments within other accords and agreements Work to renew the Métis nation's partnership in Confederation
	Support the restoration of the $5.1-billion commitment of the Kelowna Accord Set up task forces to address aboriginals' treatment in the justice system and to investigate and address the disappearance of aboriginal women
	Invest $5 billion over five years to improve the standard of living in First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities Legally recognizes the legitimacy and jurisdiction of indigenous governments
	Continue to ask that the federal government honour treaties fully, so as to form a partnership with aboriginals based on trust, mutual respect and the recongition of rights

2. Agriculture

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Shift government-supported research away from biotechnology and energy-intensive farming and toward organic food production Work to ban experimentation with, planting and promotion of gentically engineered crops
	Introduce a new regional flexibility fund to help regions improve crop insurance and environment programs Support the promotion of local farmers' markets and the branding of Canadian foods
	Ban the use of Terminator seeds Limit meat-packers' ownership of cattle by adding new provisions to the Competition Act
	Defend the offer-management system at the core of Quebec's agriculture
	Set aside $500 million over the next four years to implement an agricultural flexibility program Ensure Western Canadian farmers can choose whether to sell grain on the open market or through the Canadian Wheat Board Invest $50 million for strong slaughter capacity in various regions to support beef and dairy industries

3. Arts and Culture

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Reverse Conservative funding cuts Increase funding for the Canada Council of the Arts; provide sustained funding for the Canadian Television Fund and Telefilm Canada; and ensure television and telecommunications networks remain Canadian-owned
	Maintain or increase support for the CBC, Canada Council of the Arts, National Film Board and Telefilm Canada Reverse Conservative funding cuts
	Provide tax break to parents of up to $500 for each child enrolled in arts activities Increase funding for French-language TV5 by $25 million over five years Alternate the chairmanship of the CRTC between French and English speakers Not reintroduce legislation to deny tax credits to films deemed by culture minister contrary to "public policy"
	Ensure all federal money earmarked for culture flows to the provinces with no strings attached
	Raise the budget of the Canadian Council of the Arts to $360 million over four years Reverse $45 million in Tory program cuts Increase budget for international arts promotion by $26 million and the musuem-assistance program by $16 million

4. Child Care

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Promote a federally funded universal program, and offer employers a tax credit of $1,500 a year for each space created
	Maintain yearly $1,200 benefit and spend $1.24 billion over four years to create 165,000 new spaces Provide a tax credit worth $350 for children under 18
	Provide non-taxable monthly cheque of up to $416 for children under 18 Create 250,000 child care spaces over four years
	Any new federal childcare dollars come with no strings attached
	Allow the annual taxable $1,200 universal benefit to increase at the rate of inflation, and make the payment non-taxable for single parentsImprove access to parental leave for self-employed workers

5. Consumer Protection

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Review the role of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
	Invest $50 million to hire 100 new food inspectors and strengthen laws and regulations to ensure only safe food and products are sold in Canada
	Ensure wholesomeness of foods by monitoring pesticides. herbicides and growth hromones, and limit children's exposure to the marketing of junk foods Ban experimentation and promotion of new genetically engineered foods and research Oppose mergers of Canada's big banks; support credit union system
	Reduce hidden fees and ban ATM fees for institutions regulated under the Bank Act Push for more accountability and transparency from cellphone companies, banks and airlines End charges on incoming text messages
	Increase fines for gas vendors and home-heating companies that overcharge consumers by more than three percent Raise the penalties for bid-rigging and price-fixing Clamp down on false and misleading advertising Create a code of conduct for wireless service industry, punishing cellphone companies that charge for unsolicited text messages and companies sending Internet spam

6. Defence

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Pull troops out of Kandahar, while maintaining some military presence in Afghanistan Rebalance the mission towards development and diplomacy
	Continue training Afghan police and army before a 2011 troop withdrawal Rebuild the Dahla Dam, repair schools, train teachers, promote better governance
	Restore Canada's peacekeeping role and help build a United Nations reaction force Shift the Afghanistan mission from NATO to UN control
	Withdraw troops from Kandahar and focus on a diplomatic solution to the war Focus the military on disaster relief and peacekeeping
	Pull troops out of Kandahar by 2011, and focus on development and diplomacy Spend $60 million to help soldiers with post-traumatic stress

7. Economy

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Produce economic and fiscal update, immediately assess Canada's regulatory framework Call premiers meeting Billions for manufacturers, infrastructure and research Host of tax breaks for green technology and tax increases for polluters
	Roll back corporate tax cuts and pour resulting billions into retraining programs and incentives to manufacture green cars and other products
	Renegotiate NAFTA Set up green venture-capital funds Force the federal government to buy Canadian Base economic policy on environment and well-being
	Federal support of the forestry and manufacturing industries Reduce Quebec's dependence on oil Bring in a single tax return
	No new taxes, no new subsidies, no new bailouts and no deficits Modest investments in certain industry sectors

8. Environment

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to three per cent below 1990 levels to 2020 Mandatory caps on industrial pollution per unit of production Incentives and investments to encourage green technologies, energy efficiency
	Reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 20 to 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 Carbon tax on fossil fuels for consumers and industry; mandatory cap and trade system in subsequent years Green incentives and investments
	Reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 Introduce regulations for cap and trade system with absolute reductions in emissions from industry New dedicated public transit fund; green jobs strategy
	Reduce green-house gas emissions with science-based targets to avoid dangerous climate change Reduce dependence on fossil fuels that cause greenhouse-gas emissions
	Reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 30 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 Carbon tax on fossil fuels for consumers and industry, mandatory caps for industry on carbon-exchange market Green incentives and investments

9. Fisheries

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Modernize the administration of Canada’s fisheries to focus on conservation and use sanctions, rather than court proceedings to deal with violators
	Place a permanent moratorium on oil and gas exploration and development in ecologically sensitive areas, particularly the west coast of British Columbia and the Gulf of St. Lawrence Sign and ratify the global treaty to ban bottom trawling Strengthen the Fisheries Act
	Partner with the provinces to fund an early retirement program Support energy-efficiency efforts with the party’s Green Fisheries and Transport fund
	Invest $475 million over five years to refurbish ports for small fishing vessels in Quebec and in Canada
	Focus on the long-term economic and environmental sustainability of Canada’s marine resources

10. Health Care

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	National minimum coverage for-catastrophic drug costs for such illnesses as cancer and diabetes Train more health professionals, help foreign-trained ones get Canadian credentials Forgive $10,000 in student debt for each year a newly graduated doctor works in a small community with few medical services
	Double the number of doctors and nurses in training Forgive loans of newly graduated doctors who stay in family practice for a decade Oppose for-profit medical services
	Protect universal health care Prevent illness by cleaning up the environment and discouraging smoking Encourage long-term care at home
	A national wait-time guarantee Funds for data collection and sharing
	Separate, universal health care system in Quebec

11. Infrastructure

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Building Canada plan in the 2007 federal budget, to spend $33 billion on infrastructure projects over seven years Cities would get a portion of money in areas such as public transit, water systems, roads and recreational facilities
	Raise the GST to six percent to transfer to municipalities for their infrastructure needs New bonds and superfunds to finance new projects
	A new funding formula for municipal infrastructure projects Federal government to pay 50 percent of the costs, versus 35 percent for the provinces and 15 percent for the cities
	Invest $70 billion over 10 years for infrastructure needs A new infrastructure Bank to provide low-interest financing for projects
	Transfer equivalent of one percentage point of GST for cities and communities to finance infrastructure projects Transfer a portion of gas tax specifically for public transit

12. Immigration

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Give refugees the right to appeal rulings Press the federal government to give Quebec the authority to help reunite families
	Implement new law giving the minister new discretionary powers to fast-track groups of immigrants Lower landing fees, and speed recognition of foreign credentials
	Invest $800 million in new programs, including matching new arrivals to jobs suited to their skills Repeal discretionary powers of the minister
	Push professional societies to recognize foreign credentials Increase money for language training and work with cities and provinces to settle new arrivals
	Accelerate recognition of foreign credentials, degrees Reduce backlogs to help reunify families to raise immigration rate to one percent of population

13. Law and Order

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Create $40 million fund to combat guns and gangs Ban military assault rifles like one used at Montreal's Dawson College Work with U.S. to reduce illegal gun smuggling Introduce law against cyberbullying
	Empower municipalities, provinces to ban handguns Tackle gun smuggling Add 2,500 new police officers nationwide Decriminalize marijuana
	Focus on intervention and rehabilitation for young offenders, rejecting proposed Conservative crackdownDecriminalize marijuana Retain federal gun registry
	Stiff punishment for criminals Crack down on serious youth crime, allowing judges to impose life sentences, publish namesAbolish conditional sentences ('house arrest') for 30 offences Minimum prison terms for drug crimes
	Legalize and tax marijuana Promote restorative justice, where offenders make reparation to victims and community

14. Taxes

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Cut tax on diesel and jet fuel from four cents a litre to two cents Modest tax benefits for seniors, first-time homebuyers, apprentices, parents with kids in the arts and people with disabled spouses
	Raise corporate tax rate back to last year’s level and cancel future corporate tax cuts promised by Tories Non-taxable child benefit of up to $416 a month for children under 18
	Impose tax of $10 per tonne of greenhouse-gas emissions, growing to $40 per tonne in four years Cut bottom three income-tax rates, lower corporate tax rate by one per cent and offer tax credits to low income earners
	Lobby for refundable tax-credits that would enable money-losing manufacturing and forestry companies to innovate out of slump Lobby for range of tax credits, such as credit for new graduates to convince them to stay in Quebec
	Impose carbon tax of $50 per tonne of greenhouse-gas emissions GST back to six per cent and invest funds in infrastructure and public transit

15. Trade

Importance of this issue:
How important is this issue to you? (1: not important at all; 10: very important)

	Renegotiate NAFTA Insist federal government buy Canadian and honour Kyoto Ban offshore factory-fishing draggers and encourage production and consumption of organically grown agricultural products
	Ban bulk water exports; improve trade relationship with China New focus on human rights and environment at WTO and other trade negotiations
	Apply trade-based aspects of the Kyoto Protocol including the administration of a ‘true’ carbon market
	Discourage trade with countries with lousy environmental and worker-protection records Rip up the softwood lumber agreement and renegotiate NAFTA
	Negotiate new bilateral trade deals and work to break down interprovincial trade barriers Open new trade offices in China, India, Brazil and elsewhere

[end]