People coming to cbcnews.ca have embraced a new tool, Vote Compass, to examine where they might lie on the political spectrum and to discover where the parties stand on key issues. Within hours of its launch Saturday 25,000 people had taken part in the survey — but as of 1 p.m. ET, on Sunday, the number had shot up to more than 160,000.Developed by a team of 15 top Canadian election researchers and political science scholars, and coordinated by the University of Toronto, the survey uses a series of questions to take each person's political temperature.
The first section involves answering 30 questions on probing issues, and marking on a scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The issues include:
· Should Canada increase its military presence in the Arctic?
· Should Canada adopt a carbon tax?
· How much should be done to accommodate religious minorities in Canada.
· Should the government make it easier for a woman to get an abortion?
· Should Quebec be formally recognized as a nation in the Constitution?
The quiz only takes 10 minutes to complete and can give you a better idea of where you stand politically. I was actually shocked as to where I fell on the compass. Having a pre-existing belief system and party of choice, the compass indicated my political colour held more shades of orange than I had previously thought. You can’t really determine where a person falls politically in 30 very broad questions but at least it gives you some idea. Take the test.
