The Conservative Government wants to know what you think.... well, not really.

I just received an email from Dan Hilton, Executive Director of the Conservative Party of Canada, inviting me to take a survey about the Economic Action Plan. I thought, "Well, okay, they want to know what I think, I'm happy to oblige!" Naively, I clicked on the link to the survey, thinking that I may actually get to say what I think of the Conservative government's actions over the last 7 years, and was presented with the most biased piece of garbage I've ever seen. They don't want to know what we think, not what we really think, they want to know which of their "accomplishments" we like the best. This survey is the governmental equivalent of a children's art show. You can't say anything negative, and everyone gets a participation medal. I had hoped for thicker skin in our federal government. The only opportunity for independent thought comes at the end, where the respondent is invited to give "additional comments on Economic Action Plan 2013." Since I doubt anyone at Harper HQ will give them a second thought, here are my comments:

This survey is skewed in favour of the Economic Action Plan, and does not give respondents the opportunity to propose alternative priorities or ideas, or to disagree with what is being done.  

After listing many examples in other questions, the survey asks, "The Conservative government is also investing in world-class research and innovation. Do you support this?" Why are there no examples of how the Conservative government is investing in world-class research and innovation? I cannot say whether I support this or not, because I do not know what kind of research and innovation is being invested in, or how.     

For the "Supporting Families and Communities" question, there are specific dollar amounts for the Investment in Affordable Housing and Homelessness Partnering Strategy, but not for conservation efforts or Aboriginal community programs, which is troubling to me. If the Conservative Party is committed to these investments, where are the figures? 

The final question, "Which three Conservative accomplishments are most important to you?" solicits a completely biased answer because the respondent must choose 3 options in order to complete the survey. This assumes that the respondent believes both that the Conservative government has actually accomplished these things (putting "standing up for victims of crime and passing laws to keep our streets and communities safe" in the same list as "scrapping the long-gun registry" has to be an attempt at an ironic joke) and that these accomplishments are actually important for Canada.  

If my skewed answers have in any way given you the impression that I think the Conservative party is doing a good job, or is on the right track, you should know that I unequivocally do not. In the future, if you actually want to how Canadians feel about your job performance, please put out a less biased and self-congratulatory survey, and I would be more than happy to give you some constructive criticism. Thank you.

If you want to wade through the questions and add your own comments, check out the survey http://conservative.ca/EAP2013survey.

If you want more information about the Economic Action Plan, check out Shit Harper Did's more honest ads.