"lies, damned lies and statistics"
Victoria, British Columbia - Monday, January 26, 2004 - by: Brian Burchill
betrayal	Stephen Harper's Campaign Manager, John Reynolds, called Keith Martin's defection to the Liberals a "betrayal" and asks "So what has changed in the ensuing three months?"
ringing endorsement!	One thing that has not changed is the ongoing exodus of prominent Members of Parliament (Bachand, Brison, Clark, Herron etc.) from the new Conservative Party. "How can this be?" a bewildered public is asking. After all, didn't Tory Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay and Alliance leader Stephen Harper claim that the PC-Alliance merger was given "ringing endorsements" by 90% and 96% of their members?
misleading	The confusion has arisen because MacKay (who deceived David Orchard in order to win the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party) and Harper have deceived the public by opting to use misleading statistics. Recall Benjamin Disraeli's "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
Alliance - 57%	The facts? Only 57 per cent of the Alliance membership voted in support of the merger. The 96 per cent was of the 59 per cent of the Alliance members who voted, not of the total membership.
no stats on PCs	As for Progressive Conservative Party statistics, there very simply are none indicating the level of support by the 60,000 Progressive Conservative members because no numbers were recorded. Those overseeing the Delegate Selection Meetings steadfastly refused to permit a voting procedure that would enable members' support to be identified or delegates to be elected on a proportionate to a YES and NO vote to merger.
3.7%	On December. 6, 90.4% of fewer than 3,000 delegates voted YES to merger. This figure, the only valid Progressive Conservative member-support statistic available, is the views of a mere 3.7 per cent of the total Progressive Conservative membership, but is continually being cited as being that of the 60,000 members.
bunkum	So, a betrayal indeed, but by MacKay and Harper, not the defectors. The claims of 90+% ringing endorsements are so much bunkum.
	Brian Burchill
	Immediate past president Victoria PC association
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