CLC and KLRVu -- How'd they hook up?

Yep, still on it. I apologize for my tenacity, but anything that embarrasses our anti-choice friends is a schadenfreude opportunity I can't resist. So...

While we're busily cementing together The Facts about the laughably lame sham that is the MASSIVE POLL produced by KLRVu/KlrVu/KLRVU Polling/Research/Phone Spammers or whatever they call themselves this hour, there's a side issue:

Given that Klrvu, in Winnipeg, had no web presence, no phone number, no physical address, no listing in any business roster, and was unknown in the very small polling business community in Manitoba (one of the reasons being that they're not actually a pollster), they couldn't have been an easy company to find. So how did Campaign Life Coalition, based in Ottawa, hook up with them in the first place? CLC didn't just randomly dial phone numbers until they found someone willing to conduct a MASSIVE POLL for them -- there had to be an intermediary that brought CLC and Klrvu together to wreak statistical havoc.

Who? It would be irresponsible not to speculate, right? Yes, let's do:

As we know, Klrvu's proprietor, Allan Bruinooge, is the brother of Winnipeg CPC MP Rod Bruinooge, who was one of the first MPs up to the plate to take an outraged swing at the Morgentaler Order of Canada. Lifesite (the online news organ of CLC) has been keeping diligent track of MPs who've complained about the appointment. It's possible, no, probable that CLC contacted all these MPs to thank them, since they were encouraging their rank & file to do the same, and maybe they expressed consternation about the two polls that showed 65% support the Morgentaler award. Possibly MP Bruinooge suggested CLC contact his brother and commission him to do their own poll, a good poll.

There's nothing really wrong with an MP sending a lobby group to his brother's polling company; a little cronyism maybe, but big deal. The problem is everything we now know about Klrvu, which for all intents and purposes didn't exist until a few days ago. Add to that the faulty polling methodology used to deliver a certain result for the obvious purpose of propaganda, plus Klrvu's scrambling to set up a website on Thursday and establish some credibility in response to the dirt being dug up by bloggers :), and it starts to look not so good for whoever may (or may not) have set it up.

Sure, it would never be front-page news, but even a Page 6 "Tory MP arranges sham poll for anti-abortion group" -- ouch, that'd leave a mark. Speculatively-speaking, of course.

UPDATE: The Physician of Canines hath spoken.

UPDATE II: Buckets has a caption contest! Enter early, enter often!

UPDATE III (July 27): From the comments, "Peter Park" says:

"It is quite funny how much time you asses are spending on this piddley little poll.

Keep it up, maybe msm might actually start talking about it.

Would CFRA-Radio in Ottawa be considered MSM? Because they've been talking about it. Buckets has the deets.

Massive Pollster KlrVu -- Website tweaks in progress

The good folks at KlrVu must be following all our posts now, and correcting all the spelling mistakes and bullshit as we find them. Most recently, the notation in the lower left corner that said "Member of MRIA Canada", which was, well um, err, uh, a little, shall we say, "truthiness-challenged"...

...went down the old Memory Hole...

... and became "Principal Owner is a Individual Member of MRIA Association of Canada".

Yeah, that's right -- "is a Individual". Never mind polls, could these people even be trusted to pour a beer without fucking spilling it all over the place?

And I mean, seriously, who really even knows...?

On the other hand, they didn't say the MRIA, "Marketing Research and Intelligence Association" -- they said the "MRIA Association", the "Marketing Research and Intelligence Association Association". So it could be a whole nother association association.

Is the toxic level of stupid giving anyone else a headache?

AFTERTHOUGHT: You gotta love how the home page has a big "Welcome". That must be for us, since we're likely the only ones viewing it.

UPDATE (July 26): Google finally returns a hit for the "klrvu research" website! They no doubt have us to thank for that. All together now: "You're welcome!"

(h/t: sassy in the comments)

Massive Poll -- Something's up -- with updates!

HAHAHAHA! We've hit a nerve with revelations about the MASSIVE POLL, and the thing is doing some Grand Mal twitching and spazzing.

Predictably, SUZANNE hotly disputes the fact that what's been discovered has any implications as to the MASSIVE POLL's credibility:

Yeah yeah yeah. But never mind that -- there's something strange going on. SUZANNE's post, dated yesterday (July 23rd) wasn't on her blog earlier today (July 24). No problem, sometimes bloggers type posts in draft and post them later without updating the date. (Not a smart thing to do, because it means a lot of readers won't see the post since it will be sitting under more recent posts, but whatever.) The PROBLEM is that her post from yesterday (July 23) links to a post that I composed this morning (July 24). And yes, I have a copy of the HTML page source code *just in case* that changes. With these lying fucks, screen shots are the order of the day at all times.

Make of that what you will, but it looks like a little subterfuge to me. Why?

Especially when you consider what commenter Charles J. White has come up with: a website for "klrVu research":

It's Hot Off The Press, still not returned by Google (but soon will be). Is there any way of confirming when this website was set up? It had to have been in the last two days to still not be showing up in Google searches.

What the hell is going on?

Update: Still no friggin' phone number:

Re-reading SUZANNE's post, it's clear she's missing the point -- the issue isn't whether a CPC MP's brother runs a polling firm. The issue is that an Anti-abortion MP's very likely equally anti-abortion brother conducted a poll for an anti-abortion organization -- a poll conducted by an ideological ally automatically has no credibility. Legitimate pollsters are expected to be non-partisan, even if the people who commission them are not (indeed, many polls about hot issues are conducted on behalf of screamingly partisan groups, in order to prove their point). The issue is, as it has been from the first Canada 411 search I did on this "polling company", the poll's legitimacy and the subterfuge behind it.

The fact that there's a vague CPC connection in this thing is just icing on the cake. The cake itself is a misleading poll with questionable methodology, conducted by someone ideologically-sympathetic to those who commissioned him, for the express purpose of propaganda. That sound about right to you?

TOO MANY UPDATES! UPDATE: From the comments with this post --

1. Southern Quebec notices that in the bottom left-hand corner of the KlrVu website, it says they're a "Member of MRIA", the Marketing Research and Intelligence Assn. And guess what? They're not listed with the MRIA. (Edited to add screenshot showing "Member of MRIA Canada"):


2. April Reign does a WHOIS and finds out the site was created YESTERDAY

3. POGGE says he recognizes the name servers; the site is hosted at GODADDY, home of the $1.99 domain but not the choice of most legitimate businesses (although I've heard Al Qaeda uses it.)

4. Buckets reports a Plagiarism Alert!

MORE:

5. Zorph the Wingnuterer (our friendly neighbourhood computer geek) says he raided the site (whatever that means) and that the domain was registered July 20, last Sunday. He's also sent me some kind of geeky info on a .zip file which I'll now go and peruse (but will probably end up sending to April Reign for translation).

6. Alison digs under the bullshit of the MASSIVE NEW POLL and finds some humour.

7. BCL thinks KLRVU/KlrVu's new website makes the MASSIVE POLL just soooooo much more legit.

AND MORE:

8. Canadian Cynic joins the fray.

9. Zorpheus at the Wingnuterer weighs in.

10. Buckets is on fire!

AND EVEN MORE:

11. Buckets says it's a phone spam company!

Oh what a tangled fucking web we weave.

Massive Poll - Lasergate Edition

A lot of pieces of the MASSIVE NEW POLL puzzle have fallen into place since I did that first fateful and fruitless Canada 411 search on "KLRVU", the polling company that conducted the thing.

The fact that the company seemed to have no phone number or profile of any kind raised more questions. A phone number (204-999-7446) for "KLRVU" buried deep down in the CNW press release (but noticeably absent from the lifesite version of the same press release) was the Swing-a-way that opened the whole can of anti-choice worms. We now know:

1. In a Canada 411 search the number came up as "non-published" -- very strange for a business, but a Google search of the same phone number showed that it belonged not to "KLRVU Polling", but to a company called "Lasercut Designs" of Winnipeg. (Note -- the same Canada 411 search, done just now, returns a "No listing found", which is a little different from "non-published". Hmm?)

2. "Lasercut Designs" is run by Allan and Katherine Bruinooge -- their last name was determined by this fundraising letter (PDF)

3. Allan Bruinooge is the brother of Rod Bruinooge, CPC MP for Winnipeg South ; Rod "the scourge of abortion" Bruinooge's two anti-choice cents on the Morgentaler OC can be found here.

4. Allan Bruinooge himself is a "Tory party organizer" who ran in a civic by-election in 2005 (382 votes - w00t!) and possibly, GW denier, if he's the same Allan Bruinooge who wrote this review of an anti-climate crisis DVD:

"Shame shame" indeed.

So, those are the players around "KLRVU Polling". It was suggested that since the polling company is somewhat suspect, the poll itself might not have been done at all, but that was laid to rest by someone at Rabble who said they were called. The poll's methodology still stinks -- a fully automated phone-polling process is one step up from an online poll. If that.

Admittedly, this is a little more than I was hoping to find -- when I started looking into this thing, I was searching for connections to the "prolife" movement. I wasn't expecting to find a heaping helping of those connections with a side of CPC involvement. Basically, it looks like a "tory organizer" (and brother of an anti-choice CPC MP) conducted an anti-Morgentaler poll for a group of anti-abortion whackjobs, Campaign Life Coalition. Nothing illegal, nothing too bizarre, but also nothing that helps maintain the pretense that the CPC is a "moderate conservative" party.

Hopefully, another "coathanger" to CPC electoral success. As far as what it means to the MASSIVE POLL's credibility, res ipsa loquitur. It speaks for itself.

ETA: BigCityLib takes a look at this thing, too.

AND THE BEAT-DOWN GOES ON: Here's someone in Manitoba who works in the polling business and says they've never heard of KLRVU Polling. Ever:

"I have never heard of KLRVU Research. Ever. Considering I do work for a polling company and know who we compete with in our very limited marketplace, that's a little odd, isn't it?"

Heh.

(h/t: Eric, timekeeper, LuLu, Alison et al)

Massive Poll -- Bizarro World

The strange and twisted saga of the MASSIVE POLL continues -- raising eyebrows, and suspicion, in unexpected places:

:
Rabid anti-choicers were reeling after the one-two sucker punch delivered by the Ipsos-Reid and Angus Reid Morgentaler polls that left them stunned, baffled and walking around in circles muttering to themselves. Mayday! Mayday! Clearly they needed help to regroup, and CLC delivered with a MASSIVE NEW POLL that showed 56% opposed the Morgentaler OC. Shouts of ecstasy resounded, until -- you know. That thing. That "credibility" thing. No matter, they've got a big one online and they're not about to throw it back:

Some people just... don't... get it. Okay, time to play "Bizarro World".

Imagine, if you will, a parallel "opposite" universe where a pro-choice Liberal MP has a sibling who's active in organizing and fund-raising for the Liberal Party, but whose actual livelihood is... oh, I don't know, painting hockey helmets, say. Imagine that, in addition to the hockey helmets, this sibling runs a "polling company" of sorts, one with no portfolio, no contact information, basically no proof of its existence. Imagine that this "polling company" is commissioned by the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada to conduct a poll on public opinion of the Morgentaler OC appointment, and imagine even further that the results show a healthy majority of approval.

Now imagine the shrieking howls of indignation and outrage from the anti-abortion half-wits. Yeah... that sound about right to you?

ETA - As I mentioned to deBeauxOs in the comments, it's worth noting that my Bizarro world scenario doesn't actually happen in real life because when the reality-based community conducts polls, we tend to go with legitimate pollsters.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Massive Poll - the train keeps a-rollin'

Whoops! We may have inadvertently stumbled over something here.

Back here in the comments, timekeeper was able to ascertain that the "Katherine" part of "Allan and Katherine", proprietors of "Laser Designs", is one Katherine Bruinooge, possibly related to anti-choice CPC MP for Winnipeg South, Rod Bruinooge? Yes, she is -- and she's definitely related (married) to Rod's brother, Allan Bruinooge, a Tory party organizer, and self-employed in -- you guessed it -- the laser technology industry.

Yes!!!

OK, I have to depart for work now (shit!) but will be back on my break.

Good work, people! Thanks to Eric and timekeeper, who dug up all this new info!

A DAY LATE AND TEN DOLLARS SHORT! From the FD thread, someone desperately tries to salvage the MASSIVE POLL's credibility:

Thanks, but we already knew that 12 hours ago. W00t!

They're not all stupid...

The spectre of suspicion having been raised over Campaign Life Coalition's MASSIVE NEW POLL, even some FDers are asking questions:

On the other hand... "LALALALALALALA! I can't hear you!!!"

Massive poll a massive scam? Part II

It gets weirder still.

Back here, I pondered some of the weirdness around Campaign Life Coalition's "MASSIVE NEW POLL" that supposedly indicates 56% of Canadians oppose Dr. Morgentaler's Order of Canada. Never mind that the results were so hopelessly skewed that they don't prove much other than 90% of Canadians don't give a shit about this issue -- I was curious to know something about the company that did the poll.

However, I was unable to find any contact info for "KLRVU Polling". A Canada 411 search of KLRVU (in a few different combinations) returned nada. A Google search also returned nothing other than what's been written about the poll in the last 24 hours. This is strange indeed: certainly any polling company that, according to the CLC press release,

"is a privately owned polling company working with private firms since 2006 providing research services"

would at least be listed in the phone book?

Then I discovered that the CLC press release that ran in CNW, identical to the lifesite article in every other way, also had a phone number for "KLRVU Polling", 204-999-7446. A reverse lookup turned it up as a non-published number, very strange indeed for any kind of business. A Google search of the phone number revealed that it's being used by two businesses in Winnipeg. One is a small custom jewelry engraving business called "Lasercut Designs" (936 James St., Winnipeg), and the other a company called "WMD Mobile Media" (address: 4626 Roblin Blvd, Winnipeg) that has something to do with billboards (but naturally! has no website yet). So far no evidence of anything to do with polling services. However...

The Lasercut Designs site has a link to their online Ecom site. The Ecom site uses CPU Technologies, a provider of E-commerce software. A link at the bottom of the page goes to a CPU site that displays its various software offerings. This could be the polling connection: maybe through CPU the people who run Lasercut Designs (Allan and Katherine) were able to get a polling software program of some kind, which they then used to conduct the CLC poll?

Add to all that the fact that "INFOLIST Canada", the company who provided "KLRVU Polling" with the random phone-calling algorithm used in the MASSIVE NEW POLL, is also Canada 411 and Google-challenged. The result, accurate 19 times out of 20, is that the CLC's MASSIVE NEW POLL is raising more questions than answers.