Our project is a unique tool designed to bridge the gap between citizens and their representatives in Parliament. By leveraging advanced data scraping techniques, we gather comprehensive data from official sources such as Open Data by the House of Commons and LegisInfo, allowing us to analyze the political stances and legislative contributions of Members of Parliament (MPs) in Canada.
How It Works:
The core of our tool revolves around analyzing MPs' involvement with various bills, identifying their stance on key issues through the lens of related buzzwords. We meticulously associate positive and negative words with each topic, such as climate change, to assign a nuanced rating to politicians. This rating is then compared to users' views, derived from their survey responses, to provide a personalized political alignment score.
Limitations and Future Directions
While our tool offers insightful analyses, we acknowledge certain limitations that pave the way for future enhancements:
Data Scope: Expanding our dataset will allow for a more robust analysis covering a wider range of issues.
Bilingual Support: Incorporating both English and French interfaces will make our tool more accessible, particularly to residents of Quebec.
Data Privacy: Ensuring the privacy and security of user data remains a priority as we improve the tool.
Fiscal Policy Analysis: Given the complexities of fiscal policy, further refinement is needed to accurately reflect MPs' positions in this domain.
By addressing these areas, we aim to continuously improve the Political Alignment Tool, making it an invaluable resource for Canadians seeking to understand and align with their political representatives.