Canwest newspapers and broadcast outlets in British Columbia were regularly criticized for giving a "free ride" to the BC Liberal government of Premier Gordon Campbell, especially in relation to the scandals and controversies ensuing from the privatization of BC Rail but also in cooperating with the government's alleged manipulation of information for political purposes, such as the suppression of the actual scale of the deficit or welfare rates in advance of the 2009 election. Conversely, coverage of the New Democratic Party was criticized as being unfairly negative. Canwest was one of the major campaign contributors to the BC Liberal party and gave regular column space to pundits from the Fraser Institute think tank (one such regular contributor being the Premier's brother, Michael).