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The Niagara Independent, July 12, 2019 \u2014 <\/em>Perhaps this news item did not register beyond Ottawa\u2019s political corridors and the national press corps, but to those in the epicenter of national politics Professor Amir Attaran caused quite a stir this week.<\/p>\n On Saturday, Liberal-friendly polling firm Abacus Data released a new poll stating the \u201ctight race between Conservatives and Liberals continues as voter fluidity remains high.\u201d Abacus numbers report that if an election were held tomorrow, 33% would vote Conservative, 32% Liberal, 16% NDP, and 11% Green. Abacus declares \u201cit\u2019s a toss-up.\u201d<\/p>\n Abacus followed the report on its national numbers with an analysis of the parties\u2019 support based on a person\u2019s level of education. It highlighted that high school educated voters prefer the Conservatives. Abacus commentary read: \u201cConservatives have a strong lead among those who have not attended college or university, while the Liberals have a lead among those with university education, and a wide lead among those with more than one degree.\u201d<\/p>\n Almost as if it was choreographed, a University of Ottawa law professor immediately took to Twitter to broadcast the data. In a series of tweets, Professor Amir Attaran contended that Conservatives are \u201cthe party of the uneducated.\u201d Attaran furthered this argument through the weekend, tweeting statements such as \u201cLike I\u2019ve said, the data on Conservatives being less educated are abundant. Their courage about those data, however, is another story. (Now cue the trolls.)\u201d; and, \u201cI am willing to put my finger on a fact most are scared to admit: That statistically the least educated vote Conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n On Monday, Attaran was on Ottawa talk radio defying his critics. He refused to apologize for any of his remarks and repeated comments about the \u201cpoorly educated\u201d people voting Conservative. Attaran concluded by stating \u201cI think that\u2019s dangerous for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Attaran\u2019s statements prompted the expected backlash by partisans (and also media) who questioned the Ottawa academic\u2019s motives. Many ridiculed Attaran as a mouthpiece of the elitist Liberals. Though the professor claims he is not \u201can elite\u201d it was uncovered that he is part of Canada\u2019s \u201cone-percent\u201d when Post Millennial<\/em> columnist Cosmin Dzsurdzsa dug up the professor\u2019s \u201ccushy publicly-funded salary\u201d of more than $184,000 annually. Though Attaran claims he is not a Liberal partisan, Dzsurdzsa again researched Election Canada records to expose Attaran as a repeat Liberal donor, contributing multiple times on an annual basis to the Liberal Party of Canada. (So, it is not a stretch that Attaran is a mouthpiece for liberal-minded elites \u2013 and\/or for the Liberal Party.)<\/p>\n Some media reporters challenged Attaran\u2019s analysis of the data. The most pointed criticism of the professor was by Sun reporter Brian Lilley who called on him to climb down from his ivory tower and debate the numbers. Lilley stated: \u201c\u2026when it comes to people with college diplomas or undergraduate degrees, the Conservatives and Liberals are pretty close. The Liberals have the support of 35% of those with an undergrad degree, the Conservatives 31%. Among those with a college diploma, 31% back the Liberals and 33% the Conservatives. I\u2019d say those people are educated and they are just as likely to vote Conservative as Liberal making Attaran\u2019s analysis deeply flawed.\u201d<\/p>\n Frank Graves, another pollster (president and founder of EKOS Research Associates) had a further look at the data in dispute. Remarkably, in a few poignant tweets Graves revealed a story within a story as he reviewed current 2019 numbers over the 2015 election numbers. Graves observed: \u201cIn the last election, there were NO major differences across educational attainment. Both Liberal and Conservative supporters were drawn across U, and non-U educated. This has morphed to a massive gap today.\u201d<\/p>\n Graves\u2019 data review reveals that, today, voters with high school and college education prefer Conservatives over Liberals by a wide margin of 2 to 1; and, the Liberals hold a slight lead in support from university educated voters (34 \u2013 32 per cent). But, most telling, when 2019 numbers are compared to the numbers from the 2015 election, in every education category the Conservatives have gained 5 \u2013 6 percentage points total. Conversely, in every education category the Liberals support has fallen. Liberal support among high school educated voters has dropped 11 percentage points from 2015; college educated by 16 per cent; and, university educated by 5 per cent.<\/p>\n (Another interesting fact from this review: the NDP support has dropped across all education categories \u2013 the greatest is with university educated voters; and, the Green Party support has climbed from 5 -7 per cent support in 2015 to 14 per cent support in all categories. It seems that the Liberals\u2019 and NDPs\u2019 losses are the Greens\u2019 and Conservatives\u2019 gains.)<\/p>\n For many Canadians this is all insider\u2019s baseball. But for those politicos and media caught within the Ottawa echo chamber, the Attaran provocation this week is a sign that the gloves are already off and Parties are looking at every angle to move public opinion and voters\u2019 intention \u2013 of both those educated and uneducated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chris George<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of\u00a0CG&A COMMUNICATIONS<\/a>. Contact:\u00a0ChrisG.George@gmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n