If pollsters ask an immigration question in a convoluted-enough way, they can take the result as proof Conservatives adhere to the "Great Replacement Theory."Photo by TAYLOR CAMPBELL/Postmedia

Chris Selley: Enough with the conspiracy theory polls, already

Progressives can be just as conspiracy-minded as conservatives, but pollsters don't seem that interested in finding out

by · National Post

Readers, were you aware that polls show conservative Canadians are more prone to believing in conspiracy theories than liberal Canadians? I’m kidding — of course you were. The pollsters haven’t stopped asking about it since the pandemic hit: Insights West in April 2021, Angus Reid in November 2021, Abacus Data in June 2022, Leger Marketing in the spring of 2022, and again this week. And we in the media can’t get enough of it: “Conspiracy theories are popular in Canada, especially among conservatives, poll says,” was The Canadian Press headline for this week’s Leger poll.

Chris Selley: Opposing the Ukraine-Canada trade deal makes Conservatives look as silly as Liberals“It’s causing no harm whatsoever.”Chris Selley, 02 Dec 2023Chris Selley: Ontario teachers learn there's no constitutional right to teach mathThis week brings good and bad news for Ontario parents. We’ll start with the good: The provincial Court of Appeal has ruled that it is not, in fact, unconstitutional to demand that teachers have a basic proficiency in math. This overturned the beyond-satire Divisional Court decision, issued December 2021, that found that Black and Indigenous candidates for the Math Proficiency Test (MPT) fared less well than white ones, and therefore that the test presented a “disproportionate adverse impact on entry to the (teaching) profession.”Chris Selley, 01 Dec 2023