‘BRILLIANT MAN’
Statistician mourned
Doug Elliott, the undisputed go-to source in Saskatchewan for statistical analysis — who was courted by government, media and the business community — died this week.
He was the owner of QED Information Systems Inc. and publisher of Sask Trends Monitor.
Mayor Michael Fougere called Elliott’s passing a tragedy.
“He was a brilliant man. Absolutely brilliant. Good with numbers and a very articulate guy. He knew his stuff very well, but he could communicate it very well,” Fougere said, adding he appreciated Elliott’s personable, gentle and no-nonsense manner.
The mayor said he relied on Elliott for background information during his tenure as president of the Saskatchewan Construction Association, and would read the weekly notes on the provincial economy published by Elliott in Sask Trends Monitor.
Retired longtime Leader-post business columnist Bruce Johnstone described the Elliott’s passing as a “huge loss to the business community.”
“He was a guy who was always on top of the statistical trends, and would always give an opinion on what was behind the numbers,” said Johnstone, adding Elliott could always find the “story behind the statistics.”
Born and raised in Grenfell, Elliott obtained a master’s degree in mathematics and statistics from the University of Regina in 1974.
Johnstone worked at the Leaderpost for more than three decades, and during that time used Elliott as a resource “a lot.”
Any time a Statistics Canada report or job numbers came out, Elliott would be relied upon for his ability to translate complex analyses into easily digestible information for the general public.
That work was an “invaluable resource” in the province, said Johnstone. “He will be greatly missed.”
John Hopkins, chief executive officer of the Regina & District Chamber of Commerce, said he will miss Elliott’s wealth of knowledge and generosity in sharing that knowledge.
“He really is an icon in this province in terms of statistical information,” Hopkins said. “He was a fantastic guy, he was always there to help. Whenever I had a question he was always there.”
The chamber CEO added he also appreciated how Elliott never shied away from saying, “You’re wrong, and this is why.”