Majority
disapprove of plan to bury nuclear waste at Kincardine
Majority approve of wind farms, both
rural and offshore
TORONTO October
1st, 2014 –
In a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 1079
Ontario voters, six-in-ten voters disapprove of the
plan to bury low level nuclear waste at the Bruce Power site in Kincardine
(61%), and just one fifth approve (19%). A similar proportion have no opinion
(19%). Approval is common to mid age groups (45 to 54 - 27%), males (29%), the
wealthiest ($100K to $250K - 31%), in Eastern Ontario (26%), among PC voters
(25%) and among the best educated (post grad - 28%).
Little consensus on best solution for
nuclear waste
Just more than
a quarter say the best solution to storing nuclear waste is to bury it in mines
in the north (27%), followed by just fewer who suggest storing onsite at
nuclear plants (23%), followed by just fewer who say something else must be
done (21%). Few opt for shipping it elsewhere (11%) and about one tenth think
there is no acceptable solution to disposing of nuclear waste (13%).
Majority approve of wind farms, both
rural and offshore
More than one
half of Ontario voters approve of wind farms in rural areas (56%), while
3-in-10 disapprove (31%) and one tenth don’t have an opinion (13%). This
represents an increase in approval from the last time we polled this question
(December, 2013 - approve 50%, disapprove 38%). Windfarms are equally popular
in all regions of the province, but somewhat more so among New Democrats (66%)
and Liberals (65%) than among PC voters (44%). Slightly more than this approve
of windfarms offshore in the Great Lakes (60%), one quarter disapprove (24%)
and one sixth do not have an opinion (16%). Offshore windfarms are especially
popular in Northern Ontario (69%) and among New Democrats (68%).
“On the environmental front, Ontarians are quite sure they
don’t want nuclear waste on the shores of Lake Huron, a location where they’d
rather see wind turbines," said
Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff.
Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is
the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
