Majority
favours reducing council size
More than half want term limits for mayor and councillors
TORONTO December
29th - In a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum
Poll™ among 802 Toronto voters, the majority favour the idea of reducing the
size of City Council to 22 wards and councillors to correspond with provincial
riding boundaries (52%). Just one quarter oppose the idea (27%). Opposition to
this cost reduction move is common to the youngest (33%), mid income groups
($60K to $80K - 33%), the wealthiest ($100K to $250K - 34%), in the downtown
and Eat York (37%) and among Olivia Chow voters (53%). These findings are
comparable to the last time we asked this question (November 2014, reduce
council size to 22 councillors/wards - 56%).
Majority wants term limits for mayor and councillors
The
majority of voters want to see term limits for the mayor (56%) and slightly
more see the need for term limits for councillors as well (60%). Fewer than a
third disagrees with either position (32% and 30%, respectively). Interest in
term limits is common to the mid aged (45 to 54 - 67%), the wealthier ($80K to
$100K - 65%) and Doug Ford voters in the last election (68%). These findings
are consistent with the last time we asked this (December 2014, term limits for
mayor - 57%; term limits for councillors - 60%).
Approvals high for Tory, solid for Saunders, poor for Rob Ford
Mayor
John Tory has very high approvals, and three quarters think he’s doing a good
job (75%). This compares favourably with last month’s tally (77%). Police Chief
Mark Saunders has the approval of one half of voters (48%%) and a net
favourable rating (approve minus disapprove) of a very positive +24. Councillor
Rob Ford has the approval of just one third (34%), and his net score is a
negative -11. Chief Saunders’ approval has declined slightly since last month
(November 16 - 52%), while Ford’s has as well (from 38%).
“Torontonians are adamant, and
have been since we started asking about council size. They see 44 councillors
as unwieldy and they understand the logic of matching provincial riding
boundaries. As for term limits, they are convinced these are a good idea,
although those who voted for Olivia Chow clearly don’t think so,” 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.
