Half of Ontarians
Believe Government to Blame for Rising Hydro Rates
Hydro One’s privatization and executive salaries well back
Toronto, February 21st
– In a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 1,120
Ontario voters, (47%) believe that government mismanagement is the cause of
rising hydro rates, well ahead of the privatization of Hydro One (17%), and
executive salaries (11%).
The opinion that
government mismanagement is causing the cost of hydro to rise in Ontario is
most common to those between 35-44 (50%), 45-54 (48%), and 55-64 (52%), with
almost half of males (48%), and (46%) of females holding this opinion.
The most wealthy
(60%) overwhelmingly believe that the government is responsible, but the least
wealthy are most likely to give the province the benefit of the doubt (32%).
Progressive
Conservative supporters (61%) and NDP supporters (45%) strongly believe the
government has mishandled the hydro file, while Liberal supporters are less
likely to believe this (26%).
Other options less popular
Hydro One
privatization (17%), executive salaries (11%), and don’t know (10%), are the
other choices with the largest proportion of support, but they follow well
behind government mismanagement as the main reason hydro rates are rising. Wind
turbine/green energy investments (9%) and closing coal plants (2%), while much
discussed in the media, have not had much of an impact on the opinions of
Ontarians in relation to the origins of rising hydro rates.
“The opinion that
government mismanagement is responsible for rising hydro rates could present a
problem for the Liberals in 2018, as the increasing costs are becoming more and
more of an issue for voters across the province. It’s an issue that the
Liberals need to address, if they want to win,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff,
President of Forum Research.
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.
