Few
approve of Ontario budget
Infrastructure spending best liked measure
TORONTO May 1st,
2015 - In a
random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 912 Ontario
voters, just one quarter approve of the Ontario budget (24%), while as many as
one half disapprove (49%). One quarter don’t offer an opinion (27%).
Budget not seen to be good for economy
Fewer
than one quarter of voters think the Ontario budget is good for the economy
(22%), and just more think it bad for the economy (26%). Close to half don’t
know one way or another (44%). The budget is seen in its most positive light by
lower income groups ($20K to $40K - 28%), mid income groups ($60K to $80K -
28%), in Eastern Ontario (28%), Liberal voters (42%) and those who approve of
the Premier (45%).
Infrastructure spending liked the best
Among
specific budget measures tested, the promise of $130 billion on infrastructure
spending is liked the best (77% approve), followed by by auto insurance
discounts for those with winter tires (70%), beer sales in grocery stores (65%)
and the new $1 tax on cases of 24 beers (50%).
Few think budget will be balanced in 2018
Fewer
than one fifth believe the government will balance the budget by the target
date of 2018 (19%), and close to two thirds explicitly believe this won’t
happen (61%). In fact, it is only among Liberal voters that there is any
realistic expectation of a balanced budget (39%), and, even among these
partisans, an equal proportion think the budget will not achieve balance in
2018 (37%).
“We see a similar pattern with respect to the Federal budget;
while the document as a whole is not well-liked, its constituent parts are
appreciated. It’s curious that the measure liked best involves the greatest
amount of public spending, which makes it clear there is a genuine public
hunger for new infrastructure in Ontario," 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.
