CC image courtesy of Dennis Jernberg: http://bit.ly/2wYXuDG
Majority Think
Maximum Indoor Temperature Needed
More than two thirds think Ontario
schools need AC
Toronto, September
28th – In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 801
Ontario voters, more than half (TOP2: 54%) say they approve of a maximum indoor
temperature limit for Ontario schools, after which classes would be cancelled.
A third (32%) say they strongly approve of a maximum indoor temperature, which
almost a quarter (22%) say they somewhat approve.
A quarter (BTM2: 26%) say they disapprove of
the introduction of a maximum indoor temperature, with one-sixth (16%) saying
they strongly disapprove and one in ten (10%) saying they somewhat disapprove.
Respondents most
likely to approve include females (56%), earning $40,000-$60,000 (63%), the
least educated (57%), living in Eastern (57%) or Southwestern (55%) Ontario,
and supporting the Liberals (59%). More than half of parents (51%) approve of
the limit, slightly below the overall average.
Respondents most
likely to disapprove include those aged 34 and younger (30%) or 45-54 (27%),
earning $60,000-$80,000 (39%), with a post-graduate degree (33%), living in
North-eastern Ontario (44%), and supporting the PCs (27%) or NDP (27%). Almost a third (30%) of parents disapprove of
the idea of this limit, slightly above non-parents (24%).
Two-thirds think air conditioning in
Ontario schools would be good
More than two-thirds
(TOP2: 68%) say they would approve of the installation of air conditioning in
all Ontario schools, with more than four in ten (43%) saying they strongly
approve, and a quarter (25%) saying they somewhat approve.
Fewer than two in ten
(17%) say they disapprove of installing air conditioning, with one in ten (9%)
saying they strongly disapprove, with the same proportion (8%) saying they
somewhat disapprove.
Under one-sixth (13%)
say they neither approve nor disapprove, and few (2%) say they do not know.
Respondents most
likely to say they approve of air conditioning in Ontario schools include those
aged 34 and younger (79%), females (70%), earning $80,000-$100,000 (79%), with
some college/university (69%) or a college/university degree (71%), and supporting
the Liberals (75%) or the NDP (73%). Seven in ten parents (70%) say they
approve of installing air conditioning in Ontario schools.
Respondents most
likely to say they disapprove of air conditioning in Ontario schools includes those
aged 45-54 (20%), 55-64 (18%), or 65+ (19%), earning $20,000-$40,000 (22%) or
the most wealthy (22%), the least educated (20%) or with a post graduate degree
(18%), living in Eastern Ontario (23%) and supporting the PCs (20%) or NDP (17%).
“With the heat wave, and complaints about
schools being unbearably hot, the majority think that Ontario schools need a
temperature limit that would see classes cancelled if the heat became too high,” said
Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “But ultimately, more than
two-thirds, say Ontario schools should just install air-conditioning, which
would render the need for such a limit irrelevant.”
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.
