Ontario
voters are split on support for teachers
Most believe job action is not about wages
TORONTO July 8th,
2015 - In a
random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 678 Ontario
voters, equal proportions, more than a third, support the teachers (36%) or the
government (38%) in the ongoing labour strife by the OSSTF. One fifth support
neither side (20%), and few don’t have an opinion (6%).
Support
for the teachers is characteristic of child-rearing age groups (35 to 44 -
43%), the least wealthy (47%), mid-income groups ($60K to $80K - 52%), in
northern Ontario (44%), among New Democrats (59%) and the non-religious (43%).
Support
for the government is common to older voters (45 to 54 - 42%), males (42%), the
wealthiest (48%), in Toronto 416 area code (42%), in northern Ontario (41%)
among PC voters (50%) and Liberals (47%).
Plurality think job action not about wages
Close
to one half of voters say the teacher job action is about working conditions
and the welfare of students (45%), while just more than a third say it is about
wages (36%). One tenth say it is about neither (8%) or don’t know (11%).
“It’s hard to build animosity against teachers in Ontario,
when there’s a teacher in every other household or family, so it is not surprising
to see an even split in opinion on this measure. What is interesting is that
the teachers have successfully positioned their job action as not being about
money, despite government claims to the contrary," 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.
