A massive poll of Toronto residents suggests voters across the city want their councillors to oppose Mayor Rob Ford and protect services in their community.
Seventy-seven per cent of respondents from across Toronto said they either "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that their local councillor should oppose cutting city services, even if it went against the wishes of the mayor.
It was conducted by Forum Research and commissioned by CUPE Local 79, one of two major unions at city hall.
The poll also suggests that voters' opinions of Ford have worsened since last year's municipal election. Only 27 per cent would vote for him if the election were held tomorrow.
The survey comes as the city debates a series of proposed cuts meant to help balance the budget in 2012. The recommendations include selling zoos and performing arts centres, cutting subsidized daycare spaces and clearing less snow in the winter, among other cuts.
Ann Dembinski, president of the union that commissioned the poll, said the results suggest that the people across the city were opposed to the proposed service cuts.
She said the poll should act as a wake-up call for councillors who blindly support Ford in his quest to cut city services.
"We knew that the people of Toronto were opposed to the massive cuts to city services being proposed by the Ford administration because our members are on the front lines of many of those services," she said in a statement.
The automated telephone poll questioned 12,848 random voting-aged residents from across the city on Sept. 13.
The survey has a margin of error of +/- 1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Survey questions and answers:
How has your opinion of Mayor Ford changed since the election?
- Improved – 17 per cent
- Hasn't changed – 29 per cent
- Grown worse – 54 per cent
If an election was held tomorrow, would you vote for Rob Ford for mayor?
- Yes – 27 per cent
- No – 60 per cent
- Don't know – 13 per cent
How much do you agree that your councillor should vote in the interests of protecting city services in your community, even if it conflicts with the wishes of Mayor Ford?
- Strongly agree – 59 per cent
- Agree – 18 per cent
- Disagree – 14 per cent
- Strongly disagree – 9 per cent
Methodology
A total of 12,848 residents of Toronto 18 years of age and older were interviewed on Tuesday, September 13, using a random dial Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. The margin of error on a sample of this size is plus or minus 0.9%, 19 out of 20 times asking. In other words, if you asked all the adult residents of Toronto the same questions, their answers would be within 1% of those shown here, 95% of the time.
