EIGHT IN TEN SAY GO FOR GOLD IN 2008

EIGHT IN TEN (78%) GTA RESIDENTS FAVOUR TORONTO HOSTING THE 2008 OLYMPICS

78% of residents of the GTA are in favour (52% strongly, 26% somewhat) of the City of Toronto hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics

Toronto, Ontario -- According to the results of an Angus Reid Group/CFRB/Globe and Mail/Global Television poll conducted in mid-February among 1,000 residents of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), there is overwhelming support for Toronto's 2008 Olympic Bid. Eight in ten (78%) residents say they are in favour of Toronto hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics (up from 75% in a publicly released Angus Reid poll conducted in June 1999). This includes a majority (52%) who say they are "strongly in favour" and 26 percent who say they are "somewhat in favour". Twenty percent are opposed (7% somewhat , 13% strongly) to Toronto hosting the 2008 Olympics, while 2 percent claim they are "indifferent".

• Support for hosting the Olympics is strong in both the City of Toronto (77%) and in the rest of the GTA (81%).
• Support is higher among younger residents than older residents. Eighty-five percent of 18 to 34 year olds say they are in favour of Toronto hosting the 2008 Olympics compared with 79 percent of 35 to 54 year olds and 67 percent of those aged 55 years and older.
• Men (80%) are just as likely as women (77%) to support hosting the 2008 Olympics.
• Support is high across all income groups however low income residents (82%) are slightly more likely to be in favour of hosting the Olympics than middle (78%) and upper (79%) income residents.
• Ninety-six percent of GTA residents say they are aware that Toronto is bidding to have the 2008 Summer Olympics take place in Toronto.

These are the findings of an Angus Reid Group/CFRB/Globe and Mail/Global Television poll conducted between February 15 and February 20, 2000. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult residents of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This includes 600 interviews conducted with residents of the City of Toronto and 400 interviews conducted with residents in the rest of the GTA. The results are accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire GTA population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual GTA population according to the 1996 Census data.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice President
Angus Reid Group
(416) 324-2900