GVRD Municipal Performance

This BC Ipsos-Reid poll is based on the BC Reid Express provincial omnibus telephone survey conducted between December 4th and 11th, 2001 among a representative cross-section of 800 British Columbia adults, including 427 residents of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD). These data are statistically weighted to ensure the GVRD sample's municipal, age and sex composition reflects that of the actual GVRD population according to 1996 Census data. With a GVRD sample of 427, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results are within 1774.8 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult GVRD population been polled. The margin of error will be larger for other sub-groupings of the survey population.

Vancouver, B.C. January 17, 2002 - A new BC Reid Express Survey in Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) reveals that most (56%) residents cannot recall the name of their municipal mayor. "This result is hardly surprising given that only about one-in-three Greater Vancouver residents actually votes in municipal elections," says Araceli Mallen, Senior Research Manager in Ipsos-Reid's Vancouver office.

Despite the low recall of mayors' names, most GVRD residents approve of the performance of their mayor and city council (72%) and are satisfied with the level and quality of services provided by their municipal government (80%). As Ms. Mallen observes, "It makes a lot of sense that people approve of the job done by their municipal leaders, but still can't recall the name of their mayor. Awareness of a mayor and city council is most likely to rise when they are front and centre in the news, and they are much more likely to be in the news for poor performance than for good performance."

The survey finds both good and bad news for Philip Owen, the mayor of the region's largest municipality. His awareness (63%) is well above that of other GVRD mayors, but City of Vancouver residents are much less likely to approve (54%) of the job done by Owen and his City Council over the last 12 months. Ms. Mallen adds, "These numbers might reflect a lingering impact from last year's transit strike. The City of Vancouver's mayor and city council were in the spotlight more than any other municipality during this dispute."

Majority (56%) of GVRD Residents Can't Name Their Mayor

Names of municipal mayors are not "top of mind" for most GVRD residents. Fewer than half (44%) of GVRD residents are able to correctly recall the name of the mayor of their municipality. The majority (56%) of residents either admit they can not recall the name of their mayor (45%) or give an incorrect answer (11%).

• Top of mind recall of Philip Owen, the mayor of GVRD's largest municipality, is much higher than recall of other municipal mayors. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of City of Vancouver residents can recall the correct name of their mayor on a top of mind basis.
• Other demographic groups more likely to recall the name of their municipal mayor include residents over the age of 34 years (54% vs. 27% among 18 to 34 years), university graduates (52% vs. 39% non-university graduates) and higher income households (51% $60K+ vs. 28%

  Most (72%) Approve of Job Done by Their Mayor and Council

  While most GVRD residents cannot name their mayor, they appear pleased, nonetheless, with the performance of their mayor and city council. Seven-in-ten (72%) GVRD residents say they approve of the job their municipal mayor and city council have done over the last 12 months. Overall, 16% "approve strongly" of the performance of their mayor and council, while 56% "approve somewhat".

  One-in-four (26%) GVRD residents disapproves of the job done by their mayor and city council over the last 12 months. This includes 12% who "disapprove strongly" and 14% who "disapprove somewhat" of the performance of their mayor and council.

  • City of Vancouver residents are less enamoured than other GVRD residents with the performance of their mayor and city council over the last 12 months. A slight majority (54%) of City of Vancouver residents approves of the job done by their mayor and council - 18 percentage points below the overall score for GVRD municipalities. Forty-three percent of City of Vancouver residents disapprove of the job done by their mayor and city council over the last 12 months.

  Most (80%) are Satisfied With Services Provided by Their Municipal Government

  Eight-in-ten (80%) GVRD residents say they are satisfied with the level and quality of services that are provided by their municipal government. The survey reveals room for improvement, however, as most residents are "somewhat satisfied" (64%), rather than "very satisfied" (16%) with their municipal services.

  Only one-in-five (19%) GVRD residents expresses dissatisfaction with the level and quality of services provided by their municipal governments. Most of these residents are "somewhat dissatisfied" (13%), rather than "very dissatisfied" (6%).

  • As with municipal leader approval, residents of the City of Vancouver are less satisfied (69% vs. 80% overall) than other GVRD residents with the level and quality of services provided by their municipal government. Thirty-one percent of City of Vancouver residents are dissatisfied with their municipal services.
  • Lower income households are also less likely to be satisfied with their municipal services (68%
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    For more information on this news release,
    please contact:
    Araceli Mallen
    Senior Research Manager
    Ipsos-Reid
    (604) 257-3200