Half (55%) of Ontarians Blame Local Authorities for Walkerton Water Tragedy

Toronto, ON - As the Walkerton Inquiry winds down and testimony continues to point fingers at both provincial and local authorities for the contaminated water tragedy, a CTV/Globe and Mail/CFRB/Ipsos-Reid poll released today shows that over half (55%) of Ontarians blame local Walkerton officials most for the tragedy, while only 26 percent are likely to blame the Harris government most (the remaining 19 percent blamed both governments, others, or "did not know who to blame").

As well, while the Harris government is off the hook in the Walkerton blame game, six in ten (59%) give the provincial government a failing grade on its overall environmental performance, compared to 38 percent who think it has done a good job.

The data suggests that with the high profile, often accusatory and sensational testimony of the Walkerton Inquiry -- including the unprecedented appearance of Premier Mike Harris and two of his former Environment Ministers -- Ontarians are actually more likely to blame Walkerton officials now than they did when the exact same question was asked 15 months ago. In June 2000, 49 percent of Ontarians placed most of the blame on local authorities (compared to 55 percent in August 2001) and 29 percent placed most of the blame on the provincial government (compared to 26 percent in August 2001).

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail/CFRB poll conducted between August 8, 2001 and August 15, 2001. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1001 adult Ontarians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult 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 adult Ontario population according to the 1996 Census data.

When posed the question: "As you may know, a little over a year ago, the public water system in Walkerton, Ontario was contaminated with E. Coli bacteria. As a result, many residents of the town became ill and some died. Now thinking of everything you have seen or heard about this issue and anything else you may know, in your view, who is most likely to blame for the water contamination in Walkerton?", the top open-ended response was local officials/bureaucrats/individuals who managed water system (30%), followed by the provincial government (22%), the municipal government (19%), Mike Harris (4%), the Public Utility Commission in Walkerton (4%), local/Walkerton politicians/Walkerton Mayor (2%) and the remaining amount (19%) split between variations of both governments, others, or "did not know".

Those most likely to blame local authorities are decided Progressive Conservative voters (75%), those with a post-secondary education (60%), and those living in the South Western region of the province (61%). Generally, the data illustrates that the majority of Ontarians in every demographic segment, place most of the blame on the local authorities.

• Those aged 18-34 (58%) and 55+ (59%) are more likely than those are in the middle age bracket, 35-54, (51%) to blame local authorities.
• Ontarians making less than $30,000 (51%) are less likely than those making between $30,000 and $60,000 (57%) and $60,000+ (56%) to blame local authorities.
• Six in ten (61%) of those living in South Western Ontario, the region in which Walkerton is located, believe that local authorities are most to blame compared to 52% of residents from both the Eastern and Hamilton/Niagara regions, and 49% of residents in the Northern region. In the 905 belt, 61% believe that local authorities are most to blame, compared to 53% of residents in the 416 area code.
• Those most likely to blame the Harris government, are decided NDP (45%) and Liberal (36%) voters.

While the Harris government may be off the hook in the blame game for Walkerton, this same government fails the test on its environmental performance. When asked: "how would you rate the provincial government's performance in the whole area of the environment in the province of Ontario?", six-in-ten (59%) respondents gave them a poor rating. Thirty-eight percent (38%) felt that the government was doing a good job which includes only 2 percent who think their performance is `very good', and 36 percent feel it is doing a `fairly good' job. While the number of those who think the government's performance has been either very good or fairly good (38%) has increased by 6 percent from June 2000 (32%), this approval rating returned to the same level it was in August 1999 (38%).

The only demographic segment which had a majority (50%) of people giving the provincial government a very/fairly good rating were those who intended to vote for the Progressive Conservatives in the next provincial election.

• Younger Ontarians, those aged 18-34 are more likely to give the Harris government a good rating (46%) than those aged 35-54 (35%) and those aged 55+(31%).
• Those with a university degree are more likely to give the provincial government a poor rating (65%) than those with a post secondary education (57%) and those with less than a high school education (54%).
• Across the province more than 50% of Ontarians in each region feel the provincial government's performance is poor: Eastern Ontario 62%, the South West 59%, Hamilton/Niagara 56%, and Northern Ontario 54%.
• There was no apparent gender divide between men and women with 38% each feeling the government's environmental performance is very/fairly good.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice President
Public Affairs
Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900