Political Performance in Calgary

Three out of four Calgarians believe that Mayor Al Duerr has provided the leadership Calgary needs (74%), whereas only 10% disagree with this statement and 15% are unsure. This clearly indicates the degree of respect which Mayor Al Duerr commands among Calgary's electorate. The strong endorsement of the current Mayor's leadership is consistent across all demographic age groups and quadrants of the city.

On the other hand, there are a majority of Calgarians (58%) who agree that Calgary City Council spends too much time squabbling and dealing with petty issues. Nevertheless, just over half admit that city council does a good job of balancing the interests of the business community and other city residents (54%). On the key question of whether or not the municipal government effectively uses Calgarians' tax dollars, close to half agree that the city does (48%), whereas only 22% disagree and close to one-third of Calgarians are unsure (30%). Once again, this underlines the high degree of satisfaction with the way in which the city has been run by council and the mayor. (see Table 7).

Despite the fairly high ratings of the efficiency of the city government, the perception that the city council spends too much time squabbling and dealing with petty issues has risen from April 1991 (when 46% agreed), to 58% in September of 1995. (see Table 8)

This finding is further reinforced by the slight decline in positive ratings of city council's performance since 1991, from 84% who approved of council's performance in the spring of 1991, to 75% who approved in September 1995. Despite this decline, to have three out of four city electors approve of city council's performance is a substantial endorsement of the current council (see Table 9).

Although three out of four Calgarians approve of the overall performance of city council, a smaller proportion (54%) approve of the performance of their own alderman. The lower ratings for specific aldermen are related in large part to the high proportion of people who are unsure of how to rate their current alderman's performance (one in three Calgarians could not evaluate their own aldermen's performance). (see Table 10)

The Mayor, as leader of city council, may in fact be setting a positive tone which translates into overall approval of city council's efforts. For instance, approval of Mayor Al Duerr's performance is almost universal in Calgary, with 86% saying they approve of his performance, and only 6% disapproving. (see Table 11) With approval ratings from more than four out of five Calgarians, it is difficult to envision how anyone could pose a serious challenge to the re-election of Mayor Al Duerr.

The Angus Reid Group/Calgary Herald Civics Issues Poll also investigated the level of support or opposition to privatization of city services among residents. A majority of city residents oppose the privatization of any of the three areas investigated including the Calgary Electric System (57% oppose), Water Works (60%), and Sewer Services (59%). Despite what is commonly perceived as a pro-free enterprise and privatization oriented mind set, in Calgary this has not translated into approval for the privatization of key city services. (see Table 12) This opposition to privatization may relate to the results indicating very positive approval of the city's efficient management.

TABLE 7: VIEWS OF HOW THE CITY OF CALGARY HAS BEEN MANAGED/GOVERNED

"On a scale from 1 to 7 where "1" means you disagree completely and "7" means you completely agree, do you agree that..."

(Back To Text)

TABLE 8: CITY COUNCIL SQUABBLING SEEN TO BE RISING

"Now I am going to read you some statements specifically about the municipal government in Calgary. I'd like you to indicate how much you agree or disagree with the statement -- Calgary council spends too much time squabbling and dealing with petty issues."

(Back To Text)

TABLE 9: RATINGS OF CITY COUNCIL PERFORMANCE HAVE DECLINED SLIGHTLY SINCE 1991

"Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the performance of the Calgary city council as your municipal government?"

(Back To Text)

TABLE 10: APPROVAL OF INDIVIDUAL ALDERMAN NOT AS STRONG AS APPROVAL OF COUNCIL'S PERFORMANCE

(Back To Text)

TABLE 11: APPROVAL OF MAYOR AL DUERR ALMOST UNIVERSAL IN CALGARY

"Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of the current Mayor of Calgary, Al Duerr?"

(Back To Text)

TABLE 12: SUPPORT OR OPPOSITION TO PRIVATIZING CITY OF CALGARY SERVICES

(Back To Text)

A Calgary-wide survey was conducted with a random and representative sampling of 400 adults between September 6th and September 11th, 1995.

Results of the total Calgary sample of 400 respondents are accurate within 1775.0%. In other words, the results of this poll would not be more than 5.0% above or below the result of a total population survey, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error is higher for sub-samples.

This public opinion survey was conducted by the Alberta Division of the Angus Reid Group on behalf of the Calgary Herald.

For further information, contact:

Darrel Bricker
Senior Vice-President
Angus Reid Group
(613) 241-5802

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