STRONG SUPPORT FOR 2008 SUMMER OLYMPIC BID

A BID TO BRING THE 2008 SUMMER OLYMPICS TO TORONTO

STRONG SUPPORT FOR 2008 SUMMER OLYMPIC BID -- SURVEY FINDS FOUR OUT OF FIVE (77%) RESIDENTS OF THE CITY OF TORONTO AND THE GREATER TORONTO AREA ARE IN FAVOUR OF SUBMITTING A BID TO BRING THE 2008 SUMMER OLYMPICS TO TORONTO

The research results presented are based on the Angus Reid Report on Ontario, a province-wide survey of public opinion in Ontario. Telephone interviews were conducted between February 5 and February 7, 1999, among a representative cross-section of 803 Ontario adults, 400 of the interviews were conducted in the City of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area.

These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Ontarian population according to the 1996 Census data.

With a provincial sample of 803, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results are within +3.5 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult Ontarian population been polled. The regional sub-grouping of 400 interviews conducted in the City of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area yields a margin of error of + 5%, nineteen times out of twenty. The margin of error will be larger for other sub-groupings of the survey population.

A resounding majority of residents of the City of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area are in favour of submitting a bid to bring the Summer Olympics to Toronto in the year 2008. These are some of the findings gleaned from a telephone survey conducted by the Angus Reid Group between February 5 and February 7, 1999 among a representative cross-section of 803 Ontarian adults (400 surveys completed in the GTA).

Residents of the GTA (the new city of Toronto and the 905-belt) were told that a group of individuals are in the process of putting together a bid to bring the Summer Olympics to Toronto in the year 2008. They were then asked if they are in favour or opposed to this initiative. A full seventy-seven percent (77%) of respondents indicated they are in favour of Toronto hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics. This strong support is consistent with results from a survey conducted in September 1998 by the Angus Reid Group wherein four in five (79%) residents of the City of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area support having the 2008 Olympic Games in Toronto.

Not only has this strong support remained consistent over time, it is also consistent across all demographics groups. There is overwhelming support over all age categories with 85% of respondents between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four in favour of Toronto hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Similarly, 80% of respondents between the ages of thirty-five and fifty-four are in favour, as are 74% of respondents over the age of fifty-five. Support is consistent between males females (80%); across all income brackets, and in both rural and urban areas.

Overall support to bring the 2008 Summer Olympics has not wavered despite the International Olympic Committee's recent problems. Four in five (79%) residents of the GTA believe that Toronto should proceed with a bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics because it would bring economic, tourism and infrastructure benefits to the city.

While support to bring the 2008 Summer Olympics to Toronto is strong within the Greater Toronto Area, eighty percent (80%) of residents throughout the province of Ontario are also in favour of Toronto hosting the summer games, while seventeen percent (17%) of respondents in Ontario are opposed. Eighty-two (82%) of Ontarians' believe Toronto should proceed with a bid despite the International Olympic Committee recent problems, while sixteen percent (16%) of Ontarians' believe Toronto should not place a bid because the Olympics and the Olympic movement is now tarnished.

  • 77% of residents of the Greater Toronto Area and 80% of Ontarians' are in favour of Toronto hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics.
  • 79% of residents of the Greater Toronto Area and 82% of Ontario residents believe Toronto should proceed with a bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics despite the International Olympic Committees recent problems because it would bring economic, tourism and infrastructure benefits to the city.
  • 20% of residents of the Greater Toronto Area and 16% of Ontarians' believe that as result of the International Olympic Committee's recent problems, Toronto should not proceed with a bid for the 2008 Olympics because the Olympics and the Olympic movement is now tarnished.

A provincial sample of 803 is said to have a margin of error of +3.1% nineteen times out of twenty, and a regional sample of 400 interviews conducted in the GTA is said to have a margin of error of +5%, nineteen times out of twenty.

For further information, please contact:

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

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