Torontonians Have Their Say On Future City Council As Monday Vote Looms

Toronto, ON- According to a new Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of CanWest Global and CFRB, when Torontonians are asked what issue they feel is the most important facing their community, by far the largest proportion point to crime (23%). Tracking further back on Torontonians' issue radar screen is the broad issue of safety (9%) in their community, followed by transportation (8%), and garbage (5%).

And, with the upcoming election being not only for Mayor but also for City Councilors, the majority of Torontonians express optimism towards the new municipal government, specifically:

• 57% feel that the new council will be make up of members who "will make the tough decision on important issues for Toronto like transit, garbage and municipal services" (versus 36% who say they will likely avoid these tough decisions); and
• 65% think the new council "will contribute to ethical and honest government" (versus 24% who say they will contribute to unethical and scandalous government).

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted from November 2nd to 5th, 2006. For this survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 802 residents of Toronto was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the aggregate results are considered accurate to within 1773.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire population of Toronto been polled. The margin of error will be larger within each sub-grouping of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual population of Toronto according to Census data.