STOP THE CUTS PEOPLE’S POLL RESULTS
*Please download the PDF here, for full information, including table results.
The people’s poll was conducted from June 7 to September 17 reaching some 726 respondents in the GTA. It was carried out in the following neighborhoods: the Downtown East; Parkdale; Riverdale and Leslieville; Rexdale and Etobicoke; Victoria Park (Scarborough); Jane and Finch, and several other parts of the city. These are neighborhoods that were under-represented in the City of Toronto consultation on proposed cuts.
50% of respondents weren’t aware that the city was using online surveys to gain feedback on proposed cuts, thus highlighting the general inaccessibility of the City of Toronto’s consultation process to those most communities most likely to be affected by the cuts.
Are you aware that the City is using online surveys to gain feedback on cuts to public services?
Top five issues of concern to people were (including percentage of respondents who identified the category as a concern): housing (83%), poverty (82%), cost of access to TTC (80%), health care (78%), and employment/access to jobs (75%).
Top five areas of concern according to respondents.
A majority of respondents identified most services as ‘very important’ to them and their families. It is worth noting that ‘policing’ received the lowest score in the people’s poll, with only 35% of respondents identifying it as ‘very important’ to respondents and their families.
Do you agree with the increase to policing and benefits for big business at the expense of other services?
Along these lines, 93% of respondents disagreed with the City of Toronto’s decision to offer an 11.5% increase in police salaries over the next four years ($260-million) and to cut property taxes for big businesses.