Taxes, transit most important issues in this election
TORONTO SEPTEMBER
18th, 2014 - In
a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 1096 Ottawa
voters, more than 4-in-10 will vote for incumbent mayor Jim Watson (44%),
compared to fewer than half this proportion who will vote for his nearest
contender, Mike Maguire (17%). Other candidates draw few votes. Fully 3-in-10
are still undecided (30%).
Maguire with higher approval than Watson
Mayor
Watson has the approval of two thirds (63%), but, among the 4-in-10 who are
aware of him (44%), three quarters approve of Mike Maguire (73%). Awareness for
Maguire is especially high among the oldest (55 to 64 - 57%, 65+ - 55%), mid
income groups ($60K to $80K - 52%) and provincial PCs (63%). His approval is
higher among the same groups. Jim Watson's approval is high among females
(67%), the least wealthy (70%), the best educated (post grad - 68%) and
provincial Liberals (85%). Awareness of other candidates is low, and their
approval is moderate.
Taxes, transit, jobs most important election issues
When
presented with a list of civic issues, the ones seen to be most important are
property taxes (22%) and transit (17%), followed by jobs and growth (16%),
ethics in government (11%), eliminating waste (10%), waste collection (7%) and
development (6%).
Expansion of light rail is biggest issue in Ottawa's development
When
presented with a number of civic initiatives and asked which are important to
Ottawa's development, fully three quarters agree expanding LRT to the west,
south and east is key (76%), followed by more than half who think the Ottawa
River Action Plan is important to development (54%). One half agree cycling
infrastructure is important (50%), whereas just a third think this of a new
central library (37%). The vast majority of those who use transit daily think
LRT expansion is key to Ottawa's development (86%).
4-in-10 take transit at least weekly
More
than 4-in-10 take transit in Ottawa at least weekly (42%), and one quarter take
it daily (25%). Daily transit use is common to the youngest (39%), the least
wealthy (40%), renters (34%) and mothers of children under 18 (34%).
"While more voters cite the
pocketbook issue as their biggest concern in this election, the real vote mover
is transit development. Jim Watson's support for LRT expansion is critical to
his continued popularity," said Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne
Bozinoff.
Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is
the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.