Poll finds slight majority agree with decision to slash city council size

By News Staff

While a slight majority of Torontonians are in favour of the province’s decision to scale down the size of city council, a new poll also finds six in 10 respondents disapprove of the job Doug Ford and his government have done since taking office.

The DART Insight poll shows 54 per cent find the move to slash council from 47 to 25 seats acceptable compared to 46 per cent who do not. That number, though, shrinks to just 43 per cent of acceptance in the downtown core.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford abruptly announced in July that his government would be slashing the size of city council despite the fact that the election campaign had been underway for months. Among the reasons cited for the change was to make city council more effective and to save money.

On those two points, a majority of Torontonians agree with the provincial decision. Fifty-eight per cent believe city council will be more effective with just 25 representatives while 61 per cent say the cuts will save the city money. Another 63 per cent say if federal and provincial representatives can serve Torontonians using the same boundaries, then city councillors should be able to do the same.

One of the issues that will face the new council will be the recent legalization of marijuana and its presence in many Toronto neighbourhoods. Almost half of those surveyed want a referendum held to decide if their community should be “weed free” when it comes to over-the-counter sales.

The provincial government has given municipalities up until Jan. 22, 2019 to opt-out of hosting pot shops, which are slated to open Apr. 1.

When it comes to the first four months of the Doug Ford government, 59 per cent of Torontonians disapprove of the job the Tories have done while only 41 per cent give the Tories a good rating.

The DART Insight poll was conducted among 669 Torontonians between Oct. 12-15 and is considered accurate within 4.3 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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