Rob Ford remains in contention in the mayoral race despite a seven week absence to seek help for substance abuse issues, a new poll has found.
The Forum Research telephone poll of 890 random Torontonians has determined that Olivia Chow continues to lead the race with 34 per cent of respondents supporting her while Ford is solidly in second place with 27 per cent support and John Tory sits in third with 24 per cent support. David Soknacki (6 per cent) and Karen Stintz (3 per cent) round out the field.
Ford, who will return to city hall on Monday, is up seven points from a poll conducted on June 6 while Chow is down four points, Tory is down four points, Stintz is down one point and Soknacki is up one point.
“Canadians are very forgiving. I don’t know if Rob Ford has pushed it too much, but he is going to say I went to rehab, I did what I am supposed to do and it is really critical that he has no more personal issues between now and October,” Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff told CP24. “Whether that is possible or not is the big question.”
Ford’s approval rating rebounds slightly
The June 6 poll saw the mayor’s approval rating slide to an all-time low of 28 per cent, but in the latest Forum poll Ford appears to be on the upswing with an approval rating of 32 per cent.
The mayor, however, remains dead last overall with Tory having the approval of 61 per cent of respondents, Chow 57 per cent, Soknacki 47 per cent and Stintz 41 per cent.
When no other canidates were listed and respondents were asked whether they would vote for Rob Ford, 29 per cent said they would, up seven points from the last poll.
"I think the Ford Nation is still there. They are just waiting to be awakened and energized," Bozinoff told CP24. "They aren’t happy with Olivia Chow and I don’t think John Tory has really caught on with them so they are still kinda of there with the same concerns about the efficiency of government, keeping taxes low and so on and so forth."
Tory considered to have best vision
When it comes to which candidate is better prepared to tackle a bevy of issues at city hall, respondents were relatively split with Ford deemed the most able to handle the budget (31 per cent), Chow considered to have the best transit plan (27 per cent) and Tory considered to have the best overall vision for the city (35 per cent) as well as being the most likely candidate to get other councillors to work together (34 per cent).
The poll was conducted on Monday and is considered accurate to within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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