The bad press and late-night mockery dogging Mayor Rob Ford has done little to squash his popularity, particularly among suburban Torontonians, a new poll suggests. However, most Torontonians agree council did the right thing by stripping Ford of his powers.
The Ipsos Reid poll, commissioned by CP24, CTV News and NewsTalk 1010, found that 62 per cent of his constituents still find merit in his agenda. About 39 per cent say they would vote for Ford to lead the city for a second term.
“What is likely, in part, fueling this is that many citizens, while turned off by Mayor Ford’s behaviour, continue to be turned on by the message that he took to Toronto City Hall and he continues to unabashedly advocate,” said Ipsos research manager John Kennedy. “Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of city residents ‘agree’ that ‘they hope city council and Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly continue with Mayor Ford’s agenda while fewer than four in ten (38 per cent) ‘disagree’ that they should.”
Once again, the mayor’s core support comes from voters living on the outskirts of the downtown core. Most of the people who say they would vote for him live in Scarborough (51 per cent) and East York (50 per cent). In his Etobicoke home base, only 36 per cent of people say they’d vote for him whereas in North York, the mayor has 40 per cent support. About 25 per cent of people who live in the downtown core said they’d vote for him again.
However, citizens who were surveyed were clear about what they thought about city council’s recent moves to diminish the mayor’s power. Sixty-four per cent said they support council’s decision to hand over Ford’s powers to Kelly. Most of the people who agreed with this live downtown ( 69 per cent) and Etobicoke (65 per cent).
Sixty-eight per cent said they “think it’s appropriate” for Kelly to represent the city in discussions with other political leaders.
The findings come from an online survey of 485 Torontonians which was conducted on Dec. 9. Ipsos Reid says the poll is considered accurate to 5.1 percentage points plus or minus.
