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GTA speaks out
Sep. 2, 2006. 02:47 AM
JOHN GODDARD
STAFF REPORTER
Peel politicians enjoy approval ratings that the Toronto Maple Leafs can only dream of.
Asked if their local government is headed in the right direction, 80 per cent of Peel respondents to a GTA poll said "yes." Asked specifically about their local mayor's performance, the rating shot to 91 per cent.
Such high political satisfaction contrasts sharply with disappointment over the Leafs' showing last season, when the hockey club failed to make the playoffs. Only 4 per cent of GTA respondents are "very satisfied" with the team.
The opinions come in a Toronto Star/Decima Research poll conducted in late July and early August on a wide range of subjects about life in the Greater Toronto Area.
Satisfaction with municipal councils ranked high throughout the area but proved highest in the Peel communities of Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.
"Everything we do, every decision we make is based on, `Is this good for Brampton?'" Mayor Susan Fennell said this week on hearing the poll results.
"Then we say, `Good is not good enough. Is it great for Brampton?'"
Peel Regional Council chair Emil Kolb said he is gratified to see poll numbers suggesting that "the public do respect their politicians for trying to make the right decisions and the right business case for taxpayers."
In Toronto, 52 per cent of respondents said their city council is headed in the right direction. Asked about the job Mayor David Miller is doing, 36 per cent said they were "satisfied" and 17 per cent "very satisfied," for an approval rating of 53 per cent.
On the other hand, both the Leafs and the Raptors registered high dissatisfaction levels on their last season.
Across the GTA, the poll showed 38 per cent "very dissatisfied" and 43 per cent "dissatisfied" with the Leafs, for a total dissatisfaction rate of 81 per cent.
Numbers for the Raptors in the same category were 34 per cent and 44 per cent, for a total of 78 per cent.
The Blue Jays did much better, with dissatisfaction numbers totalling 34 per cent, meaning a satisfaction rating of 66 per cent.
In the public transit category, GO Transit fared better than the Toronto Transit Commission.
Asked to rate the job GO Transit is doing, 84 per cent of respondents said they were either "satisfied" or "very satisfied." The highest rating of 90 per cent came from Toronto, the lowest of 68 per cent from York Region.
"We're delighted that your survey confirms what we find," said GO Transit chairman Peter Smith referring to an internal 2004 survey that posted an 80 per cent positive customer service rating.
"To a large extent people vote with their bums, don't they?" Smith said. "The fact is that all the trains are full and most of the buses are full. We're talking about 180,000 people a day — 47 million a year."
Asked about the relatively tepid satisfaction rating from York Region, Smith said GO Transit is to expand bus lines north of Toronto next month through Stouffville and across Highway 407.
"We're adding 70 new bus trips daily on the 407," he said, especially to help students at York University, McMaster University and Durham College.
The TTC drew a total satisfaction rating of 65 per cent. The overall figure is partly skewed by a low of 31 per cent from Durham Region where TTC service does not exist.
Asked about Toronto's new opera hall, the Four Seasons Centre, respondents awarded a 92 per cent approval rating. Seventy-seven per cent of respondents said they expect real estate prices to continue to rise over the next few years.
Fifty per cent think gun crime has increased this summer over last in the GTA, while 14 per cent believe it's down.
The Toronto Star/Decima Research poll was conducted July 31 to Aug. 10 using Decima's GTA MetroVox, a bi-monthly online survey of GTA residents.
A total of 685 residents responded, a random sample size that carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
GTA speaks out
Sep. 2, 2006. 02:47 AM
JOHN GODDARD
STAFF REPORTER
Peel politicians enjoy approval ratings that the Toronto Maple Leafs can only dream of.
Asked if their local government is headed in the right direction, 80 per cent of Peel respondents to a GTA poll said "yes." Asked specifically about their local mayor's performance, the rating shot to 91 per cent.
Such high political satisfaction contrasts sharply with disappointment over the Leafs' showing last season, when the hockey club failed to make the playoffs. Only 4 per cent of GTA respondents are "very satisfied" with the team.
The opinions come in a Toronto Star/Decima Research poll conducted in late July and early August on a wide range of subjects about life in the Greater Toronto Area.
Satisfaction with municipal councils ranked high throughout the area but proved highest in the Peel communities of Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.
"Everything we do, every decision we make is based on, `Is this good for Brampton?'" Mayor Susan Fennell said this week on hearing the poll results.
"Then we say, `Good is not good enough. Is it great for Brampton?'"
Peel Regional Council chair Emil Kolb said he is gratified to see poll numbers suggesting that "the public do respect their politicians for trying to make the right decisions and the right business case for taxpayers."
In Toronto, 52 per cent of respondents said their city council is headed in the right direction. Asked about the job Mayor David Miller is doing, 36 per cent said they were "satisfied" and 17 per cent "very satisfied," for an approval rating of 53 per cent.
On the other hand, both the Leafs and the Raptors registered high dissatisfaction levels on their last season.
Across the GTA, the poll showed 38 per cent "very dissatisfied" and 43 per cent "dissatisfied" with the Leafs, for a total dissatisfaction rate of 81 per cent.
Numbers for the Raptors in the same category were 34 per cent and 44 per cent, for a total of 78 per cent.
The Blue Jays did much better, with dissatisfaction numbers totalling 34 per cent, meaning a satisfaction rating of 66 per cent.
In the public transit category, GO Transit fared better than the Toronto Transit Commission.
Asked to rate the job GO Transit is doing, 84 per cent of respondents said they were either "satisfied" or "very satisfied." The highest rating of 90 per cent came from Toronto, the lowest of 68 per cent from York Region.
"We're delighted that your survey confirms what we find," said GO Transit chairman Peter Smith referring to an internal 2004 survey that posted an 80 per cent positive customer service rating.
"To a large extent people vote with their bums, don't they?" Smith said. "The fact is that all the trains are full and most of the buses are full. We're talking about 180,000 people a day — 47 million a year."
Asked about the relatively tepid satisfaction rating from York Region, Smith said GO Transit is to expand bus lines north of Toronto next month through Stouffville and across Highway 407.
"We're adding 70 new bus trips daily on the 407," he said, especially to help students at York University, McMaster University and Durham College.
The TTC drew a total satisfaction rating of 65 per cent. The overall figure is partly skewed by a low of 31 per cent from Durham Region where TTC service does not exist.
Asked about Toronto's new opera hall, the Four Seasons Centre, respondents awarded a 92 per cent approval rating. Seventy-seven per cent of respondents said they expect real estate prices to continue to rise over the next few years.
Fifty per cent think gun crime has increased this summer over last in the GTA, while 14 per cent believe it's down.
The Toronto Star/Decima Research poll was conducted July 31 to Aug. 10 using Decima's GTA MetroVox, a bi-monthly online survey of GTA residents.
A total of 685 residents responded, a random sample size that carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 per cent, 19 times out of 20.