Ford 2nd most unpopular mayor in Canada: poll

One year after his election, Mayor Rob Ford is the second most unpopular mayor in Canada — and he governs right beside the most loved, a country-wide poll by Forum Research found.

The study interviewed residents of Canada’s 15 biggest cities and asked them what they thought of their municipal leaders.

Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion topped the list with a 78 per cent approval rating, while Toronto’s own Ford scored just 37 per cent.

Support for Ford was strongest in North York and Scarborough, where the former councillor had a 42 per cent approval rating. But in Etobicoke and York, that dropped to 37 per cent. In East York, Ford scored just 30 per cent.

Only Montreal mayor Gerard Tremblay had lower support, with a 32 per cent approval rating.

It’s a new low for Ford: in September, he had a 42 per cent approval rating; in June, it was 57 per cent; and in February, he scored 60 per cent.

That downward slide happened after Ford “turned back on campaign promises and suggested that service cuts will be needed to balance the city’s books,” Forum Research president Dr. Lorne Bozinoff said.

“Although a Ford comeback isn’t impossible as he clears his first year in office, that kind of turnaround will require a major change in management style and policy direction on the Mayor’s part.”

Re-election will be easier for Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume, Forum found: 67 per cent of residents would vote for him again. And in Mississauga, 61 per cent of residents would re-elect McCallion.

However, the long-serving mayor has said that at 90, it’s time to retire.

Tremblay and Ford were the least likely to be re-elected, with 21 per cent and 30 per cent support respectively.

Forum Research conducted a telephone survey of 6,763 randomly selected residents aged 18 or older of the 15 largest Canadian cities. The poll was conducted from Oct. 21 to Oct. 23, 2011. Results are considered accurate +/- 1.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Mayor Approval Ratings

Hazel McCallion – Mississauga 78 per cent
Naheed Nenshi – Calgary – 76 per cent
Regis Labeaume – Quebec City  74 per cent
Diane Watts – Surrey 68 per cent
Jim Watson – Ottawa 66 per cent
Gilles Vaillancourt – Laval 63 per cent
Joe Fontana – London 61 per cent
Bob Bratina – Hamilton 57 per cent
Peter J Kelly – Halifax 57 per cent
Stephen Mandel – Edmonton  56 per cent
Susan Fennell – Brampton – 54 per cent
Gregor Robertson – Vancouver 49 per cent
Sam Katz – Winnipeg  49 per cent
Rob Ford – Toronto 37 per cent
Gerald Tremblay – Montreal 32 per cent