39% of Toronto would ‘consider’ voting for Rob Ford: poll
Posted December 19, 2013 5:54 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Despite a year of scandals and apologies, 39 per cent of Torontonians would consider voting for Mayor Rob Ford again, according to a new poll.
The Ipsos-Reid poll also found that his agenda — a promise to cut the gravy train and reduce spending — still resonates among 62 per cent of voters.
“The differences between where those agree with his agenda and those against it is strikingly obvious: those in the core of the city reject it versus those who surround the core embrace it,” Ipsos-Reid found.
In Scarborough, 51 per cent of residents would consider voting for Ford in 2014, followed closely by 51 per cent in York and East York. In North York, that number drops to 40 per cent, while in Etobicoke it’s 36 per cent. Downtown, that number is half of that in the suburbs: just 25 per cent.
The poll, which was conducted on behalf of CTV News, CP24, and Newstalk 1010, also asked Toronto residents how they felt about deputy mayor Norm Kelly.
Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of Toronto residents “support council’s move to strip the mayor’s authority and place it in the hands of Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly.” Just over a third (36 per cent) disagree with the move.
Toronto also agrees that it’s appropriate for Kelly to meet with Premier Kathleen Wynne and other political leaders, with 68 per cent of those polled in favour of the decision. But one in three — or 32 per cent – disagree with the decision.
In recent days, Ford has been forced to apologize to Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale for suggesting he was a pedophile and to council as a whole for suggesting some members were corrupt.
He also apologized for running into and knocking over Coun. Pam McConnell during a council meeting that saw him stripped of most of his powers. He has said sorry for crude remarks he made about oral sex and for a bizarre, profanity-laced tirade that was captured on amateur video.
Ford admitted to and apologized for smoking crack cocaine, saying he did it in one of his “drunken stupors.”
The poll was conducted between Dec. 9 and 13. 485 Toronto residents were surveyed. The poll is accurate to within plus or minus 5.1 percentage points.
