75% of Ontarians think the Conservatives are going down the ‘wrong path’: poll

Three in every four Ontarians say the Conservative government is sending the province down the wrong path, according to a new poll.

The Environics Research survey, which was commissioned by CUPE Ontario and CUPE Local 79, found the 75 per cent of all Ontarians and one-third of PC voters felt that with the way things are going these days in Ontario, the Ontario PC provincial government under Doug Ford was on the wrong track. Among those, 83 per cent were women, 83 per cent were younger than 45 and 80 per cent lived in Toronto.

The overwhelmingly negative numbers echo that of the previous Liberal government.

However, the poll’s commissioners noted it took the Wynne Liberals years to reach that point.

“Throughout Ontario and across party lines, people are overwhelmingly opposed to Doug Ford’s cuts to public health,” Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario, said in a statement.

“Doug Ford claims to be for the people; well, it’s time to listen to them and reverse these cuts.”

The poll found most Ontarians are not happy with Queen’s Park’s far-reaching cuts to public services, with 80 per cent of those surveyed saying the province’s public health units are “very important.”

“In the four weeks since the provincial government announced cuts to public health, a wave of opposition has swept across Ontario. in every corner of the province, people of every political stripe overwhelmingly oppose these cuts. in a word, the results of this poll are devastating.” Coun. Joe Cressy, chair of Toronto’s board of health, said in a statement.

Thirty-seven per cent of Conservative voters in the last election say they’ve lost faith in the government’s leadership, while two-thirds say they may have to vote for another party come the next provincial vote.

The provincial government has not commented on the findings of the survey.

The premier is in Durham on Tuesday where he will be addressing business leaders in the GTA. He’s expected to join the Ajax-Pickering board of trade, the Greater Oshawa and Whitby Chamber of Commerce among other members of the business community for a business lunch.

He will also sit down with Lakeridge Health president and CEO Matt Anderson.

The data was collected through an interactive voice response telephone survey conducted across Ontario from May 14 to 16. A total of 1,332 responses were received. Both landline and mobile phone numbers were called. The results of a survey of the magnitude can be considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.7%, 19 times out of 20.