Findings

TVO funding

Ontario residents consider public funding for TV Ontario to be money well spent. At a minimum, the vast majority of Ontarians want the government to maintain TVO’s funding at current levels. A sizeable proportion of the public go further and want the government to increase TVO’s funding from current levels. These pro-TVO opinions are shared by all political and demographic subgroups alike.

This conclusion emerges from the results of a May province-wide COMPAS poll that asked Ontarians:

"As you may know, over the last several years the provincial government was seriously considering privatizing TV Ontario. Last year it announced that now it does not plan to privatize TV Ontario. However, since taking office the provincial government has cut TV Ontario’s annual operating budget from $62 million to $48 million. Assume for a moment that your MPP asked for your advice on an upcoming vote at Queen’s Park on what to do about funding for TV Ontario. Which of the following three options would you advise him/her to vote for…(ROTATE)…decrease funding for TV Ontario from current levels, maintain funding for TV Ontario at current levels, increase funding for TV Ontario from current levels?"

The accompanying figure shows that well over eight-in-ten Ontarians (86%) would recommend to their MPP that he/she vote to, at a minimum, maintain TVO’s funding at current levels. This includes a full 40% who would recommend to their MPP that he/she vote to increase TVO’s funding from current levels.

Further analysis reveals that Ontarians are united on the importance of government funding for TVO. While there are some relative differences in opinion between the percentages saying increase or maintain funding, the following table shows that the vast majority of all political and demographic subgroups would recommend to their MPP that, at a minimum, he/she vote to maintain TVO’s funding at current levels.

By... Current provincial vote	Increase %	Maintain %	Decrease %
Prov. PC supporters	26	51	19
Prov. Liberal supporters	50	42	4
Prov. NDP supporters	51	43	4
Currently undecided	31	51	8
Sex
Men	38	48	11
Women	43	45	6
Age
18-24 yrs	32	48	12
25-34 yrs	41	55	3
35-44 yrs	44	40	12
45-54 yrs	43	40	14
55 yrs/older	39	52	4
Education
High school/less	39	51	5
College	38	47	11
University	42	40	11
Post-graduate university	42	44	10
Household income
Less $30,000	37	50	10
$30,000-$49,999	45	49	4
$50,000-$69,999	50	41	6
$70,000/more	36	48	13
Community size
Over 1 million	38	46	12
500,000-1 million	43	47	11
100,000-499,999	45	43	5
10,000-99,999	37	49	10
Less 10,000/rural	38	53	6

 

Current political environment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The poll, conducted in the first week of May, shows that a majority of Ontario voters continue to approve of the overall direction of the Progressive Conservative government at Queen’s Park.

Respondents were asked, "Do you strongly approve…strongly disapprove of the overall direction and performance of the provincial Conservative government in Ontario?" The accompanying figure shows that 54% say that they approve, compared with 38% who do not. These results are generally consistent with findings from previous surveys in January 1997 and June 1996.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The government’s approval ratings translate into a lead of six percentage points in terms of decided Ontario vote. When asked how they would vote if the election were being held today, 45% chose the Tories, 39% the Liberals, 15% the NDP and 1% volunteered "other parties." These figures are calculated excluding the 11% who said that they were undecided. This 11% undecided level is low at this point in a campaign and reflects the high degree of interest that the vast majority of Ontario voters have in the campaign. This suggests that the main battle for votes is among those who have fully or partially already made up their minds.

Methodology

Interviewing was conducted by telephone between May 1-7, 1999. A total of 365 interviews were completed among a proportionately representative, random sample of Ontario residents, 18 years of age and older. The province-wide sample produces results that can be considered accurate for the population of interest as a whole to within +/-5.3 percentage points, 95% of the time. Confidence limits for demographic results vary according to the number of cases in each subgroup.

COMPAS Inc.

310 Front Street West, 5th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 3B5
(416) 598-0310
Fax 598-0122

350 Sparks Street, Ste. 702
Ottawa, Ontario
K1R 7S8
(613) 237-4493
Fax 238-7678

E-Mail cmartyn@compas.ca
Web site: www.compas.ca