(TORONTO, 1 September 2023) – Ontarians strongly disapprove of how the Progressive Conservative government has handled the process of opening up the Greenbelt for development, a new Pallas Data survey has found.
However, the PCs still maintain a ten percent lead over the opposition Liberals and the NDP.
“To put it mildly, Ontarians are angry with how the Ford PCs have handled the Greenland swaps,” said Dr. Joseph Angolano, Founder and CEO of Pallas Data. “They think the whole process has been corrupt and want the RCMP to investigate.”
Village Media commissioned the survey for The Trillium. It surveyed 940 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in Ontario and are eligible to vote in provincial elections on August 28th-29th, 2023. The margin of error for the poll is +/- 3.2% at the 95% confidence level.
“The last thing Doug Ford wants is to be seen as corrupt,” continued Angolano. “People already have that deep suspicion of politicians as it is, and no elected official needs to have the public thinking they found proof of it.”
47.1% of Ontarians said they strongly agreed that the Ontario government’s process of selecting lands from the Greenbelt for development was corrupt, with a further 9% saying they somewhat agreed.
72% think the RCMP should investigate, including 58% of those who voted PC in the 2022 provincial election.
“The Ford PCs have a problem on their hands and need to change the channel quickly,” added Angolano. “The claim made by the Premier that Greenbelt swap process is needed to build more homes, and asking people to forget about how these swaps are happening, is not being accepted by the public.”
Most Ontarians also do not want to see the Greenbelt open for development. 60% said that all the Greenbelt land should remain protected, 21% said some land should be unprotected, and 12% said all land should be opened for housing development.
“Ontarians are proud of the Greenbelt and think it should stay intact,” added Angolano. “The reasons may be NIMBYism, a desire to protect green spaces, or a bit of both.”
“Or it could be that the perceived corruption of the Greenbelt process has tainted the idea of developing some Greenbelt land so much for the public that they are against the idea fully.”
The PCs still lead over the Ontario Liberals and NDP in voting intention. Among decided and leaning voters, the PCs led by Doug Ford have 37%, the Liberals led by interim leader John Fraser have 27%, and the NDP with Marit Stiles at the helm has 26%. The Greens led by Mike Schreiner have 5%.
“This is the silver lining for the PCs – the recent scandal hasn’t hurt them in voting intention too much yet,” said Angolano. “Premier Ford and the PCs would easily win a majority government in an election were held today.”
“That said, the story of the Greenbelt swaps is ongoing, and more news can come out that could damage the Ford government further.”
Methodology:
The analysis in this report is based on the results of a survey conducted on August 28-29th, 2023, among a sample of 940 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in Ontario and are eligible to vote in provincial elections. The survey was conducted using automated telephone interviews using Interactive Voice Recording technology (IVR). Respondents were interviewed on landlines and cellular phones. The sample was weighted by age, gender, and region according to the 2021 Census. The survey is intended to represent the adult population in Ontario.
This survey was sponsored by Village Media.
The margin of error for the poll is +/- 3.2% at the 95% confidence level. Margins of error are higher in each subsample.
Totals may not add up 100% due to rounding.
