The poll, conducted April 8 to 12, asked residents of Toronto and other GTA communities if they support or oppose privatization of several services, including garbage collection.

Of the 431 Torontonians surveyed, 64 per cent said they support a private company being hired to take away the trash — 41 per cent “strongly” favour it — compared with 36 per cent opposing it.

The margin of error for the Toronto sample is plus or minus 4.8 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

“We’re particularly open to the garbage proposal, given the extent to which we felt stung by our public system last summer,” said Jodi Shanoff, senior vice president of Angus Reid Public Opinion.

“I would suggest the city’s experience with the (CUPE) unions last summer has left us ... skeptical regarding arguments in favour of unionized jobs and the efficiencies therein. Recent experiences with the TTC don’t help either.”

Currently, curbside residential garbage is collected by a private contractor in Etobicoke, with city employees doing pickups in the rest of Toronto.

Across the GTA as a whole, support for trash pick-up privatization was 65 per cent of 1,351 respondents. The margin of error for that sample size is plus or minus 2.7 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Communities surrounding the city generally contract out more municipal services than Toronto, including curbside garbage pickup in Vaughan.

But that may change. Privatization has emerged as a big issue in the Toronto mayoral race, with only one of the main contenders, deputy mayor Joe Pantalone, not calling for at least considering it. Some argue that it would both save money and increase efficiency.

The poll’s respondents weren’t as strongly in favour of privatizing other services cited — selected TTC bus routes, Toronto Hydro and ski hills — but it’s far from a taboo subject.

“When you look across each of the proposals for privatization, there’s more than an appetite there to discuss them,” Shanoff said.

Some 37 per cent of the Torontonians polled support privatizing Toronto Hydro, with 63 per cent opposing any notion of selling off the utility.

Mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi has promised to sell Toronto Hydro, which could fetch $1 billion, to help pay down Toronto’s debt.

The poll found people are wary of a proposal Toronto candidate George Smitherman has mused about — having some bus routes operated by a private company.

Fifty-eight per cent of Torontonians opposed that, with only 17 per cent strongly in favour. Across the GTA, 56 per cent rejected the notion.

“Even the people who express dissatisfaction with their transit experience are very much on the fence on this issue. This one’s not a slam-dunk,” Shanoff said.

But there is strong support for letting private contractors run municipally owned ski hills. In Toronto, 66 per cent were in support, while the GTA figure was 67.

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Shanoff noted that, in March, when the City of Toronto proposed contracting out the operations of hills at Centennial Park and Earl Bales Park, there wasn’t much backlash.

“In this case I would think people who are opposed to this one are opposed to privatization as a concept,” she said, noting that relatively few people are directly affected by it.