

Codi Wilson, CP24.com





Almost half of Torontonians believe city council should be slashed to 25 councillors, according to a new poll provided to CP24 and CTV Toronto.

The poll, which was conducted by Navigator on behalf of the Ontario Real Estate Association, shows that while “no strong consensus exists,” about 48 per cent of Toronto voters surveyed believe that city council should be reduced from 45 councillors to 25. About 35 per cent of Torontonians surveyed disagree with a reduction in councillors, the online poll suggests.

When asked if a smaller city council would make the city run better, once again 48 per cent of respondents from Toronto agreed that it would while about 34 per cent said it would not.

The poll comes just days after the Ford government’s bill to cut the size of council was given royal assent.

Opponents of the ‘Better Local Government Act’ have charged that changing the rules in the middle of a municipal election is undemocratic.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has accused Ford of using the bill to settle political scores and said the PCs are a “majority government drunk on their power.”

Meanwhile, Ford contends that reducing the size of council will make the city run more efficiently, ending unnecessarily lengthy debates at city hall.

Toronto subway system:

The poll, which surveyed 1,034 Ontario voters and oversample of 400 Toronto residents from Aug. 7 to Aug. 12, also found that 56 per cent of Toronto voters agree that the province should assume responsibility of the city's subway system.

Twenty-four per cent said they did not believe the provincial government should take on the cost of the subway.

Torontonians appear to be divided about whether the subway system would run better with the provincial government at the helm.

About 35 per cent said they believe the subway would run better if the provincial government took responsibility for it while about 33 per cent said they were not confident the system would improve.

Housing affordability:

Respondents across the province were also asked about where responsibility lies when it comes to housing affordability.

About 63 percent said they agree that the municipality should do more to make housing more affordable, compared to 11 per cent who disagreed.

When asked about whether home ownership is affordable in their respective neighbourhoods, 56 per cent of respondents said it was unaffordable while 22 per cent said it was a manageable expense.

The poll also found that 83 per cent of respondents think first-time homebuyers should be exempt from the Land Transfer Tax.

While statistical margins of error do not apply to online polls, the margin of error for a poll with this sample size would be plus or minus 3.05 per cent, 19 times out of 20.