

Web staff, cp24.com





Mayor Rob Ford is telling the truth when he says the majority of Scarborough residents want the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown transit line buried underground, says a new poll from Forum Research.

The poll found that 63 per cent of Scarborough residents support an underground rapid transit line for the area compared with 55 per cent of residents citywide.

Only 41 per cent of downtown residents thought the Scarborough section of the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown transit line should be buried.

"It's a very, very divisive issue in the city," Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff told CP24. "In the suburbs like Scarborough and North York and Etobicoke the majority do want the subways built, but in the former city of Toronto the majority want the above ground (transportation) built."



"It kind of mimics the distribution of support that the mayor first had when he was elected," Bozinoff said. "He did very well in the suburbs, but did not carry the former city of Toronto."

Ford has been busy defending his plan in recent days after TTC Chair Karen Stintz suggested the city should consider leaving the Scarborough portion of the line above ground, freeing up $2 billion to put towards extending the Sheppard subway line.

On Thursday, Bozinoff said Ford is wise to proceed with whatever the majority of Scarborough residents want.

"Scarborough was a really important area for him during the election, so that constituency is a very important area for him now," he said.

Not surprisingly, those who approve of the job Ford is doing as mayor were much more likely to support taking the Eglinton line underground (75 per cent) compared to those who don't (42 per cent).

The Forum Research poll is a random telephone survey of 1,560 Toronto residents aged 18 or older. It is considered accurate to within 2.4 per cent, 19 times out of 20.







