The man who claims that his government is "for the people" appears not to be listening to "the people." Robert Benzie reports in The Toronto Star that Ford's proposed changes to education are a definite dud:
Premier Doug Ford’s classroom changes appear to be getting a failing grade from Ontarians, according to a new public-opinion survey.
The Corbett Communications poll suggests there is opposition to larger class sizes and to forcing students to take online high school courses, and indicates there is concern with Ford’s plan to eliminate thousands of teaching positions.
“Teachers are everywhere. It’s not the union that you really want to try to bust,” veteran pollster John Corbett said Monday.
“It becomes a real problem,” said Corbett, noting the effects could be felt in Progressive Conservative ridings across Ontario.
Using Maru/Blue’s Maru Voice Canada online panel, Corbett Communications surveyed 1,836 Ontario voters last Thursday and Friday. A sample of this size would have a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points, 19 time out of 20.
Consider what the pollster found:
Increasing class sizes from Grade 4 to Grade 8 from an average of around 23 students to 24 students was opposed by 47 per cent of respondents, with 30 per cent in favour and 23 per cent neither supporting or opposing or unsure.
But when those surveyed were asked about increasing high school class sizes from an average of 22 students to 28, 59 per cent were opposed, compared with 25 per cent in supporting and 16 per cent neither supporting or opposing or unsure.
“They do get the quantitative difference,” Corbett said of the respondents’ concern at larger class sizes.
Similarly, those polled were not enthusiastic about the government’s plan to have high school students take four online classes over four years, with 57 per cent opposed, 21 per cent supportive, and 22 per cent neither supporting or opposing or unsure.
“That’s because they see exactly where the Conservatives are going with that. They want to eliminate teachers. They’re trying to diminish the role of teachers,” the pollster said.
“I think people really look at that and say, ‘Wait a minute, I’m paying my taxes to have good teachers educate my child and they want him to learn from the internet?’ They understand what’s going on.”
As for Ford's plan to allow corner stores to sell beer, Ontarians are not against beer. But they are opposed to the way Ford plans to accomplish his goal:
Ford’s plan to allow beer and wine to be sold in corner stores was more popular, with 42 per cent in favour, 34 per cent opposed and 24 per cent neither supporting or opposing or unsure.
But support plunges if liberalizing sales came with a cost of up to $1 billion in financial penalties for breaking the government’s 10-year agreement with the Beer Store.
If there is a payout to the brewers’ retailer, only 33 per cent would favour expanded sales, with 59 per cent opposed and 17 per cent neither supporting or opposing or unsure.
Who knows? There may be a lot of Howard Beales out there.
Image: Dana Roc
8 comments:
Has this guy done anything that has earned genuinely broad public support? What are his polling numbers recently?
I haven't seen any numbers recently, Mound. But, almost everyday, protestors have flooded the grounds at Queens Park. And there have been public protests in our little town, -- which the poet Al Purdy wrote has been "conservative since the Stone Age."
Today it was doctors and lawyers protesting Ford's 30% cut to legal aid. They were making noise both inside and outside Queen's Park. The PC goal seems to be to prevent refugees from properly preparing their cases. Legal aid will no longer fund lawyers appearing on behalf of refugee claimants, and funding for med and psych reports was also eliminated. All part of Thug Ford's vicious attack on the most vulnerable - the young, the old, the poor and the refugees.
But hey! Buck-a-beer at the corner store for the people!
Cap
We've known for decades that Ford is a thug, Cap. No one should be surprised by his behaviour or his policies. This is who is -- and who he has always been.
“Are you the guys who’re going to put the beer in Becker’s Stores?”
That was my introduction to canvassing in the big city thirty-five years ago. They’re still out there. They don’t always vote but, when they do, they prefer to elect a fellow imbecile. And they never fail to breed. The libertarians know where all of them live. Add to them the “patriots” seeking validation of their apparent manhood through confrontation with some muddled hey-hey ho-ho guys that we’ll let them call Antifa. And don’t forget the companies of situational rugged individualists planted firmly in the sticks and suburbs. You’ve got something there that three or four parties that self-identify as “progressive” will find it hard to beat.
For those people. He’s got all of them and, once he settles things with Max, so does Mr. Scheer. Let the progressives fight it out over what’s left. Our greatest hope is in that Doug would go too far too soon.
At the moment, Doug seems to have thrown caution to the wind, John. One can only hope that he'll face a big blow back. But it's not clear whether that would cause him to alter his course.
Yes Owen. But his federal compatriots might bear the cost of any blow back that develops as he blunders merrily along. They need the Ontario ridings that may be up for grabs. I'm hoping that when he attacks wages and salaries in the public service that he'll … Forget it.
Scheer is clearly hoping that an alliance with Ford will pay off, John. Stephen Harper also threw in his lot with the Ford brothers. But it didn't take Ontarians long to discover that a little bit of the Fords went a long way. In fact, it went too far.
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