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http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110814/ontario-election-issues-poll-110815/20110815/?hub=OttawaHome
ctvtoronto.ca Health care is the issue of greatest concern to Ontario voters in the upcoming provincial election, suggests a new poll, which also found that jobs and the economy are high on the priority list.
The Nanos Research poll -- conducted between August 10 and August 13 for CTV, The Globe and Mail and CP24 -- found that health care is the most important provincial issue of concern to 28.9 per cent of respondents, followed by jobs and the economy at 21 per cent.
While health care is still the most important issue by a wide margin, it is down from May, when 34.1 per cent of Ontarians deemed it the most important campaign issue. Meanwhile, the number of people who consider jobs and the economy to be most important has surged from 14.7 per cent in May.
Of the other issues identified as most important in the poll (May poll results in brackets):
10.5 per cent of respondents said high taxes (9.6)
8.3 per cent said education (10.9)
4.5 per cent chose the environment (3.8)
4.3 per cent chose tackling the debt and deficit (2.3)
1.1 per cent said gas prices (8.7)
When asked which of the provincial party leaders they most trust to manage specific issues, respondents did not heavily favour either Premier Dalton McGuinty or Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak.
On the health care file, 33 per cent of respondents said McGuinty could most be trusted, compared to 26.5 per cent of respondents who chose Hudak. McGuinty is also considered more trustworthy on education by 33.4 per cent of respondents, compared to Hudak at 26.4 per cent. On the environment, McGuinty also bests Hudak with 26.4 per cent support compared to 21.3 per cent.
The two leaders are close on both the economy and taxes. According to the poll, 32.8 per cent said McGuinty is most trustworthy to handle the file, while 30.1 per cent said Hudak is best to steer the economy. Meanwhile, 30.3 per cent of respondents said McGuinty could most be trusted to handle taxes, while 29.2 per cent said Hudak would be most trustworthy on the file.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is well back in all categories. Her strongest showing is on the environment file, with more than 14 per cent of voters saying she is most trustworthy to handle the issue.
Nik Nanos, President of Nanos Research, said the results suggest Liberal attack ads aimed at Hudak have had some effect, preventing the Progressive Conservative leader from proving to voters he is trustworthy.
The attack ads from both parties may also be to blame for the fact that one in four voters said that they are undecided about which leader, or don't feel any leader, is trustworthy on any given issue.
"It speaks to the malaise that the negative ads create," Nanos said. "The negative ads don't necessarily affirm anything. They basically tear down each other."
Results released Monday evening showed that the race between the Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives has tightened since May. The poll found the Liberals are at 37.6 per cent support, putting them within five points of the Progressive Conservatives, who have 42.1 per cent support.
The August poll was a random telephone survey of 1,000 Ontarians aged 18 and older. It is considered accurate within +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
ctvtoronto.ca Health care is the issue of greatest concern to Ontario voters in the upcoming provincial election, suggests a new poll, which also found that jobs and the economy are high on the priority list.
The Nanos Research poll -- conducted between August 10 and August 13 for CTV, The Globe and Mail and CP24 -- found that health care is the most important provincial issue of concern to 28.9 per cent of respondents, followed by jobs and the economy at 21 per cent.
While health care is still the most important issue by a wide margin, it is down from May, when 34.1 per cent of Ontarians deemed it the most important campaign issue. Meanwhile, the number of people who consider jobs and the economy to be most important has surged from 14.7 per cent in May.
Of the other issues identified as most important in the poll (May poll results in brackets):
10.5 per cent of respondents said high taxes (9.6)
8.3 per cent said education (10.9)
4.5 per cent chose the environment (3.8)
4.3 per cent chose tackling the debt and deficit (2.3)
1.1 per cent said gas prices (8.7)
When asked which of the provincial party leaders they most trust to manage specific issues, respondents did not heavily favour either Premier Dalton McGuinty or Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak.
On the health care file, 33 per cent of respondents said McGuinty could most be trusted, compared to 26.5 per cent of respondents who chose Hudak. McGuinty is also considered more trustworthy on education by 33.4 per cent of respondents, compared to Hudak at 26.4 per cent. On the environment, McGuinty also bests Hudak with 26.4 per cent support compared to 21.3 per cent.
The two leaders are close on both the economy and taxes. According to the poll, 32.8 per cent said McGuinty is most trustworthy to handle the file, while 30.1 per cent said Hudak is best to steer the economy. Meanwhile, 30.3 per cent of respondents said McGuinty could most be trusted to handle taxes, while 29.2 per cent said Hudak would be most trustworthy on the file.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is well back in all categories. Her strongest showing is on the environment file, with more than 14 per cent of voters saying she is most trustworthy to handle the issue.
Nik Nanos, President of Nanos Research, said the results suggest Liberal attack ads aimed at Hudak have had some effect, preventing the Progressive Conservative leader from proving to voters he is trustworthy.
The attack ads from both parties may also be to blame for the fact that one in four voters said that they are undecided about which leader, or don't feel any leader, is trustworthy on any given issue.
"It speaks to the malaise that the negative ads create," Nanos said. "The negative ads don't necessarily affirm anything. They basically tear down each other."
Results released Monday evening showed that the race between the Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives has tightened since May. The poll found the Liberals are at 37.6 per cent support, putting them within five points of the Progressive Conservatives, who have 42.1 per cent support.
The August poll was a random telephone survey of 1,000 Ontarians aged 18 and older. It is considered accurate within +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Union organizer Sharleen Stewart is
mounting what she calls the "biggest ground campaign" ever seen in
Canada ahead of Ontario's fall election.By Jim Coyle
Feature writer
www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1014531--union-leader-sharleen-stewart-is-bent-on-making-health-care-a-top-provincial-election-issue
To see more than 100 people in purple scrubs dancing to "Cupid Shuffle" on Yonge-Dundas Square at 8 a.m. on Friday morning was to fear Thursday night might have involved epic excess.
But no. The dancers greeting the day in Toronto's downtown core were fresh-faced and clear-eyed. They were choreographed. They were members of the Service Employees International Union.
And they were strutting their stuff to make the point -- at the end of an intriguing training session this week -- that health-care workers at the low end of the wage ladder don't intend to be shrinking violets in the provincial election come October.
Sharleen Stewart, president of SEIU Local 1 in Ontario, told the Star her union is importing tactics used by its American counterpart to help elect President Barack Obama in 2008.
The SEIU plans to mount "the biggest ground campaign" ever seen in Canada. It intends to keep the focus on health care. And it intends to defeat candidates who threaten it.
Continue reading Vote for Health Care Campaign Get's Underway!.
A new report released this week finds "untenable
levels" of overcrowding in Ontario's hospitals. The report by the Ontario Health Coalition
found that:
- More than 18,500 hospital beds have been closed since 1990.
- Ontario's hospital occupancy rate is 97.8%, compared to average occupancy rates of 75% for the rest of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
- Ontario is fourth last in the OECD in numbers of hospital beds per person, followed only by Turkey, Chile and Mexico
- Ontario has the fewest hospital beds per person of any province in Canada.Hospital bed cuts have not been offset by increases in care outside of hospitals. Approximately 10,000 people are on wait lists for home care in Ontario and more than 23,000 people are on wait lists for long term care homes.
- Alternate Level of Care patients number 4,093 across Ontario, but 911 of these patients are waiting for care in hospital. Overcrowded emergency departments
- Cancelled surgeries
- Coercive tactics used to force patients out of hospital against their choice
- Inappropriate staffing ratios
- Increased hospital-acquired infections
- Poorer health outcomes and increased mortality rates
Continue reading Hospital Overcrowding Leads to Hospital-Acquired Infections .
Nearly 300 SEIU members put on their
dancing shoes and did the Healthcare hustle at Yonge Dundas Square on
Friday June 24 to raise awareness about healthcare issues in the
upcoming provincial election. Click here to see the video. The group even got the media's attention, with Citytv's Breakfast Television and the Toronto Star covering the event.Dressed up in purple scrubs, 300 members danced in unison together to fight for a stronger healthcare system.
SEIU President, Sharleen Stewart, said SEIU members do the hustle all day long at work, so that's why they're doing it in the square this morning. "Our candidate for this election is healthcare," she said. She said this demonstration is about bringing awareness to the public about the importance of healthcare in Ontario.
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