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Toronto, ON – A recent poll conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario suggests many Ontarians who voted Liberal on October 6, 2011, now disagree with the government’s budget strategy on key issues around taxes and protecting public services, CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn says.
“Having carefully reviewed the polling results, it is clear that Liberal voters want a different budget than they’re getting from Dalton McGuinty,” says Hahn. “Given the choice between cuts and raising revenue, Liberal voters said, in no uncertain terms, they want funding from new revenue streams to keep schools and childcare centres open and to avoid closing hospital beds.”
Results included the following:
- 73% of Liberal voters say government should raise corporate tax rates rather than squeeze school-board budgets and risk closures.
- 78% of Liberal voters support raising corporate taxes instead of imposing a zero % budget on hospitals and risking bed closures and hospital staff layoffs.
- 40% of Liberal voters believe increasing taxes on earners over $250K is even more effective than raising corporate tax rates when it comes to achieving a balanced budget.
- 82% of Liberal voters would support a tax increase on earners over $250K if it allowed a cost-of living increase for those on social assistance.
- Only 16% of Liberal voters believe selling off the Ontario Northland Railway will have a positive impact for residents of northern Ontario.
- 72% of Liberal voters support reinstating the capital tax on banks and insurance companies to help the government avoid cutbacks to public services and jobs.
The poll was conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion for CUPE Ontario, online, April 2-3, 2012 and interviewed 1,505 adult Ontarians, of which 467 indicated they had voted for the Liberal Party in the 2011 election. The data was weighted on age, gender, education region and past provincial vote to create a representative sample. The margin of error on the total sample was 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario is the province’s largest union representing workers in schools, universities, hospitals, long term care, municipalities and social services.
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Click Here to view the Fact Sheet with polling information
For more information, please contact:
Craig Saunders, CUPE Communications, 416-576-7316
