PUBLIC OPINION POLL

Ontario Public Assesses Premier Ford and His Government’s

Response to COVID-19 and Long Term Care

Toronto, February 3, 2021—A study conducted by Maru/Blue Public Opinion finds that while a
majority (54%) of Ontarians believe premier Doug Ford has done a good job protecting senior
citizens in long-term care homes from COVID-19 (and 60% believe he genuinely cares about
what is happening to long-term care home residents), those results are very regionally driven.
It’s clear that the less favourable view of the premier and his government are in the hot spots
that have had the greatest challenges and notoriety, namely in the 416-area code and in
Hamilton Niagara, while other parts of the province are more positive.

Yet the premier is certainly in some choppy waters: half (51%) the Ontario public believe
premier Ford and his government have been willfully negligent in protecting long-term care
seniors— and with two-thirds (65%) believing that for-profit long-term care home facilities are
most responsible for the sickness and deaths of residents (versus a minority (35%) who hold
that view with respect to not-for-profit entities)—and cannot be sued due to government
legislated immunity—a majority (61%) also believe residents and/or their families should be
able to sue the Ontario government and receive taxpayer funded compensation for their
losses.

And while the premier can certainly do more than one thing at the same time, two-thirds
(62%) of Ontarians think it’s more important for him to spend his time dealing with long-term
care homes versus airline travel (38%),.

Key Findings

Majority (54%) believe premier Doug Ford has done a good job protecting
senior citizens in long-term care homes from COVID-19

Those most likely to hold the view that premier Doug Ford has done a good job protecting
senior citizens in long-term care homes from COVID-19 (54%) reside in both Southwestern
Ontario (59%) and the 905-area code (58%), followed by those in Eastern Ontario (57%), the
Greater Toronto Area or “GTA” (53%), the North (50%), the 416-area code (47%), and the
Hamilton/Niagara region (46%). Women (55%) are more likely to hold this view than men
(53%) along with those who are the youngest (aged 18 – 34 60%) and oldest (55+ 58%)
Ontarians, as well as those with the lowest household income (less than $50,000 56 %), and
those with less than a university education (58%).

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Those who believe the premier has done a bad job protecting senior citizens in long-term
care homes from COVID-19 (46%) are most likely to reside in Hamilton/Niagara (54%) and the
416-area code (53%), followed by those in the North (50%), the GTA (47%), Eastern Ontario
(43%), the 905-area code (42%), and Southwestern Ontario (41%). Men (47%) are slightly
more likely than women (45%) to hold this view and are enjoined with those who are middle-
aged (35 – 54 53%), with household income above $50,000 (48%), and those with the highest
education (university+ 55%)

While a majority may believe premier Ford has done a good job it’s important to consider
that those who believe he’s done a very good job (10%) are outweighed on a two-to-one
basis (21%) by those who believe he’s done a very bad job. This dynamic means that those
who are more likely to believe the premier has done a bad job are likely to get a larger share
of voice than those who hold the opposing view..

• Very good job 10%

• Somewhat good job 44%
• Somewhat bad job 25%
• Very bad job 21%

Majority (60%) believe that premier Ford genuinely cares about what is
happening to long-term care home residents…

A majority (60%) of Ontarians believe that premier Ford genuinely cares about what is
happening to long-term care home residents and is doing everything he can to protect them
from COVID-19. Those most likely to hold this view reside in Southwestern Ontario (70%),
followed by those in the 905-area code (62%), Eastern Ontario (60%), the GTA (57%), the
North (56%), and those in both the 416-area code (51%) and the Hamilton/Niagara region
(51%). Men (64%) are more likely than women (57%) to hold this view, along with those who
are the oldest Ontarians (55+ 66%), those earning over $50,000 household income (62%),
and those who are with a college/technical school education (65%).

A minority (40%) of Ontarians don’t believe that premier Ford is capable of living up to his
word of supplying the proper resources and money because he doesn’t care enough about
what is happening. Those most likely to have this view reside in both area code 416 (49%)
and the Hamilton/Niagara region (49%), followed by those in the GTA (43%), the North (44%),

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Eastern Ontario (40%), the 905-area code (38%), and Southwestern Ontario (30%). Women
(43%) are more likely to hold this view than men (36%), along with those who are youngest
(aged 18 – 34 46%), those with the lowest household income (44%), and those with the
highest level of education (university + 45%)..

Two -thirds (62%) of Ontarians think it’s more important for Premier Ford to
spend his time dealing with long-term care homes versus airline travel (38%)

Over the last couple of weeks premier Ford has spent a good deal of time pressuring the
federal government to test those who are flying into the country and to take adequate steps to
quarantine them if they test positive for the COVID-19 virus. The federal government
responded last Friday by indicating that new regulations would go into effect shortly that
would ban various flights, test individuals upon their return for COVID-19, and if positive with
the virus take certain steps to quarantine them in a hotel at their own expense.

With progress having been made, when given a choice between which is more important for
the premier to devote his time, two thirds (62%) of Ontario residents believe that the
emphasis should be on making sure that senior citizens and staff in long-term care homes are
protected from COVID-19, compared to the remaining group (38%) who believe that the
emphasis should be on making sure that those who arrive by airlines in Ontario from outside
the Canadian border are tested for COVID-19.

Those most likely to take the position that the long-term care issue is more important (62%)
are from Hamilton/Niagara (75%), followed by residents in the 905-area code (64%) and
Eastern Ontario (64%), the GTA (62%), Southwestern Ontario (61%), the 416-area code (60%),
and the North (40%). Men (66%) are more likely to have this view than women (58%), and
those who are middle-aged and older (35+ 63%), those earning middle household income
($50,000 – $99,000 69%), and those who are both least educated (high school or less 64%)
and the most educated (university + 63%).

Those who hold the view that the more important time spending choice is about airline
passenger arrivals (38%) are most likely to hail from the North (60%), followed by those in the
416-area code (40%), Southwestern Ontario (39%), the GTA (38%), both the 905-area code
(36%) and Eastern Ontario (36%), and Hamilton/Niagara (25%). Women (42%) are more likely
to hold this view than men (34%), along with those who are the youngest Ontarians (aged 18 –
34 41%), the lowest household income earners (less than $50,000 40 %) and the highest
household income earners ($100,000+ 40%), and those who have a college/technical school
education (42%).
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Public split: half (51%) believe premier Ford and government have been
willfully negligent in protecting long-term care seniors, other half (49%)
believe premier is living up to his word and government is doing its best

Half (51%) of Ontarians believe that despite what he has said, the premier and his
government have been wilfully negligent in carrying out their responsibilities and are directly
to blame for the COVID-19 suffering and deaths of seniors in long-term care homes. Those
who are most likely to hold this view reside in both the North (65%) and the 416-area code
(63%), followed by those living in the Hamilton/Niagara region (58%), the GTA (56%), the 905-
area code (51%), Eastern Ontario (45%), and Southwestern Ontario (41%). Men and women
are equally (51%) of this view and share it with those who are middle-aged (35 – 54 56%),
with the highest household income (55%), and with the highest level of education
(university+ 62%).

Despite outbreaks of COVID- 19 and the subsequent deaths of residents, the other half of the
Ontario public (49%) believe that the premier is living up to his word and his government is
doing its very best to protect seniors in long-term care homes under extremely difficult
circumstances. This view is most likely to be held by those residing in Southwestern (59%)
and Eastern (55%) Ontario, followed by those living in the 905-area code (49%), the GTA
(44%), Hamilton/Niagara (42%), the 416-area code (37%), and the North (35%). Men and
women are equally (49%) of this view and enjoined by those who are the youngest Ontarians
(aged 18 – 34 54%), those who are the lowest household income earners (less than $50,000
51 %), and those who have less than university education (53%).

Two thirds (65%) of Ontarians believe for-profit long-term care home facilities
most responsible for sickness and deaths of residents

Two thirds (65%) of Ontarians believe that for-profit long-term care homes are most
responsible for the sickness and deaths of residents due to COVID-19. While a minority (35%)
believe that not-for-profit long term care homes are most responsible.

Those most likely to believe that the for-profit homes facilities are most responsible reside in
Hamilton/Niagara (70%), followed by those in area code 416 (68%), Southwestern Ontario
(67%), Eastern Ontario (66%), the North (65%), the GTA (63%), and the 905-area code (59%).
Men (69%) are more likely to hold this view than women (61%) and are joined by those who
are the oldest Ontarians (aged 55+ 80%), those who earn over $50,000 household income
per annum (69%), and those who are the highest educated (university + 73%)..

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Those most likely to believe that the not-for-profit long-term care homes are most responsible
for the sickness and deaths of residents due to COVID-19 (35%), are primarily found in the
905-area code (41%), followed by those in the GTA (37%), Eastern Ontario (34%),
Southwestern Ontario (33%), the 416-area code (32%) , and the region of Hamilton Niagara
(30%). Women (39%) are more likely than men (31%) to hold this view, and are joined by
those who are the youngest (aged 18 – 34 58%), followed by those who are middle-aged
(31%) and the oldest Ontarians (20%). Those with the least amount of household income (less
than $50,000 39 %) hold this view more than those earning more (32%), while those with high
school or less education (43%) are more likely to have this perception compared to those with
more education (averaged 29%).

Majority (61%) believe residents and/or their families should be able to sue the
Ontario government and receive taxpayer funded compensation

During the early months of the pandemic, the Ontario government exempted Long Term Care
homes from being sued by residents or their loved ones. While this may not be an avenue of
restitution, a majority (61%) believe instead that residents and/or their families should be able
to sue the Ontario government and receive taxpayer funded compensation for their losses
and/or disruption if the Long-Term Care home is found to be negligent in ensuring protection
from COVID-19 and/or the personal care they received in the home. Those most likely to hold
this view reside in the 416-area code (71%), followed by those in Northern Ontario (68%), the
Hamilton/Niagara region (67%), the GTA (65%), Southwestern Ontario (57%), and Eastern
Ontario (53%). Men (61%) and women (62%) are equally of this view, while the youngest
Ontarians (aged 18 – 34 76%), those who are middle income earners ($50,000 – $99,000
67%), and those with the highest level of education (66%) are most likely to share this
perspective.

Those most likely to take the opposite perspective (39%) – that residents and/or their families
should not be able to sue the Ontario government and receive taxpayer funded compensation
for their losses and/or disruption if the Long Term Care home they have been in is found to be
negligent in ensuring protection from COVID-19 and/or personal care they received in the
home – are most likely to reside in Eastern Ontario (47%), followed by those living in
Southwestern Ontario (43%), the 905 area code (40%), the GTA (35%), Hamilton/Niagara
(33%), the North (32%), and the 416 area code (29%). Men (39%) and women (38%) are
equally of this view, however those who are the oldest Ontarians (55+ 47%), those with the
highest level of household income (47%), and those who have college/technical school
education (44%) are more likely to share this perspective..

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Methodology
These are some of the findings of a Maru/Blue Public Opinion Poll conducted among 817
randomly selected Ontario adults (18+) who are members of Maru/Blue‘s Maru Voice
Canada Online panel from January 28 to January 30, 2021 and is considered nationally
accurate within +/- 3.9 percentage points using a Bayesian Credibility Interval (with higher
intervals for smaller sample sizes). The results have been weighted by education, age,
gender, and region to match the population according to the most recent census data so
that the sample is representative of the entire adult population of Ontario. Discrepancies
between the reported totals and data tables are due to rounding.

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For more information contact:

John Wright
Executive Vice President
Maru/Blue Public Opinion North America
Mobile: +1.416-919-2101
Office +1.416.700.4218
John.wright@Marublue.com

About Maru/Blue
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#KnowEverything

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