As the election campaign ramps up, a new poll shows that the parties that have traditionally formed council are not as popular and almost half of Vancouverites would like to see several parties around the council table.
In an online survey conducted by Research Co., 46 per cent of respondents said they will 鈥渄efinitely鈥� or 鈥減robably鈥� consider voting for Green Party of 麻豆传媒映画candidates in the Oct. 20 election, while 39 per cent will definitely or probably cast ballots for independent candidates.
鈥淭he Green Party is definitely outperforming all others in 麻豆传媒映画when it comes to city council,鈥� Research Co. president Mario Canseco said in a press release. 鈥淭here is also a large component of the electorate that is currently looking into independent candidates as viable options.鈥�
About one-third (32 per cent) of respondents said they would definitely or probably consider voting for city council candidates from the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE). The ranking is lower for Vision 麻豆传媒映画and the Non-Partisan Association (NPA), both came in at 30 per cent, Yes 麻豆传媒映画(24 per cent), One City (19 per cent), Coalition 麻豆传媒映画(13 per cent), 麻豆传媒映画First (12 per cent) and Pro麻豆传媒映画(nine per cent).
Almost half of Vancouverites would definitely or probably like to see several parties represented on council while 38 per cent would prefer to see a single party have a majority.
The survey was conducted before Vision Vancouver鈥檚 Ian Campbell of the mayoral race late Monday afternoon.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a whole new ballgame,鈥� Canseco said of the campaign following Campbell鈥檚 announcement. He added that in terms of polling: 鈥淓verything we鈥檝e done up to now is essentially useless.鈥�
In terms of the mayoral race, the survey asked respondents to rank each candidate.
Across the city, independent Kennedy Stewart was the best ranked candidate with 23 per cent of respondents saying he is a 鈥済ood choice鈥� for mayor while 10 per cent deem him a 鈥渂ad choice.鈥�
Another independent, Shauna Sylvester, also had a positive ranking with 19 per cent saying she is a good choice versus eight per cent deeming her a bad choice. It was also more good than bad for the NPA鈥檚 Ken Sim (18 per cent versus 14 per cent).
ProVancouver鈥檚 David Chen broke even with 11 per cent good and bad. The remaining candidates had more bad responses than good 鈥� Wai Young of Coalition 麻豆传媒映画(10 per cent versus 16 per cent), Yes Vancouver鈥檚 Hector Bremner (14 per cent and 16 per cent) and Fred Harding of 麻豆传媒映画First (14 per cent and 16 per cent).
As far as housing, which is arguably the top issue this campaign, the survey asked Vancouverites how much confidence they have in the declared mayoral candidates to help make housing in the city more affordable.
Stewart topped the poll with 33 per cent of respondents expressing 鈥渃omplete confidence鈥� or 鈥渟ome confidence鈥� in his ability, followed by Bremner and Sylvester at 26 per cent each, Sim (24 per cent), Harding (22 per cent), Chen (21 per cent) and Young (19 per cent).
The results are based on an online survey conducted between Sept. 4 and 7 among 400 adults in the city. The margin of error is +/- 4.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
@JessicaEKerr
