From the Star:
Most favour T.O.'s bid for a World's Fair
Sep. 9, 2006. 01:00 AM
DONOVAN VINCENT
CITY HALL BUREAU
Residents of the GTA strongly support Toronto's bid for Expo 2015, according to a Toronto Star/Decima poll.
When asked, "Do you support or oppose Toronto's bid (for) the world's fair?'' 83 per cent of respondents said yes.
As to their reasons, the most common response — given by 39 per cent of supporters — was that if Toronto hosted the event, it would help promote the city and the country. One in three believed it would stimulate economic growth.
Of those opposing the bid, the majority believed it would be too expensive and wouldn't turn a profit, while 29 per cent said the money required to put on a world's fair in Toronto could be put to better use.
The overall survey questioned 685 Greater Toronto residents, about evenly divided between the city and suburban regions, between July 31 and Aug. 10, using Decima's GTA MetroVox, a bi-monthly online survey.
A random sample of this size has an associated sample margin of error plus or minus 3.7 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Toronto City Council voted in May to vie for Expo 2015. To get into the running officially, the city must file its bid by Nov. 3 to the Bureau of International des Expositions, a Paris-based body that decides who hosts A-class fairs.
The city has yet to hear whether it will get support from Ottawa, without which the bid can't go forward. The federal government is currently going over the city's business plan for the event. Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has been cautious in his support to date.
But the numbers from the Decima survey bode well for the bid, at least with regard to public support, says Bob Murphy, senior vice president for Decima in Toronto.
"I think that (83 per cent) is a very significant number,'' Murphy said.
"I think people are principally looking at what it can do to build the city's brand."
No background information, such as projected costs or deficits, was provided to respondents before they answered the question, Murphy said.
The bid is expected to cost about $2.8 billion in public money, generate an estimated $13.5 billion in new GDP, create 215,000 jobs and $8.4 billion in wages and salaries, and generate about $5.1 billion in tax revenue, among other benefits. However, the event itself is also expected to generate a $700 million deficit.
The timing of the survey results "couldn't be better,'' according to Michel Frappier, chief operating officer for the Toronto 2015 World Expo Corporation, a city agency. The corporation was to sit down with a public relations firm this week to discuss putting together a "communications strategy'' for the bid. It would include one-on-one meetings with members of the public informing them about the bid, he said.
Frappier acknowledged that nothing can go far until the federal government decides whether to support the bid.
Councillor Brian Ashton (Ward 36, Scarborough Southwest), who is spearheading the bid, said he was "stunned'' and pleased by the 83 per cent support.
"This sends a strong message to Ottawa and the province that the public supports a World's Fair,'' Ashton said in an interview.
But Councillor Michael Walker (Ward 22, St. Paul's), who voted against the bid, said government can't be run by opinion polls. The money the fair would cost would be better spent on priorities such as transit, housing or education, he said.
Ashton said that now that the city has given Ottawa financial projections for hosting Expo 2015, Heritage Canada will begin crafting a report to go to the federal cabinet sometime near the end of this month.
AoD