KGHM should release results of its latest public opinion poll
SATURDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — The public opinion survey commissioned by KGHM International is a curious thing.
Anyone has a right to commission public opinion surveys on anything they want. KGHM spokesman Yves Lacasse says the survey is simply about getting the public’s opinion on community issues, including Ajax and what people think of City council.
What Ajax does with the survey results on City council is its business, though it’s hard to figure the value of it. And, since polling is no longer the science it once was, a survey taken via landline telephones might have a fairly high range of unreliability.
But, much depends on the questions, the sample size and the skills of the firm doing the polling. Once again, it’s up to KGHM to decide on the usefulness of the survey results.
Still, it might be discomfiting to members of City council to know that the company applying to build a mine just south of the city’s back step is asking people what they think of incumbent municipal politicians.
Council, after all, is taking a hands-off approach on Ajax. As Coun. Ken Christian told the Armchair Mayor News, “It’s not something we have much to do with.”
The validity of that statement depends on your point of view and whether you believe council should lead or follow on such issues. Whether the survey is a sign that KGHM thinks council has more influence on the outcome than council itself thinks is anybody’s guess.
It would be best for KGHM to satisfy curiosity about its survey by releasing the results, as it did a couple of years ago when it polled public support for the mine.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Even if they do release the results, the results are going to be highly biased: the poll captures younger people, in the daytime, without a “day job” — prime contenders for the “Ajax Supporter” category. Then if KGHM decides to publicize the results, the company could say: “a good percentage of people surveyed support the mine or believe their City Councillors should advocate for the mine”. Shocker.
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I agree that if KGHM comes out and says that their surveys indicate an increased support for the mine, then they should be prepared to back this statement up with details. I recall that a few months ago Mr. Lacasse said something like ” frankly, most of the responses to our brochure were very positive”. One should keep in mind that the two response options privided in the brochure were something like, a) I support Ajax or b) I have questions about the project.
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Thankyou, Mayor Mel, for asking the questions that need to be asked. Surveys that have limited and narrow demographics, when also linked to political affiliations, have the appearance of political interference, in my opinion. If not, then there would be no reason to not share the results.
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