3 Out of 4 Torontonians Say Campaign for 2008 Olympics Should Continue Despite Controversies: Survey, Institute for Social Research, York U.

TORONTO, April 14, 1999 -- Amid pleas for public support for the controversial bid to bring the 2008 Olympic Games to Toronto, a survey conducted by York University's Institute for Social Research has found that 74 per cent of Torontonians -- almost three out of four -- think the City should continue its campaign to win the Olympic bid.

The question was posed as part of a survey canvassing citizen views on the Quality of Life in Toronto and Montreal. The full results of that study, which was conducted between mid-January and mid-February, 1999, will be released this summer.

Given the daily spate of news stories early in 1999 about allegations of corruption among members of the International Olympic Committee, the Institute included the question to determine how the allegations may have affected the degree to which Torontonians support the City's bid for the games. The Institute for Social Research at York University carried out telephone interviews with 404 Torontonians. A sample of this size is accurate within 4.9 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

"Given the scope of the Olympic games, it is important to have the views of taxpayers on whether or not we should continue in our bid. It seems clear that despite the controversy surrounding the Olympic Committee, Torontonians overwhelmingly feel that it is worthwhile to try to get the games," said Professor Paul Grayson, Director of the Institute for Social Research at York University.

The Question: To see how Torontonians feel about the bid for the games, they were asked:

"Recently there have been stories in the press about people in charge of the Olympics taking bribes to give the Olympic games to certain cities. Do you think that because of the stories we should stop trying to get the games for Toronto?"

74% believed that we should not stop trying to get the games

15% of Torontonians stated that we should stop trying to get the games

11% were undecided

Grayson noted that there was no difference in responses based on gender or on financial situation. Differences based on age, however, surfaced. Older citizens were more likely to be sceptical of the bid than younger ones: 27% of respondents 65 or older felt that the City's bid should be stopped; an average of 13% of respondents in the younger age groups felt that the games should not be pursued.

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For more information, please contact:

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor, Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087

Prof. Paul Grayson
Director, Institute for Social Research
York University
(416) 736-5458
YU/038/99