Public Opinion Research

VIII.    Performance of Government on Community Issues

B. Comparative Assessment of Government's Performance in Addressing Community Issues/Concerns

It is not surprising that Canadians have a much more positive view of their local government's performance (in comparison with the provincial or federal governments) addressing the concerns of their community. Over one-half (53%) give an excellent or good rating to their local government, while only 19% indicate a negative rating on the performance of their municipal authority. In contrast, 35% believe that their provincial government's performance was either excellent or good, whereas 32% give similar ratings on Ottawa's performance. These results are not particularly surprising as, clearly, local governments are much more involved in the day-to-day delivery of municipal services. Moreover, the favourable ratings of the federal government on dealing with local issues and concerns (32%) are only marginally lower than Ottawa's overall performance (37%).

Even though the provincial government retains constitutional authority for municipal affairs, performance ratings of provincial governments are virtually on par with the federal government's on a net basis. In contrast to the provinces, these ratings for the federal government have been obtained even though Ottawa has largely been absent from municipal issues since the days in the 1970s when the federal government had a Minister responsible for Urban Affairs. As noted earlier, this suggests that the federal government has an opportunity to improve its positive perceptions about its responsiveness to communities by becoming more visibly involved with these types of issues.

Figure 39

Community and Regional Variations

Residents of communities with a population less than 50,000 tend to be more critical of government as a whole. This group is slightly more critical (with a net rating of +29) of local government than those people living in larger centers. Interestingly, residents in these smaller communities are also the most inclined (compared to people living in larger communities) to give negative ratings of the federal government's performance dealing with local issues and concerns. These ratings are consistent with the perceptions toward the federal government's overall performance.

In contrast, the most positive (with a net rating of +38 for the local government and +17 for the provincial government) are those residents living in centers with populations between 500,000 and one million. These higher ratings are consistent with other findings in this study. However, these residents are no more likely to give a positive rating of Ottawa's performance than those people living in larger or smaller communities.

As shown in Figure 40, the most positive perceptions of the local government in addressing community issues are from residents in the Prairies (Net: +44), BC (Net: +38) and Atlantic Canada (Net: +35). In contrast, Ontarians and Quebecers are less likely to be positive about local government performance. Interestingly, while Ontarians are more likely to be positive about Ottawa's performance in addressing local issues or concerns, Quebecers are much more likely to be negative about this performance.

Figure 40

Performance of Different Levels of Government in Addressing Issues Facing City/Town

				National Total (n=4200) %	Region					Community Size
					Ontario (n=1444) %	Quebec (n=851) %	Atlantic (n=400) %	Prairies (n=833) %	BC/North (n=672) %	< 50K (n=800) %	50K - 100K (n=800) %	100K - 500K (n=800) %	500K - 1M (n=800) %	1M+ (n=1000) %
Your Local Government
Excellent/Good (7, 6, 5)				53	50	52	52	57	56	51	53	50	54	54
Terrible/Bad (3, 2, 1)				19	20	22	17	13	18	22	19	19	16	19
NET*				+34	+30	+30	+35	+44	+38	+29	+34	+31	+38	+35
Your Provincial Government
Excellent/Good (7, 6, 5)				35	33	29	43	47	34	33	39	32	44	33
Terrible/Bad (3, 2, 1)				32	33	32	28	27	38	36	34	35	27	32
NET*				+3	0	-3	+15	+20	-4	-3	+5	-3	+17	+1
The Federal Government
Excellent/Good (7, 6, 5)				32	36	24	34	31	33	27	31	34	31	33
Terrible/Bad (3, 2, 1)				30	28	34	29	33	29	37	31	30	32	29
NET*				+2	+8	-10	+5	-2	+4	-10	0	+4	-1	+4

Demographic Variations

Perceived government performance is linked to age. Respondents under the age of 34 are much more positive about the performance of all three levels of government in dealing with local community issues or concerns, whereas older age cohorts are less likely to be positive. This younger age cohort is more positive about the local government's performance (Net: +44) than their provincial (Net: +20) or federal government (Net: +19). The older cohorts are more likely to be positive about their local government's performance (age 35-54 Net: +29; age 55+ Net: +35) and much less positive about their provincial (age 35-54 Net: -4; age 55+ Net: 0) or federal government (age 35-54 Net: -3; age 55+ Net: +3).

There are also significant differences between generations when it comes to the performance of governments in dealing with community issues and concerns.

First generation Canadians are generally most positive about the performance of the provincial and federal governments on local issues and concerns compared to those second or third or more generation Canadians. First generation Canadians are much more positive about the federal government (Net: +21), while this is much less true for second generation (Net: 0) and third or more generation (Net: -3). Provincial governments receive relatively similar performance ratings: second generation (Net: +3); third or more generation (Net: -1). These findings are consistent with Ottawa's overall performance.

Figure 41

Performance of Different Levels of Government in Addressing Issues Facing City/Town

	National Total (n=4200) %	Age			Generation
		< 34 (n=840) %	35-54 (n=1768) %	55+ (n=1528) %	First (n=570) %	Second (n=721) %	Third or more (n=2836) %
Local Government
Excellent/ Good (7, 6, 5)	53	57	50	54	53	53	53
Terrible/ Bad (3, 2, 1)	19	13	21	19	19	15	20
NET*	+34	+44	+29	+35	+34	+38	+33
Provincial Government
Excellent/ Good (7, 6, 5)	35	42	32	34	41	35	33
Terrible/ Bad (3, 2, 1)	32	22	36	34	26	32	34
NET*	+3	+20	-4	0	+15	+3	-1
Federal Government
Excellent/ Good (7, 6, 5)	32	40	30	30	43	31	30
Terrible/ Bad (3, 2, 1)	30	21	33	33	22	31	33
NET*	+2	+19	-3	-3	+21	0	-3

The following tables underscore the fact that local governments enjoy significant equity when it comes to addressing local community concerns and issues. Local governments are likely to be viewed more positively (than either provincial or federal governments) when it comes to managing local issues and concerns even among those Canadians who believe that the quality of life in their own community is poor or worse than other communities. Not surprisingly, those Canadians who see their communities' quality of life as good or better than other communities are typically more positive toward all levels of government, including local government.

Figure 42

Performance of Different Levels of Government in Addressing Issues Facing City/Town

	National Total (n=4200) %	Quality of Life: Own City			Quality of Life: Compared to other Cities
		Good (n=3311) %	Neutral (n=635) %	Poor (n=238) %	Better (n=2233) %	Same (n=1359) %	Worse (n=525) %
Local Government
Excellent/ Good (7, 6, 5)	53	59	32	21	60	48	30
Terrible/ Bad (3, 2, 1)	19	15	29	53	13	21	39
NET*	+34	+44	+3	-32	+47	+27	-9
Provincial Government
Excellent/ Good (7, 6, 5)	35	39	19	16	40	30	23
Terrible/ Bad (3, 2, 1)	32	28	41	64	27	37	47
NET*	+3	+11	-22	-48	+13	-7	-24
Federal Government
Excellent/ Good (7, 6, 5)	32	36	18	10	36	28	22
Terrible/ Bad (3, 2, 1)	30	27	39	63	24	36	44
NET*	+2	+9	-21	-53	+12	-8	-22

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