Presented in partnership with Narrative Research
Halifax NS – The Halifax Chamber of Commerce is pleased to present our third set of election poll results with residents of the municipality. The purpose of the survey is to identify which candidate residents would prefer as mayor, as well as which issues are most important to those living in HRM and track those issues during the campaign. The survey was conducted by Narrative Research.
Three top candidates continue to emerge as the municipal election approaches, with now two key themes emerging as the top issues (see below). This is our third and final survey.
Survey results regarding candidates
Latest results indicate that Andy Filmore continues to lead the polls for Mayor of Halifax with 24% of respondents indicating their preference for Andy (down 5 points from the Halifax Chamber’s previous poll conducted by Narrative Research in mid-September).
Waye Mason (19%; up 6 points) has more support in Halifax and Dartmouth compared with other parts of HRM, while Pam Lovelace (12%; no change)—who had the biggest bump between the two polls in August and September—has her highest support outside of the urban core communities.
Jim Hoskinswould be preferred as mayor by a small number of the population (4%; up 1 point). All other candidates were chosen by 1% or fewer residents.
Survey results regarding election issues
When asked to select three top issues from a pre-determined list of issues (as well as being given the option to add their own issue to the list), in our current poll, the top issue identified was
creating better public transit for all of HRM (61%; up 10 points), which, along with other issues related to transportation, indicate that getting around the HRM is important to residents.
“I am not surprised by the increasing importance of better transit as a concern for residents. Increasing traffic, with more housing units coming on stream is of concern to both residents and business owners,” says Patrick Sullivan, President and CEO of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. “We are looking forward to the Joint Regional Transportation Agency’s report and the support that both the province and the municipality will provide to transit.”
Very close as a top issue was finding suitable housing options for the unhoused (60%; up 1 point), with an additional 1% indicating in an open-ended response that removing homeless encampments / public squatters is important to them in this election.
Three in ten believe that reducing municipal taxes is important (29%; down 3 points), an issue more important to those living outside of the urban core.
A variety of other issues were also identified, including more restrictions on development rules (15%, up 1 point), increasing funding for libraries (9%; down 1 point), more focus on historic preservation of buildings (8%; up 3 points) reducing red tape for businesses (6%; no change), increased funding for recreation (4%; no change) and improving municipal park amenities (2%; down 2 points).
Survey demographics
As the election approaches, residents are continuing to become more decisive in their preference for mayor, with just three in ten residents who are unsure of who they would prefer as mayor (32%; down 5 points). Younger residents are much more likely to be undecided as of our survey date and are more likely to state that they would prefer none of the candidates listed.
– 30 –
Representing 1,950 businesses and over 94,000 members, the Halifax Chamber of Commerce is committed to advocating for the conditions in the economy that enhance our members’ prosperity. www.halifaxchamber.com
For more information:
Emma Menchefski
Communications Manager
Halifax Chamber of Commerce
emma@halifaxchamber.com
902 481 1239