Half of Ontarians less likely to vote Liberal if Hydro One sold, survey suggests

Half of Ontarians polled in a new survey say that the selling off of Hydro One will make them less likely to vote for the governing Liberals in the next election.

Innovative Research Group says it conducted an online survey of 1,012 voting-age Ontarians between Friday morning and Sunday afternoon.

The budget was tabled at the legislature on Thursday afternoon, the day before the survey occurred. The government's 2015 budget laid out some details of the Liberal government's previously announced plan to sell 60 per cent of Hydro One, with some restrictions.

The survey asked the participants how this plan to sell this stake in Hydro One would affect their voting intentions toward the Liberals in the next election.

The people taking part in the survey were told that the planned sale would see the government restrict any single shareholder from owning more than 10 per cent of the company. They were also told that the government would retain 40 per cent of Hydro One and remain its biggest shareholder.

Six per cent of those surveyed said the planned Hydro One sale would make them much more likely to vote for the Liberals. A further 18 per cent said it would make them somewhat more likely to do so.

But half of those surveyed said they would be less likely to vote Liberal. That 50 per cent total was made up of those who were somewhat less likely to vote Liberal (20 per cent) and much less likely (30 per cent) as a result of a Hydro One sell-off.

Just over a quarter of those surveyed (26 per cent) said the Hydro One plan would not affect their vote either way.

Innovative Research Group said the survey was administered in a way that each participant could only participate in the survey once.

The survey was not a random sample of people, which means that a margin of error could not be calculated as a result. However, the survey results were weighted to approximate a representative sample of the province's voting-age public.