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City life not for rurals:
Survey |
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By Derek Puddicombe,
Ottawa Sun
July 25, 2004
Survey says! Rural residents want out. That's according to a random
sampling of 1,500 Goulbourn, Osgoode, Rideau and West Carleton
residents by the Rural Council earlier this month.
The survey overwhelmingly suggests rural residents are not satisfied
with the way the city is conducting its business and want to split
from the city.
Within four days of sending out the four-question survey, the Rural
Council received about 40% back. Of those who responded, almost 90%
voted to break from the city.
The numbers are a significant sign for change, said Bob McKinley,
who helped draft the survey and formed the association in early
spring to tackle a broad range of issues across rural Ottawa.
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"We
want to test it in the suburban areas because our early
indications show there is about the same level of
dissatisfaction as there is in the rurals," said
McKinley.
He
added the council intends to feed the data to rural
councillors Glenn Brooks and Doug Thompson, who have
raised a motion at city council requesting its support
to instruct the province to review the benefits of
amalgamation.
..."I think that many of them are now coming to the
conclusion that there are no benefits to amalgamation,"
said McKinley.
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"This is encouraging news on a number of fronts. The approval rating
for the Rural Council is extremely high to bring about change," said
McKinley. "Deamalgamation is just one of the options, but it's the
preferred option."
About 500 people have also filled out the group's online survey, and
the results mirror the sentiments of those who completed the
hard-copy survey.
The survey asked residents if they were satisfied with City Hall
governance. It also asked if residents favoured deamalgamation.
800
HITS A DAY
McKinley, a retired lawyer, added that the Rural Council's website
-- ruralcouncil.ca -- set up in April is receiving about 800 hits a
day, including groups involved in similar battles across the
province.
Due to the strong support the council is getting, there are now
plans to extend its efforts into the suburbs.
"We want to test it in the suburban areas because our early
indications show there is about the same level of dissatisfaction as
there is in the rurals," said McKinley.
He added the council intends to feed the data to rural councillors
Glenn Brooks and Doug Thompson, who have raised a motion at city
council requesting its support to instruct the province to review
the benefits of amalgamation.
"That is one of the reasons why we want to poll the suburban areas
because there is a meaningful population out there that is not happy
either," he said.
He has already been speaking with several urban councillors and says
support for amalgamation is beginning to crumble.
"I think that many of them are now coming to the conclusion that
there are no benefits to amalgamation," said McKinley.
derek.puddicombe@ott.sunpub.com
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