VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Vancouver has some trust issues, at least when it comes to police and transit.
A new study compares trust levels in the city with those in Toronto and Montreal.
Fifteen hundred people in the three cities were surveyed; they were asked about a wide range of public institutions and about their politicians. Six criteria were used to determine trust levels: relationship, stability, innovation, vision, practical value, and competence.
Of those surveyed in Vancouver 65 per cent said they trust the
city's police force. While that's a strong majority, the number is far behind the 78 per cent Toronto's force scored and the 80 per cent trust level for police in Montreal.
Vancouver's
Concerto Marketing, which conducted the study earlier this year, says the
Stanley Cup Riot likely affected the VPD's score.
We are also less trusting of each other, though three quarters of Vancouverites did say they trust their neighbours. Compare that to 84 per cent in Montreal and 82 per cent in Toronto. These scores might be the most important of all; Concerto says people who express trust in this category are far more likely to recommend their community to others, help their neighbours, and report crimes to the police.
TransLink also has some work to do in building public trust; its rating was 47 per cent, far behind the 62 per cent trust enjoyed by the transit system in Toronto.
People were also asked about how much they trust their politicians.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson scored 33 per cent while
Premier Christy Clark got a 41 per cent rating. Both are slightly behind their Ontario counterparts, but far ahead of those in Quebec where no politician scored over 24 per cent.
The survey also asked about hockey, and the
Canucks are on top with a 58 per cent trust rating, beating the Leafs and the Canadians.