Council Debates Validity Of On-Line Budget Survey

How many residents do you need filling out an on-line survey to be considered a valid representative sample was a question briefly debated at Council.

The question was part of the discussion surrounding the presentation of results from an on-line survey conducted into the upcoming budget and citizen's priorities.

The on-line survey was conducted from August 16 to September 6.

The 12-question survey was designed to obtain resident feedback on priorities and issues related to the 2020 Budget.

“Of the people who responded there is good support in the direction the Budget is headed,” city manager Jim Puffalt told Council.

However Councillor Brian Swanson questioned the validity of the questions and the response to survey.

“Were the questions developed put past Council before (you) sent them out?” Councillor Swanson asked communications manager Craig Hemingway who said no they had not.

He mentioned about how Council had previously decided not to use the survey as they had in the past.

Last year's survey managed to garner 314 responses.

Councillor Swanson said he did not recognize the term public consultations in regards the survey.

“When 212 respondents out of a voting population of 22,000 (respond that) is less than one percent it is not statistically valid,” he said.

Despite the survey being physically available Councillor Swanson said he would “take this with a large grain of salt.”

“The results really don't tell you anything in a statistically type of way.”

Councillor Chris Warren saw the survey as valuable and useful.

“It's a snapshot in time of residents that wanted to participate…the indications there is general support for the questions asked,” Councillor Warren stated.

He said Council had been having general discussions on the upcoming budget and the questions and feedback received were important to Council.

Mayor Fraser Tolmie also saw value in the survey.

“Having this survey is important…it’s random people coming to our website and they are engaged. They are engaged on what is happening in our community,” Mayor Tolmie stated.

He spoke about going out on Wednesday afternoons to meet with businesses to discover their thoughts and opinions and despite being a small snapshot of opinion it was valuable.

“I'm OK to find out what is going on in our community and what is happening in our city.”

To view the full results click here.