Poll Questions

Here is the text of the survey questions which were asked across Canada:

ASK EVERYONE

Switching topics somewhat, I would now like to talk about people with physical or mental disabilities or handicaps. Some examples could include people who are deaf or with very limited hearing; people who have walking problems and use canes, crutches, or a wheelchair; or people who are blind or have serious problems seeing; or who have serious speech problems. Other examples of disabilities would include people with mental illness or mental retardation or with a serious learning disability.

1.  Do you know anyone with a disability who is a:(read list)(rotate)

• Coworker, supervisor or employee 1 A
• Neighbour 2 B
• Friend you know socially 3 D
• Member of your household 4 E
• Other people you come in contact with (e.g. store clerks) 5 F

2.   In comparison with other people, do you think that people with disabilities who want to work can: (read list)

• Find Jobs easily 1
• Only find jobs with difficulty 2
• Can't find jobs at all 3
• (DO NOT READ) Depends (explain: x)

3.  In your opinion, do you think most people under the age of 65, with disabilities, want to get jobs, or would they rather stay at home and live on disability payments or welfare?

• Want to get Jobs 1
• Stay at home 2
• Depends (explain: x)

4.  Do you think that most people with disabilities are financially: (read list)

• Much better off than others 1
• Somewhat better off 2
• About the same 3
• Somewhat worse off 4
• Much worse off 5
• (do not read) Depends (explain: x)

5.  I would like to ask you some questions about possible barriers, or obstacles, faced by people with disabilities. Using a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 would represent an extremely difficult barrier 1 would represent no barrier at all how much of a barrier do you think people with disabilities face? (Read list) (rotate)

• When using government services
• In employment
• In equal opportunity to quality education
• In access to public transportation
• In being able to fully use places like stores, theatres, Restaurants, and places of interest
• In the use of everyday household electronic products such as microwaves, computers and VCR's
• In going to college or university, or other job training
• In access to housing (eg. apartment buildings)
• In access to office buildings

6.  If more people with disabilities were brought ino the workforce do you think this would be a boost to the country by taking people off welfare and putting them to work or would it take jobs from people without disabilities who need them?

• Boost to the country 1
• Threat to take jobs 2
• Both 3
• Neither 4

7.  Do you think making jobs, housing, transportation, and public places more accessible to people with disabilities would be mainly a cost or mainly a benefit to society?

• Benefit to society 1
• Cost to society 2
• Both 3
• Neither 4

8.  As far as you know, are there laws which currently exist that are effective at removing the barriers to equal access for people with disabilities?

• Yes 1
• No 2

9 a.  Do you believe there should be a law which specifically requires that barriers to people with disabilities be identified and removed in: (read list) (rotate)

• The workplace 1 A  1 A
• Job training 2 B   2 B
• Education 3 C   3 C
• Housing 4 D   4 D
• Government services 5 E   5 E
• Transportation, including public transportation (ea. bus, subway, trains, airplanes) 6 F  6 F
• Public places 7 G   7 G
• Consumer products 8 H   8 H

9 b.  FOR EACH NO IN Q9a, ASK Q9b - Do you believe there should be a law which specifically prohibits barriers to people with disabilities in any new developments in ... ? (Record Above)

10.  While such a law would open up new opportunities for people with disabilities, it will also, in some cases, cost money to implement. Do you feel that the cost would... (read list)

• Be worth it 1
• Not be worth it 2

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