One city councillor says a recent municipal survey is not statistically valid since so few people answered it, but the mayor argues the people who responded are engaged in the community.
City administration presented a report to council during the Sept. 23 regular meeting that summarized the results of a survey posted to the City of Moose Jaw website from mid-August to early September. The survey attracted 212 respondents, who were asked to answer 12 questions ranging from taxation to infrastructure to transit.
Council voted 6-1 to receive the report. Coun. Brian Swanson was opposed.
Council discussion
“I do realize that the term ‘public consultation’ has been elevated to motherhood and apple pie, but 212 respondents out of voting population of 22,000 is less than one per cent,” said Swanson.
This survey, he continued, is not statistically valid since anyone — including municipal employees — could have answered the questionnaire. Restrictions should have been applied on who can participate. The fact city administration created the questions and did not include city council in formulating them was also questionable.
Swanson cautioned against seeing this survey as an indication that all residents support council’s decisions. He pointed out 212 people responded to a survey issued during the final weeks of summer.
“I would take these (questions) with a large grain of salt,” he added. “When we had the opportunity to decide if we wanted to engage in this, I voted against it because I don’t feel the results … tell you anything in a statistically valid way.”
This survey might not be a statistical analysis, but it does provide a snapshot in time of the residents who wanted to participate, said Coun. Chris Warren. He was thrilled that council had the opportunity to hear residents’ concerns.
Warren disagreed that council had no input into the questions, pointing out council has had numerous discussions during the last few months about what it wants to do with the budget, how the budget process should look, what should be included in it, what should be considered important, and even whether to include levies.
“We have been striving toward public engagement at city hall and having this survey is important,” said Mayor Fraser Tolmie. “We always have to take the survey results we get and understand that (respondents) are a fractal of the community we represent.”
It might be random people visiting the city’s website, but they are engaged with what is happening in the community, he continued. Those who participated understand the goings-on within Moose Jaw.
“I’m OK to find out what the pulse of the community is and what is happening in the city,” Tolmie said, adding he visits businesses weekly to hear what people have to say and what’s happening in the wider community.
Tolmie also thought it was important to continue promoting these surveys.
The next regular council meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 15.
