The majority of Torontonians -- 72 per cent -- say Mayor Rob Ford's insistence on remaining in office after he admitted to smoking crack cocaine is "not acceptable," according to a new Ipsos poll.
Since his admission, Ford has said he won't do it again, but has no plans of resigning or taking a leave of absence.
Seventy-two per cent of respondents said the mayor's plan was "not acceptable" and 28 per cent said it was acceptable.
Answering another question, 76 per cent of those surveyed said Ford should resign permanently or take a temporary leave.
More than 40 per cent said Ford should resign, get treatment and get out of politics altogether. Thirty-five per cent of respondents said Ford should step aside temporarily and enter a treatment program for three or four months before he can return to his mayoral duties.
The remaining 24 per cent said Ford should keep his job and let voters decide his fate in the 2014 municipal election.
The poll, conducted on behalf of CTV News, CP24, and CFRB Newstalk 1010 Radio, surveyed 600 Toronto residents online between Nov. 7 and Nov. 11. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.6 per cent.
On Nov. 5, after months of denials, Ford told reporters that he has smoked crack cocaine "probably in one of my drunken stupors."
His confession came after Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair announced that police have recovered a video that shows the mayor smoking from a crack pipe.
Despite calls for Ford's resignation, his job performance rating is currently at 40 per cent, according to the Ipsos poll. It slipped from 62 per cent in September 2011 and 49 per cent in June 2012.
His approval rating was highest in the suburbs, especially in Scarborough (49 per cent) and Etobicoke (45 per cent) and much lower in the downtown core (29 per cent).
Forty-six per cent of surveyed Torontonians said the media should back off and give Ford "some time to show that he has changed his ways." Fifty-four per cent of people disagreed with that statement.
More than 70 per cent of poll respondents said they do not believe the Ford scandal is the result of a "conspiracy driven by Toronto's left wing elite and media who are opposed to his agenda."
Nearly 30 per cent agreed that there is a "left-wing" conspiracy at play.
Since Ford's admission, he has said he has nothing left to hide. Only 29 per cent of residents agree with the statement that Ford "has said there is nothing left to hide – he has admitted to everything and that the past is the past – and I believe him." Seventy-one per cent disagree, the survey found.
However, despite the call for Ford to resign and the drop in his approval rating, the majority of respondents do not support the call for the province to intervene.
The majority of people –- 65 per cent -- said the province should not intervene by attempting to remove Ford from office. Thirty-five per cent said Premier Kathleen Wynne should get involved.
