‘For a survey to have any meaning whatsoever, and have statistical significance, it must be conducted independently, ask relevant questions, and provide context,’ says a CambridgeToday.ca reader’.
I am writing on behalf of the Property Taxpayers Alliance regarding the recent City of Cambridge request for budget feedback about how you want them to spend your hard-earned property tax dollars in 2026.
They’re asking us to complete an on-line survey. There are questions like “Do you want higher taxes with more services, same taxes and same services, or less taxes and fewer services?”
If you picked the latter, they immediately put you on the spot with the question “Which services do you want cut?”
But if you picked the former (more taxes and more services), they don’t ask “What new services do you want?” Why? The answer is clear. The survey is leading and manipulative.
The survey questions are prepared by Cambridge municipal employees. The questions intentionally skirt the real issues in Cambridge.
Furthermore, the survey is open to all municipal employees, their parents and relatives, and their friends and neighbours. How do you think this will affect the objectivity of the results? That’s right, they will be incredibly biased.
For a survey to have any meaning whatsoever, and have statistical significance, it must be conducted independently, ask relevant questions, and provide context.
I hope our Cambridge councillors don’t take the survey results seriously. They should make no decisions based on the results, as they will be meaningless.
John Waylett
Property Taxpayers Alliance
Cambridge
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