Capping off a bad week for Rob Ford, a massive new poll obtained by the Toronto Star shows that the majority of Torontonians are opposed to the sweeping service cuts that have been proposed to help balance the 2012 budget. Commissioned by CUPE Local 79 and conducted by Forum Research, the same company that's been keeping track of the mayor's falling approval rating, the random telephone survey involved almost 13,000 people.

That fact that a union group paid for the poll and that there was no question regarding just how much respondents would be willing to pay in increased taxes will surely cause some to write the whole exercise off, but the numbers should be troubling to Ford and his followers on council. Of those surveyed, over three-quarters indicated that they were in favour of their local councillor voting to protect services rather than proceed with the cuts that have been tabled. Even in suburban ridings that have typically been more sympathetic to Ford, the poll indicates widespread opposition to a possible loss of services.

Perhaps the most damning item is how people responded when asked if they would vote for Ford if an election was held tomorrow: only 27 per cent said "yes." It's unclear, of course, how these results will influence city councillors, but the pressure to go against the mayor's plan seems to increase by the day.

Photo by Martin Reis in the blogTO Flickr pool