Opinion poll on hold till new vote date

| 09/12/2019 | 18 Comments
Cayman News Service
Kenneth Bryan at survey press conference

(CNS): MLA Kenneth Bryan (GTC), who is planning to conduct a nationwide people’s opinion poll on Referendum Day to gauge voters’ positions on three key areas of potential public policy, has deferred the survey until a new voting day is set. Following the stay last week by the courts on the cruise port referendum until a judicial review of the process has been heard, Bryan confirmed that he would also pause his survey project.

The George Town MLA, who has been organising what he dubbed the Caymanian Voices National Survey, is hoping to find out where the people stand on gambling, ganja and gay marriage — some of the most debated issues in Cayman society.

Given the paucity of data on public opinion in general in the Cayman Islands, Bryan is hoping to take advantage of a day when the people will be out voting on the question of the cruise port project to find out what they think about other major issues.

The temporary suspension on the survey activity includes scheduled volunteer training sessions and pre-surveying events. But Bryan has indicated that once a new date is established for the referendum, he hopes to get the poll back on track.

Asking six questions relating to the three subjects, Bryan is keen to get a definitive nationwide position on these issues that have been persistent talking points for years. While many people have been making assumptions about where the majority sits, there is no data to support either side of any of these three major areas.

However, voters’ opinion regarding one of the subject areas, that of same-sex unions, may prove less significant, since the government now has no option but to deal with it.

More than one month ago the appeal court directed politicians to pass some form of legislative framework for same-sex partnerships “expeditiously” following its decision to overturn the chief justice’s legalisation of gay marriage in response to the Day Case. But the Legislative Assembly adjourned on Friday with no set date for its return.

Premier Alden McLaughlin has said this will not happen until early in the New Year, bringing into question whether or not that would be considered expeditious. But he did urge his colleagues to get behind legislation to address the issue. He warned that if members do not support a law to address the human right violations that have arisen from the case, the UK may impose gay marriage in any event.

With loud and persistent opposition from some quarters, many MLAs are not supportive of any provision to legalise gay couples’ unions and family lives. However, the survey may have helped representatives to understand that not everyone is opposed to the concept and that support for same-sex marriage may be much wider among voters than they realise.


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Category: Policy, Politics

Comments (18)

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  1. BeaumontZodecloun says:

    The Referendum is delayed until a later date. YAY! Thus, the after-vote questions are delayed until the new Referendum date. Again, YAY!!

    I don’t see what the fuss is about. I already know how I want to voice my opinions on the polls. I think there are other issues in which I’d like to also express my opinion, however these issues are important.

    Dare we hope this is an emergence of a grassroots movement in which CIG actually asks us collectively what we think??? I dare to hope!!!!!!!

    If a person ran for MLA on that platform alone, I would listen and probably vote for them; imagine…….. an MLA who polled his or her constituents on a regular basis as to what they wanted!!!!!!!!!!!

    This could be such a great place to be if we could all work together toward common goals. I remain feeling blessed to live here; we can do better.

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  2. SSM345 says:

    Kenneth, please add another question:

    Should the Standards in Public Life Bill be enacted into legislation?

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    • Anonymous says:

      It is already legislation. It has even been amended and watered-down. Despite those two realities, it still hasn’t been enacted to have affect. The last part is what everyone wants, accept those that stand to go to jail from its enactment – quite a lot of the establishment it seems!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Drop the “into legislation” part. It already is.

  3. Anonymous says:

    I’m already having anxiety about how I’m going to dodge these people when I leave my polling place

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  4. Anonymous says:

    How was this guy ever elected is absolutely beyond me. He is utterly useless.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Cannabis is illegal because a 1960s treaty classified it as having no medical value and as risky as cocaine and heroin.

    We currently import it from big pharma (or dealers) to prescribe it medically, legally. Why can’t Caymanians enter the industry, grow their own and sell it taxed or export medicine too?

    It should at least be decriminalized and anyone campaigning for it will likely get my vote. It’s 2020 people.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Decriminalizing reasonable amounts for personal consumption would be a good first step. Getting caught, being a normal youth, should be a ticket, not the end of one’s professional hopes in life.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    The MLAs in the House have no clue what their daily priorities should be. None!

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  7. Anonymous says:

    How about a full public survey of what people want, instead of a handful of weird random questions about illegal stuff and thoughts on civil-right abuses?!? Where are the grown-ups?

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  8. Anonymous says:

    Q1. Should the Cayman Islands hold a meaningless poll to provide useless data?

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