All in all, we prefer the fire hall to city hall!

Here’s some food for thought for local politicians that may wish to mess with the dynamics of the local fire department. When it comes down to trust, respect and reliability, Canadians will choose fire fighters over politicians pretty well every time asked.

A survey conducted for Sympatico MSN, found that Canadians have the highest regard for fire fighters picking them as the most trustworthy by 93%, which is a far better result than those elected officials we select, who find themselves 81% off the pace of the firefighters and at the very bottom of the rankings.

In the survey local politicians were selected by only 12% of the masses. A result that gives them only a very slight lead over National politicians and car salesman, who at 7% each are two groups which find themselves not very high on our regards list.

The Globe and Mail had the full results on its website on Monday morning; results that might cause a little bit of heartburn for those that depend on the whim of public vote for their livelihoods…

Most trusted professionals: the firefighters, not the CEO
VIRGINIA GALT
Globe and Mail Update
Monday, January 22, 2007.

Canadians rate firefighters as the most trusted professionals, while chief executive officers are deemed among the least trustworthy — along with union leaders, politicians and car salespeople, according to a survey released Monday.

A poll of 1,000 Canadians, conducted on behalf of Sympatico.MSN, found that 93 per cent of respondents rate firefighters as trustworthy, followed by nurses (87 per cent), pharmacists (86 per cent), airline pilots (81 per cent) and doctors (80 per cent).

CEOs, on the other hand, are considered trustworthy by just 21 per cent of the adult Canadians who were polled by Ipsos Reid between Dec. 21 and 27. Only union leaders (19 per cent), local politicians (12 per cent), national politicians and car salespeople (both at 7 per cent) ranked below CEOs in the “whom do we trust” survey.

“Opinions about the trustworthiness of various professions have remained fairly consistent since this survey was first conducted by Ipsos Reid in 2002. However there have been some notable movements among a few different professional groups,” Sympatico.MSN said in releasing the survey results.

In the trustworthiness rankings of 30 occupational groups, chiropractors moved up to 12th place from 15th in 2002, and plumbers moved up to the 15th place, from the 21st.

The negative perception of CEOs remains pretty much unchanged from 2002.

The survey respondents said they considered factors such as integrity, reliability and commitment to promises in considering the trustworthiness of people who work in the various occupational groups.

Where do you stand?

Here are the rankings:

Firefighters: 93 per cent.
Nurses: 87 per cent.
Pharmacists: 86 per cent.
Airline pilots: 81 per cent.
Doctors: 80 per cent.
Police officers: 69 per cent.
Teachers: 69 per cent.
Armed forces personnel: 65 per cent.
Day care workers: 61 per cent.
Accountants: 54 per cent.
Judges: 52 per cent.
Chiropractors: 49 per cent.
Financial advisers: 47 per cent.
Charitable organization employees: 41 per cent.
Environmentalists: 39 per cent.
Plumbers: 39 per cent.
People who work for religious institutions: 37 per cent.
Judicial system employees: 33 per cent.
Television and radio personalities: 29 per cent.
Real estate agents: 28 per cent.
Journalists: 26 per cent.
Lawyers: 25 per cent.
Auto mechanics: 25 per cent.
New home builders: 23 per cent.
Other members of the press: 22 per cent.
CEOs: 21 per cent.
Union leaders: 19 per cent.
Local politicians: 12 per cent.
National politicians: 7 per cent.
Car salespeople: 7 per cent.