Ontarians overwhelmingly want the Progressive Conservative government to follow the money.

A new exclusive poll from Mainstreet Research and QP Briefing finds broad public consensus that the PC government should try to recover $210 million paid to businesses that were ineligible for Ontario Small Business Grants during the pandemic.

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk found that the government, in its haste to distribute pandemic cash to support businesses, lacked proper controls to account for the outflow of money and that it was being sent to eligible recipients. Some of the money went to businesses that aren't even located in Ontario.

The PC government has said that it won't pursue recovering the vast majority of the money on the basis that the applications were submitted in good faith. Premier Doug Ford has vociferously defended the business support program in the legislature since the auditor general's annual report, contending that it was a necessary measure to save Ontario businesses.

But when asked what the government should do, Ontarians were less forgiving than the PCs. An overwhelming proportion of the public — 69 per cent — believes the government should try to recover the $210 million. Only 15 per cent say the government should not try to do so, and 16 per cent were unsure.

Broken down by party support, PC voters were the most likely to say that they think the government should try to recover the funds, with 77 per cent believing they should do so.

"They're being uniform in their standards," said Joseph Angolano, the vice-president of Mainstreet Research, referring to Ontario conservatives who have a distaste for government waste. "Support is robust" to recover the funds, he added.

The exclusive poll was conducted Dec. 8–9 and surveyed 1,002 Ontarians. It is considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. It is the first public polling question to be conducted on the subject of the 2021 auditor general's report.

That support to try to recover the funds crosses party lines and age demographics, and the item was arguably the most explosive news to come out of the auditor general's annual report.

But the government was reticent to act on recovering the funds upon the report's release.

"The applications were done in good faith," noted Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy after the release of the auditor general's report. He also singled out a small minority of businesses that applied "fraudulently" rather than in good faith will be pursued. That number accounts for less than $10 million of the $210 million, the minister said at the time. But the balance will remain in the hands of businesses. "We've made the decision to not increase the burden on the backs of those small businesses."

Public overwhelmingly wants government to try to recover $210 million: poll

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