Dec 20, 2018
The nice list: Legault, Moe top premier approval rating survey
Residents of Quebec and Saskatchewan have put their Premiers on the nice list this year, according to a new study.
Quebec Premier François Legault and Scott Moe topped an approval-rating survey released Thursday by the Angus Reid Institute.
Legault received a thumbs-up from 59 per cent of Quebec residents, while 57 per cent of Saskatchewanians gave Moe a vote of confidence in the online survey, which polled Angus Reid Forum members between Dec. 12-19.
“In the early months of the CAQ government, it appears that Quebec residents are happy enough with Legault, whose party became the first since 1966 other than the Quebec Liberals or Parti Québécois to hold power in that province,” the Institute noted in its report.
The news was not so good for Atlantic Canada’s Premiers, as Nova Scotia’s Stephen McNeil and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Dwight Ball received the lowest approval ratings with 30 and 32 per cent, respectively.
Ontario’s Doug Ford received 42 per cent approval in his first year-end report card, while B.C. Premier John Horgan’s approval rating dipped to 43 per cent from 49 per cent in 2017. According to the Angus Reid Institute, Horgan’s approval rating peaked in March of this year, reaching 52 per cent amid B.C.’s stand-off with Alberta over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.
Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s 36 per cent approval puts her in the back half of the nine provinces tracked by the Angus Reid Institute. However, she has actually seen a slight rise in popularity from her 33-per-cent grade in March as she challenges the federal government over the substantial discount on Canadian oil prices. Notley’s approval peaked shortly after her May 2015 election at 53 per cent.
“With an expected election in Alberta this spring, Notley and the NDP find themselves squeezed on one side by a delayed completion of the pipeline, despite assurances from the federal government, and on the other by the criticism of United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney, who says the premier has not done enough to defend the interests of Albertans,” the survey noted.