(03/27/12) -

Saskatchewan’s Wall Remains the Highest Rated Canadian Premier

Four premiers—Dexter, McGuinty, Clark and Charest—get negative reviews from more than half of respondents in their respective provinces.

Brad Wall maintains his position as the most popular premier in Canada, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

The online survey of a representative national sample of 6,622 Canadian adults asked respondents in nine provinces about the performance of their respective premiers.

Saskatchewan’s Wall continues to post the highest approval rating in the country at 70 per cent, followed by Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale with 55 per cent. About half of respondents in Alberta and Manitoba approve of their respective heads of government: Alison Redford (49%) and Greg Selinger (48%).

The rating for New Brunswick’s David Alward is stable at 41 per cent. Nova Scotia’s Darrell Dexter is now sixth on the list of premiers at 35 per cent, tied with Ontario’s Dalton McGuinty.

The approval rating for British Columbia Premier Christy Clark has fallen by nine points since August and now stands at 33 per cent. The lowest ranked premier in Canada continues to be Quebec’s Jean Charest at 27 per cent.

This month, four premiers hold a disapproval rating above the 50 per cent mark: Charest (67%), Clark (58%), Dexter (57%) and McGuinty (55%).

The Opposition

The survey also asked respondents to provide an approval rating for all of the opposition party leaders in their respective province. The list continues to be dominated by New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Lorraine Michael in Newfoundland and Labrador (55%), followed by Nova Scotia Liberal leader Stephen McNeil (49%). Two other provincial NDP leaders get a positive review from 47 per cent of respondents: Adrian Dix in British Columbia and Andrea Horwath in Ontario.

In Alberta and Quebec, Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith (43%) and Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois (41%) are backed by at least two-in-five respondents, followed by Saskatchewan’s interim NDP leader John Nilson (36%), Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative Party leader Hugh McFadyen (33%) and New Brunswick’s Liberal Party interim leader Victor Boudreau (27%).

Analysis

While Brad Wall maintains an impressive rating in Saskatchewan, the proportion of respondents in Newfoundland and Labrador and Alberta who are satisfied with their premiers fell by five and four points respectively since December. The biggest quarterly drop for a sitting head of government was observed in British Columbia.

Quebecers are now looking at Pauline Marois in a more positive light than they did last year, and the NDP leaders in Newfoundland and Labrador, British Columbia and Ontario continue to post respectable numbers. McNeil is supported by practically half of Nova Scotians, 14 points ahead of the province’s incumbent premier.

These results are part of the Angus Reid Report, a syndicated survey that asks over 50 questions to a representative national sample of more than 6,000 Canadians, providing an opportunity to compare Canadian provinces on a wide range of policy issues and performance indicators.

Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

CONTACT:

Jaideep Mukerji, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion
+514 409 0462
jaideep.mukerji@angus-reid.com

Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com

Methodology: From March 6 to March 14, 2012, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 6,622 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 1.2%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.