Canada PoliticsMcGuinty, Clark ranked as Canada’s least popular premiers
Don't be surprised if you hear a collective: "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye" directed at Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty over the next month.
One month before his official exit from office, a new survey suggests that a struggling economy, disputes with the public sector unions and a series of scandals has left the outgoing premier with the worst approval rating in the whole country.
The quarterly 'popular premier' survey — conducted by Angus Reid and released Monday — says that McGuinty has the support of only 23 per cent of Ontarians, a 15 per cent drop from one year ago.
To be fair, McGuinty does have some company in the proverbial political gutter.
The survey suggests that every premier — sans Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall — has an approval rating of under 50 per cent.
Yahoo! Year in Review:
Apparently, we're not too enthralled with our current slate of premiers.
Wall has 67 per cent support followed by Alberta's Alison Redford (47 per cent), Manitoba's Greg Selinger (46 per cent) and Quebec's Pauline Marois (41 per cent).
At the bottom of the list — just above McGuinty — are Nova Scotia's Darrell Dexter (31 per cent) and B.C.'s Christy Clark (31 per cent)
Out of that group, Clark has the most to worry about as she faces a May 2013 provincial election.
Angus Reid also asked respondents if they approve of the performance of their province's opposition leaders.
Nova Scotia's Stephen McNeil and British Columbia's Adrian Dix topped that list with approval ratings of 53 per cent.
The online survey of 6,619 Canadian adults was conducted between November 25 and December 3 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Prince Edward Island was not included in the survey.
*Approval Ratings by province:
Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of each of the following people?
British Columbia: Premier Christy Clark (31 per cent); Opposition Leader Adrian Dix (53 per cent)
Alberta: Premier Allison Redford (47 per cent); Opposition Leader Danielle Smith (48 per cent)
Saskatchewan: Premier: Brad Wall (67 per cent); Opposition Leader John Nilson (35 per cent)
Manitoba: Premier: Greg Selinger (46 per cent); Opposition Leader Brian Pallister (47 per cent)
Ontario: Premier: Dalton McGuinty (23 per cent); Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath (48 per cent)
Quebec: Premier Pauline Marois (41 per cent); Opposition Leader François Legault (50 per cent)
New Brunswick: Premier David Alward (35 per cent); Opposition Leader Brian Gallant (39 per cent)
Nova Scotia: Premier Darrell Dexter (31 per cent); Opposition Leader Stephen McNeil (53 per cent)
Newfoundland and Labrador: Premier Kathy Dunderdale (37 per cent); Opposition Leader Lorraine Michael (48 per cent)
*Note: The 'opposition leader' featured is the one with the highest approval rating of all opposition parties registered in the province.
