None of Canada's premiers are popular with their constituents
A new poll has revealed that, for the second straight quarter, not a single premier in Canada has above 50 per cent popularity with their constituents.
The poll, released by the Angus Reid Institute, shows that the country’s most popular premier is still Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall, who saw an uptick of his favourability rating to 49 per cent after he announced his resignation two months ago. His current approval rating is among the lowest he has polled at during his time as premier of Saskatchewan.
Riding high off his closely fought election victory, B.C. Premier John Horgan came in just behind Wall, with 48 per cent favourability. The poll was the first time John Horgan popularity was accounted for as the province was without a premier for months while the NDP and B.C. Greens hammered out a confidence and supply agreement to allow for the formation of government. How long Horgan’s honeymoon with B.C. residents lasts remains to be seen, but it won’t be surprising if his numbers drop, as they have with every other premier the longer they remain in office.
His counterpart in Alberta is a case in point. Riding a tide of voter anger aimed at 44 years of Progressive Conservative rule, Albertans handed the Rachel Notley’s NDP a majority government for the first time in the party’s history. Starting at a high of 53 per cent favourability, Notley has fallen to 29 per cent, a number she has hovered around for 18 months.
Meanwhile, four premiers are popular with roughly a third of their constituents. Manitoba premier Brian Pallister, New Brunswick premier Brian Gallant, Quebec premier Philippe Couillard and Nova Scotia premier Stephen McNeil all hovered around the mid-30s. Both Pallister and McNeil have just started their terms as premier, so they may have time to improve their numbers. But Gallant and Couillard are past the halfway point of their terms and will face tough re-election battles if they can’t convince more voters to back them.
At the bottom of the pack is the premier of Canada’s most populous province, Kathleen Wynne, who currently has an approval rating of just 17 per cent. With an approval rating of 41 per cent just after her election victory in June 2014, Wynne shed more than 20 points on her way to becoming Canada’s least popular sitting premier. How this plays out in the provincial election, which is less than 10 months away, remains to be seen, but a 5 per cent bump in her popularity may not be enough to stave off defeat.
