POLL SHOWS ALBERTANS ARE BIG HINSHAW FANS

Approval rating of 88 per cent amid pandemic outshines Kenney’s

Two months ago, few people could have named the province’s chief medical officer of health.

Today, Dr. Deena Hinshaw is one of the best-known and most revered figures in Alberta.

A new poll from Marc Henry’s Thinkhq shows fully 88 per cent of Albertans approve of her handling of COVID-19.

Henry calls her popularity “astounding.” Just as amazing, only eight per cent of respondents offer any criticism at all of Hinshaw.

The most common quibble I’ve heard is that she starts virtually every sentence with “So.”

So? There’s rarely been a public figure who can be so calm, clear, warm and reassuring all at once.

Premier Jason Kenney, by contrast, scores a 59 per cent rating on his handling of the pandemic.

And Health Minister Tyler Shandro, with 34 per cent approval, is “the only Canadian politician tested who does not receive positive ratings on this issue,” Henry says.

The government itself stands at only 46 per cent approval of overall performance since being elected a year ago.

Satisfaction with COVID-19 handling, as opposed to the government itself, appear to be separate categories in the public’s mind. In that context, Kenney’s 59 per cent on COVID-19 isn’t bad. He only looks pallid beside his medical rock star.

Even Kenney’s most bitter enemies can’t deny that the premier is deeply engaged and well informed. He’s even better than Hinshaw, no small feat, in presenting complex information.

The UCP has literally turned itself inside out in responding to the pandemic with dozens of programs and policy shifts.

Few Albertans would have dreamed, for instance, that there’d be an order-in-council authorizing Finance Minister Travis Toews to borrow an extra $25 billion. The times demand what the UCP absolutely hates to do — borrow and spend. Nonetheless, they’ve done both.

Also, it’s a mistake to assume that Kenney or other government players are jealous of Hinshaw’s celebrity. Well, maybe a twinge or two. But they know what they have in Dr. Deena.

She’s pure gold to both AHS and the government as they fight the pandemic. When she speaks, the public listens, for the most part agrees, and acts accordingly.

In a province so bitterly divided on political lines, her absence could lead to a breakdown of consensus on how to handle the pandemic while gradually prying open the economy.

This is a very delicate and difficult balance.

The government’s own polling, which I reported on recently, showed that 71 per cent of Albertans are more worried about lasting economic damage than they are about the virus.

Henry’s poll finds that 77 per cent of Albertans are deeply worried about economic collapse. And 71 per cent are concerned about current unemployment in the province.

But none of that means Albertans dismiss the pandemic. In the Thinkhq survey, 58 per cent of respondents say they fear the spread and effects of COVID-19.

Questioned on whether the economy should be opened right now, 28 per cent agreed but 67 per cent said no.

Further asked if they think the severity of COVID-19 in Alberta is overstated, the results were almost identical: only 27 per cent agreed, but 67 per cent did not.

Henry concludes: “There is a reticence among Albertans about reigniting the economy too quickly, if it comes at the expense of public health.”

The oddest feature of the poll is the government’s unpopularity on the general issue of health care, even while its handling of a unique health crisis is very well received.

Henry says many respondents specifically cited the fight with doctors, as well as perceived health-care cuts, as the reasons they are so unhappy with the health system itself.

The blame falls heavily on Shandro, whose 34 per cent approval rating is not surprising.

His handling of the doctors’ dispute has been dismal both in substance and combative style.

But one can almost feel sorry for the guy. He was only doing what Kenney and the cabinet wanted.