Pandemic gives bump to premiers’ popularity levels

According to a new poll, Quebec Premier Francois Legault still holds the highest approval rating among premiers, despite his province leading the country in coronavirus cases and deaths.

The poll surveyed 5,137 Canadians with a margin of error of 1.6 per cent, and was conducted by pollsters Dart and Maru Blue. It found that not only had Legault’s approval rating increased by ten points to a total of 76 per cent, but the approval rate of every premier had increased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic — some dramatically. The approval rating of five of the nine premiers measured skyrocketed by more than 30 percentage points since the beginning of Canada’s pandemic response.

In a press release, Dart pointed out that its last poll was conducted in early March, a few days before Canada would start implementing social distancing policies and travel restrictions. As COVID-19 cases began to rise in Canada, citizens turned to their premiers’ daily press conferences for guidance and information, putting their policies and quick-thinking skills under scrutiny.

The numbers there we had premiers who were on their deathbed, politically, who have gone right to the top

“There’s no question that the COVID-19 responsiveness by these premiers has given them a huge lift,” said John Wright, a partner at Dart C-Suite Communicators. “We had premiers who were on their deathbed, politically, who have gone right to the top. The reason, really, is their ability to contain the spread of the virus and to begin reopening the economy.”

According to the new poll, British Columbia Premier John Horgan and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs both trail Legault with a 71 per cent approval rating, up 34 and 35 per cent, respectively.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has seen praise come from unanticipated sources for his response to the pandemic, now holds a 62 per cent approval rating, a 32 per cent leap from March.

The biggest single increase goes to Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil, whose approval rating is up 36 per cent, to a total of 63 per cent.

“I don’t even think that if we went back to World War II or the Spanish Flu that we’d see numbers that have risen so quickly … ” Wright said. “There’s only one opposition party to all these premiers, and that is a party called COVID19.”

On the lower end of the scale, while still seeing a small increase of five per cent, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney polled at a 48 per cent approval rate. Kenney had been criticized for initially downplaying the coronavirus, and falsely claiming it was just a form of influenza.

The lowest-rated premier — while still polling higher than what most of the others were at just a few months ago — was Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, at 45 per cent.

Wright says that these lower numbers reflect the stronger political divides in those regions, which reach farther than coronavirus-related issues.

“Jason Kenney at 48 per cent still gets a majority,” Wright said. “But there’s a much more underlying concern about the economy and politics than just the return to normalization from COVID.”