Trust No. 1 voter issue

Economy, health trail as concerns in pre-election poll

Alberta voters are most concerned about trust and accountability in government, ahead of traditional concerns about health and education as the election enters its last few days.

Across the province and in Calgary, home to Progressive Conservative Leader Jim Prentice, 25 per cent of those polled cited trust and accountability as the top issue, while far fewer chose the economy.

In Edmonton, 26 per cent of those polled put trust and accountability at the top of the list.

The economy came second as a concern in both cities. In Edmonton, 10 per cent chose the economy, compared to 17 per cent in Calgary, says the Leger poll commissioned by the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald.

Among all Albertans, 14 per cent cited the economy as their biggest concern.

Those results suggest Prentice is still weighed down by the baggage of previous unpopular Tory leaders, Leger vice-president Ian Large said.

“It signals he hasn’t been able to shake a lot of these issues, though he’s working very hard to do it.”

Given the 44 years of Tory rule, “there is no one else to blame” for voters’ concerns about trust and accountability, he added.

The third most important issue was health care (12 per cent), followed by cost of living (eight per cent), education (eight per cent and taxes (seven per cent), the poll said.

Also surprising, a majority of Albertans, including in Calgary, supported an increase in corporate tax — a policy rejected by the Prentice government which raised income tax and fees instead in its recent budget.

In Edmonton, 71 per cent of those polled supported a corporate tax increase, higher than the 55 per cent in Calgary.

The government’s decision not to raise corporate taxes “has come back to bite them,” Large said.

That’s not surprising, given the government’s own prebudget consultation showed majority support on the issue, he added.

Also, almost half of Albertans (41 per cent in Calgary) support increasing royalties paid by oil and gas companies. Across Alberta, 49 per cent supported higher royalties, compared to 59 per cent in Edmonton. About one third of Albertans (up to 43 per cent in Calgary) supported a wage freeze for the civil service until the budget is balanced, the poll found. In Edmonton, the support was 33 per cent.

The fact that taxes are near the bottom of people’s concerns is significant, said Large, noting people are generally opposed to tax increases.

“It’s well understood by Albertans that government revenues are down and need to be addressed,” he said.

But that’s bad news for the Wildrose, the only party running on a platform of no new taxes, but rather a program of cuts to deal with the deficit, he said.

“Government revenues are down and need to be addressed.”

Ian large, leger

Mount Royal University political scientist Dave Taras said from Calgary the high concern about trust and accountability could also reflect pushback from some key campaign controversies, including Prentice’s refusal to raise corporate income tax after pre-budget consultation clearly showed a majority of Albertans supported that policy.

Also, Prentice’s “look in the mirror” comment, when he appeared to blame ordinary Albertans for the province’s fiscal problems, left people angry, Taras said.

The online panel poll was taken April 26 to 28 with 1,180 people and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. spratt@edmontonjournal.com