Iveson lucky McDavid isn’t shooting for mayor’s job: poll
Mayor Don Iveson should feel confident ahead of October’s civic election, with a new poll measuring his approval rating at 61 per cent. But it would be a different story if he ran against the Oilers’ star player Connor McDavid.
“You better hope McDavid stays on the ice and doesn’t run against him,” Mainstreet Research president Quito Maggi joked Monday.
A poll commissioned by Postmedia measured the popularity of 18 well-known Canadians, including Albertan athletes, provincial politicians and big city mayors. The results released Tuesday measured an individual’s favourability in Calgary, Edmonton and the province overall. The survey responses from 1,000 people across Alberta were used to calculate a net rating and rank the individuals.
“Certainly, Don Iveson’s star is rising,” Maggi said.
“I think we can expect to see a ... runaway victory in Edmonton.”
Still, not everyone would vote for him. The poll found 30 per cent of Edmontonians viewed him unfavourably, compared to the 61 per cent who supported him. Nine per cent were either unsure or unfamiliar with him.
Iveson’s popularity drops to 20 per cent if respondents across the province are included — only nine per cent of Calgarians surveyed approved of the mayor.
In Edmonton though, his approval rating is consistent — a January poll by Mainstreet found that 58 per cent of people approved of him, compared to 33 per cent who disapproved or nine per cent who were unsure. In April, those numbers rose after another poll found he had a 66 per cent approval rating, compared to 27 per cent who disapproved.
McDavid led Tuesday’s list with a favourable rating of 78 per cent in Edmonton. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t fare so well among Calgary Flames fans. Twenty-four per cent of Calgarians approved of him, nine per cent found him unfavourable and 57 per cent were unsure. Eleven per cent didn’t know his name.
Hockey players overall beat out politicians, with four rankings in the top five spots. United Conservative Party leadership candidate Brian Jean was the only politician among the players, coming third. Rival leadership candidate Jason Kenney came sixth.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi was more popular in Edmonton than in his own city, with 35 per cent of his own constituents approving of him, compared to 45 per cent in Edmonton. Fifty per cent of Calgarians surveyed disapproved of him.
“(Nenshi) is declining; not unusual coming into a second reelection bid,” Maggi said.
Provincial politicians were the worst off, he added.
“If you look at the whole list ... all the cabinet ministers that are there, they are all scoring pretty badly.”
Premier Rachel Notley was ranked last, with 60 per cent of Albertans disapproving of her.
She was more popular in Edmonton than Calgary, at 45 per cent approval compared to 28 per cent respectively.
Maggi noted 19 per cent of Albertans favoured embattled independent MLA Derek Fildebrandt, with 37 per cent voicing their disapproval. He ranked 14th overall.
“I would have thought he might come in last given all the controversy surrounding him of late … Maybe that hasn’t sunk in with people yet,” he said.
Mainstreet surveyed a random sample of 1,000 Albertans through live interviews and over the phone from Aug. 25 to 30. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Ranking of most popular people including respondents across the province:
Connor McDavid: 48% favourable; 9% unfavourable
Johnny Gaudreau: 41% favourable; 8% unfavourable
Brian Jean: 48% favourable; 19% unfavourable
Bo Levi Mitchell: 35% favourable; 8% unfavourable
Mike Reilly: 25% favourable; 10% unfavourable
Jason Kenney: 39% favourable; 29% unfavourable
Don Iveson: 20% favourable; 14% unfavourable
Nathan Cooper: 10% favourable; 5% unfavourable
Andrew Scheer: 30% favourable; 25% unfavourable
Brian Mason: 23% favourable; 27% unfavourable
Sarah Hoffman: 23% favourable; 28% unfavourable
David Eggen: 11% favourable; 22% unfavourable
Shannon Phillips: 9% favourable; 25% unfavourable
Derek Fildebrandt: 19% favourable; 37% unfavourable
Naheed Nenshi: 33% favourable; 53% unfavourable
Justin Trudeau: 29% favourable; 59% unfavourable
Joe Ceci: 16% favourable; 49% unfavourable
Rachel Notley: 26% favourable; 60% unfavourable