Polls suggest Sask. Party losing fans

REGINA Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says he knew budget decisions were likely to hurt his party’s popularity with voters and a new poll suggests just that.

Numbers from Mainstreet Research indicate that Wall’s Saskatchewan Party dropped steeply in voter support while the New Democratic Party took a nine-point lead.

Wall, who has often ranked at or near the top in national surveys of the country’s leaders, wrote on Facebook on Thursday that the poll “though not entirely consistent with our own research, certainly points to such a decline for our party.”

The poll, done for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and Regina Leader-Post, found that 49 per cent of decided and leaning voters preferred the New Democratic Party compared with 40 per cent for Wall’s governing Saskatchewan Party.

David Valentin, executive vice-president of Mainstreet Research, said the numbers show “a sea change.”

“These numbers with the NDP leading by nine percentage points across the province really are quite interesting, because we’re seeing them do well — not just in Regina, not just in Saskatoon at the moment — but also outside those urban centres and that’s the traditional territory and real strength of the Saskatchewan Party,” Valentin said in an interview.

The poll of 2,000 Saskatchewan residents was done by landline and cellphone on May 15 and 16 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.19 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The NDP had 58 per cent of support among decided and leaning voters in Regina compared with 29 per cent for the Sask. Party. It was a little closer in Saskatoon, where the NDP was at 46 per cent support, while the Sask. Party was at 42 per cent.

Outside the urban centres of Regina and Saskatoon, the Sask. Party and NDP were tied at 46 per cent.

Valentin said the numbers show the fallout from a widely criticized provincial budget released in March.

The budget cut library and education funding, as well as grants to municipalities, although cash for libraries was later restored.

It raised the provincial sales tax and added it to things that were previously exempt, such as children’s clothing and restaurant meals.

The government also shut down the provincial bus company to help tackle a $1.3-billion deficit.