Ratings don’t mean a lot

Apoll gauging public approval for Canadian premiers shows B.C.’s John Horgan sharing the top spot with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe at a rating of 52 per cent.

It’s likely no coincidence that the premiers who rated the highest are the newest kids on the block — they haven’t had time to tick everyone off.

How B.C.’s premier rates compared with other premiers is irrelevant, though. And how he rates with the B.C. public at a given moment is not particularly significant, unless that rating is a drastic shift from the previous level. Popularity waxes and wanes through a leader’s tenure, and the approval rating that really counts is the one made at the ballot box.

Still, given that he barely squeaked into office, Horgan can take some satisfaction in a survey that indicates he has the approval of more than half of British Columbians. It’s heady stuff, but he should be careful not to inhale. His government has taken some bold steps, but they are a bit like racking up credit-card purchases — it could be painful when the bill arrives.

And while Horgan has tried to move away from some of the directions the B.C. Liberals were taking, his government has approved the Site C dam and has offered tax concessions for a huge LNG development, angering his Green coalition partners and many in his NDP base.

Let’s see what the ratings are like a year from now.