Poll finds B.C. voters ‘underwhelmed’ by lack of options
With just days left before the provincial election, British Columbians remain “underwhelmed” and “unexcited” by their voting options, according to a new Angus Reid poll released Thursday.
The poll found that 29 per cent of respondents remained unsure who would be the best candidate for the job. Of those who gave a name, 28 per cent said Liberal Leader Christy Clark would be best for the job, while 25 per cent named NDP Leader John Horgan. Green Leader Andrew Weaver was named by 18 per cent of respondents as the right person to become B.C.’s next premier.
“That’s the cynical, more skeptical view of the leaders,” said Shachi Kurl, executive director for the Angus Reid Institute. “Otherwise, the two main contenders for premier here — both of them have negative momentum scores. They’re not viewed that favourably.”
While Horgan’s NDP and Clark’s Liberals remain in close standing, the poll found that Weaver’s Green party continued to pressure the NDP, potentially opening the doors to another Liberal victory.
Still, 35 per cent of respondents felt the B.C. Liberals remained the best choice to run B.C., with the NDP coming in second with 28 per cent and the Greens at 12 per cent. A quarter of all respondents, however, said they were unsure which party would do the best job of governing B.C.
The poll was conducted online between April 28 and May 3, collecting responses from 1,007 adult participants who are a part of the Angus Reid Forum. The poll carries a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Another non-partisan study, led by University of B.C. professor Paul Kershaw and Generation Squeeze, broke down the spending promises made by each party.
According to the study, the Greens are estimated to have the most costly promises by a narrow margin, with $55.3 billion in spending required to implement their policies. The other parties weren’t far behind: the B.C. NDP came in second with $52.9 billion in promises, and the Liberals were right behind at $51.7 billion.
The promises varied when broken down by party and by age. The study said the Green party had promised the most amount of new social spending, with about $800 promised per person over the age of 65 and $1,200 promised per person under the age of 45 by 2019-20.
The NDP came in second with about $750 promised for those over 65 and $400 per person under the age of 45. The Liberal promises added up to $600 per person over the age of 65, and $100 per person under the age of 45.