Redford is 2nd-most popular premier
47% of those surveyed approve of her
Alison Redford is the second-most-popular premier in the country, but her approval rating has slowly eroded since the Tory leader captured a large majority government during the spring election, a new poll suggests.
The survey by Angus Reid Public Opinion released Monday found Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall continues to be the most popular premier in the country, winning the approval of 67 per cent of residents of the province. Only 27 per cent of Saskatchewan residents disapprove of his performance.
In Alberta, 47 per cent of people surveyed approve of Redford’s performance, while 46 per cent disapprove and seven per cent are unsure.
However, Alberta’s Progressive Conservative leader has seen her support decline from 60 per cent last May, and down from 55 per cent recorded in August.
“This shows there’s a little bit of difficulty connecting with the public that definitely was happy with her just a few months ago,” said Mario Canseco, a vice-president with Angus Reid Public Opinion.
Canseco believes recent political turmoil in Alberta, such as questions over political donations and the public inquiry into queue jumping inside the health system, have thrown some PC voters “off balance.”
But with the next election still more than three years away, Redford remains in an strong position, he said.
“To be at over 40 per cent with all of the difficulties that we’ve seen over the last few months, it certainly is a good place to be,” Canseco said. “It also shows there’s room for improvement and I think it really depends on how the opposition can connect.”
University of Calgary political scientist Melanee Thomas noted it’s unusual for any sitting premier to have an approval rating above 50 per cent — only Saskatchewan’s Wall exceeded that mark in the new survey.
Redford’s strong poll numbers earlier this year were bolstered by her position as a popular new leader who produced a come-from-behind victory over the Wildrose party in April’s election, Thomas said.
“The difference you see between then and now is probably more a function of going back to politics as usual — and also part of it is having an effective opposition in the Alberta legislature,” she said.
The survey is the first public poll released since the end of a raucous fall legislative session that saw the Redford government criticized over executive expenses, a deepening deficit and the premier’s role in the government awarding a legal contract for Alberta to sue tobacco companies.
Thomas said the “jury is still out” on whether recent opposition attacks have permanently damaged Redford or merely caused short-term difficulty for the PC party.
The lowest approval rating in the country was handed to Ontario’s outgoing Premier Dalton McGuinty, who won the approval of less than one in four people in Canada’s most populous province.
The online poll also measured the performance of Opposition leaders across the country and found the Wildrose’s Danielle Smith has the approval of 48 per cent of Albertans, while 42 per cent disapprove, and 10 per cent are unsure. In August, her approval rating stood at 50 per cent.
Across the country, the online poll surveyed 6,619 people between Nov. 25 and Dec. 3, and it has a stated margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. In Alberta, 817 people were surveyed and the provincial margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.