Election talk, slipping oil prices hurt Prentice’s popularity

A new poll suggests Premier Jim Prentice’s approval rating has dipped this year amid falling energy prices, a looming election and his remarks suggesting Albertans should “look in the mirror” to take responsibility for the province’s financial problems.

The survey released Thursday by Angus Reid Institute found Prentice is the second- most popular premier in the country, trailing Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall and tied with Nova Scotia’s Stephen McNeil.

The Progressive Conservative premier holds a 43 per cent approval rating among the 805 Albertans surveyed online earlier this month.

But the Tory leader’s numbers have dropped seven percentage points since the institute conducted a similar poll in December, while his disapproval rating sits at 39 per cent.

Shachi Kurl of Angus Reid Institute said an “amalgam of things” are battering the premier’s popularity, although it’s difficult to pinpoint what exactly is having the largest impact.

“The budget pressure is a huge piece of it, dropping oil, rising unemployment ... these are things that are putting pressure, not just on public coffers, but are putting pressures on ordinary Albertans,” Kurl told the Herald in an interview.

“It wasn’t surprising to see his job approval numbers at 50 per cent last quarter and it’s not tremendously surprisingly to see them decline this quarter.”

The premier has been warning Albertans to expect a tough budget coming up as the province grapples with slumping oil prices, falling energy revenues and layoffs in the oilpatch.

A combination of tax hikes and service hikes are anticipated in the March 26 budget.

“Given everything that’s going on in Alberta today, given the pressures and the heat on the government, it wouldn’t be a surprise if it turns out the ( premier’s political) honeymoon is indeed over,” she added.

“But we may see a resurgence of the honeymoon, especially if he calls a snap election and especially if Prentice does well.”

The online poll sampled 6,278 Canadians across the country between Feb. 26 and March 6.

On March 4, Prentice set off a social media firestorm with comments on a radio program that Albertans need to “look in the mirror” to take responsibility for the province’s precarious financial situation.

Political analyst and independent pollster Janet Brown said it appears Prentice’s approval ratings were already starting to weaken before his remarks prompted the Twitter hashtag #PrenticeBlamesAlbertans.

“If you understand his approval was starting to drop, then it’s no wonder the mirror comments stung as much as they did,” Brown said.

“But still, realistically, he’s still on track to win a large majority government, even though he’s slipping.”