Most Albertans feel Kenney doing poor job on pandemic
Premier has stirred mounting disfavour amid handling of pandemic, says expert
Experts say mounting disapproval over Premier Jason Kenney's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and tensions within his caucus surrounding public-health restrictions are the result of the Alberta leader's own mixed messaging in response to the crisis.
Survey results released Friday by the Angus Reid Institute indicated three-quarters of Albertans feel Kenney is doing a bad job handling the pandemic more than a year since it began. It marked the highest disapproval rating for a premier of any region in Canada, according to the poll.
Just 23 per cent of the 162 Albertans polled said Kenney was doing a good job, which was the lowest score for any premier in the country.
Those figures continued a downward trend for Kenney, according to data collected by Angus Reid, which has polled Canadians on their premiers' pandemic-related performances since the novel coronavirus took hold in spring 2020.
Last April, 86 per cent of Albertans said Kenney was doing a good job handling the pandemic. That number fell to 70 per cent in November 2020.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw's pandemic-related approval rating, at 46 per cent, was also tied for the lowest in the country, having fallen from nearly 90 per cent a year ago.
University of Calgary political scientist Lisa Young said Kenney “has been late to making the case for doing what's difficult” throughout the pandemic, creating lasting effects.
She pointed to the premier's comments in the legislature last May, in which he referred to COVID -19 as “influenza that does not generally threaten life apart from the most elderly, the immunocompromised and those with co-morbidities.”
“This is, to some extent, a situation that he created almost a year ago,” Young said.
“He's been brought unwillingly to the position that he now finds himself in. We know that people, in the face of this new and confusing situation of the pandemic, they look to political leaders for cues. Premier Kenney gave one set of cues early on and is now expecting people to follow him to a different position, and they're not.”
The Angus Reid survey also found 45 per cent of Albertans polled feel public-health rules in place go too far — the highest of any region in the country — while 42 per cent say they don't go far enough.
Kenney announced Tuesday the province would return to Step 1 of its economic reopening strategy as variant cases and hospitalizations spike. The latest round of restrictions shutter indoor dining, further limit retail capacity and prohibit drop-in fitness, among other measures.
Alberta doctors have said those measures are “insufficient,” as they called on the province to instead enact an immediate lockdown.
Meanwhile, a quarter of UCP MLAS have openly condemned the province's recent restrictions, with 17 MLAS challenging the rules through an open letter and public statements. Kenney said he wouldn't punish those MLAS unless they actually break the rules, themselves, or urge others to do so.
Young said the move creates “legitimacy” for residents and business operators who seek to challenge the restrictions.
“There's been a pretty clear sense that there isn't a close alignment between the government and the chief medical officer of health, so that creates more perception that there's a legitimate view here that you shouldn't be doing more, in terms of restrictions,” she said.
Mount Royal University political scientist David Taras said the long-lasting impact of the pandemic has wiped out any potential honeymoon for Kenney and his divided government.
“We're seeing an endless replay of divorce court,” Taras said.
“Name the issue and this is a divided caucus where personal ambitions, ideological divisions and deep animosity just are dividing the party.”
He called it “an old story” within Alberta politics, as former premiers Ralph Klein, Ed Stelmach and Alison Redford were brought down by their own caucuses.
“This is part of a continuing battle within the conservative movement,” Taras said.
When it comes to public perception amid the ongoing pandemic, Kenney faces a similar challenge to other premiers who must contend with a third wave, as Canadians watch life begin returning to normal south of the border, according to Taras.
“The whole Canadian experience is now very different from the American one,” he said. “There's this sense of `governments have failed us.'”
Kenney's future will depend on whether negative public opinion has become permanent.
“At some point, it's not public opinion. It's whether or not the public has made a judgment,” Taras said.
“Once the public has made a judgment, it kind of solidifies. So the question is, `is that the situation here?' Is the economy about to get better? Is the battle with the doctors about to be resolved in some form? Those are lingering tensions. There's a new battlefront opening up over the curriculum. Where is the good news for the government?”