Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall is Still Best Rated Premier in Canada
Brad Wall remains the most popular premier in Canada, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
The online survey of a representative national sample of 6,657 Canadian adults asked respondents in nine provinces about the performance of their respective heads of government.
Two thirds of respondents in Saskatchewan (66%) are satisfied with Wall’s performance.
As was the case before the summer, only one other provincial premier surpasses the 50 per cent mark in approval: Alberta’s Alison Redford (55%).
Manitoba’s Greg Selinger and New Brunswick’s David Alward are next on the list with the approval of practically half of respondents in their respective provinces (48% for Selinger, 47% for Alward). The New Brunswick Premier had a particularly good summer, gaining 11 points since the Angus Reid Public Opinion survey concluded in May.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the rating for Premier Kathy Dunderdale continues to falter. Dunderdale had undergone a nine-point drop on approval from March to May, and has lost another seven points from May to August (39%).
The survey was conducted in the middle of the Quebec provincial election campaign. At the time, Quebec Premier Jean Charest held the same approval rating of Ontario counterpart Dalton McGuinty (32%). The lowest ranked premiers this quarter are Christy Clark in British Columbia (28%) and Darrel Dexter in Nova Scotia (26%).
The Opposition
The survey also asked respondents to provide an approval rating for all of the opposition party leaders in their respective province. Two New Democratic Party (NDP) leaders head the ranking: Lorraine Michael in Newfoundland and Labrador (53%) and Adrian Dix in British Columbia (also 53%),
Other opposition leaders with strong rankings are Nova Scotia Liberal leader Stephen McNeil (50%), Alberta Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith (also 50%), Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath (49%), and Coalition for the Future of Quebec leader François Legault (also 49%).
Three other leaders of provincial opposition parties do not get the approval of two-in-five respondents: Saskatchewan interim NDP leader John Nilson (37%), Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party leader Brian Pallister (35%) and New Brunswick NDP leader Dominic Cardy (29%).
Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)
Methodology: From August 21 to August 27, 2012, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 6,657 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 1.2%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
