12.13.2016 07:12 AM

The Premiers: who is up and who is down 

From Angus Reid Institute, here. The conservative ones are popular, perhaps a reflection of the times. Perhaps.

But there’s no correlation between newness or time in office, however: Wynne and her party have been there since 2003 – but Clark and her party have been in power since 2001.  So it’s not that.  In the former case, my hunch is that the albatross of hydro bills is turning into a noose.

Oh, and Angus Reid? Prince Edward Island is still a province, last time I checked.  You hurt your credibility with those kinds of dumb omissions.

Anyway. Comments are open.

32 Comments

  1. Steve T says:

    I would say Pallister’s numbers are skewed a bit because he is new, and because the prior NDP government was so despised and made such a mess of Manitoba.

    Wynne’s numbers are due to the same thing – except she is the incumbent government. Long-serving governments tend to see their polls decline, as their tenure increases.

    Wall is just a juggernaut, and probably is the most representative of ratings being due to popular policies and programs.

  2. MississaugaPeter says:

    Bottom line, sad that other than Wall and Pallister, our present political leaders are despised so much.

    Recipe for what happened south of the border – disenfranchised and unhappy voters.

    In a dictatorship, you hit the streets. In a democracy, you vote the Bastards out. Will probably happen from Clark to Wynne. If the alternative to the status quo is some psycho like Trump, there is a chance they will get elected.

    • MississaugaPeter says:

      A few seconds after pressing “submit”, I realized I used a word (Bastards) in my reply that is not part of my vernacular and for which I sincerely apologize for.

  3. Robert says:

    Why does Angus Reid omit Prince Edward Island?

  4. BlueGritr says:

    Leading the pack: Premiers Wall, Pallister and Clark, who all adhere to a pro-business, “let’s advance the economy” philosophy. At the other end of the spectrum is Kathleen. Big on values, which is nice and touches the heart. But doesn’t do much for Mr. and Mrs. Frontporch, who are looking for work or holding on for dear life.

  5. armand says:

    In NS McNeil’s approval was up (or perhaps steady) when he continued to tell the federal government no to a carbon tax (claiming our high electricity rates were enough on that front). The “deal” he ended up negotiated was a cap and trade for certain industry and an extension on our coal powered electricity plants. I think many Nova Scotians heaved a sigh of relief in dodging that bullet. But, with the recent debacle around the teacher’s work to rule I bet he drops significantly in the next poll as most support the teachers and saw through his dumb move. He claimed schools had to close because work to rule was unsafe. That decision lasted just one “school” day.

    • Greyapple says:

      I’m quite interested to see a post-Dec 5 NS poll. I can’t imagine that fiasco not hitting the McNeil Grits hard, but I’m not sure which of the two opposition parties will benefit most from it. Perhaps the NDP will gain in urban areas, and the Tories in rural ones.

  6. Christian says:

    Pallister is new so his numbers reflect a ‘honeymoon’ phase and Wynne is heading a 13 year old government. But generally speaking, IMO, Conservative politicians tend to be popular because they tell the masses what the WANT to hear, which is usually baseless fantasies such as: “I’ll bring the coal mining and steel working jobs back and make America great again.” or “You can have lower taxes AND better services.” or “Subways! Subways! Subways!”. Its only after they leave office that the inevitable financial and policy messes are revealed and then it falls to the (usually) progressive parties to clean it up, which of course isn’t popular and so the cycle begins anew.

    • Jon A says:

      Bingo. In the spring Brad Wall said he’d be against a Trump presidency. Now? He’s happy to have someone who agrees with him on carbon taxes in the Oval Office. It’s not about principles with him: it’s whatever happens to be popular to his supporters.

    • Steve T says:

      Funny, I was going to say the same thing about NDP (and left-ish Liberal) politicians. They tell the population what they want to hear, with little regard for the hard economic reality of their policies. Here in Manitoba, for example, the NDP spent the province into a huge deficit, with little to show for it – other than a bloated civil service who enjoy salaries and benefits that regular folks could only dream about. No actual improvement to public services; just more staff and higher salaries.

      This approach engenders a great following amongst public employees, and their unions, who then robotically then spin horror stories of the catastrophe that will befall the province if anyone dares to suggest any reductions or efficiencies.

      Manitoba has the worst healthcare outcomes in the country, the worst educational results, and one of the highest debts (even after our cash cow, Manitoba Hydro, was repeatedly plundered by the NDP). Seems that conservatives don’t have a monopoly on expensive and ineffective promises.

  7. Jon A says:

    Considering that the Saskatchewan Party is deeply entrenched into full-on arrogant Ralph Klein-itis, I would remind your readers of this: the best-selling single of all time is “Candle in the Wind” by Elton John. Popularity cannot be conflated with quality.

  8. Luke says:

    McNeil et al are a disaster. I presume his approval rating will decline further, as they are being both politically stupid and completely wrongheaded about labour relations with our teachers and the education file generally at the present time.

  9. P. Brenn says:

    I dont trust any polls anymore…

  10. Brad says:

    One word in Ontario, MPAC.

  11. dave constable says:

    Here in BC Clark and her BC Libs are in good shape heading for our provincial election in less than 6 months time. The governement advertising is pretty good, and they have a very large communications staff attached to the premier’s office. The main media here is such that if they give any attention at all to other parties, it will be to the Greens.
    A hopeful sign for NDP supporters like me is the story that none of Notley’s staff will be working for the BC NDP in this election campaign. Some of them did so last time.
    Now, if we can figure out a way to get those Ottawa based NDPers to stay home…

    • PJH says:

      I agree…..she’s adhering to WK’s cardinal rule of politics….stay out of the news……undersell and overperform………I have only been seeing gov’t ads recently….and they seem to be of the “soft sell” variety…….as long as the offshore Chinese money keeps flowing…….the BC Liberals will be in good shape…..

  12. Charlie says:

    I’m really not a fan of these kinds of “leader graphs” that Angus Reid does. They aren’t indicative of internal narratives and reduce these kinds of comparisons to a popularity contest.

    For example, Brian Pallister isn’t even a year into his mandate. Manitobans have yet to see anything to judge him on; to like or dislike him. The PCs are a nice change of pace for Manitobans who had 16 years of NDP government with recent years being sickeningly tumultuous, but the PCs have yet to do anything consequential. Voters will be waiting for the roll back of PST, cutting of expenditures without effecting front-line services and boosting job creation as was promised.

    Brad Wall, on the other hand, is an anomaly. I wouldn’t read too much into his popularity and this isn’t to diminish his achievement. However, Saskatchewan is a small province and comparing the issues of Sask. to BC or Ontario is not representative of the larger scope of issues in the latter provinces. Same could be said Dwight Ball and his situation.

    Notley and Wynne both are disliked in their respective provinces, but you’d think they’d both be polling around the same number.

    Ultimately, while these numbers could be concerning for some leaders, there no reason to begin reading the tea-leaves.

  13. Kevin says:

    I must be thick – I can’t figure out why Wynne’s approval rating would be so low. I like her and think she’s been doing a pretty good job. But I don’t think you have to like her to think that, a fair assessment of her performance should be enough.

    I agree about PEI, and it’s a surprise Angus-Reid didn’t include it And reading the actual report at their website, there’s not even an explanation as to why PEI was left out. Shoddy, IMO.

  14. Dork in East York says:

    Warren, do you see any evidence in the OLP that there is pressure for Wynne to bow out?

  15. Daryl gordon says:

    Do you like your utility bill, record provincial deficit and corruption in high places as well?

  16. pat says:

    I’d like to see all party numbers – it’s hard to capture a clear picture, but I’d like to see the other parties included. And then I’d like to see where they were at the end of the last election – wonder if much has moved, and who is moving, and which issues are motivating them to switch, or stay?

  17. Rich says:

    My hunch is that Wynne is done, but the PC’s will still manage a valiant fight until they do themselves in….yet again!
    Platform should be…”it’s about hydro, windmills, debt and the economy. We will work on that” No one should be allowed to deviate from those topics and the political death penalty should be invoked for any PC’s who try to wing it.

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