‘Steady toboggan ride down’

Kenney slides while Ford holds steady in latest preem approval rating

The focus may have been all federal for much of the country lately, but Canadians are still watching their provincial premiers.

The latest quarterly approval ratings show Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe at the top, Ontario’s Doug Ford holding steady, and Alberta’s Jason Kenney hitting the bottom.

The poll from Maru Public Opinion surveyed 5,278 Canadians between Aug. 26-Sept. 8, through the Maru Voice Canada online panel.

Moe remains the most popular premier with an approval rating of 63%, down just one point from last quarter. Newcomer Tim Houston, of Nova Scotia, has jumped right into the upper echelons with a 58% approval rating — tied with Quebec’s Francois Legault and British Columbia’s John Horgan.

This survey sees Horgan down two points from the last survey and Legault down four. At one point, Legault sat as high as 70%, while Horgan had a high of 71%.

New Brunswick’s Blaine Higgs takes a slight dip of four points, as well, and now has a 52% approval rating from his voters, while Newfoundland’s Andrew Furey is down 11 points to 48% approval after dealing with some bad headlines due to COVID-19.

Ontario’s Doug Ford is actually up two percentage points in this latest survey — to 42% approval. The rating puts Ford in a good position as he gears up for the June 2022 provincial election.

He saw his approval rating sink as low as 26% in September 2019 and go as high as 62% in June 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic.

Brian Pallister, who recently stepped down as premier of Manitoba, leaves with a 34% approval rating.

In Alberta, Jason Kenney, who is facing pressure in his own caucus to step down, is sitting at a 31% approval rating.

Kenney’s highest approval came in June 2019 months after his election, but Maru pollster John Wright said his trajectory has been a “steady toboggan ride down to the bottom of the hill,” since that point.

The poll is considered accurate within 1.4%, 19 times out of 20.