Premier Ford’s approval rating up slightly from June: poll

Premier Doug Ford’s approval rating is up slightly from three months ago, a new poll from Maru Public Opinion has found, but his rating is still down from his all-time high in June 2020.

Back in June of this year, Ford’s approval rating dropped another eight per cent since March, falling to 40 per cent — which was his approval rating when the Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in June of 2018.

The previous poll showed that his approval was down more than 20 per cent from June 2020, which was after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, his rating hit a high of 62 per cent.

According to the latest survey, his approval now stands at 42 per cent.

“With his eye on the provincial election slated for June 2022, he’s just two percentage points higher in approval ratings than he was when he was first elected in June 2018,” the Maru Public Opinion findings state.

“After being elected, the Premier was on a slow slide to his lowest ebb (September 2019 26%) but rebounded at the beginning of the pandemic.”

Premier Doug Ford’s approval rating from June 2018 to September 2021, as conducted by Maru Public Opinion.

The poll also looked at the approval ratings of premiers across the country, in which Ford sits in seventh spot.

It found that Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe continues to be the most popular provincial leader with a rating of 63 per cent. Newly-elected Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, B.C. Premier John Hogan, and Quebec Premier François Legault are all tied at 58 per cent.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs sits at 52 per cent, followed by Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey at 48 per cent.

According to the survey, the premiers with the lowest approval rating are Manitoba’s former premier Brian Pallister (34 per cent), who recently announced he is leaving politics, and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney (31 per cent).

The Maru Public Opinion poll was conducted between Aug. 26 and Sept. 8 from 5,278 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Maru/Blue online panellists. The poll has an estimated margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Maru points out that the latest premiers’ poll was conducted a week before Kenney reintroduced gathering restrictions and announced a form of vaccine passport to combat COVID-19. Kenney, facing a growing COVID-19 hospital crisis that now threatens to topple him as leader, accepted the resignation of his health minister Tuesday.

Read the full poll results below:

Sept. 22: Maru Public Opinion premiers’ approval ratings by CityNewsToronto on Scribd

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With files from Meredith Bond and The Canadian Press