In an Ipsos poll released last week, Alberta premier Jason Kenney received the worst support levels in the country.
Of the survey respondents living in Alberta, only 3% strongly approved of the UCP leader’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. Ten times that many (30%), on the other hand, said they strongly disapprove of his response.
When you account for those who somewhat approve and somewhat disapprove, the numbers come in at 37% approval overall, compared to 63% disapproval overall.
These numbers reflect the poorest showing across the country. The next lowest overall approval rating is Saskatchewan/Manitoba, who collectively have 56%, as well as the next highest overall disapproval rating, at 44%.
This is also Kenney’s lowest showing in the last 4 polls Ipsos has conducted since April.
| Apr | May | Oct | Nov | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strongly approve | 31% | 14% | 5% | 3% |
| Somewhat approve | 52% | 51% | 39% | 34% |
| Total approve | 83% | 65% | 44% | 37% |
| Somewhat disapprove | 12% | 16% | 27% | 33% |
| Strongly disapprove | 5% | 20% | 29% | 30% |
| Total disapprove | 17% | 36% | 56% | 63% |
Now that being said, Kenney isn’t the only one who’s support is dropping in Alberta for their COVID-19 response.
Last month, Justin Trudeau received a rating of “strongly approve” from 8% of respondents in Alberta. “Somewhat approve” came in at 32%, for an overall approval rating of 40%.
However, those numbers were lower than they were in April, when Trudeau had 22% of respondents strongly approve his COVID-19 response, 39% somewhat approve, for a combined overall approval of 61%.
| Apr | May | Oct | Nov | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strongly approve | 22% | 25% | 12% | 8% |
| Somewhat approve | 39% | 37% | 32% | 32% |
| Total approve | 61% | 62% | 44% | 40% |
| Somewhat disapprove | 21% | 16% | 13% | 22% |
| Strongly disapprove | 18% | 22% | 43% | 38% |
| Total disapprove | 39% | 38% | 56% | 60% |
But despite both leaders losing support in Alberta over the last 7 months, poll respondents in the province viewed Trudeau’s response more favourably than they viewed Kenney’s.
Both Alberta and Canada as a whole are in the midst of a second wave of COVID-19 infections. As of 30 November, Alberta has 16,454 active cases and total 541 deaths, the most of any other province. Canada has 64,773 active cases and 12,076 total deaths.
The November poll surveyed 1,001 Canadians, including 100 in Alberta (113 weighted), and the results are accurate to within ±3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Ipsos conducted the poll on behalf of Global News.
A Léger poll released today found similar results for Alberta. A slightly larger sample size (128 unweighted, 170 weighted) found that 64% of respondents were dissatisfied with Kenney’s performance and 30% satisified.
Angus Reid also released a poll today, showing a 40% approval (vs 58% disapproval) rating for Kenney; although the polling wasn’t specific to the pandemic. This is the lowest an Angus Reid poll has placed him since June 2019, down from 42% in August and the same spot Rachel Notley had right before last year’s election, after a 9=month climb in the polls.
