REGINA – The latest Angus Reid survey of provincial politics has given the governing Saskatchewan Party much to smile about.
According to their findings from the survey, conducted March 11-17 among 325 Saskatchewan residents, Premier Scott Moe continues to have majority approval in Saskatchewan and remains one of the more popular Premiers in the country.
Moe’s approval rating of 51 per cent is only behind Manitoba’s Wab Kinew and New Brunswick’s Susan Holt among Premiers.
That compares to 33 per cent favourability in the poll for Opposition Leader Carla Beck, who also has an unfavourability rating of 57 per cent.
There were other positive results for the government in the poll. The government did score ahead of the national average on their relationship with the federal government, with 57 percent saying they did a good job, and 47 percent cent in favour of their approach on tariffs.
Angus Reid also reported that 45 per cent said the province is still on the right track — tied with Manitoba for the most in the country — while 38 per cent said the province is on the wrong track.
Less positive news for government on the major issues
The news is less positive for the government when it comes to some of the issues surveyed by Angus Reid, with cost of living cited as one of the three most important issues for 65 per cent of respondents, with health care at 61 per cent.
The government also scored low among residents on both issues, with only 33 per cent saying them government did a good job on cost of living and inflation and just 25 per cent on health care.
The survey also reported that 44 per cent of respondents in Saskatchewan say they are worse off now than they were last year, which is eight points about the national average.
Parties' reaction
Still, the numbers pointing to the continued popularity of Premier Moe and the government was enough for the Saskatchewan Party to put out a post on social media, as they contended the poll showed that the NDP message wasn’t working.
“A new poll shows Saskatchewan people are rejecting the NDP’s politics of anger, hate and division,” they stated.
“57 per cent of SK people now disapprove of NDP Leader Carla Beck. That’s the highest disapproval rate of any province’s opposition leader. Maybe running down Saskatchewan and saying you should hate people you disagree with isn’t such a great strategy.”
In another post, the party stated that with a disapproval of 57 per cent, ”Carla Beck now has Dwain Lingenfelter-level disapproval numbers,” pointing to previous Angus Reid numbers from December 2010.
At a news conference Thursday, NDP Energy Critic Sally Housser dismissed the Sask Party’s reaction to the Angus Reid findings.
“You know, I guess they take what they can get in terms of things they have to talk about,” said Housser.
“They're certainly not out there selling their own bad news budget… and if you can't stand behind a budget that you just introduced a few weeks ago, you grasp out whatever straws you can.”
Housser said what was seen here from the Sask Party “is a level of fear.” She said the government sees an NDP that is not only holding them to account in the Legislature, but also making proposals such as their Grid and Growth plan and health care consultations.
“We have a number of private members' bills that we've already introduced and we will continue to introduce coming to session, on affordability, on power, on jobs, economy, and on health. And we're going to continue to do that — not only hold this government to account, but to put forward our vision for Saskatchewan.“
