The ink is barely dry on Manitoba’s October election results, but the province’s new premier has already accomplished something that escaped his predecessor.
According to the latest premiers’ performance survey from the pollsters at the Angus Reid Institute, Wab Kinew is enjoying a post-election honeymoon and sitting at 57 per cent approval from his constituents, making him Canada’s most popular premier.
Former premier Heather Stefanson, who was defeated two months ago in the provincial election, was consistently ranked dead-last in the quarterly approval rankings, although she had seen a small spike in popularity in the previous poll.
Kinew, whose NDP government recently laid out its legislative agenda in its first throne speech, received 21 per cent support from respondents who strongly approve of his early work as premier, plus 35 per cent indicating moderate approval and 16 per cent unsure.
Support for the premier isn’t universal, however, as 16 per cent said they strongly disapprove, and a further 12 per cent moderately disapprove.
According to the results, Kinew’s 57 per cent tops the chart, with fellow prairie Premier Scott Moe of Saskatchewan a close second at 54 per cent. On the other end, Quebec’s Francois Legault has the dubious honour of finishing last with 31 per cent approval.
The Angus Reid Institute’s survey, which gathered the responses of 3,749 Canadian adults between Nov. 24-Dec. 1, has a margin of error of +/- six per cent for Manitoba.
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