Stefanson has lowest approval rating in country: poll

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson responds to a question from the media at the summer meeting of Canada's Premiers at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson is ending the year with the lowest approval rating among the country’s premiers, according to a new poll from the Angus Reid Institute.

The numbers show that Stefanson has a 26 per cent approval rating – the lowest in Canada followed by New Brunswick’s Blaine Higgs with 28 per cent and Ontario’s Doug Ford with 34 per cent.

When broken down further, the poll found that of the 499 Manitobans surveyed, four per cent strongly approved of Stefanson, 23 per cent approved, 22 per cent disapproved and 43 per cent strongly disapproved. Ten per cent of Manitoba respondents said they are unsure.

Angus Reid reports that Stefanson also began 2022 at the bottom of the premier approval ratings.

As for the premiers with the highest approval ratings, the poll put Quebec’s Francois Legault at the top with 57 per cent, followed by Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe with 56 per cent.

Manitoba’s poll results have a margin of error of plus or minus four per cent. Angus Reid’s online survey was conducted from Nov. 28 to Dec. 3.