Doug Ford and the Progressive Conservative Party see an early lead over the NDP and the Liberals while the spring provincial election is just months away, a new poll has found.
Abacus data survey of 1,210 adult voters in Ontario found that if the election were held today 37 percent of PCs would vote to re-elect the government, while 28 percent would vote for liberals and 25 percent who would. NDP. Five percent of respondents said they would vote for the Green Party, while another five percent said they would vote for another party.
The poll comes after the release of an Angus Reed Institute poll that suggested only 29 percent of Ontarians approve of the work Ford is doing as the Premier, its lowest approval rating ever.
The poll comes after the release of an Angus Reed Institute poll that suggested only 29 percent of Ontarians approve of the work Ford is doing as the Premier, its lowest approval rating ever.
The abacus poll, however, paints a more optimistic picture for the Tories when it comes to their election chances in June.
“The PCs start 2022 with a profit but not one that is not insurmountable. There is widespread dissatisfaction with the Ford government and with Premier Ford itself, although it was not to the extent it pre-pandemic,” CEO David Coletto said in a posting accompanying the election results. “If the election were to take place today, the PC would have likely won, thanks to the divided opposition and strength in all parts of the province.”
The Abacus survey found that nearly a third of respondents (32 percent) left a positive impression of Doug Ford, while 46 percent had a negative impression and 20 percent had a neutral impression.
The percentage of respondents who had a positive influence of Andrea Horvath was the same (32 percent), but only 30 percent had a negative impression of an NDP leader.
Meanwhile, only 20 percent of respondents said they had the positive influence of Liberal leader Steven Del Duca. That said, the percentage of respondents who had a negative influence of del Duca was the lowest among the party’s three prominent leaders (26 percent).
The bad news for the Ford government is that when it comes to the top issue for voters – the COVID-19 pandemic – 50 percent of respondents rated the Tories’ performance as poor or very poor.
Tories also did poorly on housing affordability (65 percent poor or very poor) and rising cost of living (67 percent poor or very poor).
“Housing affordability and inflation are two areas where provincial governments perform worst and they become liabilities for PCs if they don’t have compelling solutions in the lead-up to the election,” Coletto warned.
The Abacus data survey was conducted over the phone between January 7 and January 12. It is considered accurate 19 times out of 20, within 2.9 percentage points.
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