First Quarter 2021 Provincial Premiers Approval Ratings

Saskatchewan’s (65% +10), British Columbia’s (64% +1), and Québec’s François Legault (63% -7) Garner Top Rankings while Newfoundland and Labrador Andrew Furey Has Perilous Fall (40% -23)

Toronto, March 26, 2021— Maru Public Opinion released the first 2021 installment of its long-standing quarterly approval ratings of Canada’s premiers today which finds Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe (65%) ranked the highest of any provincial premier measured—up by ten percentage points since the last sounding in December 2020.

Premier Moe is followed closely behind by both British Columbia Premier John Horgan (64%) who is up one percentage point since December and Québec Premier François Legault (63%) who has tumbled down seven percentage points during the same timeframe.

The next tier of approval ratings has New Brunswick Premier (57% +1) running ahead of Ontario Premier (48%) who is down five percentage points since December, with Nova Scotia’s new Premier Ian Rankin settling in at 41% for his first provincial approval rating.

Manitoba Premier remains at the bottom of the approvals list (37% +2) as he was last month, along with Alberta Premier who is slightly ahead but remains unchanged from his last rating that is at 39%.

The biggest fall from grace though is reserved for Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey who replaced outgoing Liberal premier and took over the seat of government on August 19, 2020. His first provincial approval rating last September was at 48%, rising to 63% (up fifteen percentage points) by December 2020.

Buoyed by the approval ratings, premier Furey called an election on January 15, 2021; however, an unexpected COVID-19 surge in the week leading up to the election caused a delay, which was followed by cancellation of all in-person voting across the province. Delayed numerous times since, an all-mail ballot (the first ever in the country) election date is now set for March 25, 2021.

But it would appear that the delay has come with a severe political cost to the new premier: since the last sounding in December, he dropped a perilous -23 percentage points to where he now rests with an approval rating of 40% – eight percentage points less than he had when he first landed the title. It remains to be seen if he can prevail against his main opponent, Conservative Leader "Ches" Crosbie, son of the provincial political scion John C. Crosbie.

BUENOS AIRES / CHICAGO / EDINBURGH / LONDON / LOS ANGELES / NEW YORK / SAN FRANCISCO / SOUTHAMPTON / TORONTO / VANCOUVER 1 The First Quarter 2021 Premier Approval Ratings

. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe 65% +10

. British Columbia Premier John Horgan 64% +1

. Québec Premier François Legault 63% -7

. New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs 57% +1

. Ontario Premier Doug Ford 48% -5

. Nova Scotia Premier 41% (first measurement)

. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey 40% -23

. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney 39% (no change from Q4 2020)

. Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister 37% +2 -30-

Methodology

These are the findings of a Maru Public Opinion survey undertaken between March 2-11 2021 by Maru/Blue of 5267 randomly selected adults in Canada who are Maru/Blue online panelists. Respondents could opt in for either official language. The results have been weighted by education, age, gender, and region to match the population, according to census data. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size nationally has an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 1.4%, 19 times out of 20 with the measurements in each province being larger. The results have been weighted by education, age, gender, and region to match the population according to Census data which ensures the sample is representative of the entire adult Canadian population. Results from Prince Edward Island, Nunavut, Yukon, and Northwest Territories are excluded because of extremely small sample sizes. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

Maru/Blue https://www.marugroup.net/maru-blue is rooted in the Maru/HUB technology platform and offers on-demand, high quality, highly scalable online community samples of deeply engaged, known respondents. Excerpts from this release of findings should be properly attributed, with interpretation subject to clarification or correction. Maru Public Opinion posts its polling releases, accompanying data tables, and a description of its services at https://www.marugroup.net/polling . Maru Public Opinion does not do any work for any political party.

BUENOS AIRES / CHICAGO / EDINBURGH / LONDON / LOS ANGELES / NEW YORK / SAN FRANCISCO / SOUTHAMPTON / TORONTO / VANCOUVER 2 For more information contact:

John Wright Executive Vice President Maru Public Opinion Direct Toronto +1.416.919.2101 Direct New York +1.917.594.5555 [email protected]

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www.marugroup.net / www.marugroup.net/polling is the public opinion research channel for Maru Group.

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