For Immediate Release Canadian Public Opinion Poll

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PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS Saskatchewan’s Wall Remains the Highest Rated Canadian Premier Four premiers—Dexter, McGuinty, Clark and Charest—get negative reviews from more than half of respondents in their respective provinces.

[OTTAWA – Mar. 27, 2012] – Brad Wall maintains his position as the most popular premier in KEY FINDINGS Canada, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.  Best Approval Ratings: Wall (SK) 70%, Dunderdale (NL) 55%, Redford (AB) The online survey of a representative national 49%, Selinger (MB) 48% sample of 6,622 Canadian adults asked respondents in nine provinces about the  Worst Approval Ratings: Dexter (NS) performance of their respective premiers. 35%, McGuinty (ON) 35%, Clark (BC) 33%, Charest (QC) 27% Saskatchewan’s Wall continues to post the highest approval rating in the country at 70 per Full topline results are at the end of this release. cent, followed by Newfoundland and From March 6 to March 14, 2012, Angus Reid Public Opinion Premier with 55 per cent. conducted an online survey among 6,622 randomly selected About half of respondents in Alberta and Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The approve of their respective heads of government: margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- Alison Redford (49%) and Greg Selinger (48%). 1.2%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of The rating for New Brunswick’s David Alward is the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or stable at 41 per cent. Nova Scotia’s Darrell Dexter between totals are due to rounding. is now sixth on the list of premiers at 35 per cent, tied with Ontario’s Dalton McGuinty.

The approval rating for British Columbia Premier Christy Clark has fallen by nine points since August and now stands at 33 per cent. The lowest ranked premier in Canada continues to be Quebec’s Jean Charest at 27 per cent.

This month, four premiers hold a disapproval rating above the 50 per cent mark: Charest (67%), Clark (58%), Dexter (57%) and McGuinty (55%).

CONTACT: Jaideep Mukerji, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 613-691-0948, [email protected] Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 877-730-3570, [email protected]

For Immediate Release Canadian Public Opinion Poll

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The Opposition

The survey also asked respondents to provide an approval rating for all of the opposition party leaders in their respective province. The list continues to be dominated by (NDP) leader Lorraine Michael in Newfoundland and Labrador (55%), followed by Nova Scotia Liberal leader Stephen McNeil (49%). Two other provincial NDP leaders get a positive review from 47 per cent of respondents: Adrian Dix in British Columbia and in Ontario.

In Alberta and Quebec, Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith (43%) and Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois (41%) are backed by at least two-in-five respondents, followed by Saskatchewan’s interim NDP leader John Nilson (36%), Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative Party leader Hugh McFadyen (33%) and New Brunswick’s Liberal Party interim leader Victor Boudreau (27%).

Analysis

While Brad Wall maintains an impressive rating in Saskatchewan, the proportion of respondents in Newfoundland and Labrador and Alberta who are satisfied with their premiers fell by five and four points respectively since December. The biggest quarterly drop for a sitting head of government was observed in British Columbia.

Quebecers are now looking at Pauline Marois in a more positive light than they did last year, and the NDP leaders in Newfoundland and Labrador, British Columbia and Ontario continue to post respectable numbers. McNeil is supported by practically half of Nova Scotians, 14 points ahead of the province’s incumbent premier.

These results are part of the Angus Reid Report, a syndicated survey that asks over 50 questions to a representative national sample of more than 6,000 Canadians, providing an opportunity to compare Canadian provinces on a wide range of policy issues and performance indicators.

Learn about our electoral record / Consult our surveys / Follow us on Twitter

About Angus Reid Public Opinion Angus Reid Public Opinion is a public affairs practice headed by Dr. Angus Reid: an industry visionary who has spent more than four decades asking questions to figure out what people feel, how they think and who they will vote for. A team of talented and experienced practitioners with a unique and profound understanding of global issues conduct high quality research throughout the world on a daily basis for corporations, governments, academic researchers, and non-profit organizations.

CONTACT: Jaideep Mukerji, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 613-691-0948, [email protected] Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 877-730-3570, [email protected]

For Immediate Release Canadian Public Opinion Poll

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About Vision Critical® Vision Critical is a global research and technology firm that creates software and services solutions for over 600 clients, including one third of the world’s top 100 brands. The company has offices across North America, Europe and Australia as well as a Global Partner Program that provides other research companies and consultants with access to top-of-the-line technology. Its Sparq™ product is the most widely adopted community panel platform on the planet.

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For more information, please contact our spokespersons listed in the footnote.

CONTACT: Jaideep Mukerji, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 613-691-0948, [email protected] Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 877-730-3570, [email protected]

For Immediate Release Canadian Public Opinion Poll

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Provincial Governments

Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of each of the following people?

Approve Disapprove Not sure Saskatchewan: Premier and Saskatchewan Party 70% 23% 6% leader Brad Wall

Newfoundland and Labrador: Premier and Progressive Conservative Party 55% 37% 8% leader Kathy Dunderdale

Alberta: Premier and Progressive Conservative 49% 41% 10% leader Alison Redford

Manitoba: Premier and New Democratic Party (NDP) 48% 40% 12% leader Greg Selinger

New Brunswick: Premier and Progressive Conservative 41% 45% 13% leader David Alward

Nova Scotia: Premier and New Democratic Party (NDP) 35% 57% 7% leader Darrell Dexter

Ontario: Premier and Liberal Party 35% 55% 10% leader Dalton McGuinty

British Columbia: Premier and BC Liberals 33% 58% 9% leader Christy Clark

Quebec: Premier and Liberal Party of Quebec 27% 67% 6% leader Jean Charest

CONTACT: Jaideep Mukerji, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 613-691-0948, [email protected] Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 877-730-3570, [email protected]

For Immediate Release Canadian Public Opinion Poll

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Provincial Governments

Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of each of the following people?

March December August 2012 2011 2011

Saskatchewan: 70% 71% 63% Premier and Saskatchewan Party leader Brad Wall

Newfoundland and Labrador: Premier and Progressive Conservative Party leader Kathy 55% 60% 58% Dunderdale

Alberta: 49% 53% 33% (*) Premier and Progressive Conservative leader Alison Redford

Manitoba: 48% 50% 52% Premier and New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Greg Selinger

New Brunswick: 41% 40% 44% Premier and Progressive Conservative leader David Alward

Nova Scotia: 35% 39% 33% Premier and New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Darrell Dexter

Ontario: 35% 38% 31% Premier and Liberal Party leader Dalton McGuinty

British Columbia: 33% 40% 42% Premier and BC Liberals leader Christy Clark

Quebec: 27% 26% 30% Premier and Liberal Party of Quebec leader Jean Charest

(*) Rating with Ed Stelmach as Premier.

CONTACT: Jaideep Mukerji, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 613-691-0948, [email protected] Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 877-730-3570, [email protected]

For Immediate Release Canadian Public Opinion Poll

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Opposition Leaders

Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of each of the following people?

Approve Disapprove Not sure Newfoundland and Labrador: New Democratic Party (NDP) 55% 32% 13% leader Lorraine Michael

Nova Scotia: Liberal Party 49% 30% 22% leader Stephen McNeil

British Columbia: New Democratic Party (NDP) 47% 37% 16% leader Adrian Dix

Ontario: New Democratic Party (NDP) 47% 27% 26% leader Andrea Horwath

Alberta: Wildrose Party 43% 34% 23% leader Danielle Smith

Quebec: Parti Québécois leader 41% 50% 9% Pauline Marois

Saskatchewan: New Democratic Party (NDP) interim 36% 32% 33% leader John Nilson

Manitoba: Progressive Conservative Party 33% 51% 16% leader Hugh McFadyen

New Brunswick: Liberal Party interim 27% 37% 35% leader Victor Boudreau

Note: The leader featured on this page is the one with the highest approval rating of all opposition parties registered in the province.

CONTACT: Jaideep Mukerji, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 613-691-0948, [email protected] Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 877-730-3570, [email protected]