CITYnews halifax : Houston hits new low in latest premier approval poll

CITYnews halifax / By Mark Hodgins

The latest check-in on premier approval across Canada is finding Tim Houston’s support dropping in Nova Scotia.

Angus Reid’s quarterly look at premier performance ranks Houston as having the third-worst approval at 34 per cent, ahead of only Ontario’s Doug Ford (21 per cent) and BC’s David Eby (31 per cent).

The pollster says that placement represents a new low for Houston in Nova Scotia and is far below previous levels.

“Ill-will towards Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has apparently festered since his government reversed unpopular cuts initially proposed in the province’s spring budget,” read a media release from Angus Reid.

The pollster also pointed to the eight-week strike of long-term care workers and blowback to a recent push toward fracking as issues facing Houston.

Related:

• Houston says woods ban was ‘completely appropriate’ in response to court ruling
• NDP leader calls out Houston government as power rate hikes go into effect
• Tim Houston says fracking opponents are drowning out other voices

Elsewhere in the country, the poll finds Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has the highest approval at 62 per cent.

New Brunswick’s Susan Holt is at 41 per cent approval, but that represents a drop of 13 points since the previous survey.

Angus Reid says the data was collected in an online survey of 1,803 Canadian adults from May 7 to 11.

Note: Because its small population precludes drawing discrete samples over multiple waves, data on Prince Edward Island is not released.