Polls
April 3, 2017 (Montréal, QC) – A new Mainstreet/Postmedia poll conducted for the Saskatoon Star Phoenix and Regina Leader Post finds Brad Wall with a net approval rating of +1. with 46% approval and 45% disapproval. The Mainstreet/Postmedia poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.37%, 19 times out of 20.
“These are very different numbers for Brad Wall than what we usually see” said David Valentin, Executive Vice-President of Mainstreet Research. “We last saw Brad Wall with 52% approval last October with 43% disapproval, that’s a net approval rating of +9, his approval and disapproval numbers are now essentially tied.”
“We‘re seeing very different results for the Saskatchewan NDP than we saw in the last election. The NDP now leads in both Regina and Saskatoon where the Saskatchewan Party is running second. But outside those two urban centres the Saskatchewan Party holds a dominant lead. Of course, an election isn’t being held anytime soon and we still don‘t know who will be leading the NDP into the next campaign – the numbers could increase, or decrease, once there is a new leader at the helm.”
“Driving these numbers are the impact of the budget which has a net disapproval rating of -19 (approval-disapproval). Regina residents are the most likely to disapprove (57%) while Saskatoon residents are the most likely to approve (26%).”
“Many individual parts of the budget are receiving strong disapproval as well: 51% are against the closure of STC, 43% are opposed to the expansion of the PST, 66% are against the PST increase, 49% are against the funding cuts to Libraries and Universities, 63% oppose the end of the grants-in-lieu program.”
“These are a raft of unpopular spending cuts the government says is necessary to achieve balance, and while the budget itself is out performing most of these measures in approval, individually these components are mostly being panned. The highest approval number for any of those measures is 21% for the expansion of the PST.”
“While the government is making some changes to its proposal to eliminate the grants-in-lieu program so that select communities see less impact, 40% of Saskatchewan residents support cities suing the provincial government over lost revenue with 30% opposed. These are softer numbers compared to other scores with 30% not sure.”
“Residents are similarly split when it comes to whether the government will be successful in renegotiating public sector contracts to reduce costs. A majority, 51%, believe the government will be successful while 41% think it will not. 68% of Regina residents say the government will not be successful while 67% of those outside urban centres say it will be – a sharp regional divide.”
“Lastly, 23% of Saskatchewanians say the budget cuts are necessary, 29% say they are not, while another 30% say the cuts could have been accomplished in a better way. All of this adds up to a rough reaction to a tough provincial budget,” finished Valentin.
-30-
Mainstreet – Saskatchewan Post-Budget 2017 by Mainstreet on Scribd
