British Columbia Premier David Eby’s approval rating is now the lowest since he took office, according to a new poll from the Angus Reid Institute. The survey found Eby’s approval sits at 41 per cent, down five points from June and 12 points from March. Specifically, nine per cent of respondents said they “strongly approve” of the premier, 32 per cent “moderately approve,” 18 per cent “moderately disapprove” and 32 per cent “strongly disapprove.” The institute pointed to challenges the NDP government is reckoning with such as the BC General Employees Union strike, a growing deficit and the controversy surrounding recent court decisions on Indigenous land rights. “I think like a lot of Canadians, British Columbians are struggling. They’re finding the times very challenging,” Hamish Telford, political science professor at the University of the Fraser Valley told CTV Morning Live on Wednesday, on why the premier’s favour with voters may be declining. “The housing market has dampened somewhat, but houses are still very, very expensive and that was a key issue for David Eby. He was going to aggressively tackle that, and I don’t think he made the headway that people were hoping for,” he continued. Telford referenced cost-of-living challenges in the province and growing frustration with public disorder. According to the poll, which collected opinions from across Canada, Eby is tied for second-least favoured premier in the country, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Wab Kinew, premier of Manitoba, received the highest approval ranking at 61 per cent, while Quebec’s Francois Legault sits at a dismal 22 per cent. The data is based on an online survey conducted from Aug. 28 to Sept. 5, with a randomized sample of 4,045 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. “The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to region, gender, age, household income, and education, based on the Canadian census,” according to the methodology. The margin of error for B.C. was +/- four per cent.
