Wall Best, Charest Worst as Canadians Rank Their Premiers

For Immediate Release

Canadian Public Opinion Poll

Page 1 of 6

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS

Wall Best, Charest Worst as

Canadians Rank Their Premiers

All the recently re-elected heads of government improved their standing in the final quarter of the year.

[OTTAWA – Dec. 19, 2011] – Brad Wall and

Kathy Dunderdale continue to dominate the ranking of provincial premiers in Canada, a new

Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

The online survey of a representative national sample of 7,282 Canadian adults asked respondents in nine provinces about the performance of their respective premiers.

Saskatchewan ’s Wall, who was recently elected to a second term in office, has the highest approval rating in the country at 71 per cent.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy

Dunderdale is second on the list with an approval rating of 60 per cent, followed by Alberta Premier

Alison Redford with 53 per cent, and Manitoba

Premier Greg Selinger with 50 per cent.

Along with Wall, Dunderdale and Selinger also





KEY FINDINGS

Best Approval Ratings: Wall (SK) 71%,

Dunderdale (NL) 60%, Redford (AB)

53%, Selinger (MB) 50%

Worst Approval Ratings: Dexter (NS)

39%, McGuinty (ON) 38%, Charest (QC)

26%

Full topline results are at the end of this release.

From November 25 to December 5, 2011, Angus Reid Public

Opinion conducted an online survey among 7,282 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists.

The margin of error

—which measures sampling variability—is

+/- 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 entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

secured majority governments in elections held earlier this year.

Four incumbent premiers can count on the support of roughly two-in-five respondents in their province:

New Brunswick ’s David Alward (40%), British Columbia’s Christy Clark (also 40%, but with a disapproval rating of 51%), Nova Scotia ’s Darrell Dexter (39%) and Ontario’s Dalton McGuinty (38%).

The lowest ranked head of government in Canada continues to be Quebec ’s Jean Charest, with 26 per cent.

CONTACT:

Jaideep Mukerji, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 613-691-0948, jaideep.mukerji@angus-reid.com

Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion, 877-730-3570, mario.canseco@angus-reid.com



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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. New Democratic Party (NDP) leaders Lorraine Michael in Newfoundland and

Labrador (57%) and Andrea Horwath in Ontario (53%) are particularly popular, followed by Nova Scotia ’s

Liberal leader Stephen McNeil (49%), British Columbia NDP leader Adrian Dix (47%), Coalition for the future of Quebec leader François Legault (45%), and Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith in Alberta

(41%).

The lowest ranked leaders across the country are retiring Progressive Conservative leader Hugh

McFadyen in Manitoba (34%), interim NDP leader John Nilson in Saskatchewan (33%), and interim

Liberal leader Victor Boudreau in New Brunswick (29%).

Analysis

The fall election in Saskatchewan solidified the standing of Brad Wall as the most popular head of government in Canada, with seven-in-ten residents approving of his performance. Newfoundland ’s Kathy

Dunderdale also receives a vote of confidence from most voters, although the numbers for NDP leader

Lorraine Michael are impressive.

Alberta ’s Alison Redford improves on the last showing of her predecessor Ed Stelmach by 20 points, and now holds a higher approval rating than Danielle Smith, her main rival in the next provincial ballot.

Manitoba ’s Greg Selinger is backed by half of respondents, showing consistency over the past three quarters.

The four middle-of-the-road premiers face different challenges. New Brunswick ’s David Alward benefits from facing the lowest ranked opponent in the country. While Dalton McGuinty is not as liked as Andrea

Horwath in Ontario, an election in Canada ’s most populous province is still years away. The situation is more intricate for British Columbia ’s Christy Clark and Nova Scotia’s Darrell Dexter, who hold majorities in their legislatures, but are outranked in approval rating by their main rivals —Adrian Dix and Stephen

McNeil —by seven and ten points respectively.

In Quebec, Jean Charest lost points again and faces a decidedly dangerous foe in Legault, who is backed by two-in-five respondents just a few days after the official birth of his party. This survey was conducted before the Coalition for the future of Quebec announced its merger with the Action démocratique du

Québec.

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CONTACT:





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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.

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-theline 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:





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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 leader Brad Wall

71% 22% 7%

Newfoundland and Labrador :

Premier and Progressive Conservative Party leader Kathy Dunderdale

60% 29% 11%

Alberta:

Premier and Progressive Conservative leader Alison Redford

Manitoba :

Premier and New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Greg Selinger

New Brunswick:

Premier and Progressive Conservative

leader David Alward

British Columbia:

Premier and BC Liberals leader Christy Clark

Nova Scotia :

Premier and New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Darrell Dexter

Ontario:

Premier and Liberal Party

leader Dalton McGuinty

53%

50%

40%

40%

39%

38%

26%

39%

43%

51%

52%

55%

21%

11%

18%

9%

8%

7%

Quebec:

Premier and Liberal Party of Quebec

leader Jean Charest

26% 63% 11%

CONTACT:





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Provincial Governments


December August

2011 2011

May

2011

Saskatchewan :

Premier and Saskatchewan Party leader Brad Wall

71% 63% 59%


Premier and Progressive Conservative Party leader Kathy

Dunderdale

Alberta:

Premier and Progressive Conservative leader Alison Redford

60%

53%

58%

33% (*)

43%

27% (*)

Manitoba :

Premier and New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Greg Selinger


Premier and Progressive Conservative leader David Alward

50%

40%

52%

44%

48%

40%


Premier and BC Liberals leader Christy Clark

40% 42% 36%

Nova Scotia :

Premier and New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Darrell Dexter

39% 33% 26%

Ontario:

Premier and Liberal Party leader Dalton McGuinty

Quebec:

Premier and Liberal Party of Quebec leader Jean Charest

(*) Rating with Ed Stelmach as Premier.

38%

26%

31%

30%

19%

17%

CONTACT:





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Opposition Leaders


Approve Disapprove Not sure


New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Lorraine Michael

Ontario:

New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Andrea Horwath

Nova Scotia :

Liberal Party leader Stephen McNeil


New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Adrian Dix

57%

53%

49%

47%

30%

25%

29%

35%

12%

21%

22%

18%

Quebec:

Coalition for the future of Quebec leader François Legault

Alberta:

Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith

Manitoba :

Progressive Conservative Party leader Hugh McFadyen

45%

41%

34%

30%

29%

53%

26%

29%

14%

Saskatchewan :

New Democratic Party (NDP) interim leader John Nilson

33% 26% 41%


Liberal Party interim leader Victor Boudreau

29% 34% 37%

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

CONTACT:



Wall Best, Charest Worst as Canadians Rank Their Premiers

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS

Wall Best, Charest Worst as

Canadians Rank Their Premiers

All the recently re-elected heads of government improved their standing in the final quarter of the year.

KEY FINDINGS

Best Approval Ratings: Wall (SK) 71%,

Dunderdale (NL) 60%, Redford (AB)

53%, Selinger (MB) 50%

Worst Approval Ratings: Dexter (NS)

39%, McGuinty (ON) 38%, Charest (QC)

26%

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

Provincial Governments

Provincial Governments

Opposition Leaders

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Wall Best, Charest Worst as Canadians Rank Their Premiers

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