Doug Ford is handling his low approval rating well
The premier’s approval rating has fallen to 21 per cent, according to new poll results. Ford insists the numbers are skewed
Premier Doug Ford’s approval rating among Ontario residents has been low for some time, but a new Angus Reid poll suggests it’s now even lower than the 27 per cent we reported back in April—65 per cent of Liaison Strategies survey respondents said then that they believed Ontario was “on the wrong track,” and sixty-five per cent also said they had little or no confidence in how Ford manages tax dollars.
Ford told CTV he wasn’t bothered. “In politics, you’re up, you’re down,” he said at the time. “And you know, we’re still in a strong position, and we’re going to keep moving forward.”
Well, here we are in June, and Ford’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest point in his eight-year premiership, coming in at just 21 per cent, according to new poll results published by the Angus Reid Institute.
Related: Doug Ford says only “crazy lefties” don’t like his Ontario Place ideas
“His government has continued to frame its agenda around protecting Ontario from US tariffs, but that message has competed with a budget that is projecting years of deficits, as well as persistent affordability and health care challenges,” the Angus Reid report said. “Most damaging may have been the brief purchase of a $28.9-million government jet, which Ford announced was being sold back to Bombardier after significant backlash.”
In a clip captured by the Trillium’s Tina Yazdani today, Ford accused the poll of being skewed, saying that actually, he’s at 41 per cent and would win a provincial election today if one were called. “We would win another massive majority,” he insisted, claiming that Angus Reid gathers polling data in predominantly Liberal and NDP-supporting areas, which he said explained the result.
The Angus Reid Institute responded to Ford’s claim, saying they conduct their research “without fear or favour,” and affirming that they stand by their data.
Related: The Ford government has awarded a $198-million contract for a parking garage at Ontario Place
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
