A recent ThinkHQ poll shows that Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s approval rating has sunk through the floor, hitting all-time lows following a Summer of poor decisions.
According to the poll of 1,100 respondents, Kenney’s approval rating has dropped to 22 per cent, with 77 per cent disapproving of his leadership and 66 per cent of those who disapprove saying they do strongly.
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This approval rating is a record low for the Premier and nearly a record in the province. Only former Premier Alison Redford — who resigned after her approval dropped to 18 per cent — was more disliked.
“Jason Kenney is a leader on life-support, and his prognosis is not good,” said Think HQ president Marc Henry.
“We have not seen a sitting premier with numbers this low in almost a decade.”
Henry added that even in more conservative rural areas, Kenney could not breach the 30 per cent mark.
According to the ThinkHQ poll, Kenney’s approval rating had dropped by roughly 16 points since July, when Kenney opened Alberta only to introduce mandates and vaccine passports a month-and-a-half later.
Due to his precariously low public appeal, the United Conservative Party has chosen to move up its leadership review to early April next year instead of Fall 2022.
Many would take the foreboding decision as a sign of things to come and would preemptively resign. However, University of Alberta political scientist John Church believes that Kenney is unlikely to do so.
“Jason Kenney, for one thing, because of his personality, is unlikely to willingly hang up his hat,” said Church. “Jason Kenney is a different animal than any other political leaders we’ve had in the province.”
“Ralph Klein, he resigned when his numbers dropped below 50 per cent,” continued Church.
“(Kenney’s) core political base in Alberta is very unhappy with him, and they are the ones that have been pushing the hardest for his removal as leader of the party at this point.”
Indeed, it appears that Kenney has managed to anger everyone in Alberta. One-half of the province feels betrayed by his introduction of mandates and vaccine passports, while the other half resents him for not implementing them sooner.
“There is no doubt that COVID-19 is the origin of much of Kenney’s troubles, but in many respects, he has been the architect of his own misfortune,” said Henry.
“The Province’s response to COVID has been unresponsive, at times contrary and disjointed, and the political gamble that was ‘The Best Summer Ever’ is now taking a punishing toll both politically for the leader and in real human costs for Albertans and the health care system.”
While Kenney recently shuffled his cabinet ministers to ameliorate his public health management problems, it is unlikely that this change will make much of a difference in the long run.
Even if Kenney gets a hold of the fourth wave outbreak, flu season is just around the corner and will remain until his leadership review.
This sustained wave of cases will likely keep pressure on Alberta’s Health Services — a detail politicians are sure to exploit when arguing for his removal.
