By paNOW

NDP rising in provincial popularity: poll

Jun 21, 2017 | 1:00 PM

Prince Albert’s New Democrat MLA is welcoming a new public opinion poll showing her party is rising in popularity.

The latest Angus Reid Institute poll shows if an election was held tomorrow, 41 per cent would vote for the NDP while 48 per cent would support the governing SaskParty. Polls in Regina and Saskatoon show majority support for the NDP with both in the 50 per cent margin.

The rest of Saskatchewan, which includes Prince Albert, sits at 31 per cent in favour of the NDP and 58 per cent for the SaskParty. paNOW reached out to the national pollster for more detailed P.A. and region numbers, but was told Angus Reid didn’t have more specific data.

MLA Nicole Rancourt (NDP, Prince Albert-Northcote) said the poll shows Saskatchewan residents aren’t pleased with the current government.

“It doesn’t matter how the SaskParty will try to spin the results of this poll,” she said. “You can tell the people of Saskatchewan are really not happy with the results of the budget and all of the cold and callus cuts that are happening through the budget.”

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The economy, according to the poll, did rank the highest among residents as the most important provincial issue at 42 per cent, followed by health care at 12 per cent. Saskatchewan residents also believed the standard of living will be worse in a year’s time.

Despite that, Premier Brad Wall is still the number one choice to lead the province, beating out former NDP interim leader Trent Wotherspoon by 18 per cent. Wotherspoon announced he would stepping down as interim leader to possibly run for the position permanently. The NDP will pick their new leader next May.

With three years until the next provincial election, Rancourt said at this point, her party can’t take anything for granted.

MLA Joe Hargrave (SaskParty, Prince Albert-Carlton) said the province isn’t out of the woods yet, but the polls show there’s still support for his party and the premier.

“We knew it was going to be a tough budget,” he said. “Obviously an austerity budget isn’t a real popular budget, so the fact [the NDP] rose in the polls for now is, as a general thing, OK. What was really interesting is the nuts and bolts when you get into the economy as the most important issue.”

He said it was reassuring the majority of Saskatchewan residents still put their trust in his party and the premier. He reiterated the promise to bring the budget back to balance in three years.

Hargrave added given the hit the resource sector took over the past year, he’s not surprised many believe the standard of living will be worse in a year’s time.

“That’s why we had to develop a three year plan, not a one year plan to get back to balance,” he said. “We’re not out of the woods yet. We’re seeing some strength but there’s some work to be done yet. And we know that.”

Jeff.labine@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @labinereporter