Naheed Nenshi’s approval rating remains steady at 57%: Mainstreet poll

A new poll suggests most Calgarians support Naheed Nenshi’s performance as mayor.

The poll from Mainstreet Research/Postmedia, released on Friday, asked over 800 citizens if they approve or disapprove of the way Nenshi is handling his job.

In total, 57 per cent of respondents said they did approve, 38 per cent said they didn’t and five per cent weren’t sure.

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The results closely mirrored a survey conducted by the same company last year.

“Mayor Nenshi’s approval rating (57 per cent) is unchanged from when we last polled his approval for Postmedia in June of 2015,” Mainstreet Research president Quito Maggi said in a news release.

While Nenshi had a moderately high approval rating, Calgary City Council did not fare as well.

The poll found 47 per cent of Calgarians approve of city council, while 44 per cent of Calgarians did not.

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However, when asked about their local city councillor, only 28 per cent said they disapproved.

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Without a shift in these numbers in the months to come, Maggi said he would not expect it to be easy for challengers to defeat incumbents in the upcoming municipal election.

“That being said, half of the approval for council is soft support and almost one in five (19 per cent) are not sure,” he added. “Between now and the election there may be several controversial decisions to come.”

READ MORE: Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi announces plans to run for re-election

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According to the poll, the top issue Calgarians will consider when voting for city council and mayor is taxation (17 per cent) and city spending (15 per cent) which combined to total 32 per cent.

Also among the top issues are transit (13 per cent) and the management of infrastructure projects (11 per cent).

The poll from Mainstreet Research surveyed 853 Calgarians via landlines and cellphones on Nov. 12 and 13 and was released on Nov.25.

According to Mainstreet, the poll carries a margin of error of +/- 3.35%, 19 times out of 20.

Results were weighed by age and gender based on the 2011 Canadian Census.

BELOW: Complete survey from Mainstreet Research

Mainstreet – Calgary November by Mainstreet on Scribd