Premier Kathleen Wynne and her Ontario Liberals would be relegated to third-party status if a provincial election were held today, according to a new poll released by Forum Research.
Despite a number of pre-election promises, which included raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, implementing a foreign buyers tax to cool Toronto’s housing market, and hydro bill relief, only 23 per cent of those surveyed would vote for the Liberals. Patrick Brown and the Progressive Conservatives lead with 44 per cent support followed by the Ontario NDP at 24 per cent.
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“The post-budget bump that the Liberals saw in May is now completely gone and they see themselves likely serving as third party in the Ontario Legislature, well behind even the second place NDP,” Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research, said in a media release.
Forum Research projects those numbers would give the Tories a majority at the Ontario legislature with 87 seats, followed by the NDP with 26 seats and the Liberals with only nine.
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The Liberals’ drop in support in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area is largely the contributing factor to their overall projected loss of seats, the poll finds.
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Meanwhile, Wynne’s popularity (15 per cent) continues to trail far behind Brown (29 per cent) and Horwath, who leads the pack with a 38 per cent approval rating.
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However, those numbers are flipped when respondents were asked which party leader would make the best premier.
More than a third (36 per cent) think Brown is best suited for the job while Horwath places second with 20 per cent support. Only 13 per cent of those surveyed believe Wynne would be the best premier.
The Forum Research Poll was conducted among a sample size of 1,003 Ontario voters between June 12 to 14, with a margin of error of +/- 3 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
VIDEO: Premier Wynne announces minimum wage to rise to $15 an hour
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