Exclusive poll: British Columbians disapprove of ethnic memo but ‘typical of all governments’

The final day of a five-week B.C. legislative session finished off with a bit of a bang today – Premier Christy Clark responded to the ethnic vote investigation, which found there was a serious misuse of government resources. Executed by her Deputy Minister John Dyble, his damning report stated there was a serious misuse of government resources and this information comes down just two months before the provincial election.

How will the fallout of the scandal and ethnic vote report impact the B.C. Liberals at the election polls in May?

The Premier has apologized several times to B.C’s ethnic communities and had four staff members resign, former multiculturalism minister John Yap, former deputy chief of staff Kim Haakstad, former Liberal government communications official Brian Bonney and staffer Mike Lee, in the wake of the scandal. Today, she announced the B.C. Liberals have repaid $70,000 to taxpayers in connection with the scandal and two other staff members may face discipline.

An exclusive Ipsos Reid poll commissioned by Global News/BC1 gives a little insight into what British Columbians are thinking. Overall, the poll shows three in 10, or 31 per cent of British Columbians don’t approve of the ethnic outreach strategy memo and think this scandal reflects badly on the party.

While a larger group, four in 10, or 44 per cent see the memo reflects badly on the B.C. Liberal government but think this “is typical behavior of most political parties and governments.”

Rounding out the numbers – 18 per cent are not concerned about the ethnic outreach strategy memo and seven per cent are unaware of the issue.

More poll results to come.