Support for Alberta’s United Conservative Party appears to be down amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent survey by the Angus Reid Institute.
Results from the survey released Monday show only 38 per cent of Albertans would support the UCP if an election were to be held tomorrow. That would put the UCP in a tie with the New Democratic Party, which the survey found would also receive 38 per cent of the total vote.
In the 2019 provincial election, the UCP won with 54.9 per cent of the vote with the NDP bringing in 32.7 per cent.
“Albertans have a pretty cynical eye when it comes to their politicians,” said Shachi Kurl with Angus Reid. “When they perceive their politicians not to be getting the job done, they tend to turn on them pretty quick.”
The survey also found that support for the UCP has fallen the most among middle-aged (35-54) voters. Although 55 per cent of them voted UCP in the 2019 election, only 35 per cent said they would do so if an election were held tomorrow.
On Monday, Melanee Thomas, a political scientist at the University of Calgary, said that while the numbers should be concerning to the government, an election is far off on the horizon for the UCP.
The survey showed that among voters who had voted for the UCP in 2019, 30 per cent of them are now considering switching to another party. For those who voted NDP in 2019, only five per cent of them would switch votes now.
Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Calgary’s Mount Royal University, said Monday he was unsurprised by the drop in support for Kenney and the UCP.
A statement from the province Monday said the government is focused on its response to the pandemic.
“Alberta’s government is focused on protecting lives and livelihoods from the unprecedented impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic,” said Christine Myatt, spokesperson for the office of the Premier.
“The only poll that truly counts is the one taken on election day.”
On Monday, NDP Education Critic Sarah Hoffman said she believes the UCP should be more concerned about the results.
“I think this is really a question of how are Jason Kenney and the UCP doing in terms of their leadership, and I would say if I were them, looking at these results, I wouldn’t be happy,” she said.
“I think there are probably a lot of MLAs sitting around, nervous about their own futures, and rightfully so. There are a lot of Albertans at home right now worried about their jobs, worried about their families, worried about their health care and their schools.
“So I think a lot of Albertans have real anxiety right now. We don’t have a lot of confidence in the leadership of Jason Kenney and the UCP.”
NDP Leader Rachel Notley said she is more focused on the issues facing Albertans rather than the poll results.
“What’s really interesting in this poll is it identifies a number of issues where Albertans are frustrated with the work and the decisions being taken by the Kenney government,” Notley told Global News Radio’s Charles Adler Tonight on Monday.
“As someone who was elected by Albertans to lead the Opposition, that’s where our focus is right now is to try to get better decisions out of this government in order to do the best we can for Albertans.”
The Angus Reid poll also touched on the provincial response to COVID-19, which found that as the pandemic has continued, faith in the provincial government has started to go down.
In mid-March, 76 per cent of Albertans thought the province was doing a good job handling the pandemic. As of Sept. 1, 56 per cent of people thought the government was doing well.
Thomas said the COVID-19 crisis has also created a situation where Albertans know more about the health system in the province, including recent disputes between Alberta doctors and the government, than they may have known previously.
“Albertans have gotten the memo that there’s a really hostile relationship between the provincial government and the physicians,” Thomas said. “COVID makes people pay attention to physicians in a way they otherwise wouldn’t.”
The survey found three in five Albertans say the government has done a poor job in handling health care in the province.
‘The shine has come off’: Economy no longer a given strength for UCP
The Angus Reid survey also found that Albertans are concerned about their financial situations, both for those who voted for the NDP and for those who voted UCP in 2019.
Fifty-five per cent of UCP voters said their financial situation is worse now than it was a year ago; with NDP voters, 46 per cent of them think their financial situation is now worse.
Thomas said the fact that around half of all voters think things are getting worse could show that the faith in the UCP’s economic management could be wavering.
“Conservative parties in Canada own the issue of the economy,” Thomas said. “And what that means is they actually don’t have to do anything much with it for people to think they’re actually most competent with it.
“I’m starting to see some indicators, at least in this data, that party-label advantage that the UCP has — by virtue of being a conservative party — on the economy, it’s not as robust.
“[It’s not as] easy as what it was, in terms of just saying saying, ‘Jobs, jobs, jobs,’ like they did in 2019. The shine has come off of that for sure.”
Kurl said while it’s “not unusual” for mid-term governments to see less public support, Alberta’s economic situation amid COVID-19 has not helped the UCP’s image as sound financial managers.
“Premier Jason Kenney came into power really very much on a message,” Kurl said. “He told Alberta voters at the time, ‘Look, I’m going to fix the economy… I’m going to take all the things that have been ailing you over the Notley years and change them for the better.’
“Albertans really haven’t had that experience of the better. They have not seen their economic fortunes increase.”
Bratt added he believes the government was already in trouble economically even before COVID-19 hit the province.
“I think there have been some shocks that they did not expect,” Bratt said. “I think COVID is the big one — and running a 24 billion deficit. But they were having trouble dealing with the deficit before COVID hit.”