Premier Doug Ford’s government is receiving poor marks for its handling of nearly all of the issues that are top of mind for Ontarians, according to a new public opinion poll.
The Angus Reid survey of 881 Ontario residents found that while a majority would still vote for the Progressive Conservatives if an election were to be held today, there’s an underlying dissatisfaction with how the government is performing.
If an election was held today, 38 per cent of respondents said they would vote for Doug Ford’s PC Party and 30 per cent said they would support the Ontario NDP.
Support for the leaderless Ontario Liberals dropped to 20 per cent and Ontario Greens remain steady at six per cent of the total projected vote.
The poll, however, is less encouraging when it comes to key issues such as cost of living, housing affordability and health care.
A total of 83 per cent of those polled felt the government was doing a poor or very poor job on the issue of housing affordability, with 81 per cent critical of Ontario’s record on the cost of living and inflation.
Health care — an area the Ford government focused a flurry of announcements and new legislation on at the start of the year — did not fare much better.
A total of 78 per cent of those polled felt the province had done a poor or very poor job on the health care file, compared to 19 per cent who felt it was good or very good.
Of all the issues polled, Ontarians appear to have the best impression of the Ford government’s relationship with Ottawa, with just 47 per cent responding with poor or very poor.
Angus Reid suggested that even the province’s reported victories may not be registering much public support.
Its poll found just 37 per cent felt the government was doing a good job on the economy and job creation. “This, after the province announced a Volkswagen ‘gigafactory’ would open in St. Thomas, Ont. in 2027,” the polling group said.