The Ontario government’s decision to purchase and later return a $28.9-million private jet appears to have created turbulence for Premier Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservatives.
According to a new poll by Liaison Strategies, for the first time in its monthly provincial tracking, the PCs trail the Ontario Liberal Party by two percentage points among decided and leaning voters.
The Liberals, which do not have a permanent leader at this time, have the support of 38 per cent of decided and leaning voters while the Tories are in second place at 36 per cent.
The Ontario NDP, the official opposition party, has the support of 20 per cent of decided and leaning voters while the Green Party is at four per cent.
About eight per cent of respondents were still undecided.
The poll of 1,000 adult Ontarians was conducted April 25-26 using interactive voice recording technology. It is considered accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Its results differ slightly from an Abacus Data poll released earlier this week which showed that the PCs (37 per cent) were still ahead of the Liberals (36 per cent) among committed voters, albeit within the margin of error for the poll.
A separate Angus Reid survey released last month pegged Doug Ford’s approval rating at 31 per cent, down three per cent from the previous month.
“The trend is always more important than a snapshot and since October the PCs have been bleeding support - sometimes one point per month, sometimes two,” Liaison Strategies principal David Valentin said in a statement.
“While the decay may have been slowed down by government advertising, the jet fiasco has pushed the PCs down even lower, and they now find themselves in second place.”
The purchase of the jet first came to light on April 17, with the premier’s office saying that it would allow him to travel around the province more easily, as well as to the United States, to promote Ontario’s interests.
However, days later, following outcry, including from opposition parties that dubbed it “the gravy plane”, the government sold off the jet to Bombardier.
Ford still defended the purchase of the jet despite the sale, saying it was embarrassing that the Ontario government didn’t have one.
He told reporters that while he still feels the province needs the jet, it was his fault for not making a better case for it publicly.
“It’s my responsibility. I should have put the case forward a lot clearer than I did. So, for that, I apologize,” Ford said on April 21.
According to Wednesday’s Liaison poll, a majority of Ontarians, 62 per cent, believe the premier only apologized because he got caught.
“The premier’s walk back of the apology (it was a communication error not a lack of judgement) likely has not helped matters,” Valentin said. “It’s possible things reset next month, and the summer lull gives them some breathing room as the legislature fades from view. However, this government has been around for a while it has accumulated baggage. When voters turn on a politician, they don’t usually come back.”
Ford’s approval
The poll found that only 27 per cent of Ontarians approve of the job the premier is doing and 65 per cent say that the province is “on the wrong track.”
When it comes to trust, only 30 per cent said the premier is honest and trustworthy.
“When you get past ballot numbers and into how people actually feel about Doug Ford, the picture gets worse not better,” Valetin said.
The poll also found that 65 per cent have little or no confidence in Ford’s ability to manage taxpayer money, while 29 per cent expressed high confidence.
As for his leadership style, a majority say the premier is strong and decisive.
The Liberals lead in Toronto and the 905, while the NDP are up in northern Ontario, South Central Ontario, Hamilton and Niagara.
The PCs lead in the remainder of the regions.
METHODOLOGY - The poll of 1,000 adult Ontarians was conducted April 25-26 using interactive voice recording technology. It is considered accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
With files from CP24’s Joshua Freeman
