Manitoba’s Wab Kinew is no longer Canada’s most popular premier.
In the latest leaders’ approval poll from the Angus Reid Institute, Kinew — who had retained the top spot in every version of the survey since becoming premier in 2023 — saw a small drop in his approval rating (65 per cent), making room for Newfoundland and Labrador’s Andrew Furey to leapfrog to the top with 68 per cent.
Aside from Kinew and Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe, both of whom saw their approval ratings dip slightly, the rest of Canada’s provincial leaders saw increases the pollster describes as the “Trump bump,” due to a positive reaction to their responses to the U.S. president’s tariffs and other threats.
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After Furey, who saw a massive 22-percentage-point increase, Ontario’s Doug Ford was the other premier with huge gains in the most recent poll, jumping 14 points, but still sitting third-last overall, ahead of only Alberta’s Danielle Smith (46 per cent) and Quebec’s François Legault at 38 per cent.
Although he’s now in second place in the approval ratings, Kinew has been one of the most consistent premiers in the country, steadily receiving more than 60 per cent approval in five consecutive polls beginning last spring.
Kinew still maintains the highest percentage of voters who say they ‘strongly approve’ of his work as premier (33 per cent), while an additional 33 per cent say they ‘moderately’ approve. Of the 356 Manitobans polled, 16 per cent said they ‘moderately disapprove’ of the premier, 12 per cent ‘strongly disapprove’ and seven per cent said they were unsure.
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