VANCOUVER - Premier Christy Clark’s approval rating continued to slide in the months since the province’s labour dispute with British Columbia’s teachers came to a head in June, according to the latest survey by the Angus Reid Global polling firm.
The quarterly measure tracked Clark’s approval at 32 per cent in September down five points from 37 per cent in June when the teachers dispute went into a strike/lockout position.
The Premier’s approval rating on the Angus Reid survey has been in decline since peaking at 45 per cent in June of 2013 following her surprise election win. However, the September decline was a sharper drop from the previous quarter. June’s 37 approval was only a point lower than a 38 per cent measure in March.
Prior to the election, however, Clark’s approval rating was just 25 per cent.
While the B.C. Premier’s rating has been sliding, she is not the least popular provincial leader, according to the Angus Reid Survey. That distinction goes to New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Premier David Alward, who is in the middle of an election campaign, had a September approval rating of 27 per cent.
Saskatchewan’s Saskatchewan Party Premier Brad Wall remained the most popular premier in the survey with an approval rating of 66 per cent, almost unchanged from 67 per cent in the previous quarter; Nova Scotia Liberal Premier Stephen McNeil was next most popular with a 53-per-cent approval and Quebec Liberal Premier Phillippe Couillard was next with a 50-per-cent approval rating.
Ontario Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne enjoyed an eight-point surge to 41 per cent since winning a provincial election in June, however most other provincial leaders saw their ratings slip.
The Angus Reid survey was conducted Aug. 27 to Sept. 4 online among 6,318 randomly selected Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 1.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Meanwhile, all half a million of British Columbia's public school students remain locked out of their classrooms at the start of the second week of the school year as the teachers strike continues.
Over the weekend, the province rejected a deal that tried to end -- or at least suspend -- the strike.
Education Minister Peter Fassbender says he would not agree to binding arbitration after government negotiator Peter Cameron advised against the idea, saying the proposal was not serious.
Cameron says the teachers did not give the government a written proposal and failed to guarantee the end of the strike.
But Jim Iker of the B.C. Teachers' Federation says the union would have asked its members to vote to end the job action, and government was being inflexible.
If both sides had gone forward with the deal, a third party would have been appointed to draw out contract details that teachers and government would have been forced to agree upon.
Fassbender had previously given a cool response to the idea, but stopped short of "categorically" rejecting the proposal.
However, since Cameron's suggestion, it appears arbitration is completely out of the picture.
After government's rejection of the idea, Cameron said he believed the next step toward resolving the dispute would be to hold talks with veteran mediator Vince Ready.
The teachers' union has also expressed openness to the idea on Twitter.
Ready is regarded as one of Canada's top labour troubleshooters, but he said last week the two sides were too far apart for mediation to be effective.
But Cameron says Ready is still monitoring the situation.
The ongoing job action has prompted one school district to entertain its international students because refunds for the annual admission fee will not be given for time lost during the strike.
The Delta School District charges $13,000 for students from around the world to come learn English and attend its classes for a year.
Spokeswoman Deneka Michaud says administrators will take students to see parks, lakes and do Canadian activities for several days this week.
She says the district will monitor the strike situation and make plans on how it will handle the international students if job action keeps going.
The quarterly measure tracked Clark’s approval at 32 per cent in September down five points from 37 per cent in June when the teachers dispute went into a strike/lockout position.
The Premier’s approval rating on the Angus Reid survey has been in decline since peaking at 45 per cent in June of 2013 following her surprise election win. However, the September decline was a sharper drop from the previous quarter. June’s 37 approval was only a point lower than a 38 per cent measure in March.
Prior to the election, however, Clark’s approval rating was just 25 per cent.
While the B.C. Premier’s rating has been sliding, she is not the least popular provincial leader, according to the Angus Reid Survey. That distinction goes to New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Premier David Alward, who is in the middle of an election campaign, had a September approval rating of 27 per cent.
Saskatchewan’s Saskatchewan Party Premier Brad Wall remained the most popular premier in the survey with an approval rating of 66 per cent, almost unchanged from 67 per cent in the previous quarter; Nova Scotia Liberal Premier Stephen McNeil was next most popular with a 53-per-cent approval and Quebec Liberal Premier Phillippe Couillard was next with a 50-per-cent approval rating.
Ontario Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne enjoyed an eight-point surge to 41 per cent since winning a provincial election in June, however most other provincial leaders saw their ratings slip.
The Angus Reid survey was conducted Aug. 27 to Sept. 4 online among 6,318 randomly selected Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 1.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Meanwhile, all half a million of British Columbia's public school students remain locked out of their classrooms at the start of the second week of the school year as the teachers strike continues.
Over the weekend, the province rejected a deal that tried to end -- or at least suspend -- the strike.
Education Minister Peter Fassbender says he would not agree to binding arbitration after government negotiator Peter Cameron advised against the idea, saying the proposal was not serious.
Cameron says the teachers did not give the government a written proposal and failed to guarantee the end of the strike.
But Jim Iker of the B.C. Teachers' Federation says the union would have asked its members to vote to end the job action, and government was being inflexible.
If both sides had gone forward with the deal, a third party would have been appointed to draw out contract details that teachers and government would have been forced to agree upon.
Fassbender had previously given a cool response to the idea, but stopped short of "categorically" rejecting the proposal.
However, since Cameron's suggestion, it appears arbitration is completely out of the picture.
After government's rejection of the idea, Cameron said he believed the next step toward resolving the dispute would be to hold talks with veteran mediator Vince Ready.
The teachers' union has also expressed openness to the idea on Twitter.
Ready is regarded as one of Canada's top labour troubleshooters, but he said last week the two sides were too far apart for mediation to be effective.
But Cameron says Ready is still monitoring the situation.
The ongoing job action has prompted one school district to entertain its international students because refunds for the annual admission fee will not be given for time lost during the strike.
The Delta School District charges $13,000 for students from around the world to come learn English and attend its classes for a year.
Spokeswoman Deneka Michaud says administrators will take students to see parks, lakes and do Canadian activities for several days this week.
She says the district will monitor the strike situation and make plans on how it will handle the international students if job action keeps going.
