PCs Lead Early In Ont. Campaign: POLL

02/04/2025

This is a release from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute:

Ontario Premier and Progressive Conservative Party leader Doug Ford has become a regular fixture on national television at the head of Canada’s response to American tariffs. The threat of President Donald Trump also provided the fuel for Ford’s justification to bring the province into an early election campaign.

But threats from Trump, and Ford’s response to them, has done little to warm Ontarians to the premier after years of chilly assessments.

New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds that Ford’s personal unpopularity continues to have little impact on Ontarian vote intentions. If an election were held today, more than two-in-five (43%) say they would support Ford’s party, while the Ontario Liberals (26%) and Ontario NDP (21%) fight for second place.

Ford is viewed the most negatively of the major party leaders (-27 net approval), who are contending with relatively low profiles. At least three-in-10 say they don’t know enough about Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie (28%), NDP leader Marit Stiles (30%) or returning Green leader Mike Shreiner (37%) to say if they have a negative or positive impression. Both Stiles (-2 net favourability) and Crombie (-9) are also wrestling with more unfavourable views than favourable ones of those who offer an opinion.

Altogether, voters appear disenchanted with their options in what might be a sequel Battle of the Bleah. Three-in-five (59%) say they’re supporting who they are now because they don’t like the other options on the ballot, while two-in-five (41%) say they “really like the party” they’ve chosen and what it stands for.

Link to the poll here: www.angusreid.org/