Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s approval dips to historic low in wake of Greenbelt controversy

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s approval ratings have dipped to a historic low following the release of two bombshell Greenbelt reports, according to a new poll released Friday morning.

A survey by Angus Reid suggests that fewer than three in 10 Ontarians, or about 28 per cent, approve of the premier.

This marks a five-point drop from Ford’s approval ratings in June, and represents the lowest rating he has ever received since being elected in 2018.

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More than half of respondents also said they believe the premier should resign in the wake of the Greenbelt controversy. This included about a quarter of respondents who identified as Progressive Conservative voters.

Ford’s support among PC voters has also dropped, from 80 per cent approval in June to 63 per cent approval in September.

“This is bad, bad, bad news for the government,” CTV Political Commentator Scott Reid said Friday.

“The jury is in and it's guilty on the Greenbelt. What people are saying here is they don't approve of what the government did. They don't approve of Doug Ford himself.”

A poll by Angus Reid shows that approval for Ontario Premier Doug Ford has dropped drastically over the last few months.

The online poll of 799 Ontario adults was conducted between Aug. 31 and Sept. 6, starting one day after a damning report by the province’s integrity commissioner found that a lack of supervision and leadership led to certain developers with ties to the housing ministry gaining an advantage in the selection process.

It was also conducted after an auditor general’s report found the process for selecting the 15 Greenbelt sites to open for development was deeply biased and flawed.

Steve Clark resigned from his position as housing minister following the release of both reports. His chief of staff, who was the individual at the center of the decision-making, has also resigned.

The fallout hasn’t stopped the Progressive Conservatives from moving forward with their plans to develop those sections of the Greenbelt. In fact, the government appears to be leaning into their decisions, pledging to re-evaluate all two million acres of the protected land, as well as hundreds of applications for land removal.

The majority of survey respondents—about 71 per cent—said they believed the Greenbelt should be protected and should not be open for development. A little more than half of PC voters who responded to the survey said the same.

About 22 per cent of respondents said the province needs more housing, even if it means developing the Greenbelt.

Reid suggests it will be difficult for the government to persuade itself and others that “the current course is going to win.”

“These numbers tell you that people are paying attention to what's occurred and they don't like it.”

An Angus Reid Poll released on Sept. 8 shows the majority of Ontarians believe the Greenbelt should be protected.

The majority of respondents also said they believe the Ford government did give preferential treatment to certain developers. About 21 per cent said they weren’t sure while only six per cent said they did not believe the PCs favoured developers.

LIBERALS AND NDP NOT GAINING TRACTION

Despite lower approval rates, the PCs appear to still have a significant lead over their opposition.

The Angus Reid poll suggests that about 43 per cent of Ontarians still don’t have an opinion about the new NDP Leader Marit Stiles.

About 38 per cent of Ontarians say they would still vote for the Progressive Conservatives, with about 28 per cent saying they would vote NDP and about 22 per cent pledging support for the Liberals.

The Ontario Liberals are in the early days of a leadership race. More than half of party voters told Angus Reid they aren’t sure who they find most appealing among the five registered candidates.

However, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie appears to be the one with the most name recognition.

The margin of error for the Angus Reid poll is about +/- three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.