MQO Research’s quarterly poll of 300 residents of Prince Edward Island gauged the political temperature in the province for this January edition of the quarterly political poll: Atlantic Matters.
Provincial Politics
According to the latest polling numbers, support for the Liberal party continued the downward trend observed last quarter.
- The undecided/don’t know group, has held steady 23%.
- Among decided and leaning voters, current Liberal support in the province has slipped by 12 points since October to 44%.
- Similarly, NDP party support has slipped by another 5 points down to 6% this quarter.
- Support for the PC party held steady in January at 26%.
- The beneficiary of this combined slippage was the Green Party in January. Support among decided and leaning voters was up 17 points to 24% in January.
Government Performance
Ratings for the leadership of Premier Wade MacLauchlan also appear to be in decline. The mean score dropped from 6.1 in October to 5.3 this quarter. This was a result of a large increase in the number of voters who rate the Premier’s leadership at 1 to 5. Fifty-three percent (53%) of voters scored the Premier 1 to 5 in January which was up from 35% just three months earlier.
Provincial Outlook
Islanders also appear to be more pessimistic about the provincial outlook this quarter. 27% felt the general outlook for the province has been getting worse which was up from 16% last quarter.
Personal Wellbeing
Despite the decline in the provincial outlook, Islanders perceptions about their personal wellbeing held relatively steady in January.
The Atlantic Matters poll was conducted by telephone from January 13 to January 16, 2017 and included 300 randomly selected eligible voters from across the province. The margin of error for the survey is ±5.65 percentage points 19 times out of 20. Among decided and leaning voters, the margin of error is ±7.0 percentage points 19 out of 20 times.
About MQO Research
MQO Research is one of Atlantic Canada’s leading market research firms, providing research insights to clients throughout the region and beyond. Our team includes experts in quantitative and qualitative methodologies and program evaluation. MQO is a Gold Seal member of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA) and as such subscribes to the highest standards of information gathering and research ethics in the industry in Canada.
MQO is part of Group m5, the largest communications organization in Eastern Canada. The Group m5 family of brands includes m5 Marketing Communications, m5 Public Affairs, MQO Research, Wavelight Productions and Impress Design.
For more information on Atlantic Matters or MQO Research, contact:
Rick Emberley
Phone 902-465-3154
Cell 902-456-9268