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The mayors of Saskatchewan’s two largest cities seem to have secured the goodwill of their respective populations – for now, at least.
A Mainstreet poll released Monday shows approval ratings for both Saskatoon’s Charlie Clark and Regina’s Michael Fougere comfortably in the plus column a few months after each won in their city’s municipal elections in October 2015.
However, Clark claimed the edge over his counterpart further south on Highway 11.
Overall, 72 per cent of respondents said they either approved or strongly approved of Clark’s performance. 13 per cent said they either disapproved or disapproved strongly of Saskatoon’s new mayor. The remaining 15 per cent of respondents were undecided.
Fougere came in with a 55 per cent approval rating. 34 per cent of respondents said they disapproved of the Regina mayor and 12 per cent were undecided.
Mainstreet surveyed 600 people in Saskatoon, leaving its poll with a four per cent margin of error.
In Regina, the company surveyed 628 people, leaving a 3.91 per cent margin of error.
Both polls were conducted Jan 3-4 and are considered accurate 19 times out of 20.
Quito Maggi, president of Mainstreet Research, said Clark was likely enjoying a honeymoon period after being elected to his first term as mayor.
“It will be interesting to see if these high approval numbers continue further in Clark’s term,” he said,.
Clark’s 72 per cent approval rating was good for second place in the country, behind Ottawa mayor Jim Watson at 79 per cent.
Mayor Matt Brown of London, Ontario was the country’s least popular mayor. Maggi suggested that a recent scandal involving an affair with the city’s deputy mayor likely contributed to 58 per cent of Londoners saying they disapproved of Brown’s performance.
