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Smidgen of 'Olympic bounce' for Premier Campbell: poll

BC Premier Gordon Campbell’s popularity wasn’t boosted much by the recent Olympic Games where he played prominent host.

Angus Reid Public Opinion / Vision Critical today released a poll gauging popularity of premiers across Canada.

Campbell’s 23 per cent approval rating is up 2 per cent since the previous poll at the end of 2009.

That places Campbell among the less popular premiers in Canada. His rating is 7 per cent above Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach and 8 per cent higher than New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham -- who is in the cellar at just 15 per cent approval.

But Campbell's disapproval rating is a hefty 60 per cent, while 17 per cent are not sure.

Danny Williams -- the populist Newfoundland premier -- tops the approval ratings with 80 per cent support level in his province.

Critics of the Harmonized Sales Tax may read the poll as a sign that the tax is angering voters. Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton MacGuinty rates a bit lower than Campbell at a mere 21 per cent approval, and the HST is slated to be imposed on July 1 in both B.C. and Ontario.

Dropping like rocks are Canada's newest NDP premiers. Nova Scotia's Darrel Dexter is at 23 per cent -- a huge drop from 43 per cent just three months ago. And Greg Selinger of Manitoba has fallen to 27 per cent.

Quebec premier Jean Charest garnered a 22 per cent popularity rating, less than half the number earned by Saskatchewan's right wing Premier Brad Wall, who received a 56 per cent approval rating.

Unlike some polls, the Angus Reid rankings have a significantly large sample size -- in B.C. 1000 people were surveyed for a +/- 3.1% margin of error.

Even if it’s just a 2 per cent bump, can the Olympics organizers claim credit for helping B.C. Premier Campbell’s fortunes with his voters? Not necessarily. Campbell's 2 per cent rise in approval since the last poll was identical to that of Stelmach and Williams -- who did not host the Winter Games.

Bill Tieleman is a columnist and frequent contributor to The Tyee and 24 Hours. His blog is here.

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