Ontario Premier Doug Ford is publicly disputing a new poll that places him at the bottom of a national ranking of premiers' approval, setting off a back-and-forth with the polling firm behind the numbers. Speaking in Thunder Bay, Ford rejected the findings and questioned how they were gathered. The exchange has quickly become a story of its own.
The survey, conducted by Angus Reid, measured public approval of premiers across the country and found Ford at the bottom following a significant slide in his standing. For a leader who has at times ranked among the more popular premiers in Canada, the drop marked a notable shift in how voters say they view him.
Ford dismissed the poll outright. "I love this Angus Reid. They put this fake poll out," he said, claiming the firm had surveyed NDP and Liberal strongholds. "They went into a hardcore NDP neighborhood downtown. They didn't do it across," he said, describing the results as "little games" that journalists then run with.
The polling firm pushed back. In a statement, it noted that while it is not surprising for a premier with a comparatively low approval rating to express unhappiness with the data, Ford has at times been among the most approved-of provincial leaders in the country. The firm also pointed out that he had not objected to the same quarterly survey when its numbers were more favourable to him.
That track record shows both highs and lows. The firm, which has gauged Ford's popularity throughout his roughly eight years in office, found him most popular at the beginning of the pandemic and again shortly after the last election, followed by a mostly downward trend in the period since.
Opposition figures seized on the dispute. The interim Liberal leader attributed the apparent slide in public opinion to the government's purchase of a private jet, a deal that was quickly reversed following public outcry, and likened Ford's comments to Donald Trump's complaints about fake news. The Ontario NDP leader said he was not surprised by the numbers, arguing that residents feel life under the current government is not getting more affordable.
Other recent polling has been volatile, at one point showing Ford in a statistical tie with the Liberals in April before he appeared to rebound in May. The latest clash underscores how sensitive the premier has become to measures of his popularity, even as his office and his critics offer sharply different explanations for the trend.