The Saskatchewan Party held a sizeable advantage in the electoral campaign currently underway in the prairie province, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative provincial sample, 58 per cent of decided voters in Saskatchewan would cast a ballot for the candidate of the governing party in their constituency.
The New Democratic Party (NDP) is in second place with 32 per cent followed by the Green Party with two per cent, the Progressive Conservative Party also with two per cent, the Liberal Party with one per cent and the Buffalo Party also with one per cent.
The race is currently tight in Regina, where the Saskatchewan Party and the NDP are virtually tied among decided voters (49 per cent and 47 per cent respectively). The governing party is ahead in Saskatoon (54 per cent to 41 per cent and in the rest of the province (65 per cent to 25 per cent).
Practically four-in-five decided voters in Saskatchewan (79 per cent) say they are certain of their current choice, while 21 per cent say they may change their mind before election day on Oct. 26.
The primary motivation for decided voters in Saskatchewan is a party’s ideas and policies (38 per cent), followed by the party’s leader (32 per cent), the candidate in the riding (10 per cent), a desire for stability (also 10 per cent), a desire for change (seven per cent) and disgust with other contending candidates (three per cent).
“Decided voters who plan to support the Saskatchewan Party are more likely to say that their main motivation is the leader (41 per cent),” said Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Conversely, those who plan to cast a ballot for the NDP are more likely to cite ideas and policies (42 per cent).”
Almost two thirds of the province’s likely voters (65 per cent) are satisfied with the way Premier and Saskatchewan Party leader Scott Moe has handled his duties, while 18 per cent are not and seven per cent are undecided.
Likely voters are divided in their assessment of Official Opposition and NDP leader Ryan Meili (Approve 45 per cent, Disapprove 44 per cent). The rating is lower for Progressive Conservative leader Ken Grey (35 per cent), Green leader Naomi Hunter (32 per cent), Liberal leader Robert Rudachyk (31 per cent) and Buffalo leader Wade Sira (25 per cent).
On the “Best Premier” question, Moe holds a commanding lead over Meili (49 per cent to 21 per cent). The other four party leaders are in single digits.
More than a third of likely voters in Saskatchewan (35 per cent) believe the economy and jobs is the most important issue facing the province, followed by heath care (28 per cent), the environment (eight per cent) and crime and public safety (five per cent).
Moe holds the upper hand over Meili as the best leader to handle eight issues: energy (46-19 per cent), the economy and jobs (45-24 per cent), crime and public safety (42-19 per cent), accountability (41-22 per cent), the environment (40-19 per cent), health care (39-30 per cent), education (39-24 per cent) and housing, poverty and homelessness (38-23 per cent).
Methodology:
Results are based on an online study conducted from October 8 to October 10, 2020, among 500 likely voters in Saskatchewan, including 447 decided voters in the 2020 provincial election. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in Saskatchewan. The margin of error, which measures sample variability, is +/- 4.4 percentage points for likely voters and +/- 4.6 percentage points for decided voters, 19 times out of 20.
