It was good for a laugh. I was checking some political polls to find out what Ontario premier Doug Ford was reading. He seems to lack any understanding of polling. It is probably best to leave him believing polls taken five months before the election. This politico will decide in early May who is likely to win the Ontario general election scheduled for June 2 this year.
The voters have far more important things to think about this January than the upcoming election. It might be top of mind with the politicians but the voters have far more serious concerns. We are still in the grip of a pandemic. Our hospital system is collapsing. Our children are not in school. A large part of our workforce cannot work. The economy is in a tailspin. The support systems are failing.
And Doug Ford is sitting on the throne of Queen’s Park thinking about his re-election. He might get a surprise in June. He is likely not aware that polls deal in the past, not the future.
But Ontario is not even thinking election. Which benefits Doug Ford’s conservatives, as it does the other two major parties. No matter how the pollsters ask the question, how we would vote gets little thought. Many people are proud that they even know what party is in power at the moment. It has been interesting to note that the other two major parties seem to have equal levels of support. It should not please Doug Ford that more than 50 per cent of respondents do not want to vote for his party.
It is clear that the official opposition at Queen’s Park is going nowhere. Andrea Horwath has been leader of the Ontario new democrats for the past 12 years. She is getting the same level of support as the leader of the liberals, whom most people have neither met nor heard of.
It is obvious that Ontario voters will get a better chance at considering Steven Del Duca, the liberal leader, as the election gets closer. It is also likely that they will get a chance to measure the job Doug Ford has or has not has done in Ontario. Either way, the polls will likely tell more as we get closer to the election in June.
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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry
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