Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi has slipped a little bit in the popularity department – but the council he leads had made big gains in approval, suggest new poll numbers.
Seventy one per cent of Calgarians are pleased with the job Nenshi has been doing, according to ThinkHQ's March 2013 poll, while 23 per cent say they disapprove and six per cent are unsure.
Calgary city council, as a whole, captured the approval of 60 per cent of respondents, while 26 per cent say they disapprove and 14 per cent are unsure.
In ThinkHQ's previous poll, released just prior to last year's severe flooding in Calgary, Nenshi's approval dropped from 80 per cent in April 2013 to 73 per cent in June 2013.
The dip in Nenshi's numbers is to be expected, ThinkHQ president Marc Henry told the Calgary Sun.
"They’re not astronomical like they used to be. It’s sort of the life-cycle of the politician...first term, everybody loves you," he said.
And where Nenshi's numbers fell, his council gained nine per cent in the latest poll – up from 51 per cent in 2013.
Edmontonians are also pleased with the job Mayor Don Iveson has been doing, giving him an approval rating of 70 per cent and his council 58 per cent.
"I’m actually quite surprised by Iveson and how quickly he’s climbed up. I mean, he’s only been in office for five months," Henry told Metro Edmonton.
Iveson won Edmonton’s October 2013 mayoral race with 62 per cent of the vote, while Nenshi clinched the municipal election with 74 per cent of the vote.
The numbers are consistent with previous surveys over the past few years, according to University of Calgary municipal governance professor Paul Fairie,
"Every time they’ve taken polls in Calgary since 2010, the mayor and council have done quite well," he told Metro Calgary.
The margins for error in these poll results, says ThinkHQ, are plus or minus 4.2 per cent for Calgary, plus or minus 4.9 per cent for Edmonton and plus or minus 2.4 per cent for all of Alberta.
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