Saskatchewan

Scott Moe and John Horgan top list of most popular premiers: survey

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and British Columbia Premier John Horgan are the two most popular provincial leaders in Canada, according to the latest survey from the Angus Reid Institute.

Moe's 52% approval rating also comes with 23% 'unsure' rating

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and B.C. Premier John Horgan are the two most popular provincial leaders in Canada, according to the Angus Reid Institute. (CBC/Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and British Columbia Premier John Horgan are the two most popular provincial leaders in Canada, according to the latest survey from the Angus Reid Institute.

Moe and Horgan's approval ratings sit at 52 per cent, the highest approval rating of nine provinces polled. 

Moe also has the highest percentage of people who are "unsure" — 23 per cent.

Scott Moe and John Horgan are the most popular premiers in Canada, according to a poll. (Angus Reid Institute)

Moe was chosen to replace Brad Wall by Saskatchewan Party members in January and continued on the path of resisting a federal carbon tax.

In Moe's time as premier, Saskatchewan has been the only province or territory not to sign on to the federal government's Pan-Canadian Framework.

The province forfeited $62 million over a five-year period in funding by not ratifying the deal. The deal was "not worth" the cost a carbon tax could have on the province, according to Environment Minister Dustin Duncan. 

Moe has committed to balancing the provincial budget by 2019-2020.

Pipeline battle not hurting Horgan: Angus Reid

On the west coast, Horgan has been engaged in an ongoing trade war with his Alberta counterpart, Rachel Notley. The two NDP leaders have been in disagreement about the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain expansion

Shachi Kurl, executive director of the Angus Reid Institute, said Horgan's increased approval shows that the Alberta-B.C. pipeline battle isn't hurting Horgan's approval rate.

"If anything, it's probably stoked a little bit of enthusiasm for the job Horgan is doing," she said.

There were 987 Saskatchewan residents who are members of the Angus Reid Forum surveyed online between March 6 and 15. A probabilistic sample of this size would yield a margin of error of +/- 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

There were 604 British Columbia residents who are members of the Angus Reid Forum surveyed online between March 6 and 15. A probabilistic sample of this size would yield a margin of error of four per cent, 19 times out of 20.