Poll: Calgary Mayor Nenshi’s approval rating plummets to 39 percent

Out of that figure, 55 pecent disapprove, while 37 percent say they “strongly” disapprove of the mayor’s work. These figures show a stunning 22 point drop in approval in only a year’s time. It didn’t just end with the mayor, either.

The fine people of Calgary were also quick to express discontent towards city council members. Forty-nine percent of those poled say they aprove of “their councilor” versus 34 percent who disapprove, while another 17 percent said they were unsure.

The poll, conducted by ThinkHQ, has an overall margin of error of pulls or minus 2.8 percent with 95 percent confidence.

The man behind the poll Marc Henry has theorizes that the falling approval ratings are due to a variety of factors that the city and its politicians have faced over the year. “A failed Olympic plebiscite, serious budget challenges, a small business tax revolt and ssenior business leaders calling into question the financial viability of the current Green Line LRT expansion are just a few of the trouble spots over the past 12 months,” said Henry in a CTV Calgary Interview.

With all of these factors at play, Henry still calls the fall from grace “breathtaking,” leaving him scratching his head wondering when the last time a mayor in Calgary’s history had such low approval numbers.

“You’d probably have to go back to Ross Alger in the 1980s,” said Henry.

Henry goes on to say that Calgarians are unhappy with the way city hall has been operating, with most of the blame falling on to the shoulders of Nenshi. “The irony is that if these numbers were to hold most members of Council could likely be re-elected, but that’s no the case for Mayor Nenshi,” said Henry in the report.

“It would be very unlikely for the mayor to contest and win re-election with approval this low.

”Despite all of this, some of those in charge are pushing some of the blame onto the higher-ups in government.

“Everyone is frustrated with this economic environment so a lot of times council is held accountavle for all three levels of government,” said Coun. Ward Sutherland.

Sutherland went on to say that some of the heat being thrown their way is valid, though, even going so far as to say that he has questioned Nenshi’s leadership “where it came to taxation.”

“Sometimes we have leadership issues but that’s up for the people to decide and they really have to pay attention to what their councillors do and do their research.”