It’s been one year since voters elected B.C.’s first minority government since 1952

B.C. Premier John Horgan’s popularity remained high despite his handling of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline, according to a new poll. (The Canadian Press)

It’s been one year since voters went to the polls in B.C., producing the province’s first minority government since 1952 and ending 16 years of BC Liberal Party rule.

A little under a year since John Horgan was eventually named premier, he has the highest approval rating of any party leader in B.C., according to a new poll. On the flip side, the survey suggests nearly half of British Columbians think the province is on the wrong track.

The poll, released Wednesday by the Angus Reid Institute, suggests 47 per cent of B.C. residents support Horgan, compared to 34 per cent who support Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver and 26 per cent for the Liberals’ Andrew Wilkinson.

Just 29 per cent of those surveyed said B.C. was on the right track, compared with 28 per cent who weren’t sure and 42 per cent who thought B.C. was on on the wrong track.

Fifty per cent of respondents said housing prices are their most important issue, the poll suggests, followed up pipelines and healthcare premiums. Three quarters of people believe the NDP’s increase to the foreign buyers tax and introducing a speculation tax were good ideas.

Despite controversy in recent weeks over the increase to property taxes to support schools, two-thirds of British Columbians still supported the proposal.

A tax rate of 0.2 per cent would be applied to the portion of a home’s assessed residential value between $3 million and $4 million, excluding stratified rentals. A tax rate of 0.4 per cent would apply to all homes valued at more than $4 million.

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The NDP’s pipeline politics were less widely supported, with just 36 per cent of those surveyed approving of how Horgan has handled the contentious Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

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Views of Horgan’s choices were split along party lines, with 54 per cent of New Democrats in support, followed by 44 per cent of Greens and only 11 per cent of Liberals.

@katslepian

katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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