Article content

A majority of British Columbians believe Premier Christy Clark’s annual stipend from the B.C. Liberal Party is unjustified, according to a new poll.

The Insights West survey of 802 British Columbians conducted from May 15 to May 17 found that two-thirds of B.C. residents (or 66 per cent) believe the annual payout — which amounts to $50,000 on top of Clark’s $195,468.20 salary as premier — is unjustified. Most of those (44 per cent) said it was “definitely” unjustified.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Majority of British Columbians think Premier Christy Clark's stipend is unjustified: poll Back to video

Only 26 per cent of respondents said the stipend is justified.

Younger British Columbians and women were most likely to say the stipend is unjustified. Not surprisingly, 83 per cent of NDP voters said they are against the practice, while B.C. Liberal voters were split.

Insights West also asked respondents how much awareness they had of the recent news concerning the premier’s stipend. More than half of those polled said they are following stories related to the stipend “very closely” or “somewhat closely,” including 66 per cent of BC NDP voters and 57 per cent of B.C. Liberal voters.