Ontarians like Premier Kathleen Wynne’s promised hydro tax rebate by a wide margin, but aren’t giving her government much credit so far, a new poll suggests.

A survey conducted by Forum Research Inc. shows Patrick Brown’s Progressive Conservatives have increased their lead over the struggling Liberals to 20 percentage points.

Wynne’s pledge to remove the 8 per cent provincial tax from hydro bills starting in January enjoyed 56 per cent support in the poll, with 28 per cent disapproving and 16 per cent unsure.

Forum president Lorne Bozinoff said it may take time for the rate relief — which, at a cost of $1 billion annually, is less popular with the wealthy, Toronto residents and the well-educated — to register with voters.

“It’s a popular thing; it’s easy to understand. It does plant the seed for possible recovery by the Liberals,” he told the Star on Friday.

“These things don’t change instantaneously.”

The poll, conducted over two days following the tax break announcement in Monday’s throne speech, showed the Progressive Conservatives rising to 45 per cent support, the Liberals falling to 25, the NDP steady at 23 and the Green Party with 6 per cent.

Last month, the PCs were at 41 per cent and the Liberals at 28 — down from the 39 per cent share of the popular vote Wynne’s party earned in the 2014 provincial election.

Bozinoff said continued media coverage raising questions about Brown’s controversial flip-flop on whether he supports the government’s new sex education curriculum “hasn’t had an impact yet” on Conservative support.

Forum contacted 1,154 randomly selected Ontario voters using an interactive voice response telephone survey for the poll. Results are considered accurate within three percentage points 19 times out of 20.

Even before providing details in the throne speech setting the government’s agenda for the next 20 months before the 2018 provincial election, Wynne and her officials were heavily promoting the hydro tax break to quell complaints about soaring costs.

“It’s not just an electricity issue. People need more help with the cost of living,” Wynne, whose personal approval rating hit an all-time low of 16 per cent in the poll, said Friday in Ottawa.

Legislation proposing the hydro tax break for homes, farms and small businesses was introduced in the Legislature on Thursday.

The government will also reduce rural hydro rates by up to 20 per cent and allow 1,000 more industrial companies to enjoy lower rates in exchange for shifting electricity use away from peak demand periods on extremely hot and cold days.

The flip side of Wynne’s 16 per cent approval rating was disapproval from 74 per cent of voters surveyed, with 9 per cent undecided.

Brown is more of an unknown, with 27 per cent approval, 25 per cent disapproval and 48 per cent not sure, a signal that “he should be making more of a splash,” said Bozinoff.

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Horwath’s approval rating was 36 per cent with 26 per cent disapproval and 38 per cent unsure.

In terms of who would make the best premier, 25 per cent of voters in the poll picked Brown, with 19 per cent for Horwath, 15 per cent choosing Wynne and 24 per cent saying none of the above.

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