A new public opinion survey bears tidings of scant comfort and little joy for Premier Kathleen Wynne this holiday season.

According to a Forum Research poll released exclusively to the Star, half of Ontario voters agree that Wynne had a role in the Liberals’ controversial cancellation of two gas plants, which happened on her predecessor’s watch.

Last Thursday, Dec. 17, the OPP charged two of former Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty’s aides for their alleged role in the gas-plant scandal. David Livingston and Laura Miller face charges of breach of trust, mischief in relation to data, and misuse of a computer system. Both have denied any wrongdoing.

Data on hard drives in the premier’s office was allegedly deleted in 2013, when McGuinty was premier and Wynne was still a Liberal MPP.

According to the poll, which was conducted Dec. 20, 49 per cent of voters believed Wynne had a role in the scandal. About one in five, or 21 per cent, didn’t think she was involved, while 31 per cent had no opinion.

When asked if they approve or disapprove of the job Wynne is doing, 23 per cent approved, 61 per cent disapproved and 15 per cent didn’t know.

Rookie Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown fared slightly better with 25 per cent approving and 24 per cent disapproving. However, a majority, 51 per cent, of respondents said they didn’t know.

For NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, 40 per cent approved, 26 per cent disapproved and 34 per cent didn’t know.

The survey was not all doom and gloom for Premier Wynne, however. Her Liberals remained in a statistical tie with the Tories when it comes to Ontarians’ voting intentions. Just over one-third, or 34 per cent, said they were leaning toward or would definitely vote for the Conservatives if an election were held today, while 31 per cent supported the Liberals. The NDP placed third with 26 per cent.

Forum president Lorne Bozinoff said the Grits’ resilience is a sign that, despite the unpopularity of its leader, the party’s brand remains strong.

“Ontario probably generally identifies with the Liberals, feels the most comfortable with them,” Bozinoff said. “And it’s only if they do something really egregious that people are going to step away from them and look at the other parties.”

The survey of 1,003 randomly selected Ontarian adults was conducted by interactive voice response. Results are considered accurate plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Some data have been statistically weighted by age, region and other variables to ensure the sample reflects the actual population as reflected in census data. Poll results are housed in the data library of the University of Toronto’s political science department.

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