Approval ratings remain low for Calgary mayor, council: poll

New Leger polling finds Calgarians remain unimpressed with the city’s municipal government.

Less than one-quarter of the 415 respondents say the city is on the right track, while two-thirds feel the opposite. Just two per cent reported feeling strongly that the city was on the right track.

The research was conducted between May 22 and 25.

Blanket rezoning and the single-use bylaw were two major factors in the public opinion poll; 58 per cent of respondents approved council’s decision to scrap the single-use bylaw, and just 17 per cent disagreed.

When it comes to blanket rezoning, 31 per cent agreed that a city-wide loosening of zoning restrictions will benefit Calgarians, while 40 per cent felt otherwise.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek’s approval rating remains low, with one-in-ten residents saying she is doing a satisfactory job addressing their most important issue, and that they would vote for her if an election were held tomorrow.

More than a third says she is doing a poor job, and the average rating was 3.9 out of 10.

Respondents were asked to rank issues in order of priority, with the most Calgarians saying housing prices and affordability, the economy, and property taxes mean the most to them.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, issues that respondents said were the least important include the environment and climate change, and alternative transportation like bike lanes and walking paths.

Those surveyed say Gondek is doing the best job handling alternative transportation, the environment, and transit service — issues Calgarians care the least about — while she is doing the worst job on issues of most importance to voters like housing, property taxes, and homelessness.