Alward's satisfaction levels soar: poll

The David Alward government is continuing to enjoy a high degree of public support as it heads into a tough budget that could result in cuts to a wide number of programs, the latest Corporate Research Associates poll suggests.

The CRA quarterly poll indicates 62 per cent of respondents were either completely or mostly satisfied with the Progressive Conservative government, up from 46 per cent in November.

The boost in public support comes at a time when Alward and Finance Minister Blaine Higgs have been touring New Brunswick warning citizens the province is in the midst of a fiscal crisis.

The finance minister has held a series of pre-budget meetings, asking people how to cut expenses or raise revenues in order to balance the budget, which is projecting an $820-million deficit.

The number of those surveyed who said it was too soon to rate the government's performance dropped to eight per cent from 33 per cent.

The Progressive Conservatives continue to hold a strong lead in party support over its chief rivals. Alward's PCs were supported by 58 per cent of those surveyed followed by 27 per cent who endorsed the Liberals.

The New Democratic Party garnered eight per cent of support and the Green Party had six per cent support. The undecided level was 37 per cent.

PCs enjoy political honeymoon

Interim Liberal leader Victor Boudreau said the polling numbers reflect an ongoing political honeymoon for the Tories that may end soon.

Boudreau said every incoming government enjoys a span of lofty polling numbers after a successful election. But he said he believes those support figures will drop after Higgs unveils his March 22 provincial budget.

"The government hasn't made any decisions on anything, they've done a lot of consultation and a lot of talking, which is all fine and good, but soon they will start having to make some decisions," Boudreau said.

Boudreau, who was a finance minister in the former Liberal government, said the Tories have reversed many of the cost-cutting initiatives put in place by the Liberals.

So, Boudreau said, the Tories will need to find more programs to cut if they really plan to reduce the $820-million deficit.

"They've promised to balance the books in four years and they don't seem to be putting much emphasis on job creation or stimulating the economy," Boudreau said.

"Alward has taken almost every revenue option off the table. I think that [the budget] is going to hurt. I think we are going to see some programs and services dramatically affected here."

The survey was conducted by Corporate Research Associates and was a random sample of 402 adult New Brunswickers. The margin of error for a sample of this size is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Interviewing was completed during the period from Feb. 9 to 28.