Brian Gallant's approval ratings falling steadily, says Angus Reid poll

Brian Gallant's approval ratings as premier of New Brunswick are down 10 per cent since December 2015according to the latest poll by the Angus Reid Institute.

The latestapproval ratings forGallant, who marked his second anniversary in office on Wednesday, have gone down two per cent to 24 per cent from 26 per cent in May. That apparent drop matches the poll's margin of error.

However, the poll shows Gallant's popularityis down by10 per cent since December 2015.

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Gallant's promise for a balanced budget if he was elected has not happened as his plan has run into problems since he began to govern in September 2014.

Gallant proposed to voters during the September election campaign that year a package of new capital and program spending totallingat its height $340 million per year.

To pay for that and eliminate a predicted $387-million deficit Gallant confidently proposed a combination of spending cuts and two tax increases neither of which averagecitizens would have to pay.

That, along with economic growth, would balance the books with a $70.6 million surplusin four yearsaccording to Liberal figures, or at worst six years if unexpected financialtroubles hit.

But the math behind the Liberal platform fell apart almost immediately and it has been forcing Gallant to govern in a way he used to criticize.

In the poll, while 24 per cent approve of Gallant as a premier, 63 per cent don't and 12 per cent are unsure.

The Angus Reid Institute ranks him at the seventh in popularity among premiers acrossCanada.

His counterpart in Nova Scotia, Liberal Premier Stephen McNeil,saw his approval rating go down three per cent after an increase in May. He ranks as the third most popular premier in Canada.

Angus Reid saidthe drops for both Gallant and McNeil aresmall and statistically insignificant.

ButNewfoundland-LabradorPremierDwight Ball saw his ratings increaseby four per cent from 17 in May to 21 in September. He sits in eighth place among his peers.

Angus Reid does not provide a rating for Prince Edward Island because of its small population

The poll results were based on an online survey of 4,629 Canadian adults in what the institute says was a randomized and representative sample of Angus Reid Forum panelists from Sept. 5-11.

A probabilistic sample of this size carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.