WHO'S THAT? Potential Ontario Liberal leadership race plagued by unknowns
· Toronto Sun
OTTAWA — As the Ontario Liberals prepare to pick their new leader, Ontarians are drawing blanks on who’s up for the job.
That’s the finding of a new Liaison Strategies poll released Friday , suggesting that while Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives cling to a narrow lead province-wide, Ontarians are largely in the dark about who’s running to lead the struggling Liberals.
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And that, says Liaison’s David Valentin, is a problem faced by all Ontario opposition leaders.
“The ballot remains competitive, but the favourability numbers suggest that many voters are still getting to know the alternatives to the current government,” Valentin said.
“Marit Stiles and Mike Schreiner are the most established figures, but even they have significant portions of the electorate who are unfamiliar with them.”
Unfamiliarity outpaces favourabilty for Ontario’s opposition leaders
At 28%, Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles ranks highest on favourability, but 30% of respondents reported not being familiar with her.
Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner fared little better, pulling a 22% favourability rating but also facing the fact that 38% of those polled didn’t know who he was.
Out of eight names who’ve expressed interest in running for Ontario Liberal leader, Toronto City Councillor Josh Matlow ranked the most favourable at 18% as well as being the most-known — with only 41% Ontarians saying they were familiar with the long-time civic politician and one-time Ontario Liberal candidate.
Matlow was the only candidate who garnered double-digit favourability scores.
“ Matlow records a 33% favourability rating in the City of Toronto, far higher than his provincial average of 18%,” Valentin said.
“Across Ontario, however, most respondents are still unfamiliar with him, with 59% saying they do not know enough about Matlow to form an opinion.”
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Former Liberal Party of Canada President Mike Crawley — not to be confused with CBC journalist with the same name — scored 7% favourability, with 77% of respondents saying they weren’t familiar with him.
“Mike Crawley, who announced late last night that he would not seek the leadership, also performed relatively well in the survey compared to other potential candidates,” Valentin said.
“However, that result may be influenced by name recognition tied to the former CBC Queen’s Park correspondent and reporter who shares the same name.”
Beaches-East York MP and former Federal Housing Minister Nate Erskine-Smith scored little better, with 7% saying they favour him but 81% saying they didn’t know who he was.
The other candidates polled — Ajax MPP Rob Cerjanec, Etobicoke-Lakeshore MPP Lee Fairclough, business executive Vikram Handa, political scientist and former PMO staffer Dylan Marando and strategist Eric Lombardi all scored 2% or less in favourability, and only 7% of less familiarity ratings.
“For the opposition to capitalize on the government’s high disapproval ratings, their leaders and potential candidates will need to significantly increase their profile outside of their home bases,” Valentin said.
“For the Liberals, their leadership race is just beginning and no candidates have filed the paperwork yet. For the NDP and Greens, the problem is a bit more acute and they will need to create opportunities to put their leaders in front of Ontarians.”