From July 11-16, Sovereign North Strategies Inc. conducted a live call survey of Alberta residents. Calls were made to landline and mobile numbers across the province. Total responses from those self-identifying as having voted in the 2023 provincial general election were 4209. Within this, 1978 self-identified
as having voted for the United Conservative Party. The sample’s data has been weighted to reflect the age/sex composition in Alberta as per the 2021 Census.
Respondents were asked a series of questions regarding past voting history, their approval of the appointment of former Premier Allison Redford to the board of Invest Alberta, Premier Smith’s judgment in making this appointment, and whether this appointment would make self-identified Conservative voters more or less likely to vote for the UCP in the next election. Results for the subsection of self-identified prior-UCP voters are also highlighted.
The vast majority of voters, 72%, disagree with the appointment of Former Premier Redford to the board of Invest Alberta. Of self-identifying UCP voters, the majority lowers to 56%.
When asked about Premier Smith’s judgment in making this appointment, results remain somewhat constant with 68% of respondents feeling the Premier used “bad judgement”. Once again, we see self-identifying UCP voters being slightly more forgiving, as the majority of those who feel the Premier used “bad judgement” lowers to 52%.
The survey’s final question focused exclusively on those self-identifying as past United Conservative voters. Respondents were asked whether the appointment of former Premier Redford made them more or less likely to vote for the UCP in a future election. The majority of respondents, 78%, stated the appointment would have no effect, while 16% stated it would make them less likely to vote for the UCP. On the surface this would appear to be quite a muted response, however it is unclear what effect, if any, this potential change in turnout would have on closely contested seats.
