Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi enjoys very healthy levels of support from Calgarians according to a recent ThinkHQ survey of Calgarians.  Nearly three-quarters (73%) offer approval of the mayor, 43% strongly, compared to only 23% who offer any degree of disapproval for Nenshi’s performance as Calgary’s Chief Elected Official over the past three years.  Although Nenshi’s popularity is very high, it has slipped modestly in the past six weeks.  A similar ThinkHQ survey in late April pegged the mayor’s approval at 80%, compared to only 13% disapproval.

Nenshi’s popularity outshines his Council colleagues as a whole, who not only trail the mayor’s approval by over 20 percentage points, but have seen a much more dramatic decline over the past few months.  Currently in Calgary, just over one-half (51%) of voters say they approve of City Council’s performance since October 2010, while nearly four-in-ten (39%) disapprove.  At this stage, disapproval is twice as “intense” among Calgary voters than approval: 12% strongly disapprove of City Council overall vs. 5% who strongly approve.

City Council’s ratings have slipped significantly – 17 percentage points – since October of last year.  At that time, Council enjoyed the approval of nearly seven-in-ten (68%)voters, compared to only one-in-five (21%) expressing disapproval in October 2012.

For excerpts from our recent survey, click: June 2013 YYC Civic Special Feature Council