Poll finds urban-suburban support for Premier Eby consistent across Metro Vancouver

Metro Vancouver is a diverse region, and that includes political views, but an exclusive poll for CityNews shows attitudes are aligned toward some provincial issues.

A Canada Pulse Insights report compared provincial political attitudes in the City of Vancouver to those among residents across the rest of the Metro Vancouver region.

When it comes to the leadership of NDP Premier David Eby, the numbers were virtually identical — 54 per cent in the city think he’s doing a good job compared to 55 per cent in the rest of Metro Vancouver.

The results are consistently split across the entire region when respondents were asked if Eby deserved to be reelected (49 per cent), or if it is time for a change (51 per cent).

“I think for most people there would be an underlying assumption that Eby would be slightly more popular in Vancouver proper compared to the Metro Vancouver Regional District,” said Sanjay Jeram, chair of the political science department at Simon Fraser University.

“Historically, Vancouver is generally more friendly to the NDP compared to further out from the urban core. Obviously, the dynamics have changed in the last election, and we could be seeing a realignment in public opinion because the BC Liberals are not really active at the moment.”

Jeram suggests that as the opposition BC Conservatives have struggled to manage the party’s “big tent” approach, and support for leader John Rustad has fractionalized, some traditional conservative voters might be left with fewer options.

“In a situation where their choices are limited, perhaps they might choose Eby, even if they may be holding their nose to do so,” he told 1130 NewsRadio. “It’s an interesting finding to see these results. They wouldn’t be the prediction based on our history of political alignments in Vancouver and outside Vancouver.”

The poll also explored attitudes toward BC Ferries’ overseas shipbuilding contract for four new major vessels, asking respondents to weigh in on whether the company should cancel the agreement, which Premier Eby has said would cost taxpayers billions of dollars in penalties and more to build them, as well as delay needed delivery.

Three-quarters of respondents in the City of Vancouver and 71 per cent in the rest of Metro Vancouver believe BC Ferries should keep the contract in place and move forward, even if the vessels are made in China.

One quarter in Vancouver and 29 per cent in Metro Vancouver feel BC Ferries should cancel the contract and pay the penalties, along with more for the new construction, if they can be built in Canada to create jobs and economic growth.

Canada Pulse Insights polled 351 adults from Vancouver and 306 adults throughout the Metro Vancouver Regional District from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6. Probability samples of this size have an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 5.2% (n=351) and +/- 5.7% (n=306), 19 times out of 20.