Charlie Clark's approval rating high after first 2 months as mayor

Saskatoon's new mayor has been given the second-highest approval rating for mayors in the country in a new survey released Monday.

Charlie Clark has a 72 per cent approval rating in a Mainstreet/Postmedia poll conducted earlier this month. Saskatoon city council, meanwhile, has a 59 per cent approval rating.

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Clark spent 10 years as a councillor before running for mayor in last October's election. He defeated incumbent Don Atchison, who was seeking a fifth term.

Not a lot has happened in the city that would test the mayor.- Jordon Cooper, political columnist

"It's definitely a political honeymoon," Saskatoon StarPhoenix reporter Phil Tank told CBC's Saskatoon Morning. "It's much higher than the 41 per cent of people who voted for him."

Political columnist Jordon Cooper agreed that it's very early days in Clark's term as mayor.

"Not a lot has happened in the city that would test the mayor," he said. "The budget process was done by the time he took over; they [council] approved it ... Really, nothing has happened that would make a dent in those numbers."

Still, Tank said it was interesting that Clark's approval ratings were so high, given October's close election, with Atchison receiving 37 per cent of the vote.

"You'd think there would be the potential of 37 per cent of the people saying, 'My guy didn't get in, so I'm going to dislike Charlie Clark,'" he said. "It doesn't seem to have happened. He's very popular."

The only mayor with a higher approval rating is Ottawa's Jim Watson at 79 per cent.

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Regina Mayor Michael Fougere was given a 54 per cent approval rating in the survey, slightly above the 50 per cent given to Regina city council.

Fougere's rating puts him in seventh place among the mayors included in the survey.

Mayors ranked by approval

1. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson: 79 per cent.
2. Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark: 72 per cent.
3. Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi: 65 per cent.
4. Montreal Mayor Denis Coderr: 62 per cent.
5. Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson: 58 per cent.
6. Toronto Mayor John Tory: 55 per cent.
7. Regina Mayor Michael Fougere: 54 per cent.
8. Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman: 53 per cent.
9. Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkins: 51 per cent.
10. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson: 50 per cent.

According to the release, 628 people were surveyed in Regina and 600 in Saskatoon. Probabilistic samples of these sizes would yield margins of error from +/- 3.92 to +/- four per cent, 19 times out of 20.