So after initial public polling suggesting approval of provincial and federal leaders jumping in the wake of coronavirus, how has it all played out in fact?
Ford seems to have rehabilitated his image, and has even denounced anti-lockdown protests that happened at Queen's Park. Are there still questions about testing capacity in Ontario? Legault did really well in the initial days, but it looks like the coronavirus numbers really took off there. He is also taking heat over his plan to reopen the economy in its current state, and the outbreaks in the seniors care facilities do not reflect well on his government. New Brunswick and PEI have had very few cases and no deaths. New Brunswick has even gone to the point of banning temporary foreign workers. Will that boost the popularity of the respective governments? BC, despite being a major province and economic engine in the country, has had slow growth and relatively few cases per capita. Led by Dr. Bonnie Henry, the government has received high marks for its handling of the crisis. Will the meat packing plant outbreaks in Alberta hurt Kenney? Scott Moe in Saskatchewan floated the idea of a spring election, but backed off because of coronavirus. Saskatchewan also did relatively well until corona broke out in the north. Will that impact Wall's chances?
By far, I believe the worst performing Premier in the country is Manitoba's Brian Pallister. His government twice tired to ram through a far-right agenda during the pandemic. He has been mostly absent from the discussion, except to wave his fingers and threaten people for not following rules. He has offered less direct assistance to Manitoba residents than anyone else, and whatever he has offered he had to be dragged kicking and screaming into doing that. Now he is doubling down on his austerity agenda, going after Manitoba Hydro and post-secondary institutions. It is so bad that I think his government is a much bigger threat to the well-being of the province than the coronavirus ever could be.
That's my take. What about the rest of you? Did I get anything wrong? Did I leave anything out?