Private to Steve Kent

62% of NLers are satisfied with the performance of the #PCNL Gov't. I've never seen a gov't with a 62% approval rating defeated. #NLpoli
— Steve Kent, MHA (@stephenkent) September 4, 2014

From the proceedings of the Bow-Wow Parliament on November 18, 2002, here's then-Opposition Leader Ed Byrne questioning then-Premier Roger Grimes. The raw Hansard has been subjected to light editing and added emphasis.

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MR. E. BYRNE: I am not sure what planet this man is living on, Mr. Speaker. The fact of the matter is, for seven consecutive quarters, this Premier has lagged behind between sixteen and twenty-one points to (inaudible) the Opposition in leadership polls. Liberal sources themselves have said that if he does not hit 35 per cent, we are going to have to take a second look.

Mr. Speaker, let me ask him this question: Isn't it a fact that the only reason that this ad campaign is going on is simply because the Premier is lagging behind in the polls? Isn't that the reason that you are spending $25,000 and $30,000 a week of the public's money to pump up your own political image?

PREMIER GRIMES: What we are proud of, and what we are very aware of, is that for seven consecutive quarters when the people of Newfoundland and Labrador have been asked by independent pollsters: are they satisfied with what the government is doing in Newfoundland and Labrador, do they like the kinds of initiatives that we have putting forward, are they pleased with the government in what they have been doing, because the government is concerned for Newfoundland and Labrador, every single time anywhere from 52 per cent to 60 per cent of the people have said they are satisfied with what the government is doing, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER GRIMES: The real reason the Opposition does not like this kind of approach is because the same pollsters are telling them — and they know it — that any time that happens on a repeated basis, the government gets re-elected because the people are satisfied with the government, Mr. Speaker.

…

MR. E. BYRNE: Mr. Speaker, let me ask him this question: Isn't it a fact that the only reason that this ad campaign is going on is simply because the Premier is lagging behind in the polls? Isn't that the reason that you are spending $25,000 and $30,000 a week of the public's money to pump up your own political image?

PREMIER GRIMES: What we are proud of, and what we are very aware of, is that for seven consecutive quarters when the people of Newfoundland and Labrador have been asked by independent pollsters: are they satisfied with what the government is doing in Newfoundland and Labrador, do they like the kinds of initiatives that we have putting forward, are they pleased with the government in what they have been doing, because the government is concerned for Newfoundland and Labrador, every single time anywhere from 52 per cent to 60 per cent of the people have said they are satisfied with what the government is doing, Mr. Speaker.