VANCOUVER— Canadians’ support for the B.C. government’s stance of doing everything it can to prevent the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion from being built has slid significantly since February, according to a new Angus Reid poll released Wednesday.

In a poll of about 2,000 people conducted this week, the percentage of Canadians who disagree with B.C. Premier John Horgan’s opposition to the pipeline increased from 55 per cent to 64 per cent in just three months.

The nine-percentage-point difference is significant, said Shachi Kurl, executive director of Angus Reid.

“The series of events that have unfolded in the last two weeks have really put the issue front and centre and I think confronted British Columbians and confronted Canadians,” she said.

“But it’s really B.C. that is the hinge here — they have some choices that they have to make.”

The poll shows more than half (54 per cent) of B.C. respondents said they now support the pipeline project, compared to 48 per cent in February. Even in Metro Vancouver, where opposition for the project has historically been most staunch, half of respondents now support the project, according to Angus Reid.

But while overall support for the project has increased, Canadians’ are still mostly unimpressed with their leaders’ actions following Sunday’s meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, and Horgan.

Notley performed the best, with four in ten Canadians saying she did a good job. About three in ten respondents said Horgan and Trudeau did a good job.

The premiers receive slightly better grades from voters in their respective provinces — 54 per cent of Albertans said Notley did a good job and 45 per cent of British Columbians said Horgan did a good job.

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The majority of Canadians (56 per cent) do not agree with Trudeau’s announcement he would use taxpayers’ money to push the project through, however.

Kurl says polling shows Trudeau may have another opportunity to win the approval of British Columbians when it comes to the pipeline expansion.

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“The path forward is around reassurance around tanker response,” she said.

“If you ask British Columbians about a number of different concerns, three in four say they are concerned about a tanker spill or a breach, and when you ask what is your number one concern … by a five-to-one ratio, people say that the risk of a spill is a major problem.”

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