

Angus Reid published a new poll and it’s so bad for Justin Trudeau.

With less than a year before an expected election, the number of people who favour Trudeau has fallen to 35 per cent, down from 46 per cent this time a year ago. For the first time since October 2015, he is no longer seen as the national party leader who would be the best prime minister.

Of the 35 per cent who support Trudeau, eight per cent strongly support him, and 27 per cent sort of support him. So, that eight per cent would be the staff of the CBC, and anti-pipeline activists and immigration consultants probably.

But look at those who dislike him:

Fifty-eight per cent of Canadians don’t like him; but 39 per cent say they strongly dislike him. As in, they’re not just tired of him or bored. They actively, deeply loathe the guy.

Do you think Quebeckers who live near the illegal border crossing at Roxham Road are lukewarm? How about construction workers in the Atlantic who lost a $15.7 billion construction project called the Energy East pipeline, because of Trudeau’s obsession with carbon dioxide? How about any other working men that Trudeau just blithely calls rapists in waiting?

Now, it is inevitable that, over time, a prime minister’s support can wane, as he uses up political capital to get things done. But what has he got done?

I suppose he’s legalized marijuana — though with a lot of screw-ups. Can you name anything else?

There was a romance around Justin Trudeau — the media felt it the hardest, but the public shared it.

But here we are, three years later, and I think a lot of people who were swept up in it have fallen out of love with Trudeau; and when you fall out of love you start to notice the things that you put up with that now you can’t stand.

Now, in his year-end interview with the stenographers at Canadian Press, he smears everyone who’s against him as a bigot. And the media is absolutely going to go along with it:

Justin Trudeau says he's confident he'll win re-election next fall by sticking to a positive, thoughtful approach to difficult issues, in contrast to the Conservatives whom he accuses of resorting to bumper sticker slogans that prey on voters' fears and prejudices.” (...) While those ideas might be "popular at first blush in a populist speech," Trudeau predicted that Quebecers will change their minds once they "actually dig into the real world consequences of allowing and encouraging discrimination based on someone's religion within a free society." He argued that Canadian have become "more aware of the dangers of populism, the consequences of populism.”

Hang on — so the guy who bans pro-lifers from getting summer jobs grants is now for religious freedom? Got it.

The dangers of populism isn’t on the minds of Quebeckers. The dangers of illegal immigration, and even terrorism — that is.

So, after going on about how he’s better and nicer and sweeter than his opponents, he basically says just kidding:

"I'm always going to be very, very sharp any time there are clear distinctions in policy, in approach, in the way someone indicates their tendency to perhaps divide Canadians or exploit faultlines rather than pulling together. "I will make no apologies for being very passionate, sometimes overly enthusiastic, in the way I engage in a robust debate. But I am, as much as possible, going to keep it on a substantive level.”

Got it. Passionate. That’s what he calls it when he attacks people — that’s "passion." When an opponent does it, it’s dangerous. When he disagrees, it’s not mean, it’s "sharp." When others disagree, it’s bigotry.

Look, I know CTV and Canadian Press and CBC buy this stuff.

But 58 per cent of us no longer do.

And a campaign built on smearing us as bigots, scolding us, and rewarding journalists to spin — I’m just not sure that’s going to work — are you?

NEXT: Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to build a wall, and make Mexico pay for it. But judging by today's headlines, that isn't going to happen after all.

Or is it? Joel Pollak of Breitbart News joins me to make sense of it all.

FINALLY: Your messages to me!