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Bill Kelly: Trudeau Liberals should heed sagging polling numbers

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Woodbridge, Ont., during a Liberal fundraiser on Tuesday, January 16, 2018. The Canadian Press / Aaron Vincent Elkaim

My guess is that the Liberal brain trust in Ottawa isn’t losing too much sleep over the sagging polling numbers for their party and for their leader.

After all, the next federal election isn’t for another two years and a lot can happen in two years in politics.

Nonetheless, the latest Nanos poll shows the Trudeau Liberals with only a three-point lead over the Conservatives. That’s down from a 10 per cent lead just before Christmas.

Political watchers will tell us that it’s not unusual for a governing party to experience a dip halfway through a mandate but left unchecked, that malaise can lead to greater problems down the road.

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WATCH: Has the shine come off Justin Trudeau?

Click to play video: 'Has the shine come off Justin Trudeau?'
Has the shine come off Justin Trudeau?

It’s certainly not time to hit the panic button for the Trudeau government; the economic picture is good, they did remarkably well in recent byelections but some of the well-documented missteps by the prime minister and some of his cabinet have clearly taken a toll.

The prime minister got an earful from Canadians during his town hall tour about many issues, but the common thread seemed to be that he and his government need to do a better job of relating to and communicating with Canadians.

If the prime minister heeds that message, these sagging approval numbers could just be an inconvenient blip; if he doesn’t, well, to paraphrase the Bard, hell hath no fury like a voter scorned.

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Bill Kelly is the host of Bill Kelly Show on AM 900 CHML

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