Bill Kelly: Self-inflicted wounds are hurting Trudeau

As they head into the summer break, federal Liberals must be concerned that their long-standing, comfortable lead in the polls has all but evaporated.

An Ipsos poll has them trailing the Conservatives by three points, and a Nanos poll has them leading the Conservatives by the same margin, so let’s just call it a dead heat for now, which is not good news for the governing Liberals, with an election looming next year.

But what should be more concerning is that at least part of the reason for the Liberals’ decline is the self-inflicted wounds by their leader, Justin Trudeau.

On the plus side, Trudeau gets full marks for standing up to Donald Trump on the tariff and trade issues.

In fact, he even won the grudging respect of Hamilton steelworkers, when he showed up on the shop floor to talk with workers.

But he’s also given his critics plenty of ammunition with his ill-conceived holiday with the Aga Khan and a mistake-ridden India trip earlier this year.

More recently, Trudeau’s handling of the re-surfaced allegations of a groping incident from his past sounded more like legally crafted responses, where sincerity was called for.

It’s certainly not time to hit the panic button, but, if the Liberals don’t eliminate a pattern of unforced errors, it’s going to be a rocky road to election time.

Bill Kelly is the host of the Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML.