More popular than Kathleen Wynne?

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s current approval rating sits at a rock-bottom 15 per cent. This makes her not only the least popular first minister in Canada right now, but one of the least popular political leaders in modern Canadian history. The National Post’s Tristan Hopper brings you this very mean gallery of all the things proportionally more popular among Canadians than the Ontario premier. NOTE: This story breaks all kinds of rules regarding accurate statistical comparison. Please do not use it to inform your civic behaviour.

THE PENNY (32%)

It was a useless disk of almost zero monetary value that wasn’t worth the copper it contained. And yet, there were Canadians who thought it was a travesty to get rid of our one-cent coin. In 2012, the year of the penny’s demise, the Angus Reid Institute found that 32 per cent of Canadians did not want to live in a world without pennies.

A BORDER GUARD SEARCHING YOUR PHONE WITHOUT A WARRANT (22%)

Earlier this month, a Forum Research poll asked Canadians whether they would like the guards at our borders to be able to requisition their electronics and flip through them looking for compromising information. Nearly half didn’t like the idea, but to a committed group of 22 per cent, the prospect of having a CBSA agent swipe through their cat photos sounded just great.

CHEATING ON YOUR SPOUSE (16%)

Adulterers are likely a much greater constituency than we acknowledge, but that doesn’t mean Canadians think it’s a good idea to philander. In a July 2016 poll, Abacus Data asked Canadians whether adultery was “morally acceptable.” Only 16 per cent replied in the affirmative.

SAYING SORRY EVERY SINGLE HOUR (17%)

In June, a Forum Research poll sought to find out how often Canadians apologize. Thirty-eight per cent of us say “sorry” every day, while a committed core of 17 per cent reported that they apologized “hourly.” And yes, hack comedians, there are indeed more Canadian men apologizing hourly than Canadian women.

THE CLIMATE IS UNCHANGED (15%)

To be clear, this isn’t the number of Canadians who believe that humans aren’t causing climate change. No, this is a fringier group who believe the climate isn’t actually changing at all. The melting ice caps, the rising sea levels, the old Albertans who keep telling us the winters aren’t as cold anymore? All a bunch of media propaganda, apparently. In 2015, Forum Research found 15 per cent of Canadians stubbornly believe that the earth’s climate is just fine.

BANNING ALL IMMIGRATION TO CANADA (19%)

Canada, as a rule, is pretty cool with immigrants. While politicians who want to close the border are common in Europe, even Canada’s most extreme major party candidate of recent years, Kellie Leitch, never came close to saying that we should stop immigration completely. Nevertheless, a February report by the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada found that 19 per cent of Canadians backed the David Suzuki-esque view that “Canada is full.”

PRIME MINISTER DONALD TRUMP (20%)

Back in May 2016, Abacus Data asked Canadians how they would vote if the U.S. presidential candidates were angling to be prime minister. Unsurprisingly, Democrat Hillary Clinton utterly swept the Great White North, although Donald Trump still managed to capture 20 per cent support. When asked how Trump would fare against Bernie Sanders in Canada, the Republican candidate’s vote share dropped to 18 per cent.

KING CHARLES III (26%)

In 2011, Abacus Data asked Canadians to disregard the normal rules of monarchic succession and indicate whom they would like to succeed Queen Elizabeth II: Prince Charles or his son, William. Unsurprisingly, Prince William and his new wife were the clear favourites to become the next king and queen of Canada, with 56 per cent support. But a group of 26 per cent staunchly maintained that it was Charles’

turn.

JOE CLARK (17%)

In early 2016, Abacus Data asked Canadians to rate the last seven people who became prime minister as a result of winning an election (no Kim Campbells or John Turners allowed). Last place was occupied by Joe Clark, who gained only 17 per cent approval — exactly the same as his disapproval rating. Tragically for Joe Clark, the vast majority of Canadians either didn’t know who he was (25 per cent) or didn’t care (41 per cent).

THE BURKA (29%)

In April, the Angus Reid Institute gauged Canadians’ approval of various religious garments. Crucifixes, the Jewish kippah and Sikh turbans all scored pretty well, but at the bottom of the list were Islamic garments designed to cover women’s faces, the niqab (32 per cent approval) and the burka (29 per cent approval).

THE FALSE BELIEF THAT VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM (19%)

Vaccines do not cause autism. The whole myth was started by a single botched study that has since been disavowed by almost everyone who had anything to do with it. And yet the belief persists. A 2016 poll by the Ontario Science Centre found that 19 per cent of Canadians continued to suspect a link between autism and vaccinations.