Poll suggests Trudeau most out-of-touch leader

OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau is more out of touch with ordinary Canadians than other federal leaders, a new poll suggests, and is seen as the weakest party leader by a sizeable margin among the voting public.

In a Leger poll, 30 per cent of voters who were asked what has surprised them the most about the current campaign said Trudeau “seems out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Canadians,” the highest recorded result across 11 personal leadership traits and four party leaders.

Conservative leader Erin O’toole was seen as next most out of touch at 15 per cent, followed by Jagmeet Singh (eight per cent) and Yves-françois Blanchet (seven per cent).

Trudeau was also singled out as the weakest party leader by 22 per cent of respondents, compared with 10 per cent for O’toole, eight per cent for NDP leader Singh, and six per cent for Bloc leader Blanchet.

The polling data comes in the final weeks of a campaign where the Trudeau Liberals have seemingly failed to broaden their popular support, and have instead seen a gradual decline in public opinion since the beginning of the election. The party is now in a dead heat with the Conservatives at around 33 per cent.

Doubts about Trudeau’s leadership qualities mark a distinct shift from the 2015 election, when he distinguished himself as a charismatic leader who innately understood issues like the financial anxieties of the middle class and the environment.

“If you think back to 2015, he really connected,” said Andrew Enns, executive director at Leger. “That was one of the things people talked a lot about, is that he really connected with the average Canadian on those major issues.

“This is a bit of a flag as to why that