Why we heart Trudeau

Re: How Dignity Lost Its Shirt, Barbara Kay, Aug. 6.

A public opinion poll of 1,429 Canadian voters conducted by Forum Research found that the Liberals would attract almost twice as many votes as the Conservatives if an election were held today, with a total of more than half the vote (52 per cent) to just a quarter for the Conservatives (28 per cent). The NDP would win only a tenth of the vote (11 per cent).

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has the approval of more than six- in-10 voters (62 per cent). His net favourably rating ( approve minus disapprove) has increased sharply from a stellar +24 to a stratospheric +33. Barbara Kay seems not to realize that being shirtless in a public park during the summer is part of the reason why so many people like him. Former Reform leader Stockwell Day once appeared shirtless to impress the public about his youthfulness. He failed because he didn’t have Trudeau’s natural charisma. Mahmood Elahi, Ottawa.

Barbara Kay is surely up shirt’s creek without a paddle. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s act of baring his chest in the wilderness is no different from when I witnessed former Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek take off his blazer, thus baring his shirt, just before speaking at a Jerusalem concert hall, to the applause and positive jeers of the crowd. It shows that politicians can relax and unwind, just like the rest of us. Most of us can resonate with that. It has nothing to do with how in shape the prime minister happens to be in. Smadar Meiri, Thornhill, Ont.