Tories target Trudeau as poll suggests his popularity keeps growing

OTTAWA – Conservatives have launched their first concerted attack on Justin Trudeau — and a new poll may explain why.

The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey indicates the Liberal leadership front-runner’s popularity is not a fleeting celebrity phenomenon, it’s actually increasing and has the potential to syphon off votes from all parties, including the Tories.

Forty-two per cent of respondents say they’d be certain or likely to vote Liberal in the next election if Trudeau was at the helm — enough to form a comfortable Liberal majority government.

That’s up from 36 per cent in September and 33 per cent in June.

The poll comes just as the Tories have pounced on a two-year-old quote to accuse Trudeau of being anti-Alberta.

Trudeau’s team says the Tories are resorting to a “smear campaign” in a desperate bid to reverse their faltering fortunes in a Calgary byelection.