Perhaps they care after all

The Prime Minister thought Canadians wouldn't care when he prorogued Parliament.

Slightly left-wing Toronto radio host John Moore agreed.

I also had asked whether Canadians truly cared.

However, latest numbers show the Tories are tied with the Liberals in support.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has paid a large price in popularity for shutting down Parliament, with his Conservatives effectively tied with Liberals in a new poll by The Strategic Counsel.

Conservatives are at 31 per cent, compared to 30 per cent for Liberals, in the poll conducted by Strategic Counsel late last week, as controversy was starting to build over Harper's prorogation of Parliament until March 3.

That's the lowest the Conservatives have been since last June in Strategic Counsel polling.

"Proroguing of Parliament has hurt the Tory brand," said Tim Woolstencroft, the managing partner at Strategic Counsel, who believes that Harper's Conservatives must be seeing the same kind of numbers, because the government has appeared to be in a defensive posture all week. "I think the government is worried about it," Woolstencroft said.

When the Liberals, without laying out alternative policies, with a leader still not broadly popular, with only Facebook numbers for comfort, can be tied with the Cons, perhaps the reports of their death had been highly exaggerated after all.