'"This could be the beginning of a bunker mentality," said pollster Nik Nanos, per CTV, indicating the prime minister’s plummeting popularity could be the reason he does not wish to attend the Calgary event.
Trudeau last week made a four-day trip to Washington for the NATO summit, where he delivered a keynote speech on climate change. However, on the weekend, the prime minister returned to Ontario and attended a string of political and cultural events, including a (non-Stampede-related) barbeque hosted by Liberal MP Iqra Khalid. '