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Canadians still have an affinity for U.S. President Barack Obama

It was just last month, when right-leaning pundits, south of the border, were touting an American poll that dubbed Barack Obama the worst president since World War II.

Whether you believe that specific poll or not, Obama's popularity has certainly been tanking since his 2012 re-election. His muted response to all the international crises probably has a lot to do with that.

Indeed, Even Hillary Clinton is now publicly slamming her former boss about his policies with regard to Syria.

North of the 49th, however, Obama is still widely beloved.

In fact, in a recent Ekos Research/iPolitics survey, the U.S. president surpasses every other Canadian leader listed on their popularity scale.

Q. Do you approve or dissaprove of the way the following individuals are handling their jobs?

Approve

Barack Obama

58 per cent

Thomas Mulcair

54 per cent

Kathleen Wynne

52 per cent

Justin Trudeau

49 per cent

Philippe Couillard

48 per cent

Christy Clark

31 per cent

Stephen Harper

29 per cent

Frank Graves, President of Ekos Research, notes that while Obama's popularity in Canada has dropped a little, he still remains "enormously" popular.

"At one point he had about as close to consensus approval as any leader that I recall in Canada," Graves told Yahoo Canada News in an email exchange.

"By contrast , [President George W.] Bush had almost 'cartoonishly' low approval ratings in Canada , so it has nothing to do with approval of the office of POTUS."

[ Related: Obama opens Gay Games with surprise video message ]

Graves suggests that Obama is the anti-Stephen Harper at least when it comes to personality. He claims that there's a population of Canadians who yearn for that style of leadership.

"What is driving it is a bit of leader-envy for a cool, funny and progressive leader -- against the decidedly uncool, stiff and cranky leader we have," he said.

"I think most Canadians find themselves increasingly at odds with a leader who clearly espouses right wing values which are increasingly in a state of tension with a clear public movement away from small c conservative values.

"In short , I think Barrack Obama has become something of a poster child for lost liberal aspirations in Canada — despite his problems with Americans."

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