Justin Trudeau’s exchange with a steelworker at the Algoma plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., last Friday suggests two things — that the prime minister’s position is objectively hopeless but that he is not, in fact, totally helpless.

Let me explain. The worker — (and it appears he was a worker, not a Conservative plant, as some online have charged, given he was wearing a Local 2251 shirt in a secure part of the Algoma property at shift change) — was about as rude as Canadian voters ever get when they meet a politician. Namely, he wouldn’t shake hands and told Trudeau he didn’t believe a word he said, before urging the prime minister to “have a nice day.”