President-elect Donald Trump mockingly referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the governor of the 鈥淕reat State of Canada鈥� on his social media account early Tuesday.

Trump said in a taunting post on Truth Social it was a 鈥減leasure to have dinner鈥� with Trudeau at his Mar-a-Lago estate and that he looks forward to seeing the 鈥済overnor again soon鈥� to talk tariffs and trade, the 鈥渞esults of which will be truly spectacular for all.鈥�

Turns out, some Canadians think that鈥檚 not such a bad idea.

A new Leger poll suggests 13 per cent of Canadians would like the country to become the next U.S. state.

The demographic breakdowns show there鈥檚 higher support among men, at 19 per cent, compared with only seven per cent of women.

Conservative party supporters came in at 21 per cent, while one in 10 Liberal voters said they were in favour of the idea. The People鈥檚 Party of Canada showed the highest level of endorsement among the federal parties, at 25 per cent, while the NDP was the lowest at six per cent.

A full 82 per cent of respondents said they were opposed to the idea. People in the Atlantic provinces, women and Canadians over the age of 55 were least likely to support it.

鈥淚鈥檓 not shocked,鈥� said Andrew Enns, executive vice-president of central Canada at Leger. While it鈥檚 not a question he鈥檚 polled on before, since it鈥檚 not normal for U.S. presidents to openly muse about snatching up bordering countries as new states, the survey results follow some familiar patterns.

鈥淲omen have, for quite some time, whenever Donald Trump鈥檚 name has come up, expressed a much stronger opposition to the individual,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut again, we are talking about fairly small (support). In the Prairies, for example, it鈥檚 still less than 20 per cent that would say, yes, they鈥檇 be open to joining the United States.鈥�

Leger surveyed 1,520 people between Dec. 6 and Dec. 9, and the results do not have a margin of error since online polls aren鈥檛 considered truly random samples.

The survey was also done before Trump made his post on Tuesday. Enns said he suspects Trump doubling down on the comments will further shrink the already limited public support by pushing the joke past the point of comfort.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller expressed dismay when reporters asked him about it ahead of a federal cabinet meeting Tuesday.

鈥淚t sounds like we鈥檙e living in an episode of South Park,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we should necessarily look on Truth Social for public policy.鈥�

The provocative 1999 South Park animated film notably featured a song called 鈥淏lame Canada!鈥� about Americans scapegoating their northern neighbours for their own domestic problems.

Miller and other cabinet members have written off Trump鈥檚 comments as anything but serious.

鈥淐learly, he鈥檚 joking,鈥� Defence Minister Bill Blair said Tuesday. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a sovereign nation.鈥�

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc attended Trudeau鈥檚 surprise dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, which came soon after the president-elect threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on imports unless Canada beefs up its border.

LeBlanc has insisted Trump was only teasing when at the dinner he suggested he could make Canada the 51st U.S. State.

鈥淭he president was telling jokes,鈥� LeBlanc said a week ago. 鈥淭he president was teasing us. It was, of course, on that issue in no way a serious comment.鈥�

Trump later shared a seemingly AI-generated image of himself standing on a mountain ridge with a Canadian flag planted in it, with the caption 鈥淥h Canada!鈥�

Trudeau has not matched that tone, warning in a talk on Monday that the steep tariffs Trump is bandying about would be devastating for the Canadian economy. He described Trump鈥檚 approach as an attempt to destabilize negotiating partners by introducing a bit of chaos.

Trudeau blew past the TV cameras on his way into Tuesday鈥檚 cabinet meeting without stopping to talk to reporters.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, meanwhile, deflected questions about whether she thinks Trump is serious about taking over her country.

鈥淭hat is a question, really, for the president-elect,鈥� she said.