Saskatchewan's premier got a rocky reception at a CFL Week appearance in Regina on Thursday night.

Premier Brad Wall made a surprise appearance at a panel featuring CFL veterans Warren Moon, Mike Reilly and Anthony Calvillo. After Wall was announced, there was a smattering of boos that came from the crowd.

"The budget was tabled yesterday," Wall told the panel.

As soon as Calvillo heard the booing from the crowd, he came to Wall's defence.

"That's ridiculous," the former Montreal Alouettes quarterback said. "Come on. We're not on the field right now."

CFL Week is a fan-friendly event that includes autograph sessions with the stars, photo-ops with the Grey Cup, as well as interactive festivities at Evraz Place.

The provincial budget has been controversial. The government hiked the Provincial Sales Tax to six per cent, cut a number of government programs, and announced the closure of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company in an attempt to whittle down a $1.2-billion deficit.

A government spokesperson said that while a few people booed, most applauded at the end of the premier's remarks. The spokesperson also noted that Wall is the most popular premier in Canada, according to a poll released Friday by the Angus Reid Institute.

But the poll indicates Wall's popularity has dipped the most of all the premiers: by six percentage points to 52 per cent. Angus Reid says this is Wall's lowest rating in seven years of available data.

The poll was done before the budget was released, from March 6-13.

The online survey was conducted using a representative, randomized sample of 5,404 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. A probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.