Justin Trudeau said he deeply regrets his actions after photos emerged of him in brownface
Trudeau’s agenda out the window as he and team work on damage control
WINNIPEG — Rather than starting his day with another Liberal promise, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau began day nine of the federal election having difficult conversations with his candidates, local community leaders and with his three children about the multiple times he has dressed in blackface and brownface.
After a late-night apology on his campaign plane on Wednesday night — an event that made headlines around the world, Trudeau and his team retreated to a hotel in Winnipeg to regroup.
Outrage hit Trudeau’s re-election campaign late Wednesday following the release of a 2001 photo of him dressed as Aladdin in a huge costume turban, his face and hands coloured with makeup.
Trudeau apologizedand acknowledged making himself up to look dark-skinned was racist. He also admitted to wearing blackface for a performance when he was in high school, singing Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat Song (Day O).”
No itinerary was issued for Thursday’s campaign activities on Wednesday night, as has been standard at the end of each day and staffers looked weary and avoided questions about what the plans were for the following day. The plans for the day were out the window. On Thursday morning, bleary-eyed journalists awoke to revelations that Global News had obtained a video of a third instance of Trudeau dressing in blackface from the early 1990s.
Still no word came from the Liberal team about what the plans for the day in Winnipeg would be.
The few party staffers who stayed in the same hotel as the journalists travelling with the campaign tour huddled quietly in the hotel lobby restaurant, exchanging whispers. When asked, they would plaster on the best smile they could muster and say things were fine.
Finally, word was issued that Trudeau would hold a media availability in the early afternoon and later, fly to Saskatoon for a preplanned campaign rally there.
On Thursday, hours went by and Trudeau and his campaign brain trust remained out of public view. It was later revealed the Liberal leader had spent the morning on the phone, talking to community leaders and some individual visible minority MPs, as well as a conference call with Liberal candidates to discuss the damning photos. Aides said he spent more time listening than talking.
Before his news conference, Trudeau stopped into two small shops in downtown Winnipeg. Liberal staffers quietly ushered a number of young persons of colour into one of the shops just before Trudeau — with cameras and videographers in tow — arrived to shake hands and pose for photos. He was smiling, but his demeanour was muted compared to his usual upbeat mainstreeting manner.
When his motorcade arrived, Trudeau emerged and walked the gauntlet toward the microphone. Liberal candidates lined up behind him.
He was once again apologetic, and started by addressing racialized Canadians who face discrimination on a daily basis — many of whom have been publishing their deep sense of disappointment and hurt over seeing racist photos and a video of their prime minister.
He told reporters when he first sought public office more than a decade ago he never told anyone that he had worn blackand brownface years earlier because he was too embarrassed
“What I did hurt them, hurt people who shouldn’t have to face intolerance and discrimination because of their identity. This is something that I deeply, deeply regret,” he said.
He told reporters he only recalled two instances where he wore blackface. The video released Thursday was a third. When asked if it’s possible there are other instances, Trudeau said he was “wary of being definitive about this” because he didn’t remember the latest images.
“The fact is I didn’t understand how hurtful this is to people who live with discrimination every single day. I have always acknowledged that I come from a place of privilege — but I now need to acknowledge that that comes with a massive blind spot,” he said.
“I regret deeply parents that have had to have difficult conversations with their kids that were uncomfortable and hurtful because of my actions.”
After he finished, many in the crowd came over to shake his hand and thank him for his comments. A few people shouted from the sidelines, including a transgender youth concerned about Indigenous land rights. He did not engage with them.
His plans changed again — what was to be a campaign rally in Saskatoon is now a town hall.