Canadian PM lands in ‘brown face’ soup
TORONTO: What started with a single photo of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wearing a turban and with dark makeup on his hands, face and neck for an Arabian Nights-themed party in 2001 has since developed into major scandal that may have thrown a spanner in the works for his Liberal Party’s election campaign.
The initial photo, published by the TIME magazine, was taken in 2001 at West Point Grey Academy, a private school in British Columbia where he taught before entering politics and caused furore across the world and Canadian social media.
Trudeau apologised during an interaction with the media, saying he was “disappointed” with himself, though such blacking up was not considered racist at the time. “I shouldn’t have done that. I take responsibility for it,” he said. He also admitted to another instance of using such “makeup”, referring to a ‘blackface’ he donned while singing Harry Belafonte’s The Banana Boat Song at a talent show. “It was something that I didn’t think was racist at the time, but now I recognise it was something racist to do, and I’m deeply sorry.”
A photo from that day showing him dressed up as a black man at the College Jean-de-Brébeuf, an elite high school in Quebec which he attended, emerged a few hours later. And by Thursday morning, a third instance of Trudeau in blackface surfaced with the network Global News showing a video of him laughing and sticking his tongue out.
The growing scandal could spell more trouble for Trudeau, who polls say is facing a serious challenge in the upcoming October elections from Conservative leader Andrew Scheer. Along with some calls for his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party, Trudeau drew sharp criticism from opposition leaders. “I think he has to answer for it,” said Leftist New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh, a Sikh and the first visible minority to lead a national party.