Trudeau pledges assault rifle ban
Amid blackface scandal, Canada’s PM vows to get military-style weapons off the streets
TORONTO: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, embroiled in a blackface picture scandal, pledged to ban military-style assault rifles in the country’s most ethnically diverse city in a bid to get his campaign back on issue.
Trudeau on Friday was campaigning in Toronto with less than five weeks to go before his Liberals fight an Oct 21 national election and two days after at least two bombshell images of him in blackface emerged, as well as a video showing him with blacked-up face and body wearing a curly-haired wig.
The scandal over the pictures, which could help propel the rival Conservative Party into power, continues to dominate headlines both at home and abroad.
US President Donald Trump, who has clashed with Trudeau in the past, said in the Oval Office on Friday, “I’m surprised and I was more surprised when I saw the number of times.”
Trudeau, 47, sidestepped questions both about Trump’s comments and whether the affair had damaged Canada’s image abroad, repeating that he was very sorry for what he had done when younger.
The first picture that emerged showed Trudeau with his face blackened at a 2001 “Arabian Nights” party when he was a 29-year-old teacher at a Vancouver private school.
The picture was published by Time magazine on Wednesday.
Liberals need to hang onto Toronto, Canada’s largest city, to have any chance of retaining power.
The city has faced a recent escalation in gun violence, which is why Trudeau made his gun ban announcement there.
“Thoughts and prayers aren’t going to cut it,” Trudeau told a news conference.
“We know you do not need a military-grade assault weapon, one designed to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time, to take down a deer.”
This month, a 17-year-old was killed by gunfire and five other people were wounded in a community just outside of Toronto.
Two days later another person was killed in a shooting on a major highway.
At least four members of Trudeau’s Cabinet turned up at the announcement to show their support, including Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland who stood among some two dozen legislators and candidates.