Trudeau image revives blackface scandal on eve of election
A NEW image of Justin Trudeau in blackface emerged as voters headed to the polls yesterday in a closely-fought general election that threatened the Canadian prime minister’s grip on power.
The unverified photograph shows a younger Mr Trudeau wearing a white turban and robe with his face, neck and hands coated in dark brown or black make-up.
It was released on Twitter by Canada Proud, an anti-trudeau campaign group, as Canadians cast their votes in an election that has proved an uphill battle for the 49-year-old prime minister.
The jarring image has revived the scandal that engulfed the Liberal leader ahead of the 2019 election, when similar photographs emerged and damaged his reputation as the country’s liberal poster boy.
Mr Trudeau has previously said he deeply regrets his decision to wear blackface as a younger man and that his white “privilege” blinded him to its racist implications.
The pictures were from a 2001 Arabian Nights gala at West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver, where Mr Trudeau was teaching at the time.
‘Looks even worse in colour. Will photos like this make Liberals reconsider their vote?’
Unlike the images released in 2019, the photograph released on Sunday night is in colour.
Brian Lilley, a columnist for the Toronto Sun, tweeted: “Looks even worse in colour. Will photos like this make Liberals reconsider their vote?”
The new image comes as Mr Trudeau’s political future hangs in the balance, with most polls before voting began showing his Liberal Party locked in a tight race with the main opposition Conservative Party.
The final polls ahead of yesterday’s election suggest that Mr Trudeau’s Liberal Party could win the most seats in the 338-seat House of Commons to lead another minority government. But anything short of the 170 seats needed for a majority will be a politically costly embarrassment for Mr Trudeau, who called the snap election two years early to strengthen his mandate.
With polls showing the majority of the public approved of his handling of the pandemic, Mr Trudeau gambled that an early election would increase his 155 seat count. But his gamble backfired when Erin O’toole, Conservative leader, proved himself to be an adept campaigner and successfully framed the election as a selfish power grab by the ruling Liberals.
Mr Trudeau has regained a slight lead in the final stretch of the 36-day campaign by contrasting his willingness to introduce Covid-19 vaccine mandates against Conservative opposition.