Hello,
It’s been a shocking 24 hours for the election campaign. At least three separate incidents have emerged of times that Justin Trudeau – before he got into politics – wore racist makeup, dating from when he was in high school in the 1980s to when he was a teacher at a private school in 2001.
Mr. Trudeau apologized last night for the incidents of brownface and blackface. (Last night he only admitted to having done it two times – a third incident emerged this morning, dating from the “early 1990s.”) “I didn’t consider it a racist action at the time but now we know better,” he said of darkening his skin in 2001 for an “Arabian Nights”-themed dance, at which he was a teacher.
So far, Liberal candidates who have spoken publicly have been supportive of Mr. Trudeau. “I told him that this is going to be a painful story,” Liberal MP Omar Alghabra told The Globe, "and that I accept his sincerity because I’ve personally seen him over the years act in private and in public with vigour and determination in combatting all kinds of stereotyping, racism, hate and that I know really who he is.”
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said Mr. Trudeau should have known at the time that what he did was wrong. “It was just as racist in 2001 as it is in 2019,” he told reporters last night.
But at a time like this, it seems worth turning the mic over to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. Mr. Singh is the first person of colour to become the leader of a major federal political party. Mr. Singh gave the following statement in Mississauga last night. You can also watch it here.
"Seeing the image, it jarred me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to come out and give a statement. But I got a message from a friend. And I’ve faced a lot of racism in my life, and I can be honest with you, I’ve fought back when I faced racism. I fought back with my fists. But there was a lot of people who weren’t able to do that. One of my friends told me about how he wasn’t able to do that.
"And seeing this image today. Kids that see this image, the people that see this image, are going to think about all the times in their life that they were made fun of, that they were hurt, that they were hit, that they were insulted, that they were made to feel less because of who they are.
"And I want to talk to those people right now. I want to talk to all the kids out there, all the folks who lived this and are now grown up and are still feeling the pain of racism.
"I want you to know that you might feel like giving up on Canada. You might feel like giving up on yourselves. I want you to know you have value, you have worth and you are loved. And I don’t want you to give up on Canada. And please don’t give up on yourselves.
"There are so many people in this country who believe in taking care of one another. I know it’s hard to believe right now, but there are. And together – we are going to come together and take care of one another.
“So seeing this image is going to be hard for a lot of people. It’s going to bring up a lot of pain. It’s going to bring up a lot of hurt. Please reach out to your loved ones. Please reach out to people who are suffering in silence right now. Please let them know that they are loved. And they are celebrated for who they are.”
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay, with a report from Michelle Zilio in Winnipeg. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
DAILY TRACKING OF PUBLIC OPINION
- Conservatives: 38 per cent
- Liberals: 35 per cent
- NDP: 12 per cent
- Green: 8 per cent
- Bloc: 4 per cent
- People’s Party: 3 per cent
Analysis from Nik Nanos: “Conservatives and Liberals remain gripped in a close race – New Democrats on a negative trajectory.”
The survey was conducted by Nanos Research and was sponsored by The Globe and Mail and CTV. 1,200 Canadians were surveyed between Sept. 16 and 18, 2019. The margin of error is 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Respondents were asked: “If a federal election were held today, could you please rank your top two current local voting preferences?” A report on the results, questions and methodology for this and all surveys can be found at https://tgam.ca/election-polls.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
ICYMI on Day 8 of the campaign: Liberals promised to boost Old Age Security payments for Canadians over 75, a measure economists say will help many low-income seniors, but which will come at a high cost to federal coffers. The NDP promised to provide dental care to some uninsured Canadians. The Conservatives promised to cancel some corporate subsidies, although they did not specify all of what would be cut.
Kevin Page, the first Parliamentary Budget Officer, suggested the Liberals should be more transparent about the costing for their platform promises.
Documents obtained by The Globe and Mail show Infrastructure Minister François-Philippe Champagne intervened in a decision by the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s independent board in regards to the pay of the bank’s CEO.
And sources say intelligence officer Cameron Ortis, who is charged with allegedly leaking government secrets, is not co-operating with RCMP investigators.
Supriya Dwivedi (Global News) on the federal party leaders’ responses to Quebec’s religious symbols ban for public servants: “It became law back in June. Our federal election date has been fixed to occur on Oct. 21 so federal leaders have had ample time to work in their Sorkin-esque monologues on fundamental liberties and protecting the rights of minorities against the tyranny of the majority, yet all we’ve been hearing from them is mealy-mouthed pablum.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on Trudeau’s hiding of the photos for years: “But he must have known in 2001 the deep offence of white people wearing blackface to mock people with darker skin. Remember, Mr. Trudeau was already a public figure when he put on that makeup; the year before, he had delivered a eulogy at his father’s funeral that had caught the nation’s attention.”
Christie Blatchford (National Post) on Liberal attacks in light of today’s news: “He is always quick to judge others, condemn them, and always with that rich Trudeau smarminess. In other words, it’s his hypocrisy that is so galling.”
Paul Wells (Maclean’s) on how this plays in the Liberal campaign strategy: “The front for the Liberal campaign has been Trudeau making a frankly listless and uninteresting argument about good governance and affordability. The bulk of it has been a country-wide values argument from which the leader was carefully insulated, but executed on his behalf, and its message has been: These are bad people we are running against. They don’t deserve your vote. Where does that campaign stand now?”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on Conservative promises to limit corporate subsidies: “Make no mistake, reviewing these programs is a good idea. But if you want to see a party that plans to cut them, you will be disappointed. There is no plan here. And political history shows us vague promises to cut 'waste’ or 'corporate welfare’ often come up empty.”
Just 32 days left of the campaign...
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