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Does this 'brownface' picture of Canada PM Justin Trudeau bother you?

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MenInG

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wore "brownface" at a private school gala nearly two decades ago, a photo obtained by Time Magazine shows.

Addressing the image, Mr Trudeau said he "deeply regretted" his actions and "should have known better".

The 2001 yearbook picture shows Mr Trudeau with skin-darkening make-up on his face and hands at the West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver.

The prime minister is battling for re-election on 21 October.

Mr Trudeau, who is the son of late former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, used to teach at the elite academy.

Speaking to journalists after the Time article was published, Mr Trudeau said that he was dressed in the photo in an Aladdin costume at an Arabian Nights-themed gala.

He admitted that the photo was racist and said he recognised he "shouldn't have done it".


Media captionJustin Trudeau told reporters: "I should have known better, but I didn't"
When asked if there had been other occasions, Mr Trudeau told reporters that he also wore make-up while performing at a talent show in high school.

An image from that incident has since been posted to Twitter. A source confirmed to the BBC that it was from the incident Mr Trudeau referenced in the news conference.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims responded angrily to the report.

Executive director Mustafa Farooq said: "Seeing the prime minister in brownface/blackface is deeply saddening. The wearing of blackface/brownface is reprehensible, and hearkens back to a history of racism and an Orientalist mythology which is unacceptable.

Andrew Scheer, leader of the opposition Conservatives, said the picture was racist in 2001 and racist now.

"What Canadians saw this evening is someone with a total lack of judgement and integrity and someone who is not fit to govern this country," he said.

New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, a Sikh, said the image was "troubling" and "insulting".

"Anytime we hear examples of brownface or blackface, it's making a mockery of someone for what they live and what their lived experiences are," Mr Singh told journalists on the campaign trail in Toronto.

The image was also criticised in a tweet by Green Party leader Elizabeth May.

The image is politically embarrassing for the prime minister because he has made progressive policies a signature issue.

Opinion polls indicate that October's election will be a tough race for Mr Trudeau who is seeking a second term in office.

His campaign got off to a bad start after his plane was grounded by a scraped wing on the first day. A bus ferrying journalists collided with the wing of the Liberal party's chartered Boeing last week.

It's not the first time a politician has got into trouble in this way. Virginia governor Ralph Northam admitted he had worn blackface while dressing up as Michael Jackson.

However he denied claims that he had been in a racist photograph in his 1984 medical school yearbook.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49749851
 
Nope, not really.

However, the blatant hypocrisy from most liberals does bother me. I'd rather respect transparently self-serving individuals like Donald Trump than any number of faux liberals preening about to gain influence with minorities.
 
Its his face and he can paint it whatever color he wants to. He can paint his face like Pennywise for all I care.
 
The issue is he prides himself as a liberal man open to all people and many of his policies have suggested this is true but this picture shows another side.

He has admitted it is racist so I doubt he will survive in politics for too long now.
 
It is over for him.

Opposition will keep bringing this up, particularly people of non-Caucasian, Canada has a huge population of non-Caucasian in politics.
 
kk1992 said:
It is over for him.

Opposition will keep bringing this up, particularly people of non-Caucasian, Canada has a huge population of non-Caucasian in politics.
Click to expand...

Opposition who Conservatives? Lol , their leader is Harper 2.0.

The only one who benefits is NDP with their terrible free Dental plan.
 
I don’t really care with what Trudeau have done in past and I don’t mind his brown face saga. I doubt opposition will let it go that ease.
Things are not looking good for Trudeau and his party as more and more closer we get to elections. It will be a miracle if Trudeau is re-elected as PM.
 
Could this sway enough of the left-of-center vote to the NDP so Canada can have a Khalistani-origin PM?
 
It's not brownface, it's pretty much black, which is odd if he's meant to be portraying Aladdin. The girl who he has his hand on looks Arab and she is much lighter in comparison. He's right to be embarrassed it's like something from the 70's.
 
I think Trudeau might get reelected only for the fact that the conservatives are a mess at this point and most canadians are not gonna vote for Jagmeet Singh.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Global News has obtained video showing Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau in blackface, the third instance of racist dress to come to light in 12 hours. Global's <a href="https://twitter.com/MercedesGlobal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MercedesGlobal</a>, who broke this story, has more. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cdnpoli?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cdnpoli</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/elxn43?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#elxn43</a> <br><br>Full story: <a href="https://t.co/dUE5YnP3p3">https://t.co/dUE5YnP3p3</a> <a href="https://t.co/cEPUGBhydG">pic.twitter.com/cEPUGBhydG</a></p>— Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/globalnews/status/1174686937933852679?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Bilal_103 said:
I think Trudeau might get reelected only for the fact that the conservatives are a mess at this point and most canadians are not gonna vote for Jagmeet Singh.
Click to expand...

Canada is a country where its hard to beat Liberals, they have too much clout, plus Harper lost out on the goodwill because economy slumped under him.
 
Never understood why it is wrong for a white man to paint his face like a brown or black man.

In Indian mythology dramas, people paint their faces blue for Krishna to depict that he is dark. In Indian movies, a white man's role is played by an Indian guy whose face is painted Pinkish red. I never found anything offensive about it.

A white man is held to a really high standard by the world.
 
JaDed said:
Canada is a country where its hard to beat Liberals, they have too much clout, plus Harper lost out on the goodwill because economy slumped under him.
Click to expand...

If you think most Canadians are Pro Liberal then surely you haven’t visited Alberta and Saskatchewan.
 
Conservatives and Liberals are currently almost tied. It can go either way.

NDP has almost zero chance.
 
CanadianG00se said:
If you think most Canadians are Pro Liberal then surely you haven’t visited Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Click to expand...

Alberta I know, Saskatchewan is something i just admire from Corner gas lol best Canadian show for me.

But lets wait to see the voting pattern this time , I can be wrong and would be first to admit it.
 
I don't care how he colored his face years back. I will vote for his policies/record after getting into power and his plans for future.
 
munda_khi said:
I don't care how he colored his face years back. I will vote for his policies/record after getting into power and his plans for future.
Click to expand...

Precisely.

No need to dig up past records. I am sure everyone has some embarrassing histories.
 
troodon said:
Never understood why it is wrong for a white man to paint his face like a brown or black man.

In Indian mythology dramas, people paint their faces blue for Krishna to depict that he is dark. In Indian movies, a white man's role is played by an Indian guy whose face is painted Pinkish red. I never found anything offensive about it.

A white man is held to a really high standard by the world.
Click to expand...

It's not about colour, it's about standards. We in the west hold ourselves to high standards precisely because our civilisation has advanced quite significantly ahead of third world nations and their subjects, even those who have moved to the west.
 
Wasn't he a drama teacher before he became a politician? I think he just likes expressing himself, is this cultural appropriation?

 
Nope doesn't bother me.
What bothers me is if the conservatives win the election which is very possible
 
troodon said:
Never understood why it is wrong for a white man to paint his face like a brown or black man.

In Indian mythology dramas, people paint their faces blue for Krishna to depict that he is dark. In Indian movies, a white man's role is played by an Indian guy whose face is painted Pinkish red. I never found anything offensive about it.

A white man is held to a really high standard by the world.
Click to expand...

Are you kidding me?


You lot went into full on rage when Abhinandan was depicted in a Pakistani ad with the actor having his face painted black. Your media went crazy and even on PP IIRC you were one of the posters that were having a hissy fit.


Another day, another Indian hypocrisy.
 
Everybody does some dumb sh*t when they're young. Clearly Trudeau is not actually a racist.
 
Syed1 said:
Are you kidding me?


You lot went into full on rage when Abhinandan was depicted in a Pakistani ad with the actor having his face painted black. Your media went crazy and even on PP IIRC you were one of the posters that were having a hissy fit.


Another day, another Indian hypocrisy.
Click to expand...

Absolutely hilarious the tripe these BJP apologists come out with.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"I should have known better, and I'm sorry": Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau apologized for wearing brownface makeup in 2001, adding that he is disappointed and "****** off at myself.” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cdnpoli?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cdnpoli</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/elxn43?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#elxn43</a><br><br>Read more about Trudeau's apology and reaction here: <a href="https://t.co/NQqLjL0ZnI">https://t.co/NQqLjL0ZnI</a> <a href="https://t.co/FpnzSzoxr1">pic.twitter.com/FpnzSzoxr1</a></p>— CTV News (@CTVNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/CTVNews/status/1174490344098062336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
I think the opposition is trying really hard to make this a big deal but from my perspective I dont think most brown/black canadians care. Plus everyone on social media is having a field day with the Trudeau memes.
 
In isolation? Yeah it bothers me.

He's dressing up as what he sees Arabs or black people look like, where they are from.

He should have known better. Imo it is degrading an humiliating.

Should he be reelected is a different story though.
 
Not at all! So many coloured people especially ladies use whitening cream too:inti It was much more embarrassing to see him try so hard in India visiting all those places and dancing like an idiot!
 
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Yes, it does bother me.

But he has grown up since then, and apologised and he seems sincere so I would move on.
 
I think Conservatives are trying to make this an issue to influence the election.

Minorities should be sensible and not give this issue any relevance. There are bigger things to worry about.
 
Anyone remotely concerned about race issues will never consider voting Conservatives. This might have benefited the NDP but unfortunately Jagmeet, who is a very principled person, has not endeared himself to non NDP white Canadians.
 
It depends on his intentions (which we'll never know).

1. Was he trying to look funny because he's a white guy in black make up (that's fine). I'm sure if a black or brown guy turned white every one would say it's fine.
2. Or was he making fun of black people (that's not fine)
3. Was he just trying to look like Aladdin but failed (that' fine)
4. Was he dressing up as the actors from early 20th century America who wore blackface to mock black people in the later pictures. (not fine at all).

Knowing Justin Trudeau it was probably scenario 1 and 3. But what does make it wrong is the fact that as president he speaks against this kind of stuff and criticises peopl who do. This was in the past and people change.
 
Bilal_103 said:
I think Trudeau might get reelected only for the fact that the conservatives are a mess at this point and most canadians are not gonna vote for Jagmeet Singh.
Click to expand...

As a Pakistani-Canadian, I would never vote for a hindu or sikh
 
junoon said:
As a Pakistani-Canadian, I would never vote for a hindu or sikh
Click to expand...

I would vote for jagmeet. He seems like a really genuine guy but I dont think most canadians will vote for him just for the fact that he is a brown man. I would vote ndp but they have no chance to win so it will have to be liberals again I guess.
 
No.

It's pretty obvious Trudeau isn't a racist. He's done a lot for people of color (pretty much what the Conservatives indirectly criticize him for). It's good to see the issue get awareness but it's just a political move used by the Conservatives.

I think they have been saving this since Schreer's controversy where he made fun of gay marriages (2005 speech).
 
Brown face is not black face, doesn't have the negative conotation and racist history of the later. Doesn't bother me at all. Will be voting liberal to ensure conservatives don't win majority
 
Should have said, he was young back then and all he did was for fun. But looking back at it now, he has realized how that Pic could carry different meaning which he didn't realize at that time and could hurt the emotions of many people. though it was absolutely not intentional, he apologizes for this.
 
troodon said:
Never understood why it is wrong for a white man to paint his face like a brown or black man.

In Indian mythology dramas, people paint their faces blue for Krishna to depict that he is dark. In Indian movies, a white man's role is played by an Indian guy whose face is painted Pinkish red. I never found anything offensive about it.

A white man is held to a really high standard by the world.
Click to expand...

Then you're ignorant of history.
 
Most of the people dont care. Irinically enough the white conservatives seem more bothered by it than any brown person I know lol
 
JaDed said:
Alberta I know, Saskatchewan is something i just admire from Corner gas lol best Canadian show for me.

But lets wait to see the voting pattern this time , I can be wrong and would be first to admit it.
Click to expand...

As I said it back then, people in AB and SK are anti-liberals and this election proved exactly that by shunning out Liberals completely. 0 seats won by liberals in AB and SK
 
OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has always seemed to relish dressing up for trick or treating with his children but, in the wake of the blackface scandal, he's giving Halloween a miss this year -- publicly anyway.

A spokesman for the prime minister says Trudeau will "be trick or treating with the kids, but not going to Rideau Hall or doing a photo op."

His newfound reticence to be photographed in costume on the night of ghouls and goblins comes after the mortifying revelation during the recent election campaign that Trudeau had on at least three occasions in his youth donned blackface or brownface.

The Liberals were rocked during the first week of the campaign when a yearbook photo emerged of Trudeau in brownface as part of an elaborate Aladdin costume worn to a 2001 Arabian Nights party at the Vancouver private school where he was a teacher.

Another picture and a video of a teenaged Trudeau in blackface subsequently came to light, further damaging his image as a champion of diversity and inclusion.

He apologized profusely for not recognizing at the time that darkening his skin with makeup was a racist act.

"The fact of the matter is that I've always -- and you'll know this -- been more enthusiastic about costumes than is sometimes appropriate," he told reporters at a hastily assembled news conference aboard the Liberal campaign plane on the night that the first explosive photo emerged in a Time magazine article.

That admission seemed to harken back to Trudeau's ill-fated trip to India last year, during which he was roundly criticized for sporting a variety of traditional Indian garb.

However, Trudeau's choice of Halloween costumes since becoming prime minister hasn't generated particular controversy in the past.

Among other things, he has gone trick or treating with his three children dressed as Han Solo of Star Wars fame, and as the pilot in the Little Prince.

Trudeau also once showed up in the House of Commons in a usual business suit, but sporting black-rimmed glasses and a Superman costume peeking out from beneath his shirt.

Trudeau's more private Halloween celebration this year may also reflect a broader strategy to keep a lower profile during his second mandate. Some Liberal insiders believe he's been over-exposed and could benefit from keeping his distance from cameras for a while.

Since winning a strong minority of seats last week, Trudeau has held one post-election news conference but otherwise been invisible as he plots how to navigate through a Parliament in which the Liberals' survival will depend on gaining the support of at least one opposition party on confidence matters.

He intends to swear-in a new cabinet on Nov. 20, but it's uncertain whether he'll recall Parliament before Christmas.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/aft...huns-photo-ops-of-trick-or-treating-1.4664638.
 
Some would argue that he is being hypocritical by speaking about racism after his own Brown Face controversy.
 
Last edited:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was caught out by a prankster impersonating climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

Mr Trudeau took the call - orchestrated by Russians Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov - in January, which the pair have just released on YouTube alongside an animated video.

Fake Greta begins in earnest fashion, saying she is concerned about the "growing international crisis and "anticipation of the third world war".

The prime minister says he taken "many phone calls... about the need to de-escalate" - the prank appears to have been recorded soon after a Ukrainian plane was shot down by Iran, killing 55 Canadian citizens.

The prankster says world leaders should "drop your weapons, pick flowers, smile at nature", with Mr Trudeau praising her "passionate words".

When the caller takes issue with President Trump, saying he is "doing everything to kill us", the PM replies diplomatically.

"I understand your words," he says.

"My responsibility is to work with world leaders that other people choose... But I can certainly understand that people can feel very, very strongly about him."

Prince Harry and Meghan - who lived in Canada for a while - also come up.

The prankster says she worries that Harry's wife "manipulates him".

Mr Trudeau replies: "I think in every relationship there are complicated concessions and compromises that are the art of living together.

"I have met Meghan a few times and she has always been lovely..."

'Greta' also tells the 48-year-old leader: "We can create a world where there is a place for everyone - for whites and blacks, Christians and Muslims, for Trump and Putin, for you and me, for Boris Johnson, for Corbyn, for Terrance and Phillip."

It is this latter reference to characters from animated comedy South Park that eventually makes him realise what's going on.

When asked to set up a meeting with Terrance and Phillip, he promises to "ask my team to try and figure out how we can connect you" - before a few seconds later the penny drops.

"Wait, Terrance and Phillip, were they not in South Park?" he says.

"I don't personally know them but I believe they are South Park parodies of Canadians."

Mr Trudeau then politely, but quickly, wraps up the call.

The prime minister's office told Canada's CTV network in a statement: "This is not the first prank call of a world leader. The prime minister determined the call was fake and promptly ended it."

In March, the Russian pair released audio apparently featuring Prince Harry himself.

French President Emmanuel Macron was also said to be the victim in another clip last year.

https://news.sky.com/story/justin-t...ankster-impersonating-greta-thunberg-12141985
 
So looks like Canada is not that clean when it comes to racism within it population?
 
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