Justin Trudeau’s Blackface Photos Force Reckoning On Canada’s Global Image

TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carefully crafted public image as a global leader in inclusiveness and multiculturalism was swiftly shattered Wednesday night when a racist photo of him smiling in brownface and a turban went public. The front page of the Washington Post’s website featured an opinion piece with the headline “Canada’s left should dump Justin Trudeau.” The New York Times described the “compounding scandal” as a “major blow” to the image of Trudeau that he and his team meticulously shaped as a “glittering spokesman for the world’s beleaguered liberals.” Since coming to power in 2015, Trudeau has been a favourite subject of international media, especially in the U.S. where the image of him contrasts well against the polarizing President Donald Trump. Months later, he was profiled on “60 Minutes.” And in 2017, Rolling Stone magazine famously put the prime minister on the cover, lauded him as “the North Star” and asked, “Why can’t he be our president?” Former U.S. President Barack Obama even joked, as he was leaving office, that Trudeau was taking over as the handsome, charming politician of “the future.” Trudeau’s father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, helped solidify Canada’s identity as a diverse society in 1971 by declaring the federal government would adopt a multicultural policy. “Sometimes his words didn’t add up to his actions, and a number of policies he heralded were pushed aside, or were quite watered down.” - Brittany Andrew-Amofah Until February, it looked like Trudeau would easily win a majority government for a second term, but his popularity took a slide after the SNC-Lavalin controversy began dominating headlines in the Canadian media. Premier Legault said that the prime minister has apologized, “so I think we have to talk about something else now.” Trudeau has been criticized for not speaking out more strongly against Quebec’s popular but controversial law, which bans anyone who wears a religious symbol, like a hijab, kippah or turban, from public sector jobs.