Four years ago, the newly-elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau selected the most ethnically diverse and gender-balanced cabinet in the country’s history.
When asked why, the prime minister’s curt reply was, “because it’s 2015.”
Three days ago, Time magazine published a picture of Justin Trudeau where he was wearing a turban and his face and hands covered in brown makeup trying to look like Aladdin, the hero of an Arabian folk tale.
The picture was taken 18 years ago at a private school gala in Vancouver. In an apology at a news conference after the story broke, the prime minister took pains to point out it was an indiscretion that took place when he was younger.
The prime minister was a 29-year-old teacher at the time; he was a grown man, not a schoolboy. Though, in the same news conference he also admitted there was second occasion when, as a teenager, he had coloured his face and sang the Jamaican folk song, “Day-O” in a school event.
Then, the day after the news conference Global Television had footage of a young Justin Trudeau playing around with some friends, and again he had a blackened face.
What Justin Trudeau did as a teenager is bothersome, but what he did as a teacher is of greater concern and it plays to the theme that he is not what he appears to be.
The prime minister’s re-election campaign was completely disrupted by the revelation of the photos and he held two news conferences where he apologized for his actions.
But Mr. Trudeau says he will remain party leader and prime minister.
The people who could change that are the voters and it remains to be seen what they ultimately think. Liberals are hoping this issue will be overtaken by other concerns as the election progresses.
However, the election is only a month away, and voting in the advance polls begins in less than three weeks.
Another problem for the Liberals is that while the politicians have been campaigning all summer, other than the media and political aficionados, most people have yet to get engaged.
They’ve not taken much notice of the political noise, however, this is the kind of issue that will attract their attention. There are likely very few people left in the country that are unaware of the prime minister’s indiscretions.
Many of them may not be very forgiving.
Why? Because it’s 2019.
Four years ago when he was campaigning Justin Trudeau was the new kid on the block and many in the country had grown tired of the Tories and their stern, un-smiling leader, Stephen Harper.
In the 2015 campaign Justin Trudeau was young, energetic, and promising to do politics differently. There would be electoral reform (which didn’t happen), government would be more open and diverse (think SNC-Lavalin) and the Liberals weren’t concerned about budget deficits.
The Liberals and their leader attracted thousands of new voters. Many of them were young and idealistic, participating in their first election.
In the 2011 election, 5.8 million Canadians voted Conservative giving them 166 seats, the NDP got 4.6 million votes and 103 seats, and the Liberals only received 2.8 million votes and a mere 34 seats.
In 2015, the Liberals received a massive increase in support, 6.9 million votes for 184 seats. The NDP vote sank to 3.5 million and only 44 seats.
But, surprisingly, the Conservatives kept most of their votes, getting 5.6 million, though that only gave them 99 seats.
Of the four million votes the Liberals picked up, only about a million came from the NDP. The other three million were new voters. This week’s blackface photos should give the Liberals concern on two fronts.
The first is people who might vote against them because of the photos. But the second, and greater risk, is that many of those first-time voters will just get disgusted and stay home.
Either way it could be costly for Justin Trudeau.
Alan Holman is a freelance journalist living in Charlottetown. He can be reached at: [email protected].
