Former Liberal Party Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne has slammed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, claiming his blackface photos have hurt Canada’s international reputation.
The former provincial leader made her remarks during an interview on Friday, stating that Liberals across Canada were now faced with the challenge of weighing their beliefs against what she labelled the “stupid” actions of Trudeau, broadcaster CP24 reports.
“It was a really bad decision that he did these things, a kind of stupid decision really to have done then. He should have known better and he’s said that,” Ms Wynne said, and added that she and others do not believe Trudeau to be a racist but added, “They believe he did a stupid thing.”
Wynne has been a long-time ally of Trudeau and even helped him on the campaign trail during the 2015 election before her landslide defeat to current Conservative Interior Premier Doug Ford in June of last year.
“I’m annoyed. I’m a Liberal and I’m not happy with this. I’m not happy that he did this. I’m not happy that it wasn’t known before,” she said.
In an interview with radio broadcaster Newstalk 1010, Wynne said that the blackface incident had tarnished his reputation overseas, saying the scandal was, “very worrisome … people outside of the country are seeing this as a huge deal because it is a big deal, it’s a very big thing.”
The scandal has been discussed in headlines across the globe from the United States to Germany and France, where philosopher Anne-Sophie Chazaud, writing for the newspaper Le Figaro, wrote, “The boomerang of grotesque diversity seems to return in full-face to its zealous sender.”
United States President Donald Trump also commented on the matter on Friday at the White House saying, “I’m surprised, and I was more surprised when I saw the number of times.”
Trudeau apologised on two separate occasions for the three instances of blackface revealed in photos and video but was unable to answer a question from a reporter over how many times he had darkened his skin, claiming that he had forgotten about one of the incidents recently revealed.
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