Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been embroiled in another alleged blackface scandal ahead of Monday’s parliamentary elections.
In the early hours of Monday morning, the conservative grassroots organisation Canada Proud released a previously unseen picture, allegedly of Mr Trudeau, donned in Arabic dress, black paint to the face, and tongue outstretched.
Canada Proud, which is an anti-Trudeau campaign group, said that it is “time to end the international embarrassment” and urged Canadians to back Conservative Party candidate Erin O’Toole.
The latest blackface picture appears to be from the same “Arabian Nights” event in 2001 from which the previous black and white picture of the Canadian leader came from. The photo was featured in the yearbook of West Point Grey Academy, where Trudeau previously worked then as a teacher.
Following the publication of the picture during his 2019 re-election bid, Mr Trudeau said: “This is something I shouldn’t have done many years ago,” adding: “I take responsibility for my decision to do that. I didn’t think it was racist at the time. I now realize it was racist.”
Trudeau has also admitted to dressing up in blackface as a teenager during a performance of the Jamaican folk song “Day-O”, which was made famous by African American singer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte.
A third instance of the Canadian leader wearing blackface was published by Canada’s Global News showing Trudeau in a white t-shirt with black makeup on and again sticking out his tongue.
When pressed in 2019 whether there were more pictures of him in blackface, Mr Trudeau said that he wasn’t sure, saying: “I am wary of being definitive about this because the recent pictures that came out I had not remembered.”
“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 has said.
The leftist Canadian PM has also drawn criticism for dressing in traditional Indian garb during a state visit to the sub-continent in 2018.
The latest blackface picture was dropped as Canadians are set to head to the polls on Monday after Trudeau called for a snap election last month.
It is believed that Trudeau, who is currently governing from a minority position in the Canadian Parliament, called for the election in order to secure a majority government for the next four years while polls remain favourable for this Liberal Party.
Polls have since tightened considerably, with a national telephone survey of voters conducted last week by the Nanos Research showing the Conservatives and Trudeau’s Liberals neck and neck.
The two parties polled within the margin of error, with the Liberals garnering 30.5 per cent of public support compared to the Conservatives at 31.2 per cent.
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and Trudeau also statistically tied in Prime Minister preference, with O’Toole receiving 29.1 per cent in the poll and Trudeau seeing 29.4 per cent backing his re-election bid.
The two main parties have both been largely in favour of the government’s draconian lockdown positions during the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, leaving room on the right for the populist anti-lockdown People’s Party of Canada to gain support.
Some polls have put the Maxime Bernier party at as high as 12 per cent nationally, however, the countries first-past-the-post system could result in the anti-lockdown party being locked out of parliament even if it secures a large vote share.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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