Canada’s Trudeau apologises for dressing up in brown face, election chances could suffer

OTTAWA (Reuters): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologised on Wednesday for wearing brown face make-up in 2001 after an embarrassing picture emerged less than five weeks before an election in which he faces a tough fight.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologizes for wearing brownface makeup in 2001, to reporters on the Liberal party leaderÕs election campaign jet in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in a still image from video 18 September 2019 - Reuters

The image of a 29-year-old Trudeau with his face in dark make-up is a major challenge for a leader who often speaks about the need to fight racial discrimination and who has three prominent ministers of Indian descent in his cabinet.

“I should have known better then, but I didn’t and I did it and I’m deeply sorry,” Trudeau, 47, told reporters on his campaign plane in Halifax, Nova Scotia, after Time magazine published the image. Time said the image was provided by Vancouver businessman Michael Adamson earlier this month. Adamson was part of the West Point Grey Academy community where Trudeau, then 29, worked at the time, the magazine said. The picture was in the Vancouver private school’s yearbook.

“I dressed up in an Aladdin costume and put make-up on. I shouldn’t have done it,” a grim-faced Trudeau said in comments carried live on Canadian television.

The picture shows him wearing a turban and a white robe, with his face covered in dark makeup.

“This picture runs completely contrary to the image of tolerance the prime minister has so scrupulously cultivated. It can’t be good for him or his party,” said Darrell Bricker, chief executive officer of polling firm Ipsos Public Affairs.

Canada has an official policy of multiculturalism and about one in five Canadians were born overseas, according to Statistics Canada.

Trudeau is locked in a neck-and-neck battle with Conservative leader Andrew Scheer ahead of the 21 October federal election.