Tuesday September 24, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 24, 2019

Premier Doug Ford blasts Trudeau’s ‘unacceptable’ donning of racist blackface

Premier Doug Ford has strongly denounced Justin Trudeau’s penchant for donning blackface and charged there’s a “double standard” over how the Liberal leader’s past misdeeds are being reported.

September 20, 2019

“It was unacceptable back in 2001, it’s unacceptable now,” said the Progressive Conservative premier, who has emerged as a favourite target of the federal Liberals during this election.

“The people are going to decide. They’re going to have the opportunity to decide if they want the prime minister to continue being prime minister or they want a change,” he said Friday.

Last Wednesday, Time magazine published a 2001 photo of Trudeau dressed as Aladdin at a gala when he was a 29-year-old private school teacher at Vancouver’s West Point Grey Academy.

In the wake of that, other photos have surface of him in blackface and brown face.

February 22, 2018

While Trudeau has repeatedly apologized for his transgressions, on Sunday he ducked reporters’ questions when asked if he could recall the last time he wore racist makeup.

Ford took a swipe at the media, saying there’s a “double standard right across the board” in how the controversy is being covered.

“If it was a Conservative, I think it would have been a different story,” the premier told CTV.

In a separate interview with AM640’s Alex Pierson, Ford was asked if he had ever donned blackface.

“No. I wouldn’t be that stupid,” he said to Pierson.

July 10, 2018

Last Wednesday, Time magazine published a 2001 photo of Trudeau dressed as Aladdin at a gala when he was a 29-year-old private school teacher at Vancouver’s West Point Grey Academy.

In the wake of that, other photos have surface of him in blackface and brown face.

While Trudeau has repeatedly apologized for his transgressions, on Sunday he ducked reporters’ questions when asked if he could recall the last time he wore racist makeup.

Ford took a swipe at the media, saying there’s a “double standard right across the board” in how the controversy is being covered.

Series: Young Doug Ford

The premier has been a lightning rod in the Oct. 21 federal election campaign with the Liberals mocking his “for the people” slogan in their advertising and Grit candidates in Ontario attacking his government’s policies.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer refused to utter the name “Ford” even when campaigning 700 metres from his Etobicoke home last week.

A new batch of Tory ads tie Trudeau to former Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne, whom Ford’s Tories trounced in the 2018 provincial election, but they do not mention the current premier. (Hamilton Spectator)