Some voters prepared to forgive, but not necessarily in the voting booth

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/09/2019 (2229 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Young voters in two of Winnipeg’s ethnically diverse ridings say they can forgive Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for painting himself in brownface and blackface before being elected to office, but the racist costumes are giving them pause before casting a ballot for their Liberal representatives next month.

The federal Liberal party leader apologized and asked for the forgiveness of Canadians Wednesday evening after Time magazine posted a 2001 yearbook photo of the leader dressed in a turban and robe — with his face, neck and hands painted to resemble brown skin — at an Arabian Nights-themed gala at a Vancouver private school where he taught at the time. Additional photos and video became public on Thursday.

While Trudeau again asked for forgiveness at a media event in Winnipeg’s Exchange District Thursday afternoon, residents in the Winnipeg North and Winnipeg Centre ridings are questioning who they will vote for on Oct. 21.

“Colouring yourself brown is not right. I have to think about that,” said Gurcharanjit Kaur, a 29-year-old voter who was running errands in Tyndall Park Thursday.

Kaur came to Canada from India 10 years ago as an international student. She has considered herself a Liberal supporter since, which is why she hadn’t thought twice about voting for the party next month.

After seeing the photos of Trudeau in brownface, Kaur said she needs to seriously consider the perception she has always held of the “peoples’ person” leader who cares for refugees and students and her ballot.

“It makes you feel like you are a minority and someone is making fun of you,” she said.

Across town, at a shawarma shop in the city’s West End, a 20-year-old voter said the photos “cross a line.”

“It changes my mind about Justin Trudeau,” said Moe, an Iraqi-Canadian who declined to provide his last name. “I’ll forgive him but might not vote for him.”

In the 2015 election, the Liberals won seven of Manitoba’s 14 federal ridings, including Winnipeg Centre and Winnipeg North. More people identify as visible minorities than not in many of the neighbourhoods in those ridings.

Probe Research principal Mary Agnes Welch said Thursday it’s too early to say how voters, particularly voters from communities of colour, will respond at the polls. “This is sort of unchartered territory,” she said.

Long-time Liberal voters such as Jess Lazo — who has voted red since he came to Canada from the Philippines in 1979 — shrugged off the incidents. He said Trudeau was playing dress up.

Lazo, 76, said he first started voting Liberal because of the legacy of encouraging immigration by Justin’s father Pierre Trudeau while he was prime minister.

“You cannot beat the Liberals here in our constituency. You see what happened in the last election? That’s how things are in politics. The people here in [Tyndall Park], they know who holds positions and how they work for the constituency,” Lazo added.

Politics professor Radhika Desai said she wasn’t surprised by the news because Trudeau had a privileged upbringing and such “antics” reflect his elite background.

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“I do think that if the Liberals are serious about intersectionality, they should seriously be questioning whether they can afford this, what is their real brand,” said Desai, who teaches politics and culture at the University of Manitoba.

The professor added she is interested to see if newcomers eligible to vote will continue to support Trudeau since the party has historically relied on mobilizing the immigrant vote. Lower voter turnout is also a potential outcome of this scandal, she said. “That’s the other thing that happens. When your own party disappoints, you may stay at home.”

Walking down Ellice Avenue on Thursday, Wendy Burke, a 48-year-old black Winnipegger, said she forgives Trudeau for the blackface incident. Burke, however, said she likely won’t vote for him since she didn’t plan on voting at all. All politicians are the same, she said.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.