In the blogging world, what I’m finding most interesting is the number of different countries in the world that blog visitors are from. We truly are in a small world, and I enjoy the everyday life and events of different regions, from my own living room.
In Canada, we are in the midst of a federal election campaign. Our Prime Minister – Justin Trudeau asked our Governor General to dissolve the current government on Sept 11, 2019. As a result, an election will take place on October 21, 2019 to elect members of Canadian Parliament and a Prime Minister. We have a multi party system with 3 major parties being the Liberals (Trudeau’s party), the Conservatives and the NDP. There are also some smaller or emerging parties for example the Green. the Bloc Quebecois, and the People’s Party. The election process is 40 days, which I think is long enough! If you are Canadian or this is old news to you – forgive me, I was just trying to give some background.
This post is not about politics though. In our last election my husband and I and 2 of our adult children each voted for a different political party in the same political riding. Does this mean our votes all cancelled each other out? I have to say, I find all of the platforms very similar and vague, which is very frustrating, but kind of comforting and middle of the road at the same time. Does that make any sense? It just doesn’t seem to be scary and divisive.
Our current Prime Minister is known for his photogenic style. He is young for a politician – born on Christmas day 1971 to our then current Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. He is known for appearing in many selfies of everyday people, and has shown up in many of my young adult children’s friends’ social media in photo-bombs and impromptu photos. There he was at somebody’s wedding, there he was again paddling up to some people at a dock in British Columbia, and there he was again at Vimy Ridge in my youngest’s school trip photos.
At first, it seemed like whenever I visited one of my 4 University students at one of their schools across Canada, Justin Trudeau was there giving a Town Hall on campus chat. As I travelled across Canada, was it a coincidence?
When his new team came in to office in 2015, he arrived with his new cabinet on a bus, trying to show a for the people, common man government (that’s my interpretation). He also attempted to select an inclusive cabinet – including more women than ever and selecting individuals of different ethnic backgrounds. There were some troubles and shuffles, – but that’s a story for another day. Justin’s Liberals wanted to increase immigration and to contrast with Donald Trump’s wall and controversial immigration policies – Mr. Trudeau volunteered this Tweet:
“To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada736K4:20 PM – Jan 28, 2017“
But then something happened. An old yearbook photo showed our always politically correct empathetic prime minister dressed in brownface. BROWNFACE. You are kidding me I thought? He was dressed as Aladdin at a school event and everyone was in costume. But no one else wore the makeup.
He apologized, and he is great at apologizing, but then he admitted that he had dressed in Blackface and sung Day-o at a high school event. Another picture emerged.
https://time.com/5680868/justin-trudeau-brownface-photo-apology/brownface-photo-apology/
If that wasn’t enough, a video appeared of a young Justin jumping and dancing in makeup again. In all of these images, it’s not just the face – not just hastily applied spur of the moment – he’s got the hands, neck – whole deal going. He’s got some experience with this process, and now he can’t say how many times he’s actually done this, maybe because he’s worried another image will show up.
Well the media loves it, and you’ve probably all seen it too, and so it’s embarassing to me that he represents my country.
I realize that people make mistakes and do things that are politically incorrect or just plain stupid in their youth. AND this is just plain STUPID.
What it shows to me is entitlement, inexperience with life and hypocrisy. This man grew up in a privileged sheltered life. His family was friends with an ethnically diverse crowd – The Aga Khan, Fidel Castro to name a few. Trudeau had important jobs prior to entering politics – as a snowboard instructor, a camp counsellor, a bouncer and then a drama teacher. This all makes sense.
How could a person who thinks it’s OK to dress up like this repeatedly, even in his youth, have enough knowledge of the world to rule our ethnically diverse country, to impact immigration, and to try to present himself as a morally superior human being when it comes to these issues.
After a few days of media attention, it appears that Canadians have absorbed the news, and will be voting with their hearts for the best choice. Wish us luck.
Hi from a Canadian on the edge of Eastern Newfoundland !
Yes, those photos that emerged of PM Trudeau hurt many of us.
Let us always ask for the grace not to bring offence to anyone.
The world can be a harsh place. Let’s do our part to make it a little gentler for everyone. 🤗 Thanks for posting.
Well said Sally! And thanks for visiting.