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Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau takes a selfie with supporters at a campaign rally in Saskatoon, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com

On Justin Trudeau

Apologists for Justin Trudeau pronounce that was then, this is now, or that such behaviour used to be considered not so offensive – though by whom, one could ask.

In fact, there have always been people who would speak out against racism, classism, sexism and other biases that result in the demonizing of others. History also makes clear that it is individuals and groups without power or privilege who are primarily the targets.

There is such a thing as unconscious bias in everyone that creates unintended harm to others. Those of us who are part of the privileged majority need to examine and work against our unconscious bias.

But what the Prime Minister was doing when wearing racist clothing and dark makeup seemed blatant. His response to the photos seems to lack an understanding of the harm he has caused, and an unwillingness to consider his racial bias of today.

Margaret Asch Victoria

Read more letters to the editor: Do readers believe Justin Trudeau didn’t know better about racist makeup?

How can Justin Trudeau claim that 18 years ago, at the age of 29, he didn’t consider that wearing blackface was racist, and now he knows better?

I am 73 and I grew up in London, Ont.'s East End, which was a far cry from the wealth and privilege that Mr. Trudeau knew. The area was so white, and so blue-collar, that country singer Tommy Hunter’s parents lived three blocks away. There was lots of racism and slurs about gays. My friends and I said some very horrible things as children. It was just the way things were in the 1950s.

I started to change my thinking in my early teens, and would have never considered wearing blackface by my mid-teens. No matter how the Liberal Party tries to dress this issue up, I don’t believe Mr. Trudeau should be leading this country.

John Pritchard Parksville, B.C.


About 48 years ago, in the cafeteria at Queen’s University, I made a joke. Then I saw the hurt in the face of an acquaintance. He wouldn’t tell me why. But he refused to associate with me after that. It took me a while to figure it out. He thought I was a bigot. I wasn’t. I’m not. But I was talking like one.

I stopped speaking that way. And though I barely knew him, I still think of Sam every time I hear that kind of slur. Our default is to behave the way we were taught to behave. The good news is that we have the capacity to unlearn the bad stuff. We collect scars along the way and, sadly, we sometimes leave scars on others.

Justin Trudeau is much younger than I am. And I’m still learning and unlearning – so I’m inclined to accept that he is, too.

David Grimes Ottawa


It’s crucial to show respect to people of all cultures and backgrounds, and that involves not showing off by wearing costumes that serve to mock others. But if public figures continue to be so reviled for past mistakes and errors in judgement, how do Canadians hope to attract real human beings to serve our country?

Who among us can claim nothing shameful in our past actions? It is one thing if the reprehensible behaviour continues to the present, and quite another when a person is striving to hold themselves to a higher standard of conduct – and succeeding.

Bev Harris Courtenay, B.C.


I am a Canadian-Iranian who grew up here. My family and I have experienced decades of racism. I do not consider these photos offensive. Calling every costume and action under the sun racist is very dangerous, because it muddles and belittles the true acts of racism, as experienced by minorities themselves. Justin Trudeau did nothing offensive. Silly, maybe. But not offensive.

Mahsa Zandi Montreal

Trudeau’s blackface and the 2019 federal election: A guide to the story so far

There is one question this election many voters have: Who is Justin Trudeau?

‘We all had costumes on’: Guests recall Arabian Nights gala Trudeau attended in brownface

On identity

Re Laying Claim (Opinion, Sept. 14): The chameleon-like nature of Métis identity seems to change with the seasons.

Contributor Jean Teillet notes Daniels v. Canada from 2016, when the Supreme Court ruled that self-identifying Métis had the right to also identify as Indians. But there is also Alberta v. Cunningham from 2011, when the same court upheld the Métis Nation’s right to exclude status Indians from the membership of Métis settlements in that province.

If the Métis are looking for answers to the ongoing confusion over Métis identity, I believe all they need to do is look in the mirror.

Craig Charbonneau Fontaine Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba


The principle here is very simple: Remote, or even fictitious, Indigenous ancestry does not invest one with Indigenous identity and insights in the present. It is possible to have a single remote Indigenous ancestor somewhere in a complex family tree, but then just leave it at that – don’t transform such a tenuous link into all sorts of elaborate Indigenous identity claims.

John Moses Delaware & Upper Mohawk bands, Six Nations of the Grand River Territory; Ottawa

On milk

Re CEO Says He Advised Trudeau On Trade Deal (Sept. 14): In responding to passages from Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman’s new book about recent trade talks with the United States, David MacNaughton, former Canadian ambassador to Washington, said: “At the end of day, what did we give up on dairy, 3.5 per cent of the market? Ninety per cent of Canadian dairy is still supply management by Canadian dairy farmers.”

That number, however, does not include Canada’s pre-existing import. By 2024, Dairy Farmers of Canada estimates total market access to the country will represent 18 per cent of Canada’s dairy production, between the World Trade Organization, the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

In other words, on Canadian store shelves, more dairy products than ever will be made with milk from a foreign country.

Jacques Lefebvre CEO, Dairy Farmers of Canada; Ottawa

On workers

Re The Forgotten (Opinion, Sept. 14): Sean Speer looks at working-class issues through the lens of winners and losers, particularly focusing on “The Forgotten” of the losing side. I’d say that the winners are facing some major challenges, too, such as the lack of affordable accommodation.

Rather than focusing on one group of workers, I think we have to ask ourselves if there is some fundamental way for all of Canada to thrive together. Our current situation is that of booming growth in a few unaffordable cities, and hoping for better almost everywhere else. The Canada burger is half-burnt, half-frozen. Averages aren’t always very useful.

Claude Daley St. John’s

On writing well

Re Putting On The Writs (Opinion, Sept. 14): Mark Abley got me to thinking of other idioms with acquired common forms that have little relation to their original meanings.

My favourite comes from an old phrase for making a mistake: “to put your foot in it,” referring to something nasty on the sidewalk, such as dog poop. Then some wag coined the witticism, “he opened his mouth and put his foot in it,” which has been taken literally ever since. And people now sometimes are said “to suffer from foot-in-mouth disease,” a play on bovine hoof-and-mouth disease.

I can’t hear any of these variants without making an unfortunate connection between the speaker’s mouth and … well, perhaps that would actually be appropriate during an election campaign.

Ian G. Masters Brooklin, Ont.


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