OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau is betting that conciliation can save his election.A day after his campaign was blown up by racist images showing him in blackface, the Liberal leader on Thursday changed tone from defensiveness to atonement. He expressed deep regret, declared that his privileged background left a blind spot to such racist acts, and insisted he was no longer the man in the photos, all in a bid to reset his re-election bid sideswiped by the controversial images.The images have drawn worldwide attention and condemnation, and reshaped the campaign for the Oct. 21 election barely a week after it started.For Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, the images were further proof that Trudeau was no longer fit for office.NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh reflected on the deep hurt it will have caused Canadians who have suffered the sting of racism. Ultimately, Singh said, it would be up to Canadians to decide in this election whether Trudeau should continue as prime minister.But as Trudeau struggled to right his campaign Thursday night, the question whether his apology and appeal for forgiveness would be enough was ultimately one that Canadians would answer on Oct. 21.The election just got a whole lot tougher for the Liberals, said Jason Lietaer, a former senior aide to Stephen Harper and now president of Enterprise, a firm that offers strategic communications. “Now their margin of error is totally gone,” Lietaer said in an interview.Canadian elections are often decided by the swing votes of “about two to three thousand, maybe four thousand votes in each of about 40 to 50 target ridings,” he said.“These are the things that breed uncertainty, and give opportunity obviously” to the Conservatives,” he said. “And the Liberals, 95 per cent of the people could stick with them, but if two or three per 100 switch, he’s got a massive problem.”Trudeau acknowledged the images of him in blackface showed actions that were &# ...
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