OTTAWA — The second week of the 2019 federal election campaign ended with a whimper after kicking off with a bang.In the past week, there had been heightened emotions and clashes over issues ranging from racism to climate change. And as the third week on the hustings got underway Wednesday, a visible strain showed on Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s face.In Delta, B.C., after announcing new climate action measures to help homeowners, Trudeau again faced questions — though far fewer — about the bombshell blackface photo revealed by a Time Magazine scoop. It had been followed by others — three incidents in all.His brow furrowed, Trudeau repeated what is now a refrain: “I’ve spoken about the incidents that I recalled. I have recognized from the very beginning that this was something I shouldn’t have done. I recognized how wrong it was; I should have known that then, but I didn’t. I will continue every day to fight against racism and intolerance because that’s what people expect of me and that’s what I expect of me.”Several public polls suggest the impact on voters is, for now at least, less dramatic than Liberals first feared, attenuated by Trudeau’s youth at the time, by his repeated apologies, by a record of funding anti-racism and promoting diversity, and perhaps by the reaction of several leaders of racialized communities who publicly criticized his self-described “racist” acts, yet cut him slack.The scandal had briefly derailed Trudeau’s campaign even as it galvanized the others.Then just as quickly, it slid under an avalanche of policy promises unleashed by all campaigns.The Liberals vowed to tighten firearms controls short of a handgun ban; promised a tax cut targeted mainly at middle and lower income households, said they’d reduce cellphone bills; expand public health coverage for drugs, mental health and long-term care; and promised to hit far-off targets f ...
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