OTTAWA—In the immediate aftermath of the shocking Justin Trudeau blackface photos, it remains difficult to see what impact it will have on the election campaign of 2019.Several major national public polling companies are testing the mood of Canadians. So are the political parties, which are holding their information close.Yet if early polls, the direction of the leaders’ tours and the pace of big policy announcements coming from the Liberal campaign are any sign, Justin Trudeau is worried.The Liberal leader is steering the conversation, and his tour, back to where he wants it — the contrast between him and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer — aiming at the Greater Toronto Area and the swath of middle-class voters in southern Ontario.Trudeau’s main federal rival, Scheer, is hot on his heels, while NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh underlined a fundamental distrust of Trudeau. Scheer flew to Prince Edward Island and St. John’s on Sunday, but soon returns to the battlegrounds in and around Toronto.There, Scheer will focus on pocketbook pledges and press what his team believes is now — in the wake of the Trudeau blackface revelations — a more resonant message captured in their political slogan, that Trudeau is “not as advertised.”Singh, the only visible minority party leader, highlighted his climate change pledge on Sunday, and will focus on housing and the “climate crisis” throughout the week as he heads first to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and later to British Columbia.On Sunday, in Ontario, Singh would not rule out working with a Trudeau-led minority government, but said the Liberal leader has bad judgment.On CTV’s news program “Question Period,” Singh said he would work with anyone who would advance NDP policies such as universal drug and dental insurance coverage. Yet Singh questioned Trudeau’s sincerity in the wake of his apologies for the blackface incidents. “There ...
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