Support for Justin Trudeau plummets as poll shows Conservative rivals would win 35.5% of the national vote and the Liberals 32.9% in the wake of the Canadian PM's blackface scandal

  • Last week pictures and a video of PM Justin Trudeau, 47, in blackface emerged
  • New poll found his conservative rivals would win 35.5 per cent of national vote
  • Pollster also said scandal erased 15-percentage point lead in Ontario, Canada
  • Canadian prime minister is on re-election campaign today in Hamilton, Ontario

By Bryony Jewell For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Support for the Canadian prime minister has plummeted in the wake of a blackface scandal.

A Nanos research poll released yesterday said that Justin Trudeau's conservative rivals would win 35.5 per cent of the national vote and the Liberals 32.9 per cent.

Last week the ruling Liberals were knocked off course when Time magazine published a picture of Trudeau in brown makeup at a 2001 Arabian Nights party.

When the image was taken he was a 29-year-old teacher, but two other pictures and a video of him in blackface later surfaced.  

Support for Justin Trudeau, pictured yesterday in Brampton, Ontario, has plummeted since pictures of the Canadian prime minister wearing blackface appeared last week

Support for Justin Trudeau, pictured yesterday in Brampton, Ontario, has plummeted since pictures of the Canadian prime minister wearing blackface appeared last week

Justin Trudeau, then 29 and a teacher, dressed up as Aladdin in 2001 for a party at West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver. More pictures and a video of him in blackface later emerged

Justin Trudeau, then 29 and a teacher, dressed up as Aladdin in 2001 for a party at West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver. More pictures and a video of him in blackface later emerged

Following the controversy and two days of apologies, Trudeau will go ahead with his re-election campaign today and is set to visit Hamilton in Ontario.

While in the southwestern Ontario city he is set to talk about healthcare. 

The images were at odds with his oft-stated position that he wants to improve the lot of minorities in Canada and prompted international ridicule.

'It's a body blow,' pollster Frank Graves of EKOS Research said in an interview. 'Will the Liberals be able to recover? Who knows? There's no way of putting lipstick on a pig and making this go away.'

Graves said his polling, which he has yet to publish in detail, shows a shift toward Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer and away from Trudeau nationally.   

In Ontario, Canada's most populous province and a key to any party's hopes, the scandal has erased the 15-percentage-point lead the Liberals held, Graves said.

A Nanos research poll released yesterday said that Trudeau's conservative rivals would win 35.5 per cent of the national vote and the Liberals just 32.9 per cent. The prime minister is pictured greeting supporters in Hamilton, Ontario, yesterday

A Nanos research poll released yesterday said that Trudeau's conservative rivals would win 35.5 per cent of the national vote and the Liberals just 32.9 per cent. The prime minister is pictured greeting supporters in Hamilton, Ontario, yesterday

Today Trudeau, pictured yesterday in Brampton, Ontario, is expected to continue with his re-election campaign and is set to visit Hamilton where he will talk about healthcare

Today Trudeau, pictured yesterday in Brampton, Ontario, is expected to continue with his re-election campaign and is set to visit Hamilton where he will talk about healthcare

Liberal insiders are more optimistic, noting that relatively few voters are bringing up the topic.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau held a town hall on Sunday in Montreal, the biggest city in the powerful province of Quebec, and took just one question on the matter.

'I am very proud to work with Justin Trudeau. I consider him to be the most progressive Prime Minister,' he replied.

After taking a day off on Saturday, Trudeau stormed out of the gate on Sunday with two major policy promises: a tax-cut plan and cellphone bill reductions.

Last week Trudeau apologized for the picture of him at the Arabian Nights party, and referenced a second blackface incident when he was in high school. 

Roger Husband also attended the Arabian Nights party and said that Trudeau's costume was not seen as inappropriate and that no one thought of the PM, pictured, as being racist

Roger Husband also attended the Arabian Nights party and said that Trudeau's costume was not seen as inappropriate and that no one thought of the PM, pictured, as being racist

Trudeau dressed up as Harry Belafonte in the 1980s
Trudeau in a separate blackface incident in the 1990s

Trudeau dressed up as Harry Belafonte in the 1980s (left) and again in the 1990s (right)

A photograph of that, which happened in the late 1980s, soon emerged showing him dressed in blackface and wearing a suit to impersonate the Jamaican singer Harry Belafonte at a talent show to sing Day-O. 

A a third image showed the Canadian prime minister again, with his face painted black, raising his hands in a video. It appeared to have been taken in the 1990s. 

On Friday a man who attended the Arabian nights party called the outfit 'staggering' and said it 'stood out' against those of the students.  

Roger Husband spoke to Global News to defend Trudeau's costume, saying it was not seen as inappropriate and that no one thought of Trudeau as racist.

He said: 'It was staggering, it was almost overpowering. It looked like an awful lot of work compared to what anyone else put into their outfits. It stood out.

'It wasn’t considered inappropriate at the time, and I say that because if it had been considered inappropriate the school would never have allowed it. Somebody would have stopped it.'

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