VANCOUVER - A man who attended an "Arabian Nights" gala held by a private school in Vancouver says no one besides Justin Trudeau attended in skin-darkening makeup, but no one else there was dressed as Aladdin.
Wayne Hamill, who is white, says he doesn't recall anyone expressing any offence over Trudeau's costume or "brownface" makeup at the time.
Hamill went to the 2001 party because his kids were West Point Grey Academy students and he says the future Liberal leader's costume was in keeping with the theme and others were dressed as belly dancers or wearing saris or veils.
He says he's not a Trudeau supporter but he believes the uproar over a photograph showing Trudeau made up in brownface is unfair because it's applying today's standards to yesterday's context.
Trudeau has apologized for the image and others that have emerged of him wearing skin-darkening makeup, saying he had a blind spot because of his privilege and he deeply regrets behaviour he now recognizes as racist.
He says in his 2014 book, "Common Ground," that teaching at West Point Grey Academy gave him new insights into the “privileged lives” of private-school students that he didn't glean from his own advantaged upbringing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2019.
