Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that a controversial front page published Thursday by the Journal de Montréal was “an error of judgment.”
The front page ran a file photo of Trudeau wearing traditional Indian clothing with a headline that asked “The Indian (COVID-19) variant is here. So, Justin, are we quickly cutting ties with India this time?”
When asked during a press conference on Friday about the front page, Trudeau said he did not take the depiction “personally” but that the page appeared to him to be an “error of judgment.”
The prime minister suggested the front page could fuel intolerance toward Canadians of Asian origin and has spoken out against the use of the term “Indian variant.” The page has also been criticized by politicians in Ottawa, Quebec City and by the press nationally.
By late Thursday, hours after the front page was published, the federal government suspended flights coming from India and Pakistan.
Overseas imports of covid-19 account for @ 1.5 to 2 percent of positive cases. By this virtue, Canada should ban all travel within the country too to stem variants from being transmitted throughout the country because the other 98% of positive cases may create other variants:
https://www.healthline.com/health/how-many-strains-of-covid-are-there
It’s about time the whole country, including Quebec, realize that racism is systemic in Canada and to educate ourselves on the need to be sensitive to this pandemic too. It’s about time to accept our fellow Canadians as equal and prevent divisions. It’s not enough to just tolerate fellow residents of this great country but accept them as fellow humans unconditionally.