Seven layers of privilege.
Canada’s Prime Minister, official heartthrob Justin Trudeau has been leading his humble country for six years now, steering his Liberal Party to the very height of power. Dashing, daring, handsome.
Oh, the 50-year-old has had some run-ins with bad publicity, for example when photos surfaced of Trudeau wearing the very forbidden blackface not once, or twice, but thrice. At the time, he said, he did not understand the hurt he caused because “the layers of privilege that I have.”
And yesterday, too, when he spent Canada’s very first truth and reconciliation day surfing in Tofino.
The day was meant to “honour lives both lost and destroyed through our country’s detestable treatment of our Indigenous peoples,” and many were frustrated by the PM’s choice.
According to the Toronto Sun, “Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc, the First Nations community near Kamloops, B.C. where the bodies of as many 200 children were found buried outside of a residential school, tweeted they’d extended two ‘heartfelt’ invitations for the Prime Minister to commemorate the day with survivors and their families.”
Policy analysts imagine the snub will deepen the riffs between Trudeau and Canada’s Indigenous community.
Conservative Party of Canada spokesperson Chelsea Tucker piled on, declaring, “Truth and Reconciliation Day shouldn’t be treated like a holiday — but that’s what Justin Trudeau did.”
Trudeau, for his part, remained silent, maybe hooting his bros into kegs, maybe paying homage to the ancient Hawaiians.
Tough to say.
Back to layers of privilege, though, I have a good mind to make a nice seven layers of privilege dip for tomorrow’s college football Saturday.
Yum.