MONTREAL – This week, the emergence of photos of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an Aladdin costume including brownface shook Canadian politics. According to a Liberal insider, the campaign team is relieved it decided not to go with the alternative campaign slogan “A Whole New World,” instead settling on “Choose Forward” for its greater simplicity. 

Based on documents leaked to MJPSatire (following the trend of only serious Canadian newspapers uncovering details of the story), a previous version of the Liberals’ campaign roll-out video instead featured a shirtless Trudeau on a magic carpet, asking a voter, “Do you trust me?”

The voter, visibly agitated, doesn’t respond, before Trudeau winks and responds, “Don’t worry… I’m just your average, relatable street urchin from Agrabah.” The ad continues as Trudeau promises to show the voter “a whole new world,” while simultaneously closing the voter’s eyes as they fly over Agrabah’s pipelines.

Trudeau addressed the scandal a few hours after the story broke, saying he “accepts the findings of the Time Magazine article, but disagrees with its conclusions.”

Asked whether or not there were other similar distasteful occurrences in his past, Trudeau admitted that he once donned leopard skin while performing Toto’s “Africa” in CEGEP. However, when asked to round the total number of blackface and brownface instances to the nearest 100, Trudeau said he couldn’t remember. 

A Liberal spokesperson defended the PM – “Trudeau was a teacher, attended prestigious schools across Canada, and was the son of a Prime Minister who served 15 years. How on Earth could he know that his actions were wrong or that they might end up in the spotlight one day?” The spokesperson added that if the election doesn’t work out, Trudeau might have a good shot at running for Governor of Virginia.

After MJPSatire made an in-person visit to the Conservative Headquarters in Ottawa, no one was available for comment – there however was an audible sound of champagne bottles popping and repeated chants of “SNC-Aladdin.”

This piece is part of the MJPS Satire section. Although potentially based on true events, it is not intended to accurately portray reality. Opinions expressed through this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the position of the McGill Journal of Political Studies or the Political Science Students’ Association. 

Featured image by Lauren Hill