And none made a concrete pledge to counter virulently prejudicial legislation in Quebec, which bans the wearing of religious symbols in the public workplace, fomenting Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. The resurgent Bloc Québécois slyly tucked it away during the campaign.

Not everyone avoided the realities of being black, brown, Indigenous or another minority group in Canada. We were talking, tweeting, publishing and protesting. But people with bigger platforms — our politicians and the national media — haven’t kept the conversation going for more than five minutes. Combine niceness with newsrooms that are disproportionately white, and coverage inevitably distorts in ways that don’t adequately represent the country’s racial and ethnic diversity.

Just days before the election, the Canadian media largely glossed over another opportunity for debate on race: when Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States, gave his endorsement to Mr. Trudeau, the first (known) prime minister to wear blackface. The Globe and Mail positioned it as an “unjustifiable American intrusion”; the Canadian Broadcasting C orporation orated on the men’s cozy relationship; the National Post buried it in a roundup of the day’s campaign news; and Global News weirdly noted only that President Trump was reluctant to talk about Canada’s blackface scandal.

Also striking was the tone of coverage about the overt racism directed toward Jagmeet Singh, leader of the left-wing New Democratic Party, who is Sikh. Mr. Singh was repeatedly lauded for his “poise” and “grace” across reporting after a man demanded the leader “cut off” his turban “to look like a Canadian” when they crossed paths at a Montreal campaign event. And then, during the English-language debate, it was exploited as a talking point by rival candidates, who awkwardly took turns congratulating him over his handling of the episode.

And still, there was no scrutiny of the actual racism. It seems that many Canadians just don’t want to grapple with race head on. Even the progressive-minded Elizabeth May, who leads the Green Party and is frank about systemic racism, says she’s “hesitant” to speak out when asked if Canada is “racist as a country.” “It’s a hard answer because it makes people uncomfortable,” she told reporters earlier this month.

It’s time to get over being nice and comfortable. It’s time to acknowledge that Canada’s race issues impact everyone, and to work toward understanding and validating the experiences of racialized Canadians.

Mr. Trudeau loves to say that “diversity is Canada’s strength.” Diversity is also tough, challenging and sometimes outright frustrating because it requires listening, being open to what you don’t know, and letting go of what you think you do. At the same time, diversity is just the myth; anti-racism is the work. For starters, the Liberals should prep up their new Anti-Racism Strategy so it can be used immediately to launch a national conversation. No one should know better than Mr. Trudeau that this work is needed now, and must not get papered over until the next appalling episode.