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Trudeau spent Thursday, first in Winnipeg and then Saskatoon, dealing with the fallout from the release of a 2001 photo that was taken when he was a 29-year-old teacher. The bombshell picture showing Trudeau in an Aladdin costume with brownface makeup, wearing a turban and surrounded by four women, was published Wednesday by Time magazine.

Trudeau said his decision to wear brownface and blackface on multiple occasions was “deeply regrettable.”

Photo by time.com

During a question and answer period during the town hall in Saskatoon Thursday evening, an attendee asked Trudeau to “round to the nearest five,” referring to how many times Trudeau had appeared in black or brownface in the past.

Trudeau responded that he did not want to make light of the situation as “far too many people in this country face discrimination on a daily basis.”

“What I did was inexcusable and wrong,” Trudeau told the crowd. “And it hurt a lot of people who consider me an ally and that is wrong — I am deeply, deeply sorry … As we move forward as a country, as I move forward and continue to fight against intolerance and racism with my actions, I also take responsibility for the fact that I lacked respect towards people who already face tremendous discrimination and that is something that I apologize for.”

Photo by Liam Richards / Saskatoon StarPhoenix

On Wednesday, hours after the picture was published, Trudeau — long billed as a champion of inclusivity and tolerance — said it “was something that I didn’t think was racist at the time, but now I recognize, it was something racist to do.”