The editorial cartoonist behind a controversial depiction of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and an approaching avalanche has apologized.
Toronto Star cartoonist Theo Moudakis posted the image on Twitter on Thursday afternoon. It shows Trudeau walking with an avalanche dubbed “2019 ELECTION” barreling toward him.
The cartoon also referred to the late Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s “walk in the snow,” which occurred in February 1984. The day after his walk, he decided to retire.
Moudakis was promptly called out by social media users, who pointed out that the cartoon was in “poor taste,” as the prime minister’s younger brother died in a British Columbia avalanche in 1998.
Michel Trudeau was 23 years old at the time.
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Just about an hour after posting the cartoon, Moudakis deleted the cartoon and apologized.
“I’ve deleted tomorrow’s cartoon, and it won’t be running in the Star,” he wrote. “It was a thoughtless oversight, my apologies to the PM.”
Others at the Toronto Star also spoke out, including editorial page editor Andrew Phillips and public editor Kathy English.
This isn’t the only editorial cartoon related to the SNC-Lavalin controversy that has garnered criticism. Another cartoon posted by Journal de Montreal on Friday prompted criticism over cultural insensitivity.
Earlier this month, popular Halifax political cartoonist Michael de Adder drew heat for one his cartoons, which showed former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Trudeau on opposite sides of a boxing ring.
In the cartoon, Trudeau is being advised to “keep beating her up, solicitor-client privilege has tied her hands.”
A similar cartoon by Graeme MacKay was released days earlier, which also showed Trudeau and Wilson-Raybould inside a boxing ring together. The former justice minister was tied and gagged while the prime minister held his arms up in victory.
Karim Bardeesy, a former journalist and political adviser who co-founded the Ryerson Leadership Lab, noted that editorial cartoonists are given a lot of latitude in their work.
“It’s exceptionally rare for them to get killed,” he said, noting that they do rake up controversy once in a while.
Part of the problem is possibly the lack of diversity among Canadian editorial cartoonists, he said.
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“There’s only one black cartoonist that I know of, very few women and very few people of colour, at least in the mainstream daily press,” Bardeesy noted, adding that this is a problem widely noted across different fields of Canadian journalism.
He added, however, that political cartoons play an important role in storytelling, even as journalism evolves.
“I think they are still highly relevant and they help tell a story in a way that nothing else can. I believe that they’re an art form as well,” Bardeesy said.
—With files from Global News reporter Alexander Quon
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