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(CNN) - Justin Trudeau has long cultivated a public personality as a "conscious" defender of progressive social values.
In the position, he has proudly proclaimed that he is a feminist and proposed legislation to address gender pay equity. He has personally welcomed Syrian refugees to the country. And he has offered formal apologies on behalf of the Canadian Government for how he treated indigenous peoples and LGBTQ2 people.
But despite these public positions, a series of problems outside the cameras threatens to reduce their chances of remaining prime minister in federal elections next month.
Wednesday's revelation that Trudeau had painted his face for an "Arab Nights" event in 2001, when he was a school teacher, was just another example of the contrast between what critics see as the two Trudeaus.
“We see a Trudeau in public. I will be honest, it seems very kind, very kind, very warm in public. But behind closed doors it looks like a different Trudeau, ”said Jagmeet Singh, a Sikh politician for Canada's new Democratic party.
“Who is the real Trudeau? Is he the one behind the closed doors? The one that when all the cameras are turned off and when nobody sees, is that the real Trudeau? Because more and more it seems that way. ”
Trudeau with a brown painted face
Trudeau was forced to apologize on Wednesday after Time , a CNN affiliate, posted a picture of him with a brown make-up face when he was a teacher in 2001.
“I shouldn't have done it. I should have known, but I didn't. And I'm very sorry, ”he told reporters on a plane.
Exclusive: Justin Trudeau wore brownface at 2001 'Arabian Nights' party while he taught at a private school, Canada's Liberal Party admits https://t.co/j3UobfYNIF
- TIME (@TIME) September 18, 2019
"It was something I didn't think was racist at the time, but it was," he added. "It was silly."
Trudeau attended the event with friends and colleagues and dressed as a “Aladdin” character, said Zita Astravas, speaking on behalf of the Trudeau party, the Liberal Party of Canada. He wore a turban.
In addition, Trudeau told reporters that he also put on makeup when he dressed for a talent show in high school and sang “Day-O,” a song that became popular Harry Belafonte in the 1950s.
Late on Wednesday, CNN affiliate CTV News obtained a second photo from a source, which says it is a photo of Trudeau in a Brebeuf College yearbook.
Exclusive Sources have confirmed to me that this is THE picture of @JustinTrudeau in blackface from high school that he referenaced in his press conference. From the year book at Brebeuf college. #cdnpoli He is singing Day Oh apparently. pic.twitter.com/ivBPoxbXi8
- Evan Solomon (@EvanLSolomon) September 19, 2019
On Thursday they were already counted in three separate incidents and Trudeau said he did not know how many times he had put on makeup so that he would be considered racist.
Trudeau received criticism from people across the political spectrum. His political rival, conservative Andrew Scheer, said he was "extremely shocked and disappointed" upon learning of the incident.
"Painting your face brown is an act of open mockery and racism," said Scheer. "He was as racist in 2001 as in 2019. What the Canadians saw tonight was someone with a total lack of judgment and integrity and someone who is not in a position to govern this county."
In addition, Singh, the new Democratic politician to the left of Trudeau's liberal party, said he was "worrying" and "insulting."
"He's making fun of someone for what he likes and for his experiences," he said.
Trip full of scandals to India
Trudeau made a series of mistakes and missteps during a week-long trip to India in February 2018, particularly in relation to the alleged indulgence of the Sikh separatists of his Government.
The issue reached a critical point after it was revealed that Jaspal Atwal, a Sikh separatist militant convicted of trying to assassinate an Indian politician in Canada, had been invited to at least two events related to the Canadian Government, including an official dinner with Trudeau at the Residence of the Canadian High Commissioner in New Delhi.
The invitation to dinner, which was later withdrawn, caused outrage in parts of India, where Sikh separatism remains a highly charged issue.
READ : Who are the Sijes and what do they believe in? (2012)
“Obviously we take this situation extremely seriously. The individual in question should never have received an invitation. As soon as we found out, we canceled the invitation immediately, ”said Trudeau.
Groping accusation
In July 2018, Trudeau was asked about an unsigned editorial dating back to the year 2000 that alleged that he had groped a reporter in a charity fundraiser when he was 28 years old.
Trudeau said last year that he didn't remember "any negative interaction" of that day.
However, the newspaper's ex-reporter spoke in July 2018 and said the accusations in the editorial are true, but that she considered the matter closed.
READ : Justin Trudeau on accusations of groping 18 years ago: “I don't remember any negative interactions” (2018)
Trudeau said he apologized to the woman at that time.
“I don't feel that I acted inappropriately in any way. But I respect the fact that someone else could have experienced that differently and this is part of the reflections we have to go through, ”he said.
SNC-Lavalin affair
In February, The Globe and Mail reported that Jody Wilson-Raybould, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General, had been pressured to help the Quebec-based SNC-Lavalin construction company resolve a criminal case and avoid prosecution over bribe accusations.
Wilson-Raybould, who then resigned, alleged in testimony that he faced "veiled threats" and "sustained" pressure to help SNC-Lavalin, a major employer in Canada. A conviction in the case would prevent the company from obtaining contracts with the government for a decade.
READ : A political scandal surrounding the prime minister of Canada; Does the Justin Trudeau myth fall?
Gerald Butts, Trudeau's main assistant, resigned amid accusations that he pressured the former attorney general. Jane Philpott, who had held several positions in Trudeau's cabinet before becoming president of the Treasury Board, also resigned and said she lost confidence in the government's handling of an investigation into the accusations.
The resignations of the two cabinet members impaired Trudeau's vision of promoting feminism and helping indigenous peoples, said Daniel Beland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. Wilson-Reybould is an indigenous woman and Philpott had been Minister of Indigenous Services.
Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion published a report in August saying that Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Law by interfering with the case and attempting to pressure Wilson-Raybould.
Paula Newton, Huizhong Wu, Joe Sterling and Tony Marco of CNN contributed to this report.
Justin Trudeau