(Ottawa) The Conservative Party of Canada has removed an online video that promoted Canadian values but featured Russian fighter jets, according to the office of the Minister of National Defence.
Updated yesterday at 7:45 p.m.
Mickey Djuric The Canadian Press
The party acknowledged its mistake on Monday, while noting that the Liberals have faced backlash over images from banks in the past.
The video was posted by the party on the X platform over the weekend with the slogan “Canada. Our Home”; the video featured a speech given by leader Pierre Poilievre at the Calgary Stampede.
In the video, Poilievre describes a Canadian driving down a highway to work after dropping his child off at school, only to see a brand new fighter jet in the sky.
“They are flying a training mission in the sky, preparing to defend our country and our homeland,” Poilievre said.
But according to the defense minister’s spokesman, the planes that were interspersed in the video while Mr. Poilievre uttered this sentence were Russian Su-17 and Su-27 planes.
“It is shocking that Mr. Poilievre’s dream for Canada includes having Russian fighter jets fly over our glorious Prairies for a ‘training mission,'” Daniel Minden said in a statement Monday.
This is happening as Russia continues its illegal and unprovoked war against Ukraine and the international rules that protect us all.
Daniel Minden, Director of Communications for the Minister of Defense
X-rated users and NDP members were also quick to point out that the jets appeared to be Russian-owned and that other stock images used in the party’s video were not actually Canadian. “It’s one thing to use a stock photo, but it’s another to spin a fantasy where Russia, America and Serbia are your dream for the future of our country,” Charlie Angus, the NDP’s deputy ethics critic, said in a statement.
The New Democrats have since called on Mr. Poilievre to denounce the use of “fake, fake, phony” digital content.
“The video has been removed — mistakes happen, as you can see here,” said Conservative Party spokeswoman Sarah Fischer, adding that a 2011 Liberal ad had come under scrutiny for its use of stock images.