OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) –– Canada’s Conservative Party is livid after one of the nation’s largest corporate media outlets, which gets funding from the Trudeau government, was caught splicing a video clip to make it appear party leader Pierre Poilievre said something he did not.
On Monday, Sebastian Skamski, media relations person for Poilievre, took to X to explain that mainstream media news outlet CTV News ran a doctored video clip of the Conservative leader on television misleading viewers, accusing the news outlet of “propagating” the “Trudeau Liberals’ narrative.”
Skamski explained, and proved, that the news outlet had spliced video of Poilievre talking to make it seem as though he was calling for an election because he opposed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s dental plan, when the real footage was about the Conservative leader’s opposition to the carbon tax.
“Today @CTVNews was caught splicing a clip of @PierrePoilievre to propagate the Liberals’ narrative. This is not only a total fabrication designed to deceive Canadians but also a major breach of journalistic ethics,” wrote Skamski on X.
Today @CTVNews was caught splicing a clip of @PierrePoilievre to propagate the Liberals’ narrative.
This is not only a total fabrication designed to deceive Canadians but also a major breach of journalistic ethics.
CTV must apologize for their flagrant use of disinformation. pic.twitter.com/vshERYeMih
— Sebastian Skamski (@Skamski) September 23, 2024
“CTV must apologize for their flagrant use of disinformation.”
Skamski then shared a clip of the original video footage, compared to the doctored CTV footage.
“Not only is @PierrePoilievre’s quote clearly about the carbon tax (cut from CTV’s broadcast), @CTVNews bizarrely manipulated it,” he wrote.
The real quote by Poilievre was, “That’s why it’s time to put forward a motion for a carbon tax election.”
The “CTV fabrication,” as Skamski called it, had Poilievre saying, “That’s why we need to put forward a motion,” leaving out his talk of the carbon tax and putting it within the context of the Trudeau government’s dental care plans.
The incident drew immediate backlash from Conservative MPs.
“@CTVNews, you spliced three parts of different sentences together to create a new one that Pierre never said. That’s not a misunderstanding during editing, that’s fabricating disinformation. Where is your apology for that?,” wrote Conservative MP Chris Warkentin on X Monday.
Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman ripped CTV News as untrustworthy and an outlet that “pumps” out “disinformation” to protect Trudeau.
“CTV gets caught pumping disinformation to protect the Prime Minister who subsidizes them,” she wrote on X Monday.
After the backlash, CTV News issued an “apology” for the altered news clip, admitting that the clip was presented in an “out of context” manner, claiming the debacle was the result of a “misunderstanding during the editing process.”
“Last night in a report on this broadcast, we presented a comment by the Official Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre that was taken out of context,” said CTV.
“It left viewers with the impression the Conservative non confidence motion was to defeat the Liberals’ dental care program. In fact, the Conservatives have made it clear the motion is based on a long list of issues with the Liberal government including the carbon tax. A misunderstanding during the editing process resulted in this misrepresentation. We unreservedly apologize to Mr. Poilievre and the Conservative Party of Canada. We regret this report went to air in the manner it did.”
The Conservatives did not buy the apology, however, announcing Tuesday that the party will refuse to engage with CTV News reporters until “they explicitly acknowledge their malicious editing & omission of context to undermine” Poilievre.
Yesterday’s so called “apology” from @CTVNews doesn’t cut it. This wasn’t a simple “misunderstanding”.
Until they explicitly acknowledge their malicious editing & omission of context to undermine @PierrePoilievre, Conservative MPs won’t engage with CTV News & its reporters. pic.twitter.com/6UbfdTo1hg
— Sebastian Skamski (@Skamski) September 24, 2024
The Liberal federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pumped billions into propping up the mostly state-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as well as large payouts for legacy media outlets including CTV, ahead of the 2025 federal election. In total, the subsidies are expected to cost taxpayers $129 million over the next five years.
Tomorrow, the Conservatives will be voting on a motion of non-confidence in the House of Commons. If successful, it would trigger an election.
The motion is likely to fail, as even though NDP leader Singh pulled his official support for Trudeau’s Liberals two weeks ago, in recent days he has been mum on whether he will vote for or against the Liberals when a vote occurs.
As for the Trudeau Liberals, it is widely accepted that they are floundering, having lost two recent byelections, one in Quebec and the other in Ontario, in what were considered “safe” Liberal ridings.
The most recent loss suggests that Trudeau’s Liberal government is indeed hanging on by a thread, as all recent polls show that Poilievre’s Conservative Party is set to win big when the next federal election takes place.
While the Conservatives are likely to win the next election, the party under Poilievre is notoriously soft on issues important to social conservatives, including abortion, the LGBT agenda and Canada’s involvement with globalist international organizations.