The New Democratic Party (NDP) has used stock video footage from Russia, weeks after criticizing the Conservatives for doing the same thing.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced in a video Wednesday that he is ending his “support and confidence agreement” with the Liberal government, while blaming Conservative policies that he says are hurting Canadians, including retirees.
In this video, we can see an archive sequence of two elderly people sitting at a table looking at their laptops.
From several stock image banks, including Getty Images, The Canadian Press was able to independently confirm that the footage came from Russia. The two seniors also appear in photos on a Russian university website, which claims they are faculty members.
“We obtained the footage from a North American stock footage service,” the NDP said in a written statement. “Nowhere was there any mention of where the video came from. We will be more careful in the future,” the party said.
The same video also showed a family sitting down for breakfast — an image that the website Shutterstock said came from an Israel-based production company.
The New Democrats did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the content from Israel.
The NDP video, which has been viewed more than three million times on X alone, has remained online across all social media platforms.
While passing through the Montreal riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun on Friday morning, Mr. Singh admitted that there had been “a problem with an image.”
“It’s something that I raised with my team and I said that we must not have this error in the future,” he said. “And it’s clear that they will assure me that it will not happen again in the future.”
In August, the New Democrats criticized the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) for using foreign footage in one of their videos. One of the clips featured Russian fighter jets.
The Conservative Party removed the video following online backlash, acknowledging that “mistakes can happen.” The party also noted that a 2011 Liberal ad had been scrutinized for its use of stock footage.
At the time, NDP deputy ethics critic Charlie Angus denounced the use of non-Canadian imagery in political messaging. “I love Canada. I want the next election to be in Canada, for Canada,” Angus said on Aug. 19.
The New Democrats then denounced the use of “false, falsified and bogus” digital content.
Government House Leader Karina Gould wrote: “I find it very strange that two major Canadian political parties – the NDP and the CPC – are not more careful in their communications to Canadians about Canadians.”
She believes both parties will have to explain why “neither bothered to use images of real Canadians.”