WATCH: Conservative Party campaign spokesman Kory Teneycke speaks to Global News’ Tom Clark
A new ad by the Conservative Party of Canada uses ISIS imagery and the ISIS anthem to attack the Liberals’ position on the terrorist group.
But in a different context, those same images could be seen as promoting terrorism – something which is against the government’s newly-passed anti-terror law, Bill C-51, or the Anti-terrorism Act.
Full interview: Conservative spokesman defends use of ISIS video in attack ad
Conservative Party campaign spokesman Kory Teneycke defended the party’s use of the ISIS anthem and imagery in an interview with Global News’ Tom Clark, saying, “I’ve seen images from ISIS videos on every newscast in this country and in other countries as well. It’s also part of the debate as to what is it that we’re going to do about that issue.”
The ad also includes footage from a recent CBC interview with Justin Trudeau, in which the Liberal leader stated that he would stop the current Canadian bombing campaign in the region.
The Anti-terrorism Act makes it an indictable offence to knowingly advocate or promote terrorism in general, and allows a judge to issue a warrant to seize terrorist propaganda. Under the law, “terrorist propaganda” means any writing, video or audio that promotes the commission of terrorism offences in general or counsels the commission of an offence.
WATCH: Conservative attack ad using ISIS imagery
The Conservatives’ intention in showing the ISIS imagery is to highlight the differences between the Conservative and Liberal policies, said Teneycke. They showed the images, “Because that’s who the enemy is. That’s who we’re fighting.”
“What we’re doing is no different than what you do on the news,” he said.
“We’re better than news, we’re truthful.”
Teneycke would not answer questions about whether his party would object to other groups using terrorist videos and songs to join the debate. He called that a “hypothetical ad or use” and would not comment. He also wouldn’t rule out the Conservatives using more terrorist video as the campaign goes on.
“Wait and see.”
Full transcript of Tom Clark’s interview with Kory Teneycke
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