TORONTO — Ontario’s New Democrats are apologizing for a social media advertisement that mistook one Progressive Conservative legislator for another.
The ad that ran in April said Premier Doug Ford and Tory legislator Kaleed Rasheed had paid sick days at a time when many workers in the province did not.
The ad used a photo of Progressive Conservative representative Sheref Sabawy instead of Rasheed.
The premier’s office called Wednesday for the opposition party to apologize for the “racially insensitive” mistake.
NDP provincial director Lucy Watson said in a statement that the party takes responsibility for the mistake and regrets “any confusion it may have caused.”
She said the mismatched image from the ad campaign about paid sick leave was taken down on April 30 after the mistake was realized.
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NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said earlier on Wednesday that she wasn’t aware of the situation, but said if an error was made, it was not done with malice.
She said the party is dedicated to fighting racism and hate.
“The New Democrats have long been really dedicated to ensuring that not only do we have stronger anti-racism actions from this government, but that we also make sure that candidates and MPPs reflect our communities,” Horwath said.
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