As with my previous interview with Jessica Wegg, this is a discussion of Johnston’s beliefs, not a debate on policy. There is some fact checking on her remarks about the Conservatives negativity (by comparing the name calling and negative imaging in the headlines of Conservative, NDP and Green press releases) and whether they do represent the rich (by looking at the cost to attend a party event and a report from the National Post).
The Conservative party’s campaign video “The Interview” is essentially character assassination. The plot for this attack on Justin Trudeau’s competence was lifted from an old NDP attack ad (“Job Interview”) against the former leader of Manitoba’s Conservatives. The similarities between the two videos starts with their titles and finishes with their closing lines. The Conservative pr people added some new touches. Ignoring the fact Trudeau was a math teacher, the actors portray him as financially inept. They also make the ludicrous remark that the Prime Minister’s office is not an entry level job. (Trudeau was raised in a very political family, has been an MP since 2007 and Leader of the Liberal party since 2013.) Despite this, a fairly large number of Canadians appear to be deceived by this propaganda piece. Max Cameron from the department of political science at UBC explained why voters readily accept misinformation.
