A video posted by the Liberal Party of Canada has been tagged as “manipulated media” by Twitter. The post features an interview clip of Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole that was manipulated to support a Liberal Party of Canada election narrative – specifically, that Mr. O’Toole and his party are secretly seeking to privatize Canada’s public health care system.
Canada's public, universal health care system is one of our greatest strengths. It's part of what makes us who we are as a country. Last year, as COVID-19 raged, Erin O'Toole was asked if he would bring private, "for-profit" healthcare to Canada. He responded unequivocally: yes. pic.twitter.com/dISRKrIjr0
— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) August 22, 2021
The interview that was posted by the Liberal Party of Canada includes an edited version of an interview that Mr. O’Toole gave in July 2020, in which he suggests investigating ways in which the private sector can improve the delivery of health care services.
Here is the primary sentence of the interview with Mr. O’Toole that was manipulated to support the Liberal Party narrative:
“We have to find public-private synergies… and make sure that universal access remains paramount.”
The second half of the above statement was removed by The Liberal Party in the clip that was published to Twitter. The Liberal Party clip delivers a malformed narrative with the intent of misleading viewers to believe that Erin O’Toole is advocating for the dismantling our universal access health care system in favour of a private, for-profit system.
The provision of services to Canada’s health care system by private companies is not new. Various services from cafeteria food services to diagnostic services, such as X-Rays, are provided to provincial health care systems by private entities. For example, Shouldice Hospital is a private world class facility located in Thornhill, Ontario, which has long specialized in hernia operations and where former NDP leader Jack Layton was a patient.
Access to Canada’s health care services, however, remains free and universal to all Canadians and Mr. O’Toole has not suggested a change or privatization of this fact.
The Liberal Party of Canada’s selective editing to intentionally create a false narrative is a form of disinformation.
Such efforts contribute to the erosion of trust in our elected officials and threaten to increase cynicism in Canada’s democratic processes. Those who engage in the use of disinformation during an election must be held to account to preserve the integrity of our election processes.
Russian state propaganda outlet Sputnik News, which has been used to polarize debate in nations allied with Canada and in elections, reported on the story and may seek to exploit it to divide Canadian voters. The Russian embassy in Canada has previously promoted narratives that discredit Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland.
