When I first saw the video, I thought it was pretty cheesy and the narration was really forced and rang false. Then I read about the background to it, and I was convinced it had to be one of those AI fakes, designed to discredit those portrayed in it. But, no: it was genuine, or at least as genuine as such an unlikely piece of political campaign propaganda could be.
Have you seen it, the Conservatives “Canada, Our Home” video which was released and then deleted almost before anyone could see it? Poor pasty Pierre Poilievre’s pathetic political posturing. I might not normally comment negatively about someone’s appearance, but as this video was designed to further rehabilitate Poilievre’s image, it seemed appropriate to point out how strange he looked. I mean, that hat!
I know he was speaking at the Calgary Stampede, but there are people who can carry off a stetson, or ten-gallon hat, whatever it was, but Pierre really isn’t one of them. He just looked – what’s the current term – weird, that’s it – he just looked weird. The script he was reading was so artificial, and obviously designed to link up the video clips, that it didn’t flow. It was not natural. But then, neither were the film clips, it seems.
The clips were meant to show typical Canadian scenes of families, scenery, outdoor meals together, but it was soon pointed out that there was something not right about the whole thing. The scene of a “Canadian dad” driving through the suburbs was actually stock footage from North Dakota in the United States, a clip of children attending class was shot in Serbia, the “Canadian-built” homes were under construction in Slovenia, and a university student “late for class” was filmed at a post-secondary institution in Ukraine.
A scene in which a child walks with her grandparents was shot in London’s Richmond Park, and a family gathering where the group enjoy “a wonderful venison that was shot with totally legal Canadian firearms” was filmed in Italy. A scene of Alberta’s foothills to the Rocky Mountains was a clip from Indonesia. Cattle grazing in a vast field was filmed in California. The scenes of a sunset, overlaid with the words “We’re Home”, was shot in Venezuela.
Most disturbing was the clip of two fighter jets sweeping across the sky, which Pierre described as “doing a training mission in the sky, getting ready to defend our home and native land”. In fact, the planes were Russian fighters, identified by the Canada’s Defense Minister as an SU-17 and an SU-27. That was bad enough, but it was followed by a clip of a student looking up at the jets flying over. The actual university student was at a campus in Kyiv in Ukraine, where students don’t smile when they see Russian jets overhead.
There’s an interesting clip of a family having a meal outside together, apparently, says Pierre, celebrating that one of the sons is celebrating being clean and sober after addiction. But the table is full of wine bottles and glasses full of wine. Not what you’d expect in the circumstances.
But Pierre goes on (that hat!) To proclaim: “These are our people. This is our country! This is our home. Your home, my home, our home. Let’s bring it home!” Eh, only, it isn’t. At the start of the video, he says: “It’s easy to forget what home and hope look like”. It seems he has forgotten all right.
Now, don’t think this is just a partisan attack on a really bad piece of political propaganda. I have no allegiance to any political party in this country (or in any others that may be featured in the video). It’s just that Poilievre has been trying so hard to improve his image: nice haircut, dump the glasses, try and smile more (on the other hand, maybe don’t smile, it also looks strange, and the voice is a little fingernails on a chalkboard in tone). This video not only makes him look very false and trying too hard to be folksy, it is also incredibly incompetent in its entire content and script. Really bad, and that hat!
So, for the sake of balance, here’s something about Justin, someone else who seems to be more style than substance. I understand why Canadian politicians look with envy at the Democrats and their convention. So many incredible orators, so moving and powerful, managing to look like caring and devoted citizens out to do the best for their country. That may not be the true story, but they pull off the image thing, and Justin and Pierre would give so much to be able to get away with that too.
Justin might, eh, try hard to, eh, sound like, eh, one of the boys, eh, but, eh, he doesn’t. There is one example in the Excited States he could follow, and everyone, especially in his own party, would love him to do so. Do a Joe Biden, love your country more than your job and step aside and give someone else a chance, before it’s too late. Just don’t make a video.
If you’re interested, Pierre’s video, and hat, can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPFNKvM06fU
