Rick Mercer is calling out the Conservative candidate in Burnaby North-Seymour for sharing a doctored quote from the TV personality on social media.
On Monday, the Burnaby North-Seymour Conservative Association, who is backing candidate Heather Leung, posted a photo of the comedian on Facebook with a quote taken from a “ Rick’s Rant ” segment that aired on his CBC show the Mercer Report in 2011.
The original quote said: “If you’re between the age of 18 and 25 and you want to scare the hell out of the people that run this country, this time around do the unexpected. Take 20 minutes out of your day and do what young people all around the world are dying to do. Vote.”
In the now-deleted meme posted by the association, the final part of the quote was changed from “Vote” to “Vote Conservative.”
When asked on Twitter if he was really endorsing the Tory party in the Oct. 21 federal election, Mercer said the quote wasn’t real and “just a straight-up fake by the candidate, I guess.”
The funnyman, who wasn’t amused to have his face and words turned into a fake political endorsement, appealed to Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer to put a stop to it.
“Dear @AndrewScheer & good folks at @Cpc_hq — Your candidate in Burnaby North-Seymour is distributing a meme on social media with my face and the words “Vote Conservative” indicating it is a quote from me. Not true. All fake. Please Stop,” Mercer said in a Tweet.
Conservative Party spokesman Simon Jefferies told Postmedia that the meme was shared by someone who was “not involved on the local campaign.”
Postmedia News has reached out to the Burnaby North-Seymour Conservative Association and Leung for comment.
According to the Burnaby Now, Leung hasn’t responded to a media inquiry in months, dating to before she won the riding’s nomination in May.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
