OTTAWA — CTV News didn’t just twist Pierre Poilievre’s words — critics say they also slapped an orange filter on him to make the Conservative leader look more like Donald Trump in a blatant visual smear.
In the infamous September 2024 broadcast, CTV fired two veteran staffers (a reporter and editor) after splicing Poilievre’s scrum audio. Original: “That’s why it’s time to put forward a motion for a carbon tax election.”
Doctored version: “That’s why we need to put forward a motion” — then jammed into a story falsely implying he wanted to kill the popular dental care program.
The internal probe confirmed they “altered a video clip, manipulating it for a particular story,” violating editorial standards. Both were terminated from Bell Media. CTV issued weak then “unreserved” apologies, claiming no malice – just a “technical error” to save time.
But that wasn’t all. Side-by-side comparisons showed the CTV broadcast version gave Poilievre a noticeably warmer, orange skin tone and shifted contrast not present in the raw parliamentary or original footage. Background figures stayed normal while his face carried the Trump-like orange cast – sparking accusations of deliberate color grading to visually link him to the U.S. president and stoke negative associations.
This double-barrelled manipulation — audio splicing plus alleged visual tweaking – perfectly illustrates why public trust in Canadian mainstream media has cratered. When legacy outlets like CTV aren’t just selective with facts but appear to be rewriting reality on screen in favor of the ruling government (who also happens to may them MILLIONS in taxpayer-funded handouts), viewers tune out for good. Polls and endless online backlash show millions now view MSM as partisan operators rather than neutral reporters.
