Rick Mercer calls out Conservative candidate in B.C. for fake meme

A federal election candidate in the Lower Mainland has drawn the ire of Canadian comedian and political satirist Rick Mercer, after one of his most well-known quotes was falsely used in a meme.

Mercer took to Twitter on Tuesday morning, telling fans that the meme – a viral photo or video whose message has been altered with text to be funny – is fake after it was posted by the Burnaby North–Seymour Conservative Constituency Association, whose candidate is Heather Leung, earlier this week.

The meme, which was deleted as of Tuesday afternoon, shows a photo of Mercer with a message to vote for the Conservative Party of Canada:

“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 Conservative,” the meme says.

Mercer also tagged Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer on Twitter and the “good folks at” his party headquarters, saying the quote was “Not True. All Fake. Please Stop.”

Nope. Not real. Just a straight up fake by the candidate i guess. https://t.co/0jkypY3S9W

— Rick Mercer (@rickmercer) September 17, 2019

According to the Burnaby Now newspaper, this isn’t the first contentious meme posted to the constituency association’s Facebook page.

Earlier this month, a cartoon meme was posted showing Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau on the edge of a cliff with the words, “CHOOSE FORWARD.”

Simon Jefferies, a spokesperson on Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s communications team, confirmed in an email to Black Press Media that the meme featuring Mercer has has been deleted and that “the individual who shared it is not involved on the local campaign.”

He did not specify who the person who made the social media post was, nor their role in the campaign. He also did not specify when the post was deleted.

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. #WhoAreThesePeople? #Cdnpoli #yuck

— Rick Mercer (@rickmercer) September 17, 2019