Andrew Scheer Just Clapped Back At The CBC's Lawsuit Against The Conservatives

Last week, Canadian public broadcaster CBC confirmed that they were taking the Conservative Party to court, after the federal party reportedly used CBC TV clips and footage in an online campaign advertisement. Now, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer has made a not-so-subtle dig at the CBC lawsuit on Twitter, and it seems to have gone down pretty well with his followers.

In a legal application to the Federal Court of Canada last week, the CBC served a notice to the Conservative Party and its executive director, accusing the federal party of "engaging in the unauthorized use of copyright-protected material." Alongside the CBC, The National host, Rosemary Barton, and parliamentary bureau reporter, John Paul Tasker, were also previously listed as applicants in the filing; however, there was a motion to have their names removed. 

While the Conservative Party has issued an official response on their website, party leader Andrew Scheer took to Twitter on Thursday night, to throw some not-so-subtle shade at the CBC lawsuit.

Sharing one of Rosemary Barton's tweets, that seemed to show Scheer as a hologram on the CBC's election night stage, the Conservative Party leader wrote, "I don’t recall authorizing this use of my likeness."

Despite the tense nature of the situation between the Conservative Party and the CBC lawsuit, Scheer’s followers seemed to largely appreciate the tweet, as many responded with positive memes and comments.

One Twitter user responded, “Epic. Just epic. I can’t stop laughing!"

Another added, “Boom! Well said Mr Scheer!"

In their official response to the CBC lawsuit, the Conservative Party claims that services funded entirely by taxpayers should be free to use by taxpayers.

However, the CBC lawsuit argues that their clips were "taken out of context and are edited and relied on to make partisan points for the benefit" of the party.

In a statement, the CBC explained that they received no assurance from the Conservative Party that a similar incident would not happen again, so "it is therefore critical for us to provide clarity through the court to safeguard the integrity and professional independence of our journalism and our journalists."

The Conservative Party intends to fight the lawsuit, and claims that they will "hit back hard" against "this attack on free expression."

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