A Cariboo-Prince George candidate is denying posting a questionable meme showing Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau on the edge of a cliff with the words, “CHOOSE FORWARD.”
People's Party of Canada Cariboo-Prince George candidate Jing Lan Yang . (via Jing Lan Yang)People's Party of Canada (PPC) candidate Jing Lan Yang re-shared the photo on her Facebook profile on Sept. 11. The post originally came from Billy Angus, who posted the photo in a Facebook group labelled "Fire Justin Trudeau."
When contacted by PrinceGeorgeMatters regarding the posting, Yang denied its existence.
"You know it is not true, right?" she wrote in an email to PrinceGeorgeMatters.
In a series of follow-up emails, Yang confirmed no one else manages her Facebook account and questioned how the image was found. "If you don’t want to explain, please offer me an apology," she wrote. "I spent [the] last two-three hours to find out the story behind it."
Yang again denied the post's existence after being presented with a screenshot and the post's URL. The post's authenticity was also confirmed to Yang by a follower in her public PPC Facebook group.
"But, I have further proof that my account has not shared this post," she wrote PrinceGeorgeMatters. "That will be a story I will have to deal with later, after Oct. 21.
"...Believe me. Someone did something," she said. "Seems you just happen to find that meme on my timeline."
In regards to the meme suggesting the death of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by walking off a cliff, Yang said she "felt sorry that you would make such a connection."
The post was still on Yang's Facebook profile at the time of this article being posted.
The same meme was posted by the Burnaby North-Seymour Conservative Constituency Association in September. Supporters also posted a comment underneath that particular Facebook post that says, “We need a strong wind to push him to his death.”
The Burnaby candidate, Heather Leung, was ultimately dropped after video resurfaced of her claiming that "homosexuals recruit" children".
PrinceGeorgeMatters has reached out to the PPC Party's media team for official comment but has yet to receive a response.
- With files from Chris Campbell, Burnaby Now
