![\"Text](\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\")
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A photograph shared online by two PC MPPs showcasing Ford Fest \u2014 an annual community event held by the party \u2014 appears to have been edited to make protesters look like supporters, an analysis by CBC’s Fact Check team has found.<\/p>\n
Photos of the festival, which took place last Friday at Thomson Memorial Park in Scarborough, were shared by Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey and MPP for Scarborough Centre David Smith over the weekend on the social media platform X.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the photos shows an aerial view of a crowd by the festival stage in what appear to be overwhelmingly blue shirts in support of the PC party.\u00a0<\/p>\n
CBC reporters on scene, however, saw dozens of Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) members gathered in the same area wearing purple T-shirts that said \u201cWorth Fighting For,\u201d moments before Ford was set to make a speech. <\/p>\n
CBC reporters at the festival saw OPSEU members turn their backs, booing and chanting when Ford and members of his cabinet and caucus arrived on stage. Ford delivered an approximately 10-minute speech off a teleprompter, but it was hard to hear over the chants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘Standard and routine practice’: Ford’s spokesperson<\/p>\n
CBC\u2019s visual investigations team compared the aerial photo shared online to footage taken by CBC reporters on scene as well as an Instagram page that documented the OPSEU protests. Their analysis identified, through a close-up on the people in the crowd, that many of the blue shirts in the photo were actually OPSEU shirts bearing the \u201cWorth Fighting For\u201d lettering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The visual investigations team also analyzed individuals in the photo and compared it to CBC footage, which showed those same individuals wearing purple \u2014 not blue \u2014 shirts. CBC could not confirm the original source of the photo posted by the two MPPs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
WATCH | How CBC footage compares to Ford Fest photo shared by PC MPPs:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782200891_611_default.jpg\")
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Critics say Ford Fest photo edited to show crowd of PC backers<\/p>\n
Following Ford Fest, a long-running event hosted by the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, officials in Premier Doug Ford\u2019s government shared a photo that appears to be edited to show crowd of PC backers. CBC\u2019s Lorenda Reddekopp was there that day \u2014 and shows how our footage compares.<\/p>\n
Downey was asked about the photo at an unrelated news conference Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI sign off on all posts, quite frankly [I] looked at my phone and I didn\u2019t see anything, [so] it went up,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t think it\u2019s of any consequence.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Downey did not confirm who took the photo.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an emailed statement, Hannah Jensen, spokesperson for the premier\u2019s office, said that aside from a default colour corrector, the aerial photo shared online was not altered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPhotos from Ford Fest, including the aerial shot posted by two MPPs, had default saturation applied to correct an orange hue. This type of colour correction is standard and routine practice,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
NDP Opposition Leader Marit Stiles slammed the Ford government over the photo a few days after it circulated online.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cImagine getting booed at your own party, then editing the photos so the protesters look like fans,\u201d she said in a post on X Monday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a tired government, and it’s time to get them out of the way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n