ALTERED CUP
Elizabeth May was holding disposable cup in photoshopped image
OTTAWA — Green Party leader Elizabeth May was holding a disposable coffee cup in a photo on the party’s website that was later altered to show her holding a reusable cup with a metal straw, contrary to her party’s earlier claims.
A party spokesperson previously told the National Post that May had been holding a reusable cup, and the image had been photoshopped simply to include another reusable cup, one bearing the Green Party logo. At the time, the spokesperson said the party was unable to provide the Post with a copy of the original photo.
But the Post has obtained the original photo from internet archives, which shows May holding a single-use, disposable cup. The cup was biodegradable, however — it was produced by Eco-Products, a manufacturer of compostable dishes and containers.
In a statement, May said she was not aware the image had been altered, and she had nothing to hide. “I was completely shocked to find that the party had photoshopped an image of me from last year’s Sidney Street Market,” she said.
“My personal daily practice is to avoid single use plastic items 100% of the time. I never drink from plastic water bottles. I always carry my own reusable coffee cup. I carry my own bamboo utensils. I walk the talk every day. I hope that despite this misstep by well-meaning party staff (who hoped to brand the image with our logo), people can believe that in the original photo there is nothing I would have hidden.”
The party did not explain why it had previously claimed the original cup was reusable. A copy of the original photo was attached to May’s
Online archives suggest the photo was altered between June 27 and July 16, shortly after the party’s website was redesigned in May.
Last spring, a cropped version of the image appeared on the main page of the party’s website, showing only May’s face. After the website was redesigned, a larger version of the photo appeared on the home page, showing May holding the disposable cup. By mid-July, the photo had been altered to show a reusable cup bearing the Green Party logo, with a metal straw.
A version of the unedited photo has been distributed to media outlets, including iPolitics. It was cropped so as not to show the disposable cup.
Green Party spokesperson Rosie Emery previously told the Post the photo was altered simply to display the Green Party logo, and she didn’t think it was meant to make a statement about May’s environmental values. “She is a person… who walks her talk in every way. She really does. That’s one of the things I admire about her,” Emery said.
The Green Party’s platform, released last week, promises to ban the production of nonessential single-use plastics, including disposable straws, plates, cups, lids and cutlery, by January 2022.
Coffee cups manufactured by Eco-Products don’t contain the petroleum-based plastic lining on ordinary single-use cups. Instead, the biodegradable cups are lined with polylactic acid, a bioplastic generally derived from corn starch or sugar cane.