In effort to stress the party's desire to embrace Canada's wilderness, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper tweeted out an image Friday night of a lake in front of an expanse of trees with the text: "Supporting Conservation and Outdoor Communities."
The tweet was linked to a series of promises Harper had made earlier in the day, including increased funding for tourism in the Yukon and a program to help sustain wildlife habitats.
There was only one problem. The background photo was not actually a piece of Canada's sprawling wilderness. It instead belongs to our neighbours to the south.
The image is, in fact, a stock photo taken of Little Crater Lake in Oregon.
A reverse image search of the photo reveals that it has been used for a wide array of materials, including websites for law and real estate firms, Earth Day greeting cards and a climate change awareness organization.
The gaffe was pointed out by numerous Twitter users on Friday night.
.@pmharper Look familiar? http://t.co/LsKsEjThtv #elxn42
— Publius (@publius2k15) September 4, 2015
, @pmharper please explain to Canadians why you are supporting conservation in #Oregon at #littleCraterLake ? We're confused! #cdnpoli
— Kara Ardan (@KaraArdan) September 5, 2015
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May also weighed in, criticizing the party for the mistake on Saturday. "Oops, they did it again."
No local salmon, bridges, or forests in CPC signs? "@CanadianGreens: Oops, they did it again. http://t.co/2dNWQlSP5a pic.twitter.com/NARAOLl7Zh"
— Elizabeth May (@ElizabethMay) September 5, 2015
This is not the first time the Conservatives have misidentified a part of Canada's environment.
The party also used a photo of an Atlantic salmon, instead of a Pacific salmon, in an online ad touting a $15-million plan to protect salmon habitat in B.C. That photo also appears to have been sourced from an online stock photo database. The Conservatives quickly removed the image and replaced it with one of a Pacific salmon.
Several other mistakes have been made by the party in ads running during the campaign.
Earlier this week, Harper touted Halifax's shipbuilding industry in a video that was revealed to be shot in front of a bridge in Johnstown, Ont.
Another recent blunder saw, the Conservative party use a stock photo of Colombian miners in ad promoting a mineral exploration tax credit.
And in August, the Tories also used a stock photo of a family from Seattle in online ads for a proposal to increase a federal tax credit for adoptive parents.