Article content continued

The 45-second online spot opens with a series of images of ISIL fighters and their victims, taken from recent ISIL propaganda, while one of the group’s anthems “Saleel al-Sawarim” plays ominously in the background of the video. Included are a photo of several men being drowned in a cage and another of ISIL captives with explosive cords wrapped around their necks before being beheaded by the detonation.

The video then transitions to “Justin Trudeau’s response,” a number of clips taken from the Liberal leader’s Wednesday interview with the CBC’s Terry Milewski.

“Yes, we’d move away from the [bombing] mission,” Trudeau says in the clip.

“If you don’t want to bomb a group as ghastly as ISIS, when would you ever support real military action?” Milewski asks.

“Terry, that’s a nonsensical question,” Trudeau says before the screen fades to the now-familiar “just not ready” graphic.

The ad is the strongest Tory attack on the Liberal leader since the party adapted its messaging from painting Trudeau as “in over his head” to “just not ready” — an apparent recognition that while support for the Liberals is nowhere near historic levels, Trudeau himself is still popular among many Canadians even outside his party.

The ad also comes on the heels of the government’s new anti-terrorism law, which includes provisions to censor and remove terrorist propaganda found online. Defence Minister Jason Kenney called the ISIL materials “brutal terrorist snuff videos” when they were released, making it all the more striking the Conservatives used the ISIL propaganda in a partisan attack ad. (The National Post ran some of the same images in reporting on ISIL’s killings but abstained from republishing the most graphic ones.)