Justin Trudeau fires back at alleged Conservative commenter recruitment via Craigslist

When real-time online commentary is still a novelty, it apparently doesn't take much to stir things up in the early days of a federal election campaign.

That's based on the reaction to a Craigslist job posting in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Halifax: "Writers Needed to Post Right-wing comments."

"I think this is worth repeating, in case anyone actually thought social media trolls were genuine believers," tweeted Liberal MP Justin Trudeau on Tuesday morning, even though there was no evidence the subject of his outrage was the real thing.

When challenged about its legitimacy, Trudeau pointed to video of a CTV Newsnet segment in which the move by governments to monitor online exchanges was discussed.

Last year, it was revealed the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade paid a Toronto-based Social Media Group $75,000 to monitor and respond to postings about the East Coast seal hunt.

But would a similar firm be so sloppily recruiting people to stir up debate in favour of the Conservatives in the weeks leading up to the May 2 vote? Craigslist job postings, particularly in the writing/editing category in which the offer was extended, aren't known for their consistent legitimacy.

The website charges a $25 fee for recruitment notices in the largest American markets in order to help weed out illegitimate offers, but no such charge exists in Canada.

Regardless, the offer itself could have used a good editor.

"Your writing must be strong, right-wing and use the supplied talking points without being bogged down in too much detail," read the posting. "You are creating an online persona with a consistent tone. Ideally you can find or construct facts and statistics to stir controversey (sic). Where suited humour is welcome."

Prospective applicants were encouraged to submit a 100-word post based on the headline: "Ignatieff Promises No Coallitions (sic) after Election."

Conservative campaign chief Guy Giorno responded by deeming the ad a fake, and while even the most jaded media types tended to agree with him, the sentiment on Facebook and Twitter is it reflects a deeper symptom regardless.

Trudeau pointed to the fact that while it had been flagged for removal in other cities, the ad remained on Calgary's Craigslist by mid-morning.

And, in case it was unclear how the Liberals felt about these tactics, he added a hashtag: "#Contempt."

(CP Photo)