AFP Canada

Thimerosal: the mercury-based preservative at the center of flu vaccine misinformation

Published on 15 November 2019 at 03:55Updated on 15 November 2019 at 20:10

According to social media posts, flu shots contain 25 micrograms of mercury, despite the safe limit for injected mercury being zero. This is misleading; of the nine flu vaccines authorized in Canada this year, only five contain thimerosal, a mercury-containing organic compound used to preserve vaccines. Additionally, studies find that the amount of mercury contained in vaccines is too low to have an adverse impact on health.

Rainbow poppies not mandatory for Remembrance Day at Manitoba school

Published on 8 November 2019 at 01:12

An inflamed debate spawned on Twitter left Canadian social media users believing that high school students in the central province of Manitoba were forced to wear rainbow-colored poppies in order to honor LGBT veterans at a Remembrance Day ceremony. This is misleading; two teenagers were suspended for posting flyers around school expressing their opposition to the rainbow poppies, not for refusing to wear them.

Celine Dion did not die in a plane crash

Published on 6 November 2019 at 23:10

A website created four days ago claims that Canadian music icon Celine Dion died in a plane crash, without providing details. This is false; Dion’s talent agency told AFP the singer is alive, and the website used an altered video from CNN’s New Day program, although the US news channel never reported Dion’s death.

Canadian elections 2019: 35 million ballots printed, not votes counted

Published on 6 November 2019 at 19:48Updated on 6 November 2019 at 23:23

Social media users in Canada claim that the October 21 federal elections were spoiled by voter fraud, because 35 million votes were counted when Canada only has 27.5 million eligible voters. This is false: 18.5 million ballots were cast during the 2019 vote, Elections Canada, the country’s electoral agency told AFP, while 35 million refers to the number of ballots printed to avoid shortages.

Mass graves at Canadian residential school: false story, unrelated photo

Published on 1 November 2019 at 22:20Updated on 4 November 2019 at 23:27

A class photo from a Canadian residential school for indigenous children is resurfacing on Canadian social media alongside claims that all of the children in the photo were killed in 1943 due to overcrowding, and their remains were found in a mass grave in 2008. This is false: representatives of the cultural center standing on the site of the Mohawk Institute told AFP no mass grave was discovered, and the photo used in the post was taken in 1925 in British Columbia.

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