Greenpeace has released a series of satirical videos that take aim at a Conservative government plan to buy ads touting the benefits of more development in Alberta's oil sands.
The ads, which feature a conversation between a fake prime minister and environment minister, accuse the Harper government of "greenwashing" the environmental impacts of development in the oil sands.
"We'll use millions of tax dollars to create the slickest ad campaign since 'GST is temporary,'" said actor Peter Keleghan playing a fictional environment minister.
A second ad also jokes about how oil spills and pipeline construction would create good jobs across the country and how climate change would make Canada's Arctic "safe for oil companies and you."
"Tell Harper you want green energy not greenwash," a voiceover says at the end of the ad.
Check out the videos (story continues below slideshow)
Canada's government announced in May that it was running the ads in an effort to sway U.S. opinion on the Keystone XL pipeline. The ads appeared in prominent political publications including Politico, the Washington Post and the New Republic, reported the National Post.
According to the Canadian Press, Natural Resources Canada is spending some $16.5 million on ads, up from the $9 million it spent on advertising the year before.
In April, the Alberta government also released ads talking up the benefits of the Keystone XL pipeline. In 2011, a series of ads ran on the Oprah Network trying to rebrand Alberta's oil as "ethical oil."