John Oliver chides Americans for being unaware of Canada's 'historic' election, then chides Canada

John Oliver educates Americans on Canada's national election
(Image credit: Last Week Tonight)

This is how John Oliver introduced his deep dive into Canada's national elections on Sunday's Last Week Tonight: "Canada, the country you think about so little. That's it, end of sentence." This is a shame, he added, since Canada is the United States' largest trading partner and shares with it the world's longest national border. "That makes it a little sad," he added, that most viewers in the U.S. aren't even aware Canada is going to the polls on Monday, and — if they watch his show — will have "waited until literally almost the last moment to learn the first thing about the Canadian election — an election, by the way, of historic proportions."

Canada has packed a surprising amount of drama into its 78-day campaign — a length of campaign Canada adorably considers long and arduous, Oliver noted. And that Conservative MP candidate caught urinating in a client's coffee cup isn't even the most shocking thing about the campaign. Oliver introduced and critiqued the three main candidates for prime minister, focusing on two: Justin Trudeau, the Liberal with a goofy party trick who's viewed as less intelligent than his famous prime minister father; and Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who, Oliver said, is a boring, banally "evil" anti-Islam panderer.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.