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.

Surprisingly, given his abuse of the name "Justin," Oliver made only one Justin Bieber jokes during the whole 15-minute-report. But he did bring on another Canadian favorite son to help break Canadian law and urge Canadians to vote against Harper. Unless you like Harper — assuming, Americans, you even know who he is — you will probably cheer Oliver on, because his kiss-off to Canadian election law is hilarious. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.