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

John Oliver educates Americans on Canada&#039;s national election

(Image credit: Last Week Tonight)

published 19 October 2015

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 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.