Nestled next to the editorial in newspapers across North America you will find a knee slapper, cringe worthy, or occasionally hilarious on point political cartoon. While this fundamental medium has taught millions of folks before us to laugh at the hypocritical actions of politicians and farcical ideas, today many people see political satire through a different medium. South of the border, Americans are able to watch world class satire on shows like Saturday Night Live or The Daily Show and online through Funny or Die, and College Humor. In Canada, we’ve got This Hour Has 22 Minutes, CBC Punchline and The Rick Mercer Report. But wait, if you’re thinking “all of these shows are from the CBC,” you are correct. If you’re thinking that George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight/The Hour might be the last hold out, it too had deep ties with the CBC. Disregarding the fact the CBC is funded by the government, this issue is most troubling because the independent satirists are nowhere to be found. Yes, I have seen Tony Turner’s music video called Harperman, but if the story wasn’t surrounded by scandal I don’t think that would be the case.
Home grown, successful political satire is lacking in this country, and it’s a problem the size of Baffin Island. Yes, it’s pretty neat that once in a while South Park will do an impersonation of an MP, or Jimmy Kimmel will invite Rob Ford to Hollywood, but why are these things not being done more by Canadian networks and content creators? Ali Hassan (CBC, Goon, Stand-up) and I spoke last week about how Canadian comedic content is on the rise, but it’s just not there yet. What Canada needs is someone as funny as Tina Fey doing her Sarah Palin impression on an independent Canadian network.
Canadian politics can be dry—very dry. But by learning through laughter, it makes the content much more accessible. It’s no secret that the youth vote has been underwhelming in this country. I wonder if it would make any difference if the comedic programing viewed reflected the funnier moments of Canadian politics. Wouldn’t it be great to see Ryan Reynolds embrace his inner Justin Trudeau for a comedy sketch? Or see Kristeen Von Hagen do her best Elizabeth May impression? Look, I know it’s not likely we will see a Norm Macdonald version of Harper face off with a Seth Rogen version of Thomas Mulcair, but maybe one day political satire will return to Canada. I greatly look forward to the day we can all collectively stop laughing at Donald Trump’s hair and start laughing at what goes on around Parliament Hill.