I've been fortunate enough to have spent a few minutes chatting with him. He is genuine and, of course, hilarious with a great thinking mind. A Canadian treasure.
So I was a 4th year university student studying Political Science when this happened in late 2008 and early 2009. It was as chaotic as I've ever seen Canadian Politics. Nobody knew what was really going to happen. After the 2008 financial crash there was an election in Canada and the Conservative Party won the most seats, but not a majority of seats in Parliament. They formed a minority government, and the leader of the second largest party, the Liberal Party, announced his resignation once a new leader was chosen. Following a surprisingly optimistic budget plan, which included major cuts to funding for smaller political parties, the three smaller parties agreed to form a Coalition. The Liberal Party, and New Democratic Party (NDP) would form a government with support from the separatist Bloc Quebecois party. In order to avoid the House of Commons vote he would almost certainly lose the Prime Minister requested the Governor General to Prorogue Parliament, which she granted. Buying the Prime Minister a few months to come up with a new budget and a plan to break the coalition. During the Prorogation the Liberal Party selected a new leader, one who was disinclined to support the Coalition. When Parliament returned the Liberals supported the new budget, and the Prime Minister kept his job and the Conservative government.
That about sums it up. Of course, our current PM, Trudeau is famous for proroguing Parliament when it is politically expedient to do so, and he now has a coalition government of his own with the NDP. That NDP coalition has forced the Liberals to bring in the beginnings of Universal Day-care, Universal Pharmacare and Universal Dental. All programs that the NDP wanted to have brought in exchange for their support of the Trudeau Liberal government.
This is also the explanation for the "this dude" and "this dude" and "no, it couldn't be that dude" section. There was serious concern that if the Coalition formed, the Conservative party would need to find a new leader to replace Stephen Harper. I don't actually recognize "this dude" or "this dude" but I do recognize "no, it couldn't be that dude" as John Baird. At this time he was Harper's Environment Minister but later would server as Minister of Transport and also Foreign Affairs Minister. As Environment Minister, this guy was not very popular because during the financial crisis of 2008, he felt it wasn't a good time to be putting restrictions on Canadian industry to meet carbon requirements for the Kyoto Protocol. So even though Canada agreed to it, he did pretty much nothing to actually follow through. Also, he pretty much put anyone in the opposition or international community that supported it on blast.
Everything that Rick Mercer says about Canada and it’s politics is true. Even though he looks for the funny side of an activity or incident it’s all true. The comedy is used to show people the problem with a particular issue that they might not have seen on their own.
His humour is only understood by those who understand the topic very well to begin with. His humour is missed by those who are trying to learn and as such he displays us as a banana republic. He is trying to get Canadians to laugh at ourselves which is a trait typically displayed in NewFoundLand which i 8:17 book about themselves. Here’s one for you: How do you get a one armed off a flag pole? Answer: “you wave to him”. Another one: what is an example of a lazy Newfoundlander? Answer: “He marries a pregnant woman”.
There's an important context to consider for this video: This clip comes from a political comedy show called "This Hour has 22 Minutes", which aired only in Canada, to Canadian audiences. It was by, for, and of Canadians. Baring that in mind... Rick is actually explaining how Canada's upper government functions TO Canadians, because it had become apparent that a pretty large percentage of Canadians WERE NOT AWARE of a lot of these facts. Ask most Canadians, and they'll tell you Canada is an independent sovereign nation that runs itself (and we do) However "officially" (as opposed to "in practical terms") the English monarch is our "Head of State". Considering the English monarchy doesn't really have any real ruling authority even in England, this title is 99.9% ceremonial and weightless (And Rick here is explaining that other 0.1% situation). Canada operates as it's own nation, however, we never had the falling out with Britain that the USA did, so we still honour our historical relationship to England, in the same way children grow up and move out of their mother's house, but will still mail her a Mother's Day card. The two most PRACTICAL ways in which we might still be considered a subservient British colony, would be if we paid taxes to England as tribute, or if England had the power to order our armies into war. We don't do either of those. In fact, in WW2, Canada purposefully delayed its entry into the war by one week after England joined, just to remind folks we don't jump when they say jump... and then after we'd made our point we grabbed our guns and started loading up into planes and ships to rush to England's aid (I mean come on, that's *our Mom's* house being air-bombed! OF COURSE we're coming to help!!!)
While Rick Mercer started off on "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", this segment aired in 2008 which would have been when he was doing "Rick Mercer Report". It's similar to how Stephen Colbert started off on "The Daily Show" before starting his own show "The Colbert Report".
Explained really well, yes his stories are true. Right now Rick is on tour with a friend of his, Jann Arden (who is a singer/actor from Calgary). They are hilarious together. Jann has been on Rick's show often and Jann had her own show at one time. That was very funny as well.
I like our British connection. I shook the Queens hand when I was 16 in Halifax Nova Scotia Canada and was interviewed by live at 5 by Nancy Reagan and Paul Menier. It was a great experience
1:21 Mert, you asked 'when was this?' Rick must have recorded the video between February 2006 (when Harper became PM) and September 2010 (when Michaëlle Jean left Governor General's office). And yes, Mercer didn't make up the stories, he just embellished them a bit, as a comedian will do.
Ran into Rick Mercer this past weekend... he was getting coffee in the mall. I said "Hey! You're Rick Mercer!" he replied "yeah sorry about that" We chatted about the weather and gave a fist bump. Great guy!
You MUST do his reports where he is with Jann Arden, I believe 10 episodes with her, bungee jumping with Rock Hansen, interviewing and hanging out with prime ministers. 😂 He is a Canadian TREASURE LOVED BY ALL OF CANADA.
He retired from TV sadly. Whenever we have a minority government, the ruling party has to strike deals with one of the other parties to get stuff passed and hold onto power. Some people prefer minority governments so compromise is a must vs majority governments who just do whatever they want even if a large portion of Canadians don't like it. We have HORRIBLE voter turn out, so the official ruling party often represents maybe 30% of the people that voted. Two of our Govenor Generals were TV personalities, Adrienne Clarkson and Michel Jean. Oh Canada. Hugs from 🇨🇦
Yes, it was true. The 4th member he showed and said “not this guy” I believe it was Maxim Bernier. There’s not enough time to explain all of it but he once left top secret documents I think it was in a taxi while going to his girlfriend. The system of government is like the British form, like the slew of prime ministers you’ve had in the last few years but it was the conservatives who are leading. Mercer is fantastic. His video about Gord Downie still makes me so proud.
Problem is there is a major flaw, so long as the Minority government party has an ally in one of the others, it is impossible to remove the PM even when the country is in uproar about their policies. Such as it is right now with Justin Trudeau, the Liberal Party and the NDP. Even though many of their own voters are furious with the current direction they are going, the NDP are supporting the Liberals no matter what. Because if an election was called now the NDP would loose seats according to polling.
As a Canadian, I am proud of our roots. I was in the Canadian Forces for twenty years and I was more than happy to serve (at the time) Queen and country. I love tradition. It's what binds families and communities together. Without it, you lose your identity. I won't accept any argument against it. You may as well argue with a brick wall if you do try to.
I saw this segment when it was current news. It’s as funny now as it was then. As far as I know Rick is still making jokes about the news. He says Canadian politics are his baseball.
Rogers is one of the four big Telecommunications companies in Canada, actually one of the biggest companies in the country period. They control a large section of the media landscape. Including cable/satellite phone and internet connection, cell phone infrastructure and services, television channels, and they own the Toronto Blue Jays Canada's only remaining Major League Baseball team
That really did happen. I remember it well. Stephen asked the GG to prorogue Parliment,effectively wiping clean the Order Paper of old or existing business and to set a new legislative agenda. It let him remain in power when all indications were that he was about to be tarred and feathered. (Well, figuratively at least). It was regarded as a vey sleazy move.
Rick Mercer is a national treasure! Nobody does a better job defining Canada or Canadianisms. As for our loyalty to the British monarchy, in my opinion, more of us each year would like to dissolve it.
Yep, it seems that way with the polling over the last several years. When the inevitable polls of what makes us Canadian happen around Canada day, the connection to the monarchy rarely makes the top 10.
I personally like our association with Britain. My husband, on the other hand, emigrated from Scotland. He never did become a Canadian citizen (dual citizenship) because he would have had to swear allegiance to the Queen.
I wish he was still on T.V. He’d have a field day. The show he was on before the “Rick Mercer Report” was “This Hour Has 22 Minutes.” You can find recent clips from them here on RUclips which will give a more recent picture of how politics are right now.
This happened in December 2008 and is very much a real story. We had a minority government and rather than allow a no-confidence vote, the governor general agreed with the PM to prorogue government and it was quite an issue. Rick Mercer is still a Canadian star and does lots of work with the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). He will, apparently, be touring the country doing political chats and conversations with another popular Canadian.
Yes it's true and Steven Harper was defeated so bad in the next election it was so embarrassing that he retreated from public life. Haven't seen or heard anything about him in many years
He's trying to run a world-wide right wing coup called the IDU. Spends time with all the great folks that Trump does. And he's funded by....you don't want to know.
Not true. This segment was aired in 2008 when Harper was the leader of a minority government. The next election was in 2011 and Harper won a majority government and was able to accomplish a lot more things that he couldn't have done before like repealing the long-gun registry, withdrawing Canada from the Kyoto Protocol and authorizing Operation Impact to combat ISIS. It was in the 2015 elections that he was defeated.
Canada really doesn't bother much with the queen(king now) unless you are one of those people that fans out about monarchy. Mostly the connection is symbolic. We post her face on our money and move on with our lives.
That does basically explain Canadian politics on a federal level. It's a bit rough and ready but its what works. Most if the time. The vote for confidence is essential. Its basically all of the people you work with doing an intervention.
Rick has it going on. Every time we had a PC Prime Minister, the country went into a deep reception. The Liberals have gone rotten and I have no interest or faith in any of the current party leaders. Thank you for your interest in Canada. It's as beautiful as you've heard and seen.
Yes, it's mostly true. Harper tried to balance the budget by utilizing Canada Pension funds. He went back to his Strip mall constituency office in Calgary.
It’s true the executive power in Canada is the British monarchy and his power is expressed via the cabinet of ministers. I would personally never want to break further apart from Britain. It’s even an outside possibility that I would physically fight someone who disagreed.
Basically, The Tories had a minority government, PM Harper had the largest number of seats but did not have more than 50% of the seats in the house of commons. All other parties threatened to hold a vote of no confidence and form a 3 party coalition if he did not release the raw data on the Budget and revenue to back up his claims of surpluses. He responded by locking the MP's out of parliament so they were unable to get the conservatives out of power. After 3 weeks(I think) he released an updated projection and it showed when everyone knew to be true, Canada would post deficits over the next 5 years with the conservative budget. Harper was voted out of office the following election and Trudeau took power with a strong Majority government.
I am still happy to have a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary system of government. Look at the system of governance in the United States, it makes ours look really straight forward and easy to understand.
Rick Mercer is very good. Of course he exaggerates. No one gets irritated when the country has surpluses, unless some spending has been refused for questionable reasons while the funds were available.
"It could be this dude" - Preston Manning was leader of the Reform Party. It changed its name to Canadian Alliance for short and picked Stockwell Day as the new leader. The Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservatives to form the new Conservative Party of Canada. Stockwell Day - see video where Rick Mercer has petition to change his name to Doris. "This Hour Has 22 Minutes-Rick Mercer: Stockwell Doris Day" "No it couldn't be that dude." - John Baird was officially the workaholic that Harper let dance with his wife at functions. He was in a glass closet. He was accidentally outed on a radio show. The rabble short "Baird Bared" details his career right after politics. "Tory MP thinks Fartgate stinks | 22 Minutes" - exchange between Scott Brison and John Baird at end. Proroguing Parliament was a delay tactic which allowed a potential Coalition Government to fall apart. Canada tends not to have Coalition Governments and that was only the second attempt at one in our history. Canada tends towards "balance of power"
Rogers is one of Canada's major telecom monopolies that is left untouched by all political parties to bilk Canadians. The prorogation in late 2008 was a soft coup, no question about it - but not against Harper, but against the effort of other parties to form a majority. The GG had no obligation to prorogue parliament at Harper's request, especially when Harper was doing so in order to prevent a coalition of parties forming a majority.
No, by Justin Trudeau's hair, which is what silly, superficial, vapid Canadians who were enamoured with him were interested in. And whattaya think of him now..?
@@oilersridersbluejays Sadly Jack Layton passed away before 2015. I was back in university at the time and the phrase of the election was "anyone but Harper". If Jack were still around, I think we would have had a good chance at the first NDP prime minister instead of Trudeau.
Rogers is a telecommunications company. I had to switch to Rogers when the iphone first came out because they were the only ones who had it. As soon as other carriers started carrying them I switched. Their customer service is terrible. Re. the monarchy, the only good thing about it is how it differentiates us from the US. But I don't think that's a good enough reason.
This is an old one. Justin Trudeau. is Prime Minster (for now)ours is something like the House of Lords.Rogers is ( Still) the cable ) but Bell has fibre opt.....we love fast things...I know I love our connection to Britain...even if they did sell us to Canada ..very underhanded I must add...NFLD wanted to become part of the USA...we thought the Canadians were much too arrogant.
Elizabeth II was in fact _not_ "The Queen of England" and it follows that Charles III is not "The King of England". Kings and Queens have _Kingdoms_ and England has not been a Kingdom since 1707 when it merged with the Kingdom of Scotland. The last "Queen of England" was Anne who was "Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland" from 8 March 1702 to 1 May 1707, after which she was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death in 1714.
As a Canadian I never had any problem with the Queen. Probably since she has just always been there. Now Charles I am a little iffy on and I am not at all thrilled with either of his kids.
The King is a good man with a great sense of duty as was his Mother. William the Prince of Wales is also a great man with an amazing sense of duty that will do us proud when he is our King. In my opinion.
@@FakeSchrodingersCat they don't reign over Canada, they are a symbolic head of state, they are a tie to the beginning of Canada, a tie to our past, a continuity to our future. And with the King in the position of head of state it prevents any politician from trying to turn our and any commonwealth country into a dictatorship, or any other resurrection.
The monarchy, like circuses and bear baiting, is something from our dark past that really has no place in a modern world. But then again neither do most celebrities and sports figures. À chacun son goût, as we Canadians say (do we?).
The loyalty to the Crown is a defining feature of Canada. Us staying loyal caused all the loyalists in the US states after their insurrection to flee to Canada. Meny Canadians died in the wars against the US during 1776 and the following war of 1812. Including 3 members of my family, one of whom was my Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. In the following war, like the Boer War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq, also Peacekeepers, meny Canadians loyal to the Crown died for their beliefs. Staying with the Crown if forn nothing else but to honour our history and sacrifice is fine. It cost each Canadian a little over $7 in taxes a year to fund the royalty in the Crown of Canada. I know for my family we will always support the Crown because my family has fought and died for the Crown for over 400 years, because they chose to support the Crown that way not because they were forced too. God Save the King.
Hello there! Just so you know, this video is years old. Canada’s population is now 40.5 million. Rogers is a telecommunications company providing cable tv, internet, home and cell phone services etc. Canadians these days, according to a very recent poll done about a month ago by one of our tv news outlets, are not interested in the Royal Family (83% apparently), have no connection to the United Kingdom since many people who now call Canada home are immigrants from many other nations, and about 65% of those polled would like Canada to become completely independent from the Commonwealth and do not want British royalty on our currency. Rick Mercer was pointing to the most loyal Conservative soldiers in Stephen Harper’s government. (John Baird, in the last photo shown, was especially disliked due to his confrontational behaviour and his tendency to yell and shout in the House of Commons and also at government employees.) Stephen Harper was one of the poorest PMs we had, very controlling and secretive, promised transparency but then brought the shutters down after the election and wouldn’t share info willingly with the media. He also controlled very tightly what his party ministers and MPs were allowed to say to the media and also in the House. Unbelievable control freak. I always felt that he was a very cold, sly man and I didn’t feel he was trustworthy. Turns out he really wasn’t because he got our country involved with China too much to the point that now, Canada has had a lot of trouble with Chinese interference in our government, some businesses and Chinese immigrants being harassed by Chinese agents on our soil. Stephen Harper was a really arrogant fool for thinking that the Chinese government should ever be trusted. I hope this helps your understanding. 🇨🇦😊👍🏻
These polls are more of a reflection on the displeasure of King Charles among Canadians. If Queen Elizabeth was still with us, or if we had a King William, the results would very likely be a lot different.
I immigrated to Canada when I was six year old, in 1976. Suddenly I had to learn how to sing God Save the Queen for school assemblies! I didn't even know who or where she was, let alone why I had to sing to her here in Canada. All through school, including university, we were taught that England was our mother country. We learned its history, read its literature, etc., to the point that, when I did a DNA test in my 40s, I was genuinely surprised to see that I have very little English DNA and England is most certainly not my motherland in any way. When I was 24, I went ahead and got my Canadian citizenship. I had to swear allegiance to the queen! It was totally bonkers and not very pleasant.
So you would rather swear allegiance to a president who has to answer to no one or a monarch who has to answer to the people? The Magna Carta is over 800 years old and states that the monarch is not above the law and is what became the basis of democracy, freedom and law of rule in the Commonwealth. I think that if you didn't find it pleasant to swear allegiance to our monarch, maybe you should have moved back to your own country instead of taking citizenship in ours.
@@desyncer Honey, I'd rather not swear allegiance to anyone. That's healthy and normal. I'm not a slave, for crying out loud. Are you? And, by the way, your anti-immigrant bias is showing. Super nice.
@@CharlotteIssyvoo I'm not a slave either. I don't think you understand the liberties we are allowed in Canada. Did you not watch the video? The entire thing was handled in Canada, by Canadians, while the Queen chilled out in Britain and did not interfere one bit with our government. I am not anti-immigrant. I'm the son of an immigrant. I love that Canada is a multicultural nation that accepts people from all walks of life. But I am also proud of the heritage of this country. I am proud of the connection to the UK and to the Commonwealth nations through a shared tradition. And to think that someone is uneasy of accepting Canadian citizenship simply because you swear allegiance to the monarch when this country obviously offered a home for an immigrant family is what offended me. Like I said, I would rather have my state of head be someone that is responsible to the people. The fact that the monarch in another country is our leader but doesn't interfere with our government unless absolutely necessary (which if you look back in the history of Canada hasn't had to occur) rather than someone who answers only to themself is a pretty sweet deal.
@@desyncer You think democratically elected leaders answer only to themselves, eh? But monarchs do not? Interesting. You're also making a lot of assumptions about my immigration story that are based on your own stereotypes and prejudices. You have no idea how or why my family came here, what the country offered us, and what my family offered the country. As for pride in Canada's colonial heritage, are you bonkers? Have you paid attention to *anything* about the way Indigenous people were and are treated here? Dude! Learn some history. Open your eyes and ears. Get a grip.
@@CharlotteIssyvoo So why did you want to become a Canadian? I could have said more tastefully "You are welcome to stay in Canada as a permanent resident rather than getting your citizenship" instead of saying go back to your country but it wouldn't give the same tone that I felt. You make it sound like we should be ashamed to be Canadian.
Ha Ha, Rick's video is 14 years old and we're still on hold with Rogers.
😆
I'm now on Hold with Shaw.
@@SchreiX1 You're on hold while they try to transfer you to their back office/Rogers call centre.
For those who don’t know, Rogers is a phone and tech company.
16 years old. Pretty sure it was broadcast in 2008.
I actually like the connection to Britain.
Rick is literally a Canadian gem. He’s awesome
Aahh the trending misuse of the word literally, strikes again. But I fully agree with your figurative statement. Rick is a gem. A definite favourite.
Rick is a national treasure.
I've been fortunate enough to have spent a few minutes chatting with him. He is genuine and, of course, hilarious with a great thinking mind. A Canadian treasure.
I'm not surprised. He seems genuine & very funny. He always makes me laugh not an easy task.
My brother met him and said he's a great guy.
Make no mistake, Rick is spot on.
So I was a 4th year university student studying Political Science when this happened in late 2008 and early 2009. It was as chaotic as I've ever seen Canadian Politics. Nobody knew what was really going to happen. After the 2008 financial crash there was an election in Canada and the Conservative Party won the most seats, but not a majority of seats in Parliament. They formed a minority government, and the leader of the second largest party, the Liberal Party, announced his resignation once a new leader was chosen. Following a surprisingly optimistic budget plan, which included major cuts to funding for smaller political parties, the three smaller parties agreed to form a Coalition. The Liberal Party, and New Democratic Party (NDP) would form a government with support from the separatist Bloc Quebecois party.
In order to avoid the House of Commons vote he would almost certainly lose the Prime Minister requested the Governor General to Prorogue Parliament, which she granted. Buying the Prime Minister a few months to come up with a new budget and a plan to break the coalition. During the Prorogation the Liberal Party selected a new leader, one who was disinclined to support the Coalition. When Parliament returned the Liberals supported the new budget, and the Prime Minister kept his job and the Conservative government.
That about sums it up. Of course, our current PM, Trudeau is famous for proroguing Parliament when it is politically expedient to do so, and he now has a coalition government of his own with the NDP. That NDP coalition has forced the Liberals to bring in the beginnings of Universal Day-care, Universal Pharmacare and Universal Dental. All programs that the NDP wanted to have brought in exchange for their support of the Trudeau Liberal government.
I started working for Parliament in '07. The chaos was insane.
This is also the explanation for the "this dude" and "this dude" and "no, it couldn't be that dude" section. There was serious concern that if the Coalition formed, the Conservative party would need to find a new leader to replace Stephen Harper. I don't actually recognize "this dude" or "this dude" but I do recognize "no, it couldn't be that dude" as John Baird. At this time he was Harper's Environment Minister but later would server as Minister of Transport and also Foreign Affairs Minister. As Environment Minister, this guy was not very popular because during the financial crisis of 2008, he felt it wasn't a good time to be putting restrictions on Canadian industry to meet carbon requirements for the Kyoto Protocol. So even though Canada agreed to it, he did pretty much nothing to actually follow through. Also, he pretty much put anyone in the opposition or international community that supported it on blast.
Rogers is a cell phone provider in Canada
Also cable and internet
@@TheDopekittyyup they took over Shaw too
Just one more of the stupid big business monopolies we have to endure .
originally a cable tv provider
Everything that Rick Mercer says about Canada and it’s politics is true. Even though he looks for the funny side of an activity or incident it’s all true. The comedy is used to show people the problem with a particular issue that they might not have seen on their own.
His humour is only understood by those who understand the topic very well to begin with. His humour is missed by those who are trying to learn and as such he displays us as a banana republic. He is trying to get Canadians to laugh at ourselves which is a trait typically displayed in NewFoundLand which i 8:17 book about themselves. Here’s one for you: How do you get a one armed off a flag pole? Answer: “you wave to him”. Another one: what is an example of a lazy Newfoundlander? Answer: “He marries a pregnant woman”.
There's an important context to consider for this video: This clip comes from a political comedy show called "This Hour has 22 Minutes", which aired only in Canada, to Canadian audiences. It was by, for, and of Canadians. Baring that in mind... Rick is actually explaining how Canada's upper government functions TO Canadians, because it had become apparent that a pretty large percentage of Canadians WERE NOT AWARE of a lot of these facts. Ask most Canadians, and they'll tell you Canada is an independent sovereign nation that runs itself (and we do) However "officially" (as opposed to "in practical terms") the English monarch is our "Head of State". Considering the English monarchy doesn't really have any real ruling authority even in England, this title is 99.9% ceremonial and weightless (And Rick here is explaining that other 0.1% situation). Canada operates as it's own nation, however, we never had the falling out with Britain that the USA did, so we still honour our historical relationship to England, in the same way children grow up and move out of their mother's house, but will still mail her a Mother's Day card.
The two most PRACTICAL ways in which we might still be considered a subservient British colony, would be if we paid taxes to England as tribute, or if England had the power to order our armies into war. We don't do either of those. In fact, in WW2, Canada purposefully delayed its entry into the war by one week after England joined, just to remind folks we don't jump when they say jump... and then after we'd made our point we grabbed our guns and started loading up into planes and ships to rush to England's aid (I mean come on, that's *our Mom's* house being air-bombed! OF COURSE we're coming to help!!!)
I enjoyed your explanation! (Mom's house is in danger! To the boats!)
@@jessicazaytsoff1494 Many Canadians still had family connections in the UK at that point too so it made sense we jumped in to help.
While Rick Mercer started off on "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", this segment aired in 2008 which would have been when he was doing "Rick Mercer Report". It's similar to how Stephen Colbert started off on "The Daily Show" before starting his own show "The Colbert Report".
Rick is a very astute political commentator.
Absolutely smart & funny. He should run for Prime Minister I'd vote for him. 😊
Explained really well, yes his stories are true. Right now Rick is on tour with a friend of his, Jann Arden (who is a singer/actor from Calgary). They are hilarious together. Jann has been on Rick's show often and Jann had her own show at one time. That was very funny as well.
_Oahh Jehnn Errden, ya say, eh? Oahh yah._
I have tickets to their show in May. Looking forward to it!
We love Rick Mercer ❤️🇨🇦
I like our British connection. I shook the Queens hand when I was 16 in Halifax Nova Scotia Canada and was interviewed by live at 5 by Nancy Reagan and Paul Menier. It was a great experience
1:21 Mert, you asked 'when was this?' Rick must have recorded the video between February 2006 (when Harper became PM) and September 2010 (when Michaëlle Jean left Governor General's office). And yes, Mercer didn't make up the stories, he just embellished them a bit, as a comedian will do.
Ran into Rick Mercer this past weekend... he was getting coffee in the mall. I said "Hey! You're Rick Mercer!" he replied "yeah sorry about that" We chatted about the weather and gave a fist bump. Great guy!
You MUST do his reports where he is with Jann Arden, I believe 10 episodes with her, bungee jumping with Rock Hansen, interviewing and hanging out with prime ministers. 😂 He is a Canadian TREASURE LOVED BY ALL OF CANADA.
you can pay my share of the money we send them
_Oahh, it's Jehnn Errden, eh? Oahh yah._
He retired from TV sadly.
Whenever we have a minority government, the ruling party has to strike deals with one of the other parties to get stuff passed and hold onto power. Some people prefer minority governments so compromise is a must vs majority governments who just do whatever they want even if a large portion of Canadians don't like it. We have HORRIBLE voter turn out, so the official ruling party often represents maybe 30% of the people that voted.
Two of our Govenor Generals were TV personalities, Adrienne Clarkson and Michel Jean.
Oh Canada.
Hugs from 🇨🇦
Yes, it was true.
The 4th member he showed and said “not this guy” I believe it was Maxim Bernier. There’s not enough time to explain all of it but he once left top secret documents I think it was in a taxi while going to his girlfriend.
The system of government is like the British form, like the slew of prime ministers you’ve had in the last few years but it was the conservatives who are leading.
Mercer is fantastic. His video about Gord Downie still makes me so proud.
Actually that was John Baird.
@@ReggieWarrhol Who is equally terrible.
Asking a Canadian if Rick Mercer is still on TV is like asking a Firefly fan what happened in season 2 :P
It really is. I learned more about my nation through him than I did in school... certainly explored more of our culture and nation with him too.
@@KMCA779 I really miss him and would love his commentary for today's events but I do understand why he finally left.
got to love Rick
Rick Mercer is the greatest gift to Canada from the Comedy Gods.
I wish he still had a show I absolutely love him so funny
Mercer is on it. As a Canadian and American - the 'checks and balances' in Canada are FAR better than in the U.S.
Problem is there is a major flaw, so long as the Minority government party has an ally in one of the others, it is impossible to remove the PM even when the country is in uproar about their policies. Such as it is right now with Justin Trudeau, the Liberal Party and the NDP. Even though many of their own voters are furious with the current direction they are going, the NDP are supporting the Liberals no matter what. Because if an election was called now the NDP would loose seats according to polling.
I Love Rick Mercer!
I loved the late Queen! ❤
Rogers is a mobile phone, cable, company.
The "dudes" are cabinet members.
CDN Parliament is a Westminster model, similar to GB
We like your channel ..cheers from British Columbia
Rick Mercer, an absolute Canadian treasure. 🇨🇦
Love Rick Mercer. He was spot on.
Truth, bless rick mercer
As a Canadian, I am proud of our roots. I was in the Canadian Forces for twenty years and I was more than happy to serve (at the time) Queen and country. I love tradition. It's what binds families and communities together. Without it, you lose your identity. I won't accept any argument against it. You may as well argue with a brick wall if you do try to.
Love Rick Mercer! God save the King!!
Rick Mercer is a comic genius.
I saw this segment when it was current news. It’s as funny now as it was then. As far as I know Rick is still making jokes about the news. He says Canadian politics are his baseball.
You need to check out one of his rants. They were always some of his best segments.
Rogers is one of the four big Telecommunications companies in Canada, actually one of the biggest companies in the country period. They control a large section of the media landscape. Including cable/satellite phone and internet connection, cell phone infrastructure and services, television channels, and they own the Toronto Blue Jays Canada's only remaining Major League Baseball team
And if you call them you end up on hold for half the day!
Yep, very true! That's a big part of why I don't use them. Lol
That really did happen. I remember it well. Stephen asked the GG to prorogue Parliment,effectively wiping clean the Order Paper of old or existing business and to set a new legislative agenda. It let him remain in power when all indications were that he was about to be tarred and feathered. (Well, figuratively at least). It was regarded as a vey sleazy move.
Was it sleazy when Trudeau prorogue Parliament, or were you ok with that?
@@slake9727 Both were sleazy. Two sleazy guys. Two sleazy parties.
Prorogue is like Cntr+Alt+Del everything is rebooted in House of Commons and Senate. New speech from Thorne by Governor General.
@noseeyou I’ll take the Conservatives over any other party, any day. They aren’t perfect, but they are better than the rest.
I am the exact opposite.
Thx Mert…. He is one of our best . 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌
Rick Mercer is a national treasure! Nobody does a better job defining Canada or Canadianisms. As for our loyalty to the British monarchy, in my opinion, more of us each year would like to dissolve it.
Yep, it seems that way with the polling over the last several years. When the inevitable polls of what makes us Canadian happen around Canada day, the connection to the monarchy rarely makes the top 10.
I personally like our association with Britain. My husband, on the other hand, emigrated from Scotland. He never did become a Canadian citizen (dual citizenship) because he would have had to swear allegiance to the Queen.
Technically it's a separate monarchy. Charles is King of Canada as a separate entity from King of the UK.
I wish he was still on T.V. He’d have a field day. The show he was on before the “Rick Mercer Report” was “This Hour Has 22 Minutes.” You can find recent clips from them here on RUclips which will give a more recent picture of how politics are right now.
I swore on an oath to Queen Victoria when I joined the Canadian army and didn't mind it as it is all in tradition.
This happened in December 2008 and is very much a real story. We had a minority government and rather than allow a no-confidence vote, the governor general agreed with the PM to prorogue government and it was quite an issue. Rick Mercer is still a Canadian star and does lots of work with the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). He will, apparently, be touring the country doing political chats and conversations with another popular Canadian.
Haper used shenanigans to retain power when he shouldn't have been allowed to.
Rick is a national treasure. We love him 🇨🇦
Love the connection with UK. Thks for the start but it's time to go. We can stand proud all by ourselves.
Yes it's true and Steven Harper was defeated so bad in the next election it was so embarrassing that he retreated from public life. Haven't seen or heard anything about him in many years
Stephen Harper runs the IDU and runs around the planet hob knobing with fascist governments.
He's trying to run a world-wide right wing coup called the IDU. Spends time with all the great folks that Trump does. And he's funded by....you don't want to know.
He wasn’t defeated that badly. Trudeau is going to face a massive collapse whenever the next election.
And I can’t wait.
Not true. This segment was aired in 2008 when Harper was the leader of a minority government. The next election was in 2011 and Harper won a majority government and was able to accomplish a lot more things that he couldn't have done before like repealing the long-gun registry, withdrawing Canada from the Kyoto Protocol and authorizing Operation Impact to combat ISIS. It was in the 2015 elections that he was defeated.
All true. For context, Rogers is a major cell phone/cable/internet provider rivalled directly by (read as colluding with) Bell.
I give you props for trying this one because it's very topical and you really need to know what was going on at the time to find it funny.
Canada really doesn't bother much with the queen(king now) unless you are one of those people that fans out about monarchy. Mostly the connection is symbolic. We post her face on our money and move on with our lives.
That does basically explain Canadian politics on a federal level.
It's a bit rough and ready but its what works. Most if the time.
The vote for confidence is essential. Its basically all of the people you work with doing an intervention.
Fun little fact the governer general is appointed by the prime minister instead of the royal family
check out the royal canadian air farce. it was a political comedy show on tv here.
Rick has it going on. Every time we had a PC Prime Minister, the country went into a deep reception. The Liberals have gone rotten and I have no interest or faith in any of the current party leaders.
Thank you for your interest in Canada. It's as beautiful as you've heard and seen.
Yes, it's mostly true. Harper tried to balance the budget by utilizing Canada Pension funds. He went back to his Strip mall constituency office in Calgary.
It’s true the executive power in Canada is the British monarchy and his power is expressed via the cabinet of ministers.
I would personally never want to break further apart from Britain. It’s even an outside possibility that I would physically fight someone who disagreed.
Have you ever seen Rick Mercer taking Rick Hansen bungie jumping? Strangely funny!
Can you hear our various Canadian accents? Rick Mercer is from Newfoundland and his accent is quite strong.
I walked through Rick Mercers head at the Thamesville Corn Maze
He is so funny. At least we can laugh at ourselves.
Yes to all
Basically, The Tories had a minority government, PM Harper had the largest number of seats but did not have more than 50% of the seats in the house of commons. All other parties threatened to hold a vote of no confidence and form a 3 party coalition if he did not release the raw data on the Budget and revenue to back up his claims of surpluses. He responded by locking the MP's out of parliament so they were unable to get the conservatives out of power. After 3 weeks(I think) he released an updated projection and it showed when everyone knew to be true, Canada would post deficits over the next 5 years with the conservative budget. Harper was voted out of office the following election and Trudeau took power with a strong Majority government.
Yup. This was 2008 right as the great financial crisis was kicking off.
I am still happy to have a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary system of government. Look at the system of governance in the United States, it makes ours look really straight forward and easy to understand.
Rick Mercer is very good. Of course he exaggerates. No one gets irritated when the country has surpluses, unless some spending has been refused for questionable reasons while the funds were available.
"It could be this dude" - Preston Manning was leader of the Reform Party. It changed its name to Canadian Alliance for short and picked Stockwell Day as the new leader. The Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservatives to form the new Conservative Party of Canada.
Stockwell Day - see video where Rick Mercer has petition to change his name to Doris. "This Hour Has 22 Minutes-Rick Mercer: Stockwell Doris Day"
"No it couldn't be that dude." - John Baird was officially the workaholic that Harper let dance with his wife at functions. He was in a glass closet. He was accidentally outed on a radio show. The rabble short "Baird Bared" details his career right after politics. "Tory MP thinks Fartgate stinks | 22 Minutes" - exchange between Scott Brison and John Baird at end.
Proroguing Parliament was a delay tactic which allowed a potential Coalition Government to fall apart. Canada tends not to have Coalition Governments and that was only the second attempt at one in our history. Canada tends towards "balance of power"
I love that idea we are part of the Commonwealth
Rogers is one of Canada's major telecom monopolies that is left untouched by all political parties to bilk Canadians. The prorogation in late 2008 was a soft coup, no question about it - but not against Harper, but against the effort of other parties to form a majority. The GG had no obligation to prorogue parliament at Harper's request, especially when Harper was doing so in order to prevent a coalition of parties forming a majority.
lol
I was proud to be one of Granny Liz's grandkids.....but was born into it. I don't care for Charles, and have no tie to William.
RIP Granny Liz
Rogers is a Telecommunications company
Truly, watching the Canadian government in action is like watching an episode of The Muppet Show.
and we have a TV channel devoted to it.
As a Canadian, we have outgrown the Monarchy
As a Canadian I don't agree.
Rick Mercer is mad jokes😂😂❤
Rogers is a Canadian cable, internet and cell phone company.
Rogers is a cable/cellular/internet provider
Rogers is a TV/cable station
Rogers is a communication company
The parliamentary monarchy is the best form of government.
Rogers is one of the 3 big cell phone, cable, etc. providers.
What is being described, still exists. Funny what you can get used to.
I still enjoy being connected to England. It doesn’t feel as strong of a connection as it was years ago.
Love our connection to the Monarchy. Love Rick Mercer lol
Steven Harper was eventually beaten by Justin Trudeau.
No, by Justin Trudeau's hair, which is what silly, superficial, vapid Canadians who were enamoured with him were interested in.
And whattaya think of him now..?
Unfortunately.
@@oilersridersbluejays Sadly Jack Layton passed away before 2015. I was back in university at the time and the phrase of the election was "anyone but Harper". If Jack were still around, I think we would have had a good chance at the first NDP prime minister instead of Trudeau.
Rogers is a telecommunications company. I had to switch to Rogers when the iphone first came out because they were the only ones who had it. As soon as other carriers started carrying them I switched. Their customer service is terrible. Re. the monarchy, the only good thing about it is how it differentiates us from the US. But I don't think that's a good enough reason.
Rings true then and now, only the names have changed.
This is an old one. Justin Trudeau. is Prime Minster (for now)ours is something like the House of Lords.Rogers is ( Still) the cable ) but Bell has fibre opt.....we love fast things...I know I love our connection to Britain...even if they did sell us to Canada ..very underhanded I must add...NFLD wanted to become part of the USA...we thought the Canadians were much too arrogant.
it's all true brother Mert ;(
Rogers is a cell phone Company in Canada, hence the double entendre.
Rogers is a cable company that started with cable TV and also offers cell hone coverage and internet.
Most Canadians, including Rick Mercer, don realize that our monarch is a Canadian citizen. Fact.
Elizabeth II was in fact _not_ "The Queen of England" and it follows that Charles III is not "The King of England". Kings and Queens have _Kingdoms_ and England has not been a Kingdom since 1707 when it merged with the Kingdom of Scotland. The last "Queen of England" was Anne who was "Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland" from 8 March 1702 to 1 May 1707, after which she was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death in 1714.
Ok ur accent an ginger hair is killing me 😁😁🤙🤙😏😏
Under duress, I once swore allegiance to the State of Ohio - after that, HM is easy.
As a Canadian I never had any problem with the Queen. Probably since she has just always been there. Now Charles I am a little iffy on and I am not at all thrilled with either of his kids.
The King is a good man with a great sense of duty as was his Mother. William the Prince of Wales is also a great man with an amazing sense of duty that will do us proud when he is our King. In my opinion.
@@garnetj69 That's fine opinions are like that. But exactly how does that entitle them to reign over Canada?
@@FakeSchrodingersCat they don't reign over Canada, they are a symbolic head of state, they are a tie to the beginning of Canada, a tie to our past, a continuity to our future. And with the King in the position of head of state it prevents any politician from trying to turn our and any commonwealth country into a dictatorship, or any other resurrection.
ROGERS is our phone company
It had nothing to do with George W. BUSH.
THE NARRATOR is also a part of the commonwealth and has a similar system.
The monarchy, like circuses and bear baiting, is something from our dark past that really has no place in a modern world.
But then again neither do most celebrities and sports figures. À chacun son goût, as we Canadians say (do we?).
Rogers = Cable, internet, mobile phone plans, etc.
I think pledging to the King is ridiculous, very out dated. But, it keeps us part of the Commonwealth. This is very old, at least ten years.
The loyalty to the Crown is a defining feature of Canada. Us staying loyal caused all the loyalists in the US states after their insurrection to flee to Canada. Meny Canadians died in the wars against the US during 1776 and the following war of 1812. Including 3 members of my family, one of whom was my Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. In the following war, like the Boer War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq, also Peacekeepers, meny Canadians loyal to the Crown died for their beliefs. Staying with the Crown if forn nothing else but to honour our history and sacrifice is fine. It cost each Canadian a little over $7 in taxes a year to fund the royalty in the Crown of Canada. I know for my family we will always support the Crown because my family has fought and died for the Crown for over 400 years, because they chose to support the Crown that way not because they were forced too. God Save the King.
Amen. God Save the King.
Thank you and your family❤
Hello there! Just so you know, this video is years old. Canada’s population is now 40.5 million. Rogers is a telecommunications company providing cable tv, internet, home and cell phone services etc. Canadians these days, according to a very recent poll done about a month ago by one of our tv news outlets, are not interested in the Royal Family (83% apparently), have no connection to the United Kingdom since many people who now call Canada home are immigrants from many other nations, and about 65% of those polled would like Canada to become completely independent from the Commonwealth and do not want British royalty on our currency. Rick Mercer was pointing to the most loyal Conservative soldiers in Stephen Harper’s government. (John Baird, in the last photo shown, was especially disliked due to his confrontational behaviour and his tendency to yell and shout in the House of Commons and also at government employees.) Stephen Harper was one of the poorest PMs we had, very controlling and secretive, promised transparency but then brought the shutters down after the election and wouldn’t share info willingly with the media. He also controlled very tightly what his party ministers and MPs were allowed to say to the media and also in the House. Unbelievable control freak. I always felt that he was a very cold, sly man and I didn’t feel he was trustworthy. Turns out he really wasn’t because he got our country involved with China too much to the point that now, Canada has had a lot of trouble with Chinese interference in our government, some businesses and Chinese immigrants being harassed by Chinese agents on our soil. Stephen Harper was a really arrogant fool for thinking that the Chinese government should ever be trusted. I hope this helps your understanding. 🇨🇦😊👍🏻
These polls are more of a reflection on the displeasure of King Charles among Canadians. If Queen Elizabeth was still with us, or if we had a King William, the results would very likely be a lot different.
@RodRuth what??
Lol no that's not even close to correct 41% find it unfavorable, 27 % are in favor and 34% neutral.
@@Dee-JayW Why are you replying "what" to me?....HUH?
@@garnetj69 Sources: Global News and Macleans Magazine.
I immigrated to Canada when I was six year old, in 1976. Suddenly I had to learn how to sing God Save the Queen for school assemblies! I didn't even know who or where she was, let alone why I had to sing to her here in Canada. All through school, including university, we were taught that England was our mother country. We learned its history, read its literature, etc., to the point that, when I did a DNA test in my 40s, I was genuinely surprised to see that I have very little English DNA and England is most certainly not my motherland in any way. When I was 24, I went ahead and got my Canadian citizenship. I had to swear allegiance to the queen! It was totally bonkers and not very pleasant.
So you would rather swear allegiance to a president who has to answer to no one or a monarch who has to answer to the people? The Magna Carta is over 800 years old and states that the monarch is not above the law and is what became the basis of democracy, freedom and law of rule in the Commonwealth. I think that if you didn't find it pleasant to swear allegiance to our monarch, maybe you should have moved back to your own country instead of taking citizenship in ours.
@@desyncer Honey, I'd rather not swear allegiance to anyone. That's healthy and normal. I'm not a slave, for crying out loud. Are you? And, by the way, your anti-immigrant bias is showing. Super nice.
@@CharlotteIssyvoo I'm not a slave either. I don't think you understand the liberties we are allowed in Canada. Did you not watch the video? The entire thing was handled in Canada, by Canadians, while the Queen chilled out in Britain and did not interfere one bit with our government.
I am not anti-immigrant. I'm the son of an immigrant. I love that Canada is a multicultural nation that accepts people from all walks of life. But I am also proud of the heritage of this country. I am proud of the connection to the UK and to the Commonwealth nations through a shared tradition. And to think that someone is uneasy of accepting Canadian citizenship simply because you swear allegiance to the monarch when this country obviously offered a home for an immigrant family is what offended me. Like I said, I would rather have my state of head be someone that is responsible to the people. The fact that the monarch in another country is our leader but doesn't interfere with our government unless absolutely necessary (which if you look back in the history of Canada hasn't had to occur) rather than someone who answers only to themself is a pretty sweet deal.
@@desyncer You think democratically elected leaders answer only to themselves, eh? But monarchs do not? Interesting. You're also making a lot of assumptions about my immigration story that are based on your own stereotypes and prejudices. You have no idea how or why my family came here, what the country offered us, and what my family offered the country. As for pride in Canada's colonial heritage, are you bonkers? Have you paid attention to *anything* about the way Indigenous people were and are treated here? Dude! Learn some history. Open your eyes and ears. Get a grip.
@@CharlotteIssyvoo So why did you want to become a Canadian? I could have said more tastefully "You are welcome to stay in Canada as a permanent resident rather than getting your citizenship" instead of saying go back to your country but it wouldn't give the same tone that I felt. You make it sound like we should be ashamed to be Canadian.
Maximun volume I cant hear Rick mercer much ((((( turn it aaaaall up you and vids ))