It was such a relief to see Canadians read the room correctly — authoritarian disaster abounding — and elect Liberal Party Prime Minister Mark Carney to a new term. While I’m loath to give Trump credit for anything, he and President Elon Musk were huge (“UGE!”) motivating factors for Canadian voters to keep their Conservative Party out of power. One such Canadian who knew the Liberal Party simply had to win was actor-comedian Mike Myers. Though he’s lived in the US for decades now, and has acquired US citizenship, Trump & Musk’s pointed attacks on Canada have reignited a maple leaf fire in our favorite ogre’s soul. So Myers filmed a clever commercial with PM Carney for his campaign. Clearly, it helped! In an interview with the New York Times published before the election, Myers spoke about national pride, the abnormality of this moment, and using humor to fight back:
His t-shirt protest during the SNL credits: He thought about Mr. Musk’s remark that Canada is “not a real country,” and about how President Trump had called the former Canadian prime minister “Governor Trudeau” and rudely referred to Canada as “the 51st state.” He thought about tariffs, and about graffiti he’d seen in Winnipeg: “There’s no greater pain than being betrayed by a friend.” And he thought about the legendary Canadian hockey player Gordie Howe and his famous “elbows up” response to aggression on the ice. And so Mr. Myers, the 61-year-old star of the “Wayne’s World,” “Austin Powers” and “Shrek” films and a beloved figure on both sides of the Canadian-American border, boldly opened his down vest and flashed his “Canada Is Not for Sale” T-shirt on live television. “Elbows up,” he mouthed into the camera, twice.
Supporting PM Mark Carney: The result was a television ad for the Liberal Party, featuring Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mr. Myers — wearing a “Never 51” jersey — chatting beside a hockey rink. Though the race has been tightening, the Liberals have been buoyed by a surge of anger at Mr. Trump’s bellicose behavior, and pollsters say they are favored to defeat the Conservatives in Monday’s federal elections.
The angle of Myers having to prove he’s still Canadian: Inspired by “those World War II movies where they ask the fake Americans who won the World Series” as a way to unmask them, Mr. Myers said, he wanted the ad to be a reaffirmation of his own Canadianness as well as an endorsement of Mr. Carney. “I wanted it to be like, ‘I know I don’t live there anymore, and let’s talk about that,’” he said. “I thought it would be funny if the prime minister of Canada ran an identity test on me.” (The part in which Mr. Myers correctly identifies Toronto’s “two seasons” as “winter and construction” was contributed by Mr. Myers’s best friend since childhood, David Mackenzie, he said.)
Power in comedy: “To the extent that Elon Musk is involved in our democratic government, it goes against how I feel as a Canadian,” he said of Mr. Musk’s slash-and-burn approach. “We don’t have a distrust of the government. We have a belief in good government.” And comedy is one way Mr. Myers can make that point, he believes. “Fascism doesn’t like to be ridiculed; it likes to be feared,” he said. “Satire is an important tool in the toolbox to say that this is not normal — that the cuts he’s making are not normal.”
“Fascism doesn’t like to be ridiculed; it likes to be feared.” Yes, definitely, to the first part. But I’m gonna get nitpicky and say that being feared is the plan B for fascists, once they realize they’re not getting what they really want: love and respect. I actually think that’s one of the things Myers captures so brilliantly in his depiction of Elon Musk on SNL — the ever-present insecurity and desperation to be liked by his peers. Then when that isn’t forthcoming, because it can’t be forced or bought, they sit in stony-faced silence while blasting techno music and plotting more ways to ruin the world. Ok, quibbling finished. More importantly, yes please let’s deploy the art of comedy and satire and ridicule to… merely tell the truth about these guys. I’m so glad Myers has answered the long-standing SNL call for former cast members to return when they have the dubious distinction of resembling a relevant politician (or in this case, campaign donor). Also, I love Myers even more for giving his childhood friend full credit for the “winter and construction” line, which was hilarious. That’ll do, Myers. That’ll do.