John Oliver knows you probably haven’t been paying attention to the Canadian election (“Canada: The country you think about so little — that’s it, end of sentence.”), but he spent 15 minutes on Last Week Tonight on Sunday trying to explain what’s going on, since the election is happening today.
Oliver mostly wanted to talk about how he doesn’t like incumbent prime minister Stephen Harper very much — and how he could get fined $5,000 for telling people not to vote for the Conservative Party because of a law that states, “No person who does not reside in Canada shall … induce electors to … vote for or refrain from voting for a particular candidate.”
“If telling you not to vote for Stephen Harper is going to cost me $5,000,” Oliver concluded, “I’m gonna get my money’s worth. And I’m going to do it in the most Canadian way possible.”
He then pointed toward a beaver wearing a shirt with a red maple leaf playing “Sweet Caroline” on a keyboard (an homage to Stephen Harper’s band, the Van Cats), a moose getting a colonoscopy — for free, thanks to Canada’s single-payer system — and Mike Myers driving a snow plow while dressed like a Mountie.
“I think I have your full attention, Canada,” Oliver commented.
