WASHINGTON 鈥� No, John Oliver鈥檚 not going to a Canadian jail. He can also keep that $5,000 he was apparently ready to dish over to Canadian authorities.
The comedian devoted a segment to sa国际传媒鈥檚 election on his HBO show, 鈥淟ast Week Tonight,鈥� which culminated in mockery of a law forbidding foreigners from influencing Canadian elections.
He ridiculed its maximum six-month prison penalty and $5,000 fine. Oliver鈥檚 seeming desire to fight the re-election of Stephen Harper was apparently so great that he was willing to risk it all, tossing money at the camera and practically daring sa国际传媒 to arrest him.
鈥淭hat is a ridiculous law,鈥� the British-born comic said in a segment that aired Sunday on the American network.
鈥淵ou think I鈥檓 scared of six months in a Canadian prison? What鈥檚 that 鈥� six months of living in Ottawa? As for your $5,000 fine, I simply can鈥檛 imagine a better way to spend 5,000 Canadian dollars.
鈥淏ut if telling you not to vote for Stephen Harper is going to cost me $5,000 I鈥檓 going to get my money鈥檚 worth. And I鈥檓 going to do it in the most Canadian way possible.鈥�
With that, Canadian-born comedian Mike Myers rolled in on a snowplow, while a beaver played the piano next to a moose apparently getting a free colonoscopy under sa国际传媒鈥檚 medicare system.
They flung bills at the screen and urged Canadians to give Harper the boot.
The good news, for Oliver: he need not fear being sent to the slammer. The law he made fun of is actually not all that different from the U.S. ban on foreign political donations, although that country鈥檚 politics has hundreds of millions of harder-to-track dollars sloshing around in political-action committees.
Canadian elections authorities explained Monday that there鈥檚 no law against foreigners expressing an opinion. They said the legal provision in question 鈥� section 331 of the sa国际传媒 Elections Act 鈥� has been on the books since the 1920s and it doesn鈥檛 cover people stating their view.
鈥淭he expression of personal political views by Canadians or non-Canadians as to which parties or candidates they support is not an offence under the Act,鈥� said Elections sa国际传媒 spokesman John Enright.
鈥淭his also applies to Mr. Oliver.鈥�
He said the key provision refers to people who 鈥渋nduce鈥� Canadians: 鈥淭o induce there must be a tangible thing offered. A personal view is not inducement,鈥� he added.
The Oliver segment was like a 15-minute version of the campaign. It began with a jab at NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, then quickly moved on. It joked at length about Justin Trudeau. Then it blasted Harper.
Before he got to the politicians, though, Oliver began with the country: 鈥渟a国际传媒,鈥� Oliver said, opening the segment. 鈥淭he country you think about so little, that鈥檚 it. End of sentence.鈥�
Given that U.S. elections last two years, he teased a CBC host鈥檚 reference to the two-and-a-half-month campaign as historically long: 鈥淭hinking 78 days is a long campaign is absolutely adorable. It鈥檚 like the woman who has only ever seen one penis saying, 鈥橳hat鈥檚 the longest one ever. There couldn鈥檛 possibly be one longer than that.鈥濃��
He mocked Mulcair鈥檚 ability to represent change. He questioned Trudeau鈥檚 intellect, based on a Canadian media interview where a reporter referred to his supposed emotional intelligence.
Oliver cringed: 鈥淥uch. Emotional intelligence. That鈥檚 the kind of made-up quality you might find on a report card from a Montessori school: 鈥橶ell done, Zayden, you got a squirrel on emotional intelligence.鈥濃��
He played video of a Trudeau stunt falling down a staircase: 鈥淣o one is saying that that is behaviour worthy of a head of state. But you cannot deny that it is somewhat satisfying to watch a soul-patch man named Justin with a French accent fall down some stairs.鈥�
He then unloaded on the Conservatives.
Oliver compared sa国际传媒-era Harper to the girl-next-door with a jerk boyfriend. He played video of Harper speaking, and compared him to an alien trying to appear human.
He questioned whether Harper was 鈥渉igh鈥� for calling marijuana more dangerous than tobacco.
Oliver seemed to strike a more serious note at times.
He zeroed in on the niqab debate and what he said was anti-Muslim messaging. He questioned why a country that already has murder laws and a 911 system would need a law banning honour-killing and a snitch-line for barbaric cultural practices.
鈥淗arper鈥檚 ugliest tendency,鈥� Oliver said, 鈥渋s perhaps his pandering to Islamophobes.鈥�
Harper has denied accusations of Islamophobia, saying he is protecting 鈥淐anadian values.鈥�
