How comedian Mark Critch landed the only year-end interview with Justin Trudeau

The Current19:45How Mark Critch got an accidental exclusive with Justin Trudeau

Mark Critch says it was pure luck and good timing that he, the self-titled "clown," landed the only year-end interview with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rather than any of the country's respected political journalists.

The Canadian comedian and This Hour Has 22 Minutes cast member sat down with the prime minister just before Chrystia Freeland resigned as finance minister earlier this month, sending shockwaves through Ottawa. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) cancelled all of Trudeau's previously scheduled year-end interviews with at least seven media outlets shortly after. (According to La Presse, Radio-Canada's Marie-Louise Arsenault also got an interview with Trudeau prior to Freeland's bombshell announcement, but chose not to air it, saying the conversation was "no longer current.")

"If it was a cartoon, you'd hear [the bomb falling]. And right before the 'boom' we did the interview," Critch told The Current's guest host Susan Ormiston.

That interview, as well as one with Jagmeet Singh — which Critch conducted while he was fighting the NDP leader in Brazilian jiu jitsu — will air as part of the 22 Minutes New Year's Eve Pregame Special. The show also has a standing request for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, but so far he has turned down their offers to appear on 22 Minutes.

But despite rising political tensions, both within the governing Liberal party and amongst Canadians, Critch says being in political comedy is no harder now than it was in the past. He spoke to Ormiston about that, and his accidental exclusive with Trudeau. Here is part of their conversation.

You must be feeling pretty chuffed. As far as I can tell, you're the only guy who got a year-end interview with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this year.

I did get the big year-end interview. Isn't that sad? Nothing drives our great esteemed Canadian journalists crazier than when the clown gets the interview, you know?

WATCH | Mark Critch speaks with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

So what did you have to do to get it, Mark?

I'd been asking for a while and said, you know, "Hey, we should do something around the end of the year."

And they [Trudeau's team] were going, okay, yeah … we'll try and fit in something. And then they kept their word. They said one day, "Hey, we're going to be in Montreal on Friday if you can make it." And I think that was kind of a brush off, to be honest. [But] I was like, "Yep, I can get there."

And so we went to Montreal to a little restaurant there, and we had a lovely, lovely chat. 

Just to explain, of course, that was before the bombshell announcement by Chrystia Freeland when he cancelled [on] everybody else.

Yeah. But we did talk about would he step down, taking the walk in the snow like his father did. 

So … it's still quite timely now.

So give me and our listeners a clue. You talked to Justin Trudeau about the famous walk in the snow that his father took when he decided to step down. Did he give you any answer to that?

I asked, why the hell would you stay in? And he, you know, he said all the usual things — because Canadians are in the middle, and they're good people, and Canadians understand.

But I think he really sees Pierre Poilievre as a dragon … he doesn't want to walk away because he does not want the country to go that way. And he seemed very serious about staying then. 

But we did talk about that famous walk in the snow. And he pointed out to me that when Pierre [Trudeau] was Justin's age, he still had another 12 years of being prime minister ahead of him.

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PM on waning support and 'F--k Trudeau' flags

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Duration 1:27

In response to waning polls and anti-Trudeau flags, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says 'polarization and toxicity' is very visible online and in real life, but doesn't represent all Canadians.

He thinks he's got 12 years, does he?

Well, to which I replied, "God help us."

But I think that all may have changed recently. He went through a big breakup with Jagmeet and now a big breakup with Freeland. I'm sure he did a lot of walking in a lot of snow over the holidays. So we'll have to stay tuned.

We joked about how rich the political experience has been in the last year … but has it become harder to do political comedy in the current political climate?

I don't think so. I think, you know, that things are very heated. And I talked to Prime Minister Trudeau about this, talked about the F— Trudeau flags and all that stuff.

Things have to come down because most Canadians are in the middle. We need to convince each other [of that] and we need to do what's best for all of us.

So there's lots to make fun of, and most people can take a joke.  

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You know, Pierre Poilievre said himself that … he thinks that your show and others are just propagandists for the PMO. Do you worry about coming across as too cozy with one side or the other?

No, I mean, he can come on [22 Minutes] any bloody well time he wants! He could … sit in my lap if he wants, but he's afraid to do it so he's coming up with excuses.

With the prime minister, we just had a conversation. There's no holds barred. He didn't say you can't talk about anything. And if there was, I wouldn't do it.

But we had a good conversation. And I think Canadians see a different side of [politicians] in a show like ours. They're a bit more relaxed. By the end of that conversation, I forgot that the camera was on, when myself and the prime minister were talking. I think he did as well. 

The more power [politicians] get, they have more … aides and stuff like that who are trying to keep you from getting too close, keep you from being funny. 

The more you can stay away from the staffers and get the person out doing something that makes them forget [about] the chains of office, I think that's something that is very unique to our show that gives Canadians a better view at who the person is, not who the politician is.