Celebrity Interview - Rick Mercer
Butting Heads With America
studentBODY Magazine, October 2000
Interview by Darren Hick
Finding a celebrity to headline our premiere issue was either an easy task or a difficult one, depending on which way you look at it. The choice of the headliner, himself, at least, was easy. We had only to ask ourselves, who would most easily fit into the brain drain theme of the issue? Who would have the most to say? RICK MERCER was, really, the first and only choice. You would be unlikely to find a more purely Canadian celebrity than Mercer – that is to say, you’d be unlikely to find a celebrity more aware of his place in the world as a Canadian.
From his late-teen comedy beginnings in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Mercer’s rise to the Canadian spotlight has been nothing short of meteoric. At the age of 30, Mercer already counts multiple cross-Canada one-man shows, starring and writing credits for two hugely successful CBC television shows, and a mass of other work as notches on his belt – and he’s just getting started. What’s most astounding, though, is his fierce, unapologetic, pro-Canadian stance on, well, just about everything.
From his stand-up sketches to his interviews with Americans-on-the-street to his patented “streeters” rants, Mercer has an unprecedented talent for blending political satire and human observation. And he doesn’t pull his punches – especially when it comes to our neighbors to the south. In his own words, “We’re bigger than they are and we’re on top. If we were in prison, they’d be our bitch. Our role is to remind them of the little things like that, over and over and over again.”
In this exclusive interview, studentBODY’s editor-about-town, Darren Hick, had a chance to discuss with Mercer his life, his work and his politics. We hope it both entertains and educates you – something Mercer seems to do with everything he touches.
studentBODY: If you had a business card, what would it say on it?
Rick Mercer: [Laughing] I don’t have a business card, and I’m quite proud of that. I made it to thirty with no business card. That’s pretty good.
sB: You wear a lot of hats. In terms of your work, what do you consider yourself? Are you an actor, a comedian, an author, journalist, social commentator, political satirist…?
Mercer: I guess I like “satirist” in a way. I do wear a lot of hats, but I guess that comes from the theatre. I grew up in St. John’s [Newfoundland], and I got involved in the theatre in St. John’s, and in this country quite often what you have to do is create your own work. And when you create your own work, it’s one thing if you and a couple of friends have a comedy troupe, but you also end up having to produce the show, and you end up having to write the show, and you end up having to get involved in publicizing the show, and doing a lot of those things. I always found that intriguing, and I always enjoyed that. Most people probably felt it was something that they had to do, whereas I just really enjoyed it. So I think that’s why, as my career has continued, I like to do so many different things.
sB: You get a pretty wide view of how the whole picture comes together.
Mercer: Yeah.
sB: You were talking a little bit on how you got started. Could you fill me in a little bit on your background, coming out of St. John’s?
Mercer: Well, I was with a comedy troupe, Cory & Wade’s Playhouse, and we were kind of a pure-sketch comedy troupe. So, we did the type of sketches that all sketch comedians have done over the years. But we started getting into political stuff, talking about what was happening in Newfoundland politics, and I had a particular interest in that, and most of my work kind of went that way, so I started doing radio commentaries, which was a little – I thought – ballsy at the time, because I didn’t think anybody was really that interested. I was about 17 or 18 years old, but I was getting a kick out of it, so I just went ahead and did it. Then I started getting into doing one-man shows, and the one-man shows were very political. The first one was about Meech Lake, and it hit kind of a nerve, and it ended up touring right across the country, and it was an interesting time, because for the first time, Newfoundland was probably thrown in the national spotlight in a way it never had been before, and Newfoundland was at the center of this gigantic, political clusterfuck. And my show was in the middle of it; it became a part of the story, so it kind of launched my career in many ways. So I kept doing one-man shows after that, and it eventually parlayed into [This Hour Has] 22 Minutes.
sB: Do you find there’s a big difference between Newfoundland and the rest of Canada in terms of politics?
Mercer: Yeah, I think the further you move east, the more politics becomes a spectator sport. Newfoundland has always voted for people – one of the reasons we vote for people is how funny they are, and that’s pretty important. Clyde Wells is pretty well the only guy we ever elected that didn’t have a sense of humor, and that’s probably really why people got tired of him quite quickly, because they thought, yeah, he might be an okay premier, but when’s the last time he told a funny joke? [Hick laughs.]
sB: I was reading a little news article, here. What’s the deal with your finally getting your high-school diploma?
Mercer: Well, I had never had one before [laughs]. I didn’t really get one; it was given to me. [Laughing] I didn’t do any work for it.
sB: Neither does anyone else in high school.
Mercer: [Laughing] I found it quite difficult. I came up a bit short there on the number of credits at the end of my three years of high school, and didn’t go back. That’s not something I was very proud of, necessarily, nor is it something I suggest anyone do. [Laughing] I think everyone should get their high school [diploma], but I never did. But the good people at Landmark East here in [Wolfville] Nova Scotia were good enough to grant me with an honorary high school graduation diploma last year. They’re a school for learning disabled and attention deficit disorder.
sB: I find it interesting, though, that somebody who really never graduated high school has such an interest in politics.
Mercer: Well, I always had an interest in politics, even in high school, but that’s not what the math tests were about, [laughs] unfortunately.
sB: If you were to go to college or university, what would you take?
Mercer: History. [Long pause] I’ve never really thought about it. I’d be in the lucky position that I’d just be going to find something interesting and study it. I wouldn’t be going to find any particular career. Oh, I’d study to be a gym teacher! Yeah! No, I don’t know.
sB: What do you think the appeal of your work is?
Mercer: Well, I think with 22 Minutes, we’re in the enviable position to say stuff that people are saying to themselves – but, of course, we get to say it on television – or in the enviable position that we get to say \what other journalists might want to say, but aren’t able to. So it’s kind of like being the guy at the back of the classroom who’s cracking the jokes, but he doesn’t get in shit for it. He’s actually encouraged to do it. And it’s really a continuation of that, really, it’s just saying the bad things.
sB: Do you figure your work appeals to apolitical people?
Mercer: I think Canadians, by and large, pay attention to news. Of course, some people are political junkies, like I am. I’ve always found it kind of interesting. Other people aren’t, but I think Canadians, by and large, will pay attention to what’s going on to a certain degree, so I think it crosses all spectrums, basically. And 22 Minutes, really only 20 or 30% is probably hard-core politics. The rest is really just what’s going on in the world in any given week. You’d have to pretty well live off in the middle of the woods somewhere with no phone lines to not get the most of the show, I think.
sB: Which of your shows - 22 Minutes, Made In Canada, or It Seems Like Yesterday - do you personally prefer working on?
Mercer: Well, y’know, both 22 Minutes and Made In Canada work totally different muscles, and it’s a totally different job, and I can’t really say I prefer one over the other. I mean, I love 22 Minutes with all of my heart. It’s just probably the best job in the world. But at the same time, we’re headed into year eight now, so when Made In Canada came along, when we created the show, part of it was the desire to do something entirely different, and it turned out to be something entirely different. I’m just lucky I can do both, because they’re very different. 22 Minutes, it’s fast, it’s live, it’s sketch comedy, it’s two minutes at the maximum. I get to fly all over the country. I get to pop down to the states, I get to interview the Prime Minister – there are just all these wonderful opportunities it affords me. Y’know, if an ad on TV bugs ya, I get to take the mickey out of it if I want to. Whereas Made In Canada is 180 degrees: it’s not a two-minute sketch; it’s a full half-hour of television that has to have a beginning, a middle and an end. It has to have an A-plot and a B-plot, C-plot, and it all has to come together in the end. And I get to play one character instead of seven, and work with all these different directors, and all these wonderful actors – both in the cast and in the guest stars that come in – and it’s a totally different method of making television.
sB: Do you find it’s more difficult for you?
Mercer: Oh, it’s way harder. Oh, it’s much harder, because the great thing about 22 Minutes is we don’t worry much about all of the things that you have to worry so much about on a show like Made In Canada. 22 Minutes is fly by the seat of your pants.
sB: And that’s how you got it started up in the first place.
Mercer: Yeah! And it’s very much by the seat of your pants. It’s much more rock ‘n’ roll. There has to be this sense of anarchy about it, and things move so fast. Whereas on a show like Made In Canada, you’re not allowed to move that fast. Y’know, you just can’t? And it’s a different style of acting, and a different product. With 22 Minutes, you sit in front of a camera, look right into the camera, deliver what you have to say, and you’re on to the next piece. With creating a half-hour of television like Made In Canada - which is kind of shot like an hour-long drama – it’s more acting involved.
sB: Takes and re-takes.
Mercer: Yeah! And masters and close-ups. On 22 Minutes, if you notice, the actors never look at one another and interact with one another. Everything is down the barrel of the camera, no matter what the situation. Very rare is there a situation – unless we’re, like, making fun of a “Heritage Minute”, or something – that we’re actually acting with one another.
sB: What about It Seems Like Yesterday? How did you get involved with that one?
Mercer: That just came out of a conversation with some of the people at Breakthrough Films. It was before the History Channel even started, and it was just one of those silly conversations that came up about what you’d like to see on the History Channel and my particular interests. When we first started doing 22 Minutes, I had acquired some tapes from This Hour Has Seven Days - which was the show that we borrowed our title from – and I hadn’t seen it; it was before my time. So, we got from the CBC a number of shows, and they held up, and they were quite good, and it was an interesting exercise – but what I found the most fascinating were the commercials. I just loved watching all the commercials. And some episodes had the commercials in them, and some didn’t, and I was very disappointed when I’d get one that didn’t have commercials. So, it just kind of came out of a conversation about doing a show like that, that would have the news of the week, but you could have a little fun with – but the news of the week of 30 years ago, plus whatever commercials were airing at the time. What movie trailers were playing, and stuff like that. It’s a different kind of gig for me, like, I don’t write that show. I would go in and do 52 of them. I’m on camera for six, seven minutes an episode, and that’s really a pure hosting job; it’s not really my show. And I don’t wear as many hats in that. I’m like a monkey; I stand in front of the TelePrompTer and read, essentially.
sB: How much are you involved in the writing process in your other shows?
Mercer: Well, on 22 Minutes, I write all my streeters, and then a healthy amount of the material I perform on the show. But, of course, there are other writers. Some of the best comedy writers in the country are on the show, and they’ve written some of the best stuff. With Made In Canada, this year, I’m writing three on my own, and I’m the story editor along with another fellow, Mark Farrell, who’s also writing three episodes on his own. So, I’m kind of deeply involved in every script.
sB: Creative control.
Mercer: Yeah, it’s my show, y’know, so I’ve got to that point, where, yeah, I mean, there’s two other executive producers, Michael Donovan and Gerald Lunz. Gerald Lunz is the show runner, he runs the show. And a show runner in television means the buck stops with him – everything from what type of glasses happen to be on the table in the bar scene to whether or not that script is going to be produced or not. But Made In Canada affords me a generous amount of control.
sB: With this many shows on the go, what’s your schedule like?
Mercer: Well, I’m no longer doing the History show. And the History show, one of the great things about it is it was a 10-day commitment every year. I mean, all the different types of television - 22 Minutes, you can spend five days doing one episode; Made In Canada, you spend three days doing one episode; and the History show, we’d do 52 episodes in 10 days. One day, I did nine episodes in a day. Every TV show is different from the next.
sB: With regard to Made In Canada, what can we expect of the upcoming season?
Mercer: Well, we are continuing to have some of the best actors in the country coming in; that’s really exciting. Megan Follows is coming in to play Adelle of Beaver Creek, and the true story of Beaver Creek. Y’know, Al Waxman’s coming in; Mark McKinney’s coming in. Lots of great actors, and I think the scripts are devastatingly funny this season, so I’m pretty confident.
sB: I was reading through your Streeters collection – the new one – and I noticed certain themes keep coming up in your rants. I was wondering if you can clue me in as to why, maybe sum up your thoughts on the issues. The first one is smoking. It keeps coming up and coming up, but it doesn’t really seem like you have a stance on it.
Mercer: Smoking?
sB: Smoking.
Mercer: Like smoking cigarettes?
sB: That’s right.
Mercer: [Laughing] Whether I have a stand on it?
sB: Do you smoke?
Mercer: I smoke. Yeah.
sB: Well, I guess that pretty much covers the stand.
Mercer: But, no, I wish I didn’t smoke. That’s interesting. No one’s ever accused me of not having a stand on smoking. It probably comes as jokes inside the streeters. But I don’t really have a stand on smoking. I guess you’re right, other than I don’t think anyone should really do it. [Laughing] I wish I didn’t.
sB: The next one is New Year’s resolutions.
Mercer: Right.
sB: Can you trail this one back to any particular New Year’s resolution that failed for you?
Mercer: No, y’know, and trying to figure out any kind of consistent attitude by reading Streeters is a difficult task, because one thing I never claimed to be is consistent. And I’ve never planned to have any great insight. And, in fact, I usually contradict myself, completely, about every two or three weeks on the show. So, it’s just generally what I’m thinking that week.
sB: Well, it’s not like you’re writing a thesis.
Mercer: No, exactly. [Laughing] And I can say, Hey, I’m a comedian; cut me some slack. I never said I had any solutions.
sB: Next one is baby boomers. I assume your parents are baby boomers?
Mercer: No, my God, no.
sB: Do you consider yourself a Gen-Xer?
Mercer: Oh, Jesus, I don’t know. I mean, what is a Gen-Xer now?
sB: That’s what I’m trying to figure out.
Mercer: Gen-Xers are old now, right? Gen-Xers would be anything from… Yeah, I think I’m in the bottom end of Gen-X, but I’m 30 now. I think I am, aren’t I? The baby boomer thing, it’s a thing that keeps coming back, and I guess it’s two-fold why I keep coming back to it. One is it hits such a nerve. There’s nothing like performing live and I start railing on about the baby boomers and how much they piss me off because, always, there’s just so many baby boomers in the audience who are just horrified and just can’t believe that anybody is talking about them like this. And, of course, anyone who’s younger than the baby boomers have just heard everything there is to hear about baby boomers. They just essentially rule the world and always will, so they’re just a great target to make fun of.
sB: Should we just stick them on an island somewhere and be done with it?
Mercer: No, ‘cause they’ll run the world from there, and they’re going to bankrupt the country in the end, anyway. People like you and I won’t have a pension or a health-care plan.
sB: It’s a slippery slope. We all know it’s coming, and no one can do anything about it.
Mercer: Exactly. Once they get in there.
sB: Last one is banks. You certainly like to rail on them. What’s your problem?
Mercer: Well, who doesn’t? Who doesn’t? I’m sure I’m not unique in that situation. Everyone would just as soon tear their own heads off rather than give the banks another 75-cent service charge. Of course, we all do it, and we seem to be helpless. So, again, it’s just a great target.
sB: Would you say you’re successful in your work, overall?
Mercer: Every day when I go to work, whether it’s a good day or a bad day, overall, I’m generally happy to where I’m going, so I think that’s pretty good. How much money you’re making is kind of irrelevant, I think. Sure, everyone wants to make a living, and that’s important, but I think I can’t ask for much more than that – just being at the job I have. Of course, you can’t take that for granted. So many people are in jobs they don’t want to be in. I consider that successful; I think that’s the most important thing.
sB: Would you consider yourself famous?
Mercer: Not particularly. No. [Laughs] No. Being on the CBC appeals to a very specific demographic. No, not necessarily. Y’know, in television or in politics, it’s all about TV queue, and I guess my TV queue is fairly high, just because I’m on it a fair bit. And also, when you’re on a show like 22 Minutes that does have such high ratings – just because it’s been consistently such a ratings winner for eight years – even people who don’t watch the show know the show enough that they would recognize the people on it, just from eight years of channel surfing, even if they don’t watch the show. So, it’s definitely changed from when we first started doing the show, when no one would ever recognize me on the street, or know who I was or what I did. Now, people seem to, but in Canada, that’s pretty low-key stuff.
sB: Not much of a problem going out and getting a drink in Halifax?
Mercer: [Laughing] Oh, no! No problem at all, in fact.
sB: Do you think there’s a difference between being famous in Canada and being famous in the States?
Mercer: Well, sure. I would imagine. I think the levels of fame are clearly much greater down there, and they seem to worship fame a bit more that we do. Although, at the same time, Canadians are just about as crazy over an international superstar as anyone else, I suppose. Americans tend to worship it like royalty, whereas Canadians don’t seem to as much.
sB: It seems to me that if you’re famous in Canada, you’re just famous in Canada. You can be purely famous in Canada, but you can’t just be famous in the States. If you’re famous in the States, you’re famous worldwide.
Mercer: Exactly, and that’s the most important market – the biggest market – in terms of consumption of popular culture. People who are really famous go to New York City, because nobody bothers them, and to the same extent, when American movie stars do movies up here in the summer, no one tends to bother them that much, so I guess it’s just the people. New York’s the same way; no one really cares who’s walking down the street in New York, and you can’t walk down the street in New York without seeing one or two really famous people. In Los Angeles, you see them, but people seem to make a much bigger deal out of it.
sB: What would it take to get you to move to the States?
Mercer: Y’know, I don’t really want to go to the States, and I have a job here, so I have no intention of going to the States. If I suddenly found myself having a hard time making a living, or having a hard time getting my projects made, I’d consider it.
sB: Let’s say all things considered equal as they are right now, and Hollywood calls you up, wants you in a movie… I mean, you’ve done a couple small movies in Canada –
Mercer: Yeah, not really, though; I haven’t done a movie in years. I like to work. I’m not a fool; I wouldn’t say, ‘No, I won’t.’ Y’know, I left St. John’s, and I’m a Newfoundlander who didn’t want to leave Newfoundland, but I went to Halifax, and Halifax is a great place. But really, once I left Newfoundland, I could go anywhere. But I would much prefer to stay in Canada.
sB: How much of the work you do now do you feel would translate easily to Americans?
Mercer: Well, 22 Minutes doesn’t, clearly. I mean, certain parts of it do, I guess, but the show doesn’t because it’s just so unapologetically Canadian. Made In Canada is translating. Another interesting thing about doing Made In Canada, coming off 22 Minutes, is that 22 Minutes could never travel. It’s kind of like when I was in theatre in Newfoundland, and had the one-man shows, and I was really terrified when I brought the shows into Toronto, because I didn’t know if the shows would travel just to Toronto. And making Made In Canada’s kind of the same feeling – I was always intrigued about whether Made In Canada would travel beyond Canada, and it has; it’s on in the States, and it’s on in Australia, and it’s being translated into a couple of languages, now, and that’s quite satisfying.
sB: It must be pretty exciting.
Mercer: It is exciting, and it’s satisfying to know that it travels, y’know?
sB: Do you feel a show like 22 Minutes could work in the States, but with American politics?
Mercer: I don’t think it could. I mean, I think it could on a smaller scale. It could never be the same hit that it is here. Down there, a show like 22 Minutes could never appear on an American network – and by network, I mean one of the big three or four – and have the same level of popularity. They don’t have a history of satire or appreciating satire. They’re not really into it.
sB: They’re not big on irony, either.
Mercer: They’re not big on irony. They don’t seem to get that at all! And what passes for satire for years about Bill Clinton was that he was fat. That’s what all the jokes were, ‘He’s fat,’ because the guy used to go to McDonald’s during campaigns and stuff, and he’s not even that fat. ‘Hey, he’s fat!’ Whereas, we kind of go a little further than that.
sB: Do you think that’s because we have more of a personal connection to our politicians?
Mercer: I think so, and I think we just pay attention more, and seem to watch the news more.
sB: How did you feel about Made In Canada having been sold to the American PBS?
Mercer: I was happy. At the same time, I was never making it for an American market; I was never making it for the Australians, or anything like that. But the notion of it selling was pretty exciting.
sB: How did you feel about them using the show’s original title, The Industry?
Mercer: Oh, I didn’t mind that. I mean, I would have liked to call it Made In Canada, but I was talking to the guy in international sales one time, and Dan Lett was there, who plays Victor in Made In Canada, and he says, ‘Look, y’know, when you go out and sell it, why don’t you just call it Made In Canada? Fuck it, just call it Made In Canada.’ And Clarence from international sales says, ‘That’s a good idea, or I could just call it Don’t Buy This Show.’ [Laughs] So I said, ‘Yeah, go with The Industry.’
sB: In keeping with the theme of this issue, do you have any thoughts on the brain drain?
Mercer: Well, y’know, it’s a big question. Coming from Newfoundland, I’ve seen it on a provincial scale. Too many people who I went to school with are now elsewhere in the country. And Newfoundlanders are psycho. They just want to be in Newfoundland for the most part. And just far too many of them have gone away. And I heard the other day that there was a guy – he wasn’t a very good friend of mine, but he was a guy I went to high school with – who I always admired… He was just the smartest. He was a total geek, he was a computer geek, but he was the smartest guy I’d ever come across, and he was just one of those people you always knew who, jeez, they’re gonna do great things. And I had never heard where he was. I was just talking to someone who knew him, and I asked what ever happened to him, and he lives in California – in Silicon Valley – and had a start-up and now he’s stinking rich. But he came back and brought two of his buddies who were also in my graduating class down with him the second year. So they’re all down there now, [laughing] and I can’t imagine they’re coming back, from what I hear. So, that’s kind of disappointing that… Okay, it’s one thing if they couldn’t do it in St. John’s and had to go to Toronto, but it doesn’t really feel right that the three smartest guys from my graduating class are now down in Silicon Valley.
sB: Do you think it’s just an inevitability?
Mercer: Well, it’s like show business. You go where the work is. And you go where you can do what it is you want to do. I don’t really believe people are fleeing the country because of taxes, or fleeing the country because of any of those reasons; I think sometimes people leave because that’s where the opportunity is. But, then, some people stick it out, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
sB: Do you think we should attempt to halt the brain drain, or should we just be altruistic and say, ‘Hey, at least it’s doing the Americans some good’?
Mercer: Well, I don’t really care about being altruistic about it, but I think that anything that can be done to encourage people to stay in the country should be done. But I don’t really know what it is. I know, in the entertainment industry, they brought in various incentives to make film and television in Canada. And it’s such a young industry, and it’s why we’re righting with the idea that all Canadian TV or Canadian movies are bad. Well, it’s because we’re such a young industry, and there’s no doubt about it, there’s a lot of bad television and movies made, but now you don’t see that quite as much anymore. And now, it’s a huge industry that’s employing lots of people who are paying lots of taxes. Those incentives kept a lot of people in the country, and that’s a good thing, and if the same thing could be done in the high-tech sector, that’s always a wise thing to do.
sB: In the last 10 years or so, we’ve had some real hits come out of Canada in TV – particularly in comedy. We’ve had your work, we’ve had Kids In The Hall, that sort of thing. Do you figure we’re finally headed uphill?
Mercer: Oh, in terms of television, for sure. Oh, sure. Canadian television’s sold all over the world now. It’s not the type of thing that’s reported all that often, nor do people really pay that much attention to it, because they don’t see it, but it is. It’s sold all over the world, and it’s a good thing.
sB: When I was growing up, I just remember Canadian game shows.
Mercer: Well, exactly, y’know, and then there were shows that, sure, might stand up today, but it’s such an icredibly young industry compared to the United States. And that’s the stereotype that we’re just going to have to beat, that we make bad television or bad movies. But, then again, y’know, sometimes it’s true in the movies. [Laughing maniacally] I don’t understand why we don’t make funny movies. There’s thousands of funny writers in Hollywood who’re Canadian. There’s probably not a sitcom down there that doesn’t have Canadians working on it, writing the shows, and God knows enough Canadians have gone off and had stellar careers making funny movies in the United States, but we don’t ever seem to make one!
sB: There’s no infrastructure for it, y’know? There’s no money for it here. It’s like any industry in Canada. There’s no money to back it.
Mercer: Yeah, and it’s like anything. People who are in show business, people who are funny writers – and we work with some of the funniest writers in the country; any one of them could go to the States, and they will get work. It’s not a pipe dream; they will leave 22 Minutes if they want, they will go to Hollywood, and they will absolutely make 10 times the money – that’s just the reality of it. Some of them choose to stick around, and we’re lucky that they do.
sB: Do you think there’s anyone in particular to blame for the brain drain right now?
Mercer: No, no. I’d say it’s been going on since day one.
sB: If you could summarize your thoughts on Americans into one diatribe, what would it be?
Mercer: I don’t think I could – in one particular diatribe. Then what would I say for the next three years?
sB: I’m not trying to put you out of business, Rick. Do you think the world would just be better off without America?
Mercer: No. Absolutely not. We Canadians can go on and on at length about how we’re different from Americans, but at the same time, if a Canadian is asked to sum up what it’s like to be Canadian, we all have blank looks on our faces, and we don’t know what it is. All we know is how we’re different from America. But I don’t think we’d be better off without the Americans; they just bug us sometimes. They’re a bully in the schoolyard, so of course they’re going to piss us off sometimes. And it’s always just irritating that we know so much about them, and they know absolutely nothing about us. Then, of course, once you sit back and size it up, there’s a very good reason for that. We are the mouse, they are the elephant. That’s it.
sB: Do you consider yourself a nationalist?
Mercer: Yeah.
sB: Do you figure that’s changed since you were in Newfoundland?
Mercer: Since I was in Newfoundland?
sB: You seem to indicate that Newfoundland is kind of a nation unto itself, over there, trying to ignore the rest of the world.
Mercer: In some ways, yeah, and in some ways, when I was 17, I was kind of a Newfoundland nationalist. It was during the first free-trade debates that I remember kind of feeling a certain way about it and realizing that clearly I was a Canadian. In those days, younger and passionate, you’d think I would think, not only am I a Newfoundlander first, that’s all I am, but then I realized during those free-trade debates that, no, I was very much a Canadian. So, yeah, I’m a Canadian nationalist, sure.
sB: Do you find you’re still defining yourself as a Canadian in terms of your relation to the States?
Mercer: No, I don’t, but we all slip into that occasionally. We all just go there, because we kind of think we’re better than they are. That’s the theme that we always return to.
sB: How do you feel Canada’s doing in terms of its educational set-up?
Mercer: Well… God, these are such big questions.
sB: Yeah, well, I only had an hour.
Mercer: How are we doing? Again, I guess you get into a situation where you can start comparing the education programmes in one province compared to another, or Canada versus the United States. But I know that when Clyde Wells was premier of Newfoundland, and there were massive cutbacks to the education system, essentially his cabinet was filled with people who got free educations at the post-secondary level. And a lot of these people came from nothing, and a lot of these people, clearly the reason why they’re sitting in the cabinet of a provincial government was because they received the education they got, and they got it for free. And clearly, if you look at what those individuals have achieved in their lifetimes, that investment was well worth it. I just thought it was sad that the legacy was that they were the ones who just kept orchestrating tuition increases. I just think that anyone who’s smart enough and has the wherewithal enough to get a post-secondary education, and can’t do it because of economics, that’s not right – not in a country as wealthy as ours.
sB: What about Mike Harris? I can tell you, being from Ontario, we all hate him now.
Mercer: That’s like Mulroney. Everybody hated Mulroney, but no one admitted to voting for him twice, and lots of people did. And I’m not so sure that the guy [Harris] wouldn’t get reelected tomorrow. I think he probably could. He strikes me as not that bright, which is always irritating. That’s just the most irritating in a leader, isn’t it?
sB: Not intelligent, or not wise?
Mercer: Not that bright. Either, I would say. And not that nice a guy. Doesn’t seem to have very much compassion, which I think is very important in a leader.
sB: He does seem to be looking out for number one, doesn’t he?
Mercer: Oh, yeah, he doesn’t give a shit. He really doesn’t, y’know?
sB: If I put you in a no-holds-barred, drag-out wrestling match with Mike Harris, who would win?
Mercer: Well, he’s a fair bit bigger than I am.
sB: That’s what I’m thinking, but you’re wiry.
Mercer: [Laughing] Yeah. I’m guessing in pure size, he’d probably win.
sB: If I put you in a political debate, who would win?
Mercer: I don’t really know how good a debater he is. [Laughing] I’ll say I’d win, but I don’t know. Ability to debate now is about as important as the ability to be a good improv comedian. It doesn’t mean you’re smart; it just means you have that skill that’s going to serve you well.
sB: But it’s all about public perception, isn’t it?
Mercer: Oh, absolutely! And clearly, that’s very important. And whether it has anything to do with you job is secondary. But you have to be a good debater, clearly.
sB: What do you think is the biggest problem facing Canada today?
Mercer: Oh, Gentle God! What are you doing asking me questions like that? [Laughs]
sB: I’ve got an hour! And I’m treating you equally as a comedian and a political commentator.
Mercer: You got me there. In terms of what the biggest problem is, I honestly don’t know what the biggest problem is. The country has to fix our health-care system, that’s for sure. It’s something every Canadian used to be so proud of, and now ever Canadian is just being so shafted, we’re starting to look at alternatives. It wasn’t that long ago, we thought we had the best health-care system in the world, and you don’t have to go very far or travel very much to realize we’d be really, really stupid to let this go.
sB: Well, what’s pissing you off this week? It seems like something pisses you off every week.
Mercer: It does, but, see, when I’m doing Made In Canada, I’m wearing another hat. So, I’m doing Made In Canada now. So, what’s pissing me off is I’m looking at a script and I’m trying to figure out how to make it funny. [Laughs] That’s what’s pissing me off this week.
sB: All right. Out of all the country’s politicians, who would you most like to see wedgied?
Mercer: Who would you most like to see wedgied?
sB: Jesus, I don’t know. That’s a tough call. I think Harris has been deserving of a wedgie for a long time.
Mercer: Yeah, but I’d go a lot further than a wedgie, I think, if I was dishing out what should happen to Mike Harris. The reasons why I’m like a politician is I’m kind of like Jekyll and Hyde. Mike Harris has been good for me, but I don’t really like the guy. Certain politicians are very good for us, not because they’re good for the country, but they’re good for 22 Minutes. So, I have very mixed feelings when I have to answer questions like, ‘Which politician do you most admire?’ I admire the Reform Party, because if it wasn’t for them, I’d have probably been out of business two years ago. So, I’m glad for them. I go to bed every night and thank God Deborah Grey is still in the House of Parliament.
sB: Makes your work a little easier.
Mercer: Yeah, what’s good for the country and what’s good for me are two entirely different things.
sB: Would you say you have any advice for Preston Manning? If you could sit down and have a chat with him, what would you tell him?
Mercer: What would I tell him? Let me think. Oh, boy, what would I tell Preston Manning? [Long pause] I’d tell him to quit. I think it’s time for him to quit. He’s done what he’s set out to do, which is destroy the Right. I’m guessing that’s what he’s up to. And I think he’s gone as far as he’s going to go. Maybe he’ll prove me wrong, but I think he’s gone as far as he’s going to go.
sB: What about Bouchard?
Mercer: Oh, well, y’know, I just wish he’d fuck off out of it now.
sB: He’s done providing fodder for 22 Minutes?
Mercer: [Laughing] Yeah, for the good of the country, I’d sacrifice him from 22 Minutes. Absolutely.
sB: And Chretien? Do you figure he’s reached the end of his rope?
Mercer: Well, y’know, Canada doesn’t have term limits, and I don’t really believe in term limits. I don’t understand why it’s always an issue in the United States. We have elections and the people decide whether they want him to go or not. I think Chretien, like all leaders – they gradually go insane, and they gradually become more and more arrogant as time goes on, and he’s definitely done that, but so has every leader who’s ever been in power for more than four years. But I don’t really buy into this idea that it’s time for him to go because he’s been in for eight years. It might be time for him to go because we want a change, or we want a different leader. Likewise, I don’t buy into the idea that it’s Paul Martin’s turn. It’s no one’s turn to be Prime Minister. If that was the case, when is it my turn, when is it your turn? So, he should go if he becomes too arrogant, not because he’s served four years. And why would he go, really? There’s no opposition; the economy’s tooling along. Whoever gets to be the next Prime Minister is going to get to just sit around and enjoy the good times and spend lots of money. Why would he give that to someone else?
sB: Sure, he doesn’t have to deal with the Bloc Quebecois anymore…
Mercer: Oh, no, they’re all toast. There’s no opposition. Why would he leave?
sB: If you were Prime Minister, what would be your first order of business?
Mercer: Well, I never would wish that upon my worst enemy, to be a Prime Minister. I don’t want to be Prime Minister. So, my first order of business… don’t know. I would go to Harrington Lake, have the phones put in up there, and for starters, I’d probably run the country from there. I’d run the country from the cottage.
sB: Get a little fishin’ in.
Mercer: Yeah, exactly. That’s where all the big decisions would be made. I’d get rid of the Sea Kings. How’s that? Do an Avro Arrow on ‘em: chop ‘em up, sell ‘em for scrap.
sB: Do you ever consider getting into politics, yourself?
Mercer: No.
sB: Why not?
Mercer: I don’t want to.
sB: You seem to have the acumen for it.
Mercer: No, I’d never get into politics. I have great admiration for people who are in politics, especially those who are in there because they actually think they can do some good, or make some change. I do believe it is a public service, and I don’t believe they’re compensated nearly enough, and I don’t think it’s a very glamorous life. I think it’s an awful lot of hard work, and it must be incredibly frustrating, especially if you’re a backbencher. And, y’know, you have to take all the phone calls all day long from your bloody constituents complaining about stuff that doesn’t matter. It would drive me insane. Some people are very good at it. There’s always examples of people who don’t seem to be doing anything, and seem to be doing it for their own ego, or whatever, but I wouldn’t do it, no.
sB: Do you think it’s a trend that people get into it for the right reasons and just end up getting cocky?
Mercer: Well, I think it depends. I think the ones who are successful at it and become ministers or become power brokers inside their party, they at least have the opportunity to get cocky. But essentially a backbencher’s life is one of complete drudgery, no power, and lots of work. They have to toe the line, which must be very frustrating. It’s not that rewarding.
sB: What do you think should be done with the Monarchy?
Mercer: Y’know, I’m always amazed in England when they have polls. It fluctuates all the time, but 40 or 50% of Britons think they should do away with the Monarchy, depending on what’s going on at any given point. I always find that shocking! Why would they want to get rid of the Monarchy? That’s all they got going for them! Personally, I think we should get rid of it. Oh yeah, I don’t understand why the Queen is on our money. Even if she stays on our money, that’s one thing, but I don’t want to see our tax dollars used to keep official residences in every province. In St. John’s, there’s a gigantic residence next to a beautiful park, in downtown. The park is terribly overcrowded, it’s used all the time, there’s thousands of kids in there running around, and right next door there’s the front lawn that’s like a full city block that’s fenced off.
sB: It’s not like she’s ever there, anyway.
Mercer: Well, exactly, so the Queen’s Representative on Earth can go for a stroll in the evening. I think it’s ridiculous. It costs the province a million bucks a year or something. Forget it. We don’t seem to get any benefit out of it. Clearly, England gets a benefit out of it: people go over there and look up at the balcony and stay in a hotel, I guess. I don’t see any benefit for it, myself.
sB: In terms of the money, though, you have to admit, those old pictures of the Queen are so much more attractive than our politicians.
Mercer: Yeah, that’s true. But why not, y’know? We should have our own politicians on our money. That could be fun, too.
sB: We could put something else on the money. Why do we have to stick to politicians?
Mercer: Yeah, sure. We’re big on animals, right?
sB: Final question: What do you see yourself doing 10 years down the road?
Mercer: Hopefully kind of more of the same. Y’know, not 22 Minutes and Made In Canada, but I just like to be doing creative things and writing, and maybe doing television. Probably writing.
sB: Are there any particular projects you have in mind?
Mercer: Not right now. I’m kind of tied up. And then, I don’t like to be one of those people who claim to be writing a novel for 12 years or something. You’ll hear about it when it’s done, whatever it is.