Mark Critch on his year-end interview with Justin Trudeau, one month before the PM's resignation
The Canadian comedian had a beer with the prime minister on 22 Minutes back in December
As you've probably heard by now, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced earlier this week that he will be resigning as the leader of the Liberal Party.
In early December, Canadian comedian Mark Critch managed to land the only year-end interview with Trudeau, which aired last week on the sketch comedy show This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Over a beer, they chatted about Trudeau's relationship with NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, his embarrassing dance moves at the Taylor Swift concert, and the steak he ate at Mar-a-Lago. Of course, Critch also asked him about his future plans following a pretty tumultuous year.
"I've been doing the show for over 20 years and Justin was the first person whom I saw go from an outsider whom I interviewed, to a member of parliament, to a party leader, to a prime minister," Critch tells Q's Tom Power. "Now, to see him resigned, it's interesting. It's the first time I've seen the full arc."
Given all the speculation swirling around about his resignation, Critch was surprised that Trudeau would even agree to talk to him in the first place.
"We went to this restaurant in Montreal, and, you know, there's Mounties everywhere," Critch recalls. "I walked in with this 'F–k Trudeau' flag that I had changed to say 'Good Luck, Trudeau,' assuming he would step down in the year…. I asked him, 'Is this a fight you think you're going to win?' And he did a little speech like he would normally do, but he didn't really have as much fire inside when he gave that."
In previous interviews, Critch says Trudeau had always told him "I don't get in fights unless I know I'm going to win." This time, there was a noticeable shift in tone.
"He knew what was going on," Critch says. "I think he stepped down before all of his MPs came forward and said, 'We can't go forward.' So it's kind of a case of, 'You can't fire me, I quit,' which is not unlike what Chrystia Freeland did. So he learned a lesson from Chrystia, I think."
Last month, following Freeland's announcement of her resignation, there were conversations behind the scenes of 22 Minutes about whether or not the Trudeau interview would still be relevant.
"We didn't have that crucial piece talking about Chrystia Freeland, but we had everything else," Critch says. "There were still lots of jokes in there and it was funny. It's that weird thing where fake news kind of blurs into making news, which is interesting, but you have to remember that our modus operandi is still making fun of the news. So for us, it was still something great for our New Year's Eve special. And the fact that it was the only [interview] kind of just made it a little bit more newsworthy."
You can catch Critch on This Hour Has 22 Minutes every Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT) on CBC and CBC Gem. Watch Season 4 of his hit sitcom Son of A Critch right after at 8:30 p.m. (9:00 p.m. NT) on Tuesdays.
The full interview with Mark Critch is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. He also shares some of his favourite Trudeau-era comedic moments. Plus, he talks about the fourth and latest season of Son of a Critch. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Mark Critch produced by Cora Nijhawan.
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