John Oliver rages at the Canadian Olympic team’s jean jacket outfit

Okay wow, take it up with Hudson's Bay, man.
April 19, 2021 9:17 a.m. EST
Getty Images/Team Canada Getty Images/Team Canada

It’s been quite the week due to *gestures at everything* and John Oliver, once again, was the perfect mix of "here's what you need to know to be an informed and engaged citizen" and "isn't this stupid?".

To take a break from the news cycle in America (which included daily images of police brutality and the killing of unarmed people of colour among other painful instances of institutional racism), John decided that for at least seven minutes of last night’s Last Week Tonight (stream now on Crave), he was going international for some lighter news. And the butt of his jokes was... Canada.

Last week, the Canadian Olympic team unveiled their official uniforms for the summer Tokyo Olympics, including a denim jean jacket adorned with some maple leaf patches, graffiti and other accouterments. It definitely looks like a version of the Canadian tuxedo but as John put it, it also looks like, “straight garbage.”

“It looks like Jay Leno got street-tagged by a bunch of eight-year-old girls!” he joked.  “And that jacket might look good on one person, the problem is on a group of a hundred, they’re just gonna look like a high school production of Canadian Grease.”

Then he took a hard left turn, and revealed that he kinda has a thing for *checks notes* fancy moose?

“I will say, I have always felt that it’s wrong that 'Canadian tuxedo' refers to head-to-toe denim and not formal wear designed specifically for a fancy moose.” Displaying a picture of a moose wearing a three-piece suit, John added, “This big boy knows what’s up. Blast me, king.”

Adam Driver, he has moved on to a new target. Breathe a sigh of relief. 

But that didn’t signal the end of his Canadian beef. Our British bespectacled bad-boy had more to say, this time about Liberal MP William Amos, who this week was caught naked by accident during a Zoom meeting. At first glance, this is clearly a topic Mr. Oliver would love to dunk on, but in addition to that, he also appeared rather complimentary.

“Obviously I feel terrible for that man. It was clearly a complete accident, although I will say, he’s got nothing to be ashamed of there,” John concluded. “He’s keeping tight and he’s keeping it right. He’s maintaining while the rest of us are gaining. A jog in the middle of the workday? That is Hot Male behaviour right there.”  

Is MP Amos now ranked higher than fancy moose?

Showing MP Amos’ portrait, John added, “if you think he looks good with his clothes off, wait till you see him with his clothes on! Hey Canada, you might wanna check your carbon emissions because it seems there’s a massive smokestack in your parliament!”

Calling this “hardcore Canadian Porn,” John then made sure to point out our very polite reaction to a naked MP. Bloc Quebecois MP Claude Debellefeuille, the party whip, critiqued Amos for being “improperly dressed” while noting, however, that the MP was in “very good shape,” but asked that he be reminded of what is appropriate. 

“That is an aggressively Canadian response,” John laughed. “Say what you will about Canadians -- and these [Olympic] outfits say more than anyone ever could -- but one thing you can not accuse them of is being impolite even in the face of unrequested nudity.”

Since the incident, the fact the nude photo was leaked to the public at all has started a discussion about the inappropriateness of sharing nudes without consent -- even if they are a screenshot from a HoC Zoom. The government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez is calling for an investigation into who leaked the photo, calling it "extremely unfortunate," "mean spirited" and potentially criminal.

This isn’t the first time John Oliver has used his Last Week Tonight platform to poke fun at Canadians and our politics. Of course, there was that time in 2015 right before a federal election that he spent the entire show deep-diving into the backstory of the candidates, like current PM Trudeau, former PM Harper, and former NDP leader Tom Mulcair.

Then, there was the time when he called current Ontario Premier Doug Ford an “asshole.” And then there was the time when he got so enraged at how many apologies PM Trudeau had to offer after  “elbow gate” that John slammed his hands on his table bellowing, “Oh for f**k’s sake! Enough!!”

Watch new episodes of Last Week Tonight every Monday on Crave and stream anytime here.

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