During the Michigan primary, a Canadian TV journalist approached George Dubya and asked if he had any comments on the news that the Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Poutine, had recently endorsed George as the best candidate for president. George looked aw shucks modest, said he appreciated it, thought that PM Poutine was a good leader, who understood the importance of free trade, etc. George’s handlers stood around, nodding sagely.
Three problems:
The Prime Minister of Canada is Jean Chrétien;
The reporter was Rick Mercer from This Hour has 22 Minutes, a news/politics satire show on CBC;
Poutine is a Quebec fast food consisting of fries, cheese curds, gravy, salt and pepper.
Okay, that’s sad. I know that the PM of Canada is Jean Chrètien. I wouldn’t have fallen for that. And I’m a 21-year-old college student. I will not vote for anyone who knows less about international politics than I do.
jti, that’s a good story, but before I pass it on, are you sure it’s true? I never heard it (which doesn’t mean it’s not true, just that I may be uninformed.)
I hope that works, I’ve never posted a link with UBB.
Here’s a quote from the article:
The Republican front-runner was also mocked after a rally in Michigan when a Canadian television reporter told Mr Bush that he had won the endorsement of the Canadian prime minister, Mr Jean Poutine.
Mr Bush was flattered and told the reporter: “I’m honoured. He understands that I want to ensure our relationship with our most important neighbour to the north of us, Canadians, is strong. We will work closely together.”
[Kyla’s note: Canada is our most important neighbor to the north of us? As opposed to all those other many countries to the north?]
Alas for Mr Bush, the real Canadian prime minister is Mr Jean Chretien. Poutine is a high-calorie, fast-food French-Canadian dish
of chips covered in gravy and cheese curd.
The “journalist” was the Canadian comedian Rick Mercer, who often pokes fun at Americans’ ignorance of Canada. Mr Bush’s
gaffe was gleefully transmitted in Canada last week. He was targeted after he failed to identify the premiers of India and Pakistan.
Pronounced differently, “kray-tien” and “pou-teene” (where the “n” at the end of Chretien is nasal and not really pronounced, and the poutine is pronounced like the last two syllables of Rasputin.) I think it can fairly be expected of a presidential candidate to recognize the name of the head of state of a large country (and #1 trading partner I believe) that borders your own.
I, too, was surprised that this incident was not widely reported in the American news media.
The lead editorial in the Newark Star Ledger this morning commented on the story, though, giving the same facts as Kyla did in her post. This is the only mention of it that I have seen all day.
I know why you were hesitant - when I re-read my post just now, I thought, “This is just too ULish.”
But I swear, I read it in the paper - it was a Canadian Press wire service article, similar to the one that Kyla linked to. I haven’t found another link, but the article I read said that it had been picked up by the Wall Street Journal and CBS evening news.
