Zingers and One Liners, Trudeau Prepares For A Life After Politics

The return of the Parliamentary Press Dinner may see Trudeau going on tour with his own comedy act in the near future

The media is crucial to democracy and ensuring the public knows what’s happening in government and worldwide. Last night’s Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner was a time to acknowledge and honour media and the work of journalists.

The last time a Parliamentary Press Dinner was held was in 2019, and due to the pandemic, there have been no correspondent’s dinners for the last few years. And true to form, the event celebrated the journalism industry and an opportunity to rub shoulders with a few politicians.

Of course, the night’s highlight was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 20-minute monologue. Hats off to his speech writer for giving the crowd many moments of laughter. Trudeau repeatedly made fun of himself and took a few light-hearted jabs at the opposition leaders, Pierre Poilievre Jagmeet Singh and the Green Party suffering from multiple personalities.

“Murphy Brown is no longer the Conservative party’s leader,” referring to Candice Bergen, who shares the same name as the popular eighties sitcom news host.

“Look under your seat; you’re a shadow critic, and you, and you and you, but not you, Michelle,” referring to Pierre naming almost everyone in the party as a critic of the government except Michelle Rempel while doing so in the manner when Oprah gave out cars for Christmas. E.g. You get a car, You get a car, and You get a car.

“Some Canadians even redesigned the flag with his name on it”

” I grew a beard, and when it started to grey, I had to shave it to ensure I would get airtime on CTV.” Trudeau was referring to the firing of Lisa LaFlamme from the network after going grey.

The media, if done right, is for the people. And here at the Daily Scrum News, we’re all about transparency and covering all opinions respectfully and professionally, whether it’s popular or unfavourable.

We have learned that centuries of telling people they are only allowed to think one-way cover news in a particular manner or be ridiculed, ostracized, or subjected to labels and name-calling is the way of the past. Especially when it comes to covering news other than North America, not all governments share the same policies, philosophies and ideologies, but it’s also essential to acknowledge good policies regardless of governments improving the lines of their citizens.

Journalists every day are putting themselves in harm’s way to report the news. Sometimes, they never make it home to their family or loved ones. It’s easy to criticize a journalist’s work as some networks only report opinions for news where criticism is warranted. But for journalists and networks doing great work, it’s time for those unwilling to view the world as a place of different opinions to ask themselves why they feel that way.