It’s not often that I ever want to advocate taking a joke too seriously. I think, if anything, the world takes itself too seriously, as do and many people in it. Along with that, I’m going to preface this with something else: Mark Critch is a funny guy. A former writer for, and star in, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Critch is a master of comedy. A jester in the court of Canadian culture.
Even as a kid, I’ve loved watching This Hour Has 22 Minutes. The show manages to mingle humour of the good-natured variety, laced on occasion with irreverent smart-alec comments on politics in the country. What’s not to love about that?
Critch has got himself into some well-deserved hot water over taking a joke a little too far. Not long ago, Critch was at Parliament Hill and used his visit as an opportunity to make a joke at the expense of former prime minister and departing Calgary MP, Stephen Harper.
One would think this would be an opportunity to put on display his comedic genius and wit, but instead, his humour veered into a dark, cynical territory that was, frankly, disappointing. I think there were plenty of people who think Critch could have done far better with the opportunity he had.
The joke was a simple image the comedian posted to his Instagram account, in which he was depicted gaping furtively outside of an open closet, in a feeble posture, with the caption: “Stephen Harper stepped down, here is me in his closet.”
The joke is a shot at Harper for his behaviour during the Oct. 2014 attack on Parliament Hill, when Michael Zehaf-Bibeau stormed the Parliament building after shooting and killing reservist Nathan Cirillo.
Like everyone else with a reasonable instinct toward self-preservation, Harper took cover. Being fully aware of the attendant potential hazards that accompany being in an important political position, Harper did what the RCMP instructed him to do in such a situation: He took cover in a closet.
Along with ducking under a desk and getting out of the area, I would imagine sequestering oneself in a closet when there is an active shooter situation is probably up there with some of the best methods of surviving.
There are plenty of very valid political criticisms of Harper that are another story for another day entirely. Mocking what the man does to stay safe when a maniac with a gun is on the loose in the place of government does not fall into that category.
One tweet authored by Calgary MP Michelle Rempel probably sums up my feelings on the matter best. She put it as tersely and effectively as someone can, in 140 characters or less on Twitter, asserting that, “What (Critch) posted isn’t satire, or comedy. It’s an…embarrassment.”
Rempel, went on to deliver a series of witheringly angry responses on Twitter, explaining how horrific being caught in the caucus room was, during the attack. She was only meters away from the crossfire between security and Zehaf-Bibeau. She emphasized, very clearly no less, how not okay it is to mock someone who goes through that.
Before they spoke about the matter in person and reconciled the issue, Rempel alleged Critch “triggered” her, referring to his post bringing back traumatic memories of her own experiences during the Parliament Hill attack.
People have written blogs and I’ve heard it remarked that Rempel overreacted, and swore too much in her written responses to Critch’s post, and that her response was improper.
I’m not going to philosophize on where the nebulous line is between what constitutes fair game for a joke, and what matters you have to tread carefully around, lest it force someone to relive traumatic memories. That’s well outside of my purview in a column of this size.
However, mocking people who have literally had their lives threatened while at work, by gunfire that literally happened outside of the room they were in, falls well beyond that line of decency, and while Rempel’s anger and profanity didn’t look good on her as a politician, from a victim of that trauma who still suffers from panic attacks and the after effects, it was a completely understandable response.
