The sketches everyone was talking about from this season of 22 Minutes
There's an old expression that goes, "May you live in interesting times." And while, yes, this reads as a curse for some, for comedy writers, these times are a gold mine.
There's no shortage of shows lampooning the news, but none as distinctly Canadian as This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Premiering in 1993, the show is the longest-running comedy sketch series in Canadian television history, a testament to its enduring popularity and sharp writing, and its ability to pivot to the times.
Audiences have loved this season's fearless approach to current events and honoured the show with millions of views, on CBC Gem, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, where we saw some record breaking viewership.
Here are some of the most talked about sketches from This Hour Has 22 Minutes Season 32:
Remembering Tommy Douglas and the birth of Canadian health care (except for eyes and teeth!)
War is no time for soft cheezies!
Americans moving to Canada receive a not-so-warm welcome
Is She Flirting or Just Being Nice? (The game show)
Trump and Zelenskyy play cards in the Oval Office
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Canada Standard
2 hours ago
- Canada Standard
Economic Watch: Doubled U.S. steel, aluminum tariffs spark criticism, trade war concerns across globe
As the largest supplier of U.S. steel, Canada has called the additional levies "unlawful and unjustified," and vowed to fight. BEIJING, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Government leaders, businesspeople, and analysts have voiced concerns and criticisms over the recent U.S. tariff hikes on imported steel and aluminum, warning that the measures would not only harm the interests of U.S. trade partners, but also fuel a global trade war and deal a blow to the world economy. The United States started to raise tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from 25 percent to 50 percent starting from Wednesday, according to an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday. The European Commission criticized the new U.S. tariff measures, warning that the move could prompt swift European retaliation. "The EU is prepared to impose countermeasures, including in response to the latest U.S. tariff increase," the commission's spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The U.S. action undermines the EU's ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated agreement with the United States, according to the statement. As the largest supplier of U.S. steel, Canada has called the additional levies "unlawful and unjustified," and vowed to fight. "Canada's new government is engaged in intensive and live negotiations to have these and other tariffs removed as part of a new economic and security partnership with the United States," the Prime Minister's office said in a statement Tuesday. "We are in intensive negotiations with the Americans, and, in parallel, preparing reprisals if those negotiations do not succeed," said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday. Unifor, a Canadian general trade union, called on Carney to retaliate immediately and urged Canada to pause exports of critical minerals to the United States. Hundreds of Canadian steelworkers have lost their jobs since initial tariffs took effect, said Unifor, warning that layoffs in the auto and aerospace industries could also occur. "This isn't trade policy, it's a direct attack on Canadian industries and workers," said Marty Warren, United Steelworkers National Director for Canada, in a statement. Thousands of Canadian jobs are on the line, and Canada needs to respond immediately and decisively to defend workers, added Warren. Calling the impact of the initial 25 percent tariffs "devastating," after it resulted in job losses and a drop in shipments to the United States, Catherine Cobden, CEO of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, said a 50 percent tariff will lead to a "dramatic acceleration" of those trends. "At a 50 percent tariff, we basically consider the U.S. market closed -- completely closed, door slammed shut, if you will -- to Canadian steel," she said. "We can't ship at 50 percent. Perhaps we can stockpile for a few days, but obviously we can't keep producing if one of our major markets is shuttered." Gary Clyde Hufbauer, a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said: "With the 50 percent tariff, not only is American steel going to be less internationally competitive but so are the multitude of American industries that depend on steel as a necessary input." The new rate on imported steel will almost certainly enlarge the profits of domestic steel companies while U.S. manufacturers and American households will pay dearly for the bonanza to steel barons, wrote Hufbauer in an opinion piece on Monday. The tariffs make it more expensive for domestic auto manufacturers to produce here, and "it's an economically inconsistent, illiterate policy that seems to be hiding under the national security justifications," said Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute. "They've never given any justification why 25 percent is the right number, let alone why 50 percent is," Winegarden was quoted by a report on According to Felix Tintelnot, a professor of economics at Duke University, no business leader should make massive upfront investments in heavy industry if they don't believe that the same policy will last for a few years. Jeremy Flack, CEO of Flack Global Metals, a U.S.-based steel trader and manufacturer, said the tariffs have led to a pause of orders and reduced demand for steel. "We are not getting any orders. Volumes starting from February have begun to decline," Flack said.
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
LILLEY: Draft trade deal with U.S. hammered out amid 'intensive discussions'
Deal in principle in the works with Trump administration; now it's all down to finer points Get the latest from Brian Lilley straight to your inbox U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 6, 2025. Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images There is a draft, high-level proposal on a new trade deal between Ottawa and Washington, according to multiple sources. The question now is whether political leaders in both countries can get it over the finish line. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The hope, especially in Ottawa, is to have an agreement of some sort in place before the G7 meetings begin in Kananaskis, Alta., on June 15. The proposal would see both countries agree in broad strokes on ways to move forward in the trade relationship. According to sources, highly contentious issues like Canada's supply management system for dairy and the digital services tax that is opposed by all sides in Washington would be put off into the future. Prime Minister Mark Carney was clear in denouncing the increased tariffs on steel and aluminum, calling them illegal and unjustified. But he, like his cabinet ministers on Wednesday, didn't ramp up the rhetoric against the Americans. Carney even spoke about the ongoing discussions on the trade front. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'We are in intensive discussions right now with the Americans on the trading relationship,' Carney told reporters ahead of his cabinet meeting. 'Those discussions are progressing.' Read More During question period on Wednesday afternoon, Carney repeated his comments under questioning from the opposition Conservatives. 'We are in intensive negotiations with the Americans and, in parallel, preparing reprisals if those negotiations do not succeed,' Carney said. Let me translate that for you: Carney isn't slapping a 50% counter-tariff on U.S. steel and aluminum imports because a deal is within reach. As Carney noted, the increase in steel and aluminum tariffs from 25% to 50% was applied globally; it wasn't just aimed at Canada, so to respond with counter-tariffs now could jeopardize those talks. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In response to a question from the Bloc Quebecois, Carney said the talks were at a delicate point. Dominic LeBlanc, Carney's minister of intergovernmental affairs and point man on the talks with the Donald Trump administration, was in Washington Tuesday meeting with his U.S. counterparts. The discussions have been ongoing since Trump was sworn into office and have recently intensified with the hope of announcing a deal within the next week to 10 days. What we can expect is an announcement that Canada will increase its defence spending, including potential participation in the Golden Dome missile defence system. We should expect the government to show that border security will be a priority and there will be action on fentanyl. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. All of those are things that Carney has spoken about to some degree in the past. What will be interesting to see is whether the 'projects of national interest' that he has been speaking to premiers about are part of the deal. Will Ontario's Ring of Fire, a source of critical minerals, work its way into a deal that sees the Americans as a preferred customer? We already know that the Americans are anxious for us to see projects like Grays Bay Port in Nunavut developed. Giving that project a green light as part of a trade negotiation could be part of the package. What we know for sure is this high-level proposal is not a full-scale renegotiation of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement. That would come at a later date and while the Canadian side is pushing for a deal, the Americans want something short and simple for now with full negotiations to come later. According to multiple sources, that doesn't sit well with Canada's top diplomat in Washington, Kristen Hillman, who is 'getting into the weeds' and trying to solve everything at once. If the Americans are willing to come to an agreement of sorts at a high level and lift the tariffs while a full renegotiation of CUSMA happens, the Carney government should take it. It's true that Trump can be erratic and could change his mind at a later date, but if a deal is on the table, we should take it. Celebrity Columnists Canada Toronto & GTA Canada
National Observer
2 hours ago
- National Observer
Reining in oil and gas is good for the economy
In biophysical terms, the oil and gas sector has expanded to the point of dominating the Canadian economy. The raw material extracted from nature by the oil and gas industry now outweighs all other domestic extraction of natural resources. This includes trees felled, ores mined, fish caught, gravel quarried, livestock slaughtered, coal mined and crops harvested. When burned, Canadian oil and gas emit well over a billion tonnes per year of climate-wrecking carbon dioxide. In sharp contrast to its biophysical dominance, oil and gas extraction provides only 0.4 per cent of Canadian jobs, and indeed only 16 per cent of jobs among extractive sectors. Moreover, most Canadian fossil fuel energy gets exported rather than consumed domestically. Even if domestic production of oil fell by nearly two thirds, and gas by more than a third, it would still be enough for current levels of domestic consumption. When Canada finally starts keeping, rather than breaking, its commitments to reduce fossil fuel use and thus greenhouse gas emissions, still less oil and gas will suffice for domestic consumption. Over the past 10 years, the governing Liberals promoted the biophysical takeover of the economy by oil and gas, largely through aggressive support of pipelines. They spent $50 billion buying, enlarging, and otherwise bolstering, the unmarketable Trans Mountain Pipeline. They sicced the RCMP on people defending Indigenous land against the Coastal Gas Link. And they launched a treaty dispute with the US to stifle tribal and state governments acting to shut down Enbridge Line 5. These actions have done tremendous harm to Canadian ecosystems and the global atmosphere. Liberal support for oil and gas has also hurt the Canadian economy. On average, other economic sectors sustain more than eight times more jobs per million dollars of GDP than oil and gas extraction does. Public and private investment in oil and gas crowds out investment in these other sectors, thus killing off jobs. By locking in fossil fuel, oil and gas investments lock out what we need more of, for both ecological and economic reasons. This includes solar energy, green buildings, mass transit and ecosystem restoration, all of which would create more jobs. At this week's meeting with premiers, Prime Minister Carney showed disturbing signs of caving in further to oil and gas. Instead, he must stop the industry's all-out assault on the biosphere. This means ending fossil fuel subsidies, rather than augmenting them, as the Liberals have in the past. And it means rejecting new pipelines and phasing out old ones, rather than proliferating them, as the Liberals have in the past. Humanity and nature urgently need our new government to finally set the Canadian economy on a more ethical and prosperous course away from oil and gas. Gregory M. Mikkelson, co-founder, Cross Border Organizing Working Group, As a tenured professor of environmental studies, Greg Mikkelson lectured and published in ecology, philosophy, and economics, with a focus on the nature, causes, and value of biological diversity. He also helped divest McGill University from fossil fuels. Having left academia, he now volunteers as a researcher and organizer for a growing international movement to shut down tar sands pipelines in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence watershed.
