Mercer making visit to Winnipeg

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This article was published 09/11/2018 (2844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rick Mercer may not be spending his time ranting while walking (and talking) down Toronto’s Graffiti Alley anymore, but he still has plenty on his mind.

The Newfoundland-born, Toronto-based Mercer, 49, became a household name and face in Canada thanks to his time at the CBC television show This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Mercer left the show in 2001 and for 15 seasons, beginning in 2003, hosted The Mercer Report; thanks to both shows his weekly rants, set in the Toronto alley, became a national phenomenon.

“I never manufactured outrage — not once did I ever say, ‘Well, I’m just going to have to pretend I’m upset about something or pretend something’s on my mind,’” Mercer says by phone from Toronto. “As time went on, I realized I didn’t always have to rant about politics — it could be something as simple as people not understanding how to use elevators or escalators anymore,” he adds, laughing.

Mercer will be in Winnipeg Saturday at noon at the Walmart Winnipeg South Supercentre (1665 Kenaston Blvd.) signing copies of Final Report, his third book. Mercer curated the best of 15 seasons’ worth of his rants for Final Report, interspersed with reflections and stories written by Mercer about his time on the show. The new material details the strong bond created between the show’s core members as well as chronicling memorable behind-the-scenes scenarios.

For the show, Mercer, an admitted political junkie, would monitor federal politics and current events while trying to determine what subjects were rant-worthy. But there were also times he felt compelled to go beyond getting laughs or raising awareness about important issues. “When Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip passed away (in 2017), for people of my generation there was nothing else we were thinking about that week,” recalls Mercer. “In years prior I’d never have taken the time to talk about something like his death because it’s just overwhelmingly sad. So I ended up just telling a story — while technically a rant, it was really more of a toast.”

And while Mercer found himself fascinated by the groundswell of civic engagement south of the border in Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections, he’s not sure whether it will translate on the Canadian political landscape.

“Canadians pay attention when they know the stakes are very high,” Mercer says. “We engage, especially in election years, but sometimes the consequences of things going along tickety-boo and no one being really upset is that we don’t feel the need to pay attention as much as we should.”

Those pining for Mercer’s return to television can catch him hosting the Scotiabank Giller Prize award ceremony on Nov. 19 on CBC.

“When I decided not to be on television this season… I stepped back from a whole lot of shows and opportunities. The Giller Prize is a small show, but I like it — I love the idea that there’s a big cash prize for Canadian literature that can change their lives.”

As for what the future holds for Mercer beyond his book tour and the Gillers, he can’t say. “There’s like six projects on my hard drive that I’m fooling around with — we’ll just see what sticks.”

books@freepress.mb.ca