Comedian Bill Maher said over the weekend that if Americans wanted to see what would happen to the United States if it continued down the path to “extreme wokeness,” they should look no further than their neighbors to the north.
Maher argued — during Friday’s broadcast of “Real Time” on HBO — that Canada should serve as a “cautionary tale” for Americans who wanted the progressive utopian ideal and thought that they could see it just across the border.
WATCH:
They say in politics, liberals are the gas pedal, and conservatives are the brakes, and I'm generally with the gas pedal, but not if we're driving off a cliff. pic.twitter.com/hutj3OUVQi
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) April 13, 2024
Maher began by saying that he agreed with those who said American liberals should learn from progressive countries that were getting things right — but then he pointed out that it was equally important to recognize and acknowledge flaws when they were present.
Giving two examples, Maher noted that unemployment in the United States was 3.8% compared to Canada’s 6.1% — and that air quality in Canada was measurably worse than in the United States.
“They say in politics liberals are the gas pedal and conservatives are the brakes. And I’m generally with the gas pedal. But not if we’re driving off a cliff,” Maher said, adding, “Canada was where every woke White college kid wearing pajama pants outdoors who had it up to here with America’s racist patriarchy dreamt of living someday. I mean, besides Gaza.”
“There’s only one problem with thinking everything’s better in Canada: It’s not. Not anymore, anyway,” Maher said, arguing that the housing crisis in American cities was nothing compared to what was happening to the north. “The median price of a home here is $346,000. In Canada converted to US dollars, it’s 487. If Barbie moved to Winnipeg, she wouldn’t be able to afford her dream house and Ken would be working at Tim Hortons.”
Maher went on to note that the liberal dream of single-payer health care — which Canada has — is also not living up to its promise: “Their vaunted health care system, which ranks dead last among high income countries, and access to primary health care, and the ability to see a doctor in a day or two. And it’s not for lack of spending. Of the 30 countries with universal coverage, Canada spends over 13% of its economy on it, which is a lot of money for free health care. Look, I’m not saying Canada still isn’t a great country, it is, but those aren’t paradise numbers.”
“If Canada was an apartment, the lead feature might be America adjacent. And if America was a rental car, Canada would be America or similar,” Maher concluded. “And again, honestly, Canada, I’m not saying any of this because I enjoy it. I don’t because I’ve always enjoyed you, but I need to cite you as a cautionary tale to help my country. And the moral of that tale is ‘yes, you can move too far left, and when you do, you wind up pushing the people in the middle to the right.’ At its worst. Canada is what American voters think happens when there’s no one putting a check on extreme wokeness.”