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Protester pies Prime Minister Chrétien

Broadcast Date: Aug. 16, 2000

It's one of the oldest gags in the book, but nobody's laughing today when a lone protestor pushes a pie in the face of Jean Chrétien. The prime minister is in Charlottetown, P.E.I., glad-handing with islanders on a lazy midsummer visit for Old Home days. But then pastry bandit Evan Brown slips past RCMP scrutiny, and lands "a direct hit" on the PM. In classic Chrétien style, he later dismissed the creamy mess, joking that P.E.I. had developed "a funny way of serving pies."

Protester pies Prime Minister Chrétien

• While the prime minister took a pie in the face, the incident gave the RCMP something of a black eye. As we hear in this clip, it was not the first time the prime minister's security detail missed their man. In 1995, an armed intruder made it all the way to the Chrétiens' bedroom door at 24 Sussex Drive before he was nabbed by the Mounties. Just a few months later, an anti-poverty protestor got too close to the prime minister and was introduced to Jean Chrétien's famed "Shawinigan handshake."

• After the pie incident, police grabbed the defiant solo protestor within seconds and charged 23-year-old Evan Brown with assault. Brown was convicted and sentenced to 30 days in jail. In the end, he served only eight days after a higher court said the original penalty was too stiff.

• Prime Minister Chrétien is one of many Canadian politicians to take a pastry in the puss. Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, former Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau, and Liberal cabinet ministers Stéphane Dion and Pierre Pettigrew also make the list of prominent Canadians on the wrong end of a serving platter.

Protester pies Prime Minister Chrétien

Medium: Television

Program: The National

Broadcast Date: Aug. 16, 2000

Guest(s): Jean Chrétien, André Guertin

Host: Mark Kelly
Reporter: Eric Sorensen

Duration: 2:58

Last updated:
June 3, 2008