TORONTO – Single Female Voter struck out Wednesday because of bad timing.
Television comedian Geri Hall’s attempt to mock Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty at the provincial legislature fell flat when she interrupted him fielding reporters’ questions about job layoffs.
In character as Single Female Voter from the CBC show “This Hour Has 22 Minutes,” Hall was attempting to poke fun at McGuinty’s new rule requiring reporters to stand five feet back when they question him.
“I’m going to come a little bit closer and you tell me when you feel nervous,” she said.
“I get your point OK, because if a pack of guys I didn’t know approached me every day, shoved their stuff in my face and expected me to just stand there while they recorded it, I’d be a little freaked out too.”
But there were few laughs as Hall vainly attempted to get McGuinty to hug one of the reporters after she walked into the middle of questions on U.S. Steel’s decision to shut down the former Stelco mills in Ontario.
New Democrat Peter Kormos, who was visibly angry at Hall’s routine, was on the outside of the media scrum yelling that thousands of layoffs were no joking matter.
“Get the hell out of here,” yelled Kormos as McGuinty, looking uncomfortable, stood beside Hall, who was arrested last year for trying to approach Prime Minister Stephen Harper as Single Female Voter.
“The timing of it was totally inappropriate,” Kormos said later.
“You’ve got a press gallery trying to hold the premier accountable when a few thousand workers just lost their jobs.”
A spokesman for McGuinty’s office said Hall’s timing showed a “lack of judgment” on the comedian’s part, and said the premier had been caught completely off guard by Hall’s surprise appearance.
Halifax Film, which produces “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” for the CBC, did not immediately return calls for comment Wednesday.
