Mr. Silly's Friend: Quotations from Chainsaw Mike

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

While the target of this mildly entertaining book is the Honorable
Michael Deane Harris, premier of Ontario since June 26, 1995, the
ammunition is provided by none other than the premier himself. Future
generations might have a hard time believing that Ontario’s premier
politician would admit to reporters that his favorite book is called Mr.
Silly, or voice the opinion that people are living on Toronto’s
streets because they decided to be homeless, or that the reason that
children are going to school hungry is that because their working
mothers are too busy to feed them.

The bulk of the text consists of quotations drawn from Ontario
newspapers where Harris demonstrates an unparalleled ability to shoot
himself in the foot even while said foot is securely placed in his
mouth. But it also includes apologies by the premier to people who have
been offended by his remarks, as well as comparisons between what Mike
Harris promised before he was elected and his government’s actions
after he came to power. Supporting the text is a variety of photos
capturing the premier in a variety of unflattering poses and about a
dozen anti-Harris cartoons that are sadly more earnest than funny.

If you like Mike Harris’s brand of neoconservative politics, this
book will easily offend you. Unfortunately, even if you dislike Premier
Harris, Mr. Silly’s Friend is curiously unsatisfying. The only truly
funny section is Harris’s resumé. A man who fails to complete a basic
degree at one of Ontario’s least prestigious universities goes into
politics and after 30 years on the public payroll is elected Premier of
Ontario as an antigovernment crusader. Now, that’s funny!