2003 Presenter Full Presenter List

Rick Mercer

Writer / Actor / Comedian

One of this country’s most highly respected writer/actors, Rick Mercer burst onto the stage at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in 1990 with his one-man show Show Me the Button, I’ll Push It. Since then, his outstanding contribution to comedy with a political punch has been recognized with 20 Gemini awards for both writing and performing on the hit series, This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Made in Canada.

In 2002, Mercer took home two Gemini awards for Best Writing and Best Performance for Made in Canada and in 2001, he made comedy  history with his one-hour CBC special, Talking to Americans (which attracted 2.7 million viewers across Canada, making it the highest rated comedy special in the history of Canadian television).

Other awards include the Atlantic Journalism Award, a Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council Artist of the Year Award and five Canadian Comedy Awards. Mercer was also presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Laurentian University in 2002.