Esquimalt’s unpronounceable name, controversial bong mascot and bylaw-wielding councillors are high on fame after being skewered by American late-night television satirist Stephen Colbert.

The Colbert Report poked fun at Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s apparent abuse of alcohol and drugs and blew smoke at the notion that Canadians are tough on drugs in Tuesday’s episode.

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The comedy segment started with an introduction to Canada as “remote, pristine, ridiculous” and segued into Esquimalt as a place “somewhere in Canada” with a name that no one can pronounce.

The segment highlighted Esquimalt councillors Tim Morrison and Meagan Brame as “difference makers.” Colbert sang their praises for trying to get rid of Bongy — the mascot for The Bong Warehouse on Esquimalt Road. He also applauded their attempts to stamp out the sale of drug paraphernalia in Esquimalt.

But Colbert’s dreams of finding brothers in arms in the war on drugs were quickly dashed when Morrison awkwardly offered nothing tougher than talk of permits and bylaws.

The two councillors confirmed in interviews that while they are against the advertising of drug paraphernalia on Esquimalt streets, they support decriminalization of marijuana.

The hilarity in the five-minute segment concludes with Morrison and Brame being shamed as “no difference makers.”

Morrison said it was surreal to appear on The Colbert Report, which airs on the Comedy Network in Canada.

In the segment, he suffered the majority of the ribbing during a satirical interview about his motion in April requiring Esquimalt businesses to apply for a permit for the use of mascots in public places.

“To be interviewed on the Colbert Report, you have to have a sense of humour,” Morrison said. A production crew took two hours to get a clip of Morrison tripping over his words.

Behind the scenes, the interviewers were asking Morrison to say something “more aggressive” such as threatening to aim Canadian Forces Base artillery on the mascot. Instead, each time he faltered and said something meek, which then turned into the thread of the joke.

“Stephen Colbert lets us have a good laugh about a bizarre mascot, but the bigger issue remains that there are community concerns [about the sale of drug paraphernalia] that council is obliged to respond to,” Morrison said.

A new business licensing bylaw given approval in principle by Esquimalt council will ban the sale of drug paraphernalia within 500 metres of a school within the municipality by next year.

Ryan Place, owner of The Bong Warehouse on Esquimalt Road, also appeared. He said Colbert perfectly characterized Morrison.

“They did a good job of making him look like a fool,” Place said. “It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling all over.”

The coverage is bound to increase his business, Place said.

“All we’re trying to do is pull the use of medical marijuana out of the dark ages and lighten the mood,” Place said. Natural remedies and pain relievers are safer than those concocted by pharmaceutical companies, he said. “We are just a bunch of peace-loving, granola-eating hippies.”

charnett@timescolonist.com

Click here to watch the episode online