Algonquin VIP returns to commemorate fourth Spread the Net win
With his production team in tow, Rick Mercer swiftly ducks into a set of doors leading to a hidden backstage area behind the Student Commons theatre. A lively crowd remains in the lobby, still buzzing from the March 16 rally Mercer had just hosted.
Following behind him is producer and Algonquin alumnus John Marshall, who pauses and turns his head while holding the door.
“Are you from the Times?” he asks.
Behind the door, Mercer saunters towards a discreet exit that leads outside.
“Do you mind if we step outside?” Mercer asks. “Do you freeze?”
“Are you sure?” he adds, sounding unconvinced.
Now casually standing on the metal grated stairs behind the door, Mercer is visibly hot from the excitement-filled day, but his friendly and witty demeanor that Canadians are used to seeing every Tuesday night on the Rick Mercer Report is still on display.
But Mercer is not just a familiar face for those who watch his wildly popular show every week. He has become a part of the Algonquin family throughout the last few years and even has his own locker serving as a permanent reminder.
His first visit was in 2013 when Algonquin first won his student challenge for Spread the Net, which is an organization he started in 2007 to combat malaria by distributing mosquito nets in Africa. This year, the club at Algonquin raised $3,364, which is much less than in previous years. However, the volunteers still managed to secure a fourth win and have raised an impressive $66,476 for the organization since 2012.
Mercer himself has visited the college following every win to commemorate the victory and film an episode of the Rick Mercer Report.
“There’s certainly a really good vibe here,” he says. “And it’s funny, ever since Algonquin started winning and I’ve been associated with the school or been on TV with the school, I can’t believe how many people that I’ve worked with professionally have told me ‘Oh, that’s my alma mater, that’s where I went’,” he adds. “I’ve come across a lot of good people over my career that have come from here.”
One of them is Marshall, Mercer’s long-time field producer and a graduate from Algonquin’s broadcasting program. He is also a part of the crew filming here at the college for the March 29 season finale of the Rick Mercer Report.
But as always, Mercer is excited about the fourth win and to be back yet again to celebrate.
“I think it’s tremendous,” he says. “I think it speaks volumes about Algonquin.”
However, it also amazes him that students from any school, especially at the high school, college and university level are taking time to participate.
“There’s so many good causes,” says Mercer. “I mean, you just have to walk the halls and read the bulletin boards and you see there’s so many worthy causes and it’s tremendous when people take the time and energy to raise money for something that doesn’t affect Canadians.”
“It’s just pure generosity of spirit and helping people on the other side of the world with a terrible problem that I think Canadians relate to because we certainly hate mosquitos,” he adds with a hint of his signature wit. “But I think it speaks volumes for any student group that will raise money for something like this.”
Most of the day’s filming took place during the annual rally for students and staff, but like every year, Mercer also took time to visit students in different programs beforehand.
“Every year we’ve kind of explored a different part of the programs,” he says. “Today we were in visiting with the dental hygienist program, which was super cool.”
“I found out you could also get like four X-rays and your teeth cleaned for like 35 bucks, which is an awesome deal, let’s face it,” he says with a laugh.
For dental hygienist student Brit O’Neill, the visit from Mercer was a pleasant surprise.
She knew that CBC was coming to film ahead of time, but didn’t know Mercer would be stopping by to learn the tools of the trade and that she would be his first client.
“The film began with minimal instruction,” she says. “I opened my mouth and he used a mirror to look around and used an explorer tool to poke around. Then came the interesting part. He used a hand piece to polish my teeth using the materials we use on clients in the clinic.”
“Overall it was a funny and interesting day with Rick,” she adds.
But Mercer says the rally itself has been responsible for some of his most memorable moments from the past four visits.
“Some have been bigger, some have been smaller. But it’s always really tremendous to see students, who, like I say–there’s so many causes–but people are taking time out of their lunch hour just to take part,” says Mercer. “And I’ve enjoyed all my time that I’ve spent talking to the organizers and especially those young people.”
This year was no different, with many students gathering in the Commons to participate in the rally along with a dance-off that was filmed for a rock video for the song Anything by Hedley.
However, Mercer was especially delighted to spot a familiar face in Riley Jones within the crowd.
Jones was one of the organizers of the team that won Algonquin’s first challenge in 2013 and attended this year’s rally despite having graduated from the police foundations program in 2014.
“I love the fact that it gets passed on from generation to generation or year to year because obviously over four years, a lot of the students who are involved are no longer here,” he says.
Despite the potential for Algonquin’s winning streak becoming stale, Mercer makes it clear that he is not quite sick of us just yet.
“Oh no, absolutely not. I’ll keep coming back in a heartbeat,” he assures, bearing that famous TV smile.