It's Christmas in Canada

Template:Infobox South Park episode "It's Christmas in Canada" is episode 715 of Comedy Central's South Park. This episode originally aired on December 17, 2003.

Plot

The Broflovski family is celebrating Chanukah. Kyle's dad notes the togetherness of his family members, and says that nothing can break the Broflovski family apart.

Naturally, immediately after that is said, something intended to break up the Broflovski family occurs. The Canadian parents of Ike, who was adopted into the Broflovski family, show up and say that they want Ike back. They say this is legal due to the new laws made by the Prime Minister of Canada.

Kyle's dad, who is a lawyer, takes the matter to court, but in the end, the court cannot overrule the law. Ike leaves with his Canadian parents.

Everyone is saddened by the loss of Ike. The citizens of South Park decide to be brotherly to the Broflovskis, and instead of spending money on Christmas gifts, they will give the money the Kyle's dad to help further his lawsuit.

The thought of no presents upsets the children of South Park. Cartman, who is extremely angry about this, swears loudly and promises to beat up Kyle.

The boys decide to go to Canada and get Ike back themselves. That way, the people of South Park won't have to use their money to help out the Broflovskis. They note that there is a serious time limit. Not only must they succeed in advance of Christmas, they must leave sufficient time to have a "Christmas Adventure", a typical occurrence for the boys in South Park at Christmastime. They take an airplane ride to Canada by flying on City Airlines, run by Mr. Twong.

They land in Canada, and meet a bunch of Canadians. Scott, who is called "a dick", because he is the most hated man in the country. Scott, who hates Foreigners, openly says he will stop them from getting to the Prime Minister.

To get to the Prime Minister, the boys must travel down the only road in Canada. The Canadians send them down the road with a song. On the road, the boys meet people who are plagued by the new Prime Minister's laws. These people include a Canadian Mountie, who is forced to ride a sheep instead of a horse; French Canadians, who can no longer drink wine; and a Newfoundlander, who can no longer practice sodomy. After realizing that they have been heading the wrong direction on the only road in Canada, the boys are angered that they have traveled to Newfoundland, instead of their intended destination, Ottawa. The boys take the Newfoundland man's boat to the Parliment Building.

When the boys reach the building, an annoying person denies them access, but then cries when he hears their tragic tales, and lets them in. They see the Prime Minister, who is a gigantic floating head. Scott comes in with Ike and his parents, and explains the situation. The Prime Minister refuses to let Ike go back to America, and kills Kenny with some sort of heat vision. Stan notices a curtain in the corner. He pulls it back to reveal Saddam Hussein, bearded and hiding in a spider hole. The new Prime Minister, in fact, was Saddam Hussein, which explains all the pointless new laws.

Since Saddam is revealed to be the Prime Minister, this nullifies all of the laws he made. Ike goes back to Kyle, and they all head home. However, they can't make it home before Christmas, so they spend Christmas in Canada. Cartman, who is mad about missing Christmas, attempts to fight Kyle. After Kyle hits him lightly, Cartman starts to cry, and loses the fight.

The episode ends with a musical number, wherein the boys are part of a parade through Canada, while the Canadians sing "Ding Dong, The Americans Caught Saddam!" Stan sighs and says that maybe they'll have a Christmas adventure the next year.

Trivia

• The inclusion of Saddam Hussein's capture was noteworthy in this episode, as it first aired only days after his capture was announced. Another interesting note is that, based on the series' continuity, the inclusion makes no logical sense; in the South Park universe, Saddam Hussein is dead, being a resident of Heaven (not because he is good, but because of a deal between God and Satan), as established in the episode "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?/Probably." His status in Heaven was confirmed in the episode "A Ladder to Heaven," which dealt with the lead-up to the Iraqi War. Nevertheless, South Park has rarely shown any attention to logic, so this fallacy can perhaps be swept aside as a matter of necessary satire.
• Another part that confuses the continuity of South Park is when the Canadians acknowledge that it's the second time Saddam Hussein tried to take over Canada. The episode "Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow" on the other hand refers of "Not Without My Anus" as a Made-for-TV movie. However, one may argue that this indeed is the second attempted invasion of Hussein due to the inclusion of the subtitle, "Based on a true story", on the earlier episode.
• The episode was aired only five days after Paul Martin succeeded Jean Chretien as the Prime Minister of Canada (on December 12, 2003); so there was in fact a new Prime Minister at the time. Interestingly, Paul Martin's 2004 election campaign featured a giant picture of his head on the side of his campaign bus.
• Ike's birth parents mention that the Cola wars devastated all of Canada.
• Cartman's ranting about how "it wasn't enough for you Jews to kill Jesus" is quite posibly the result of him watching The Passion of the Christ 34 times with his mother, this film is used continuouly as a means for Cartman to be even more antagonistic to Kyle thoughout the next seasion.
• This was the first time Kenny died since "Kenny Dies."
• This is the second time the boys visit Canada. The first time was "Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow" and again it's more or less Kyle's fault.
• The Canada part of the plot is based on the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the 1939 movie adaption. Stan even says "I think we're not in America any more."
• Despite the episode's setting being Canada, there is no sign or mention of Terrance and Phillip. However, their archenemy, Scott "the Dick" does make an appearance.
• When Cartman and Kyle have their "fight" at the end, Kyle beats Cartman easily. Cartman and Kyle are later equaly matched in the episode, "Cartoon Wars Part II."