Editing Poutine (section)

==In politics==
In a ''[[Talking to Americans]]'' segment on the Canadian mock television news show ''[[This Hour Has 22 Minutes]]'', during the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 US election]], comedian [[Rick Mercer]] posed as a reporter and asked US politicians what they thought of "Prime Minister Jean Poutine" and his endorsement of [[George W. Bush]] for president. (The Prime Minister of Canada at the time was [[Jean Chrétien]].) None of the interviewees noticed the insertion of "Poutine" and Bush pledged to "work closely" with Mr. Poutine.<ref name="SekulesStaple"/><ref name="TrillinFunny"/><ref name="CBCPrank"/> A few years later, when Bush made his first official visit to Canada as president, he joked in a speech, "There's a prominent citizen who endorsed me in the 2000 election, and I wanted a chance to finally thank him <!--for that endorsement.-->[...] I was hoping to meet Jean Poutine." The remark was met with laughter and applause.<ref name="WhiteHouse2004"/>

[[File:Wikimania 2017 Vladimir Poutine restaurant.jpg|thumb|right|Signage outside Montreal's Vladimir Poutine restaurant<!--photo from Wikimania 2017-->]]
In French, Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]]'s surname is spelled "Poutine", with the two having identical pronunciation.<ref name="MarquisRussia" /><ref name="BilefskyVlad" /> The similarity has been a source of confusion; in commenting on the ''Talking to Americans'' prank on Bush, ''[[Washington Post]]'' columnist Al Kamen mistakenly believed that Mercer's fictional Jean Poutine was a reference to Putin.<ref name="CBCPrank" /> In 2017, Russian-themed poutinerie Vladimir Poutine opened in Montreal, with dishes named for <!--despotic-->political figures from Rasputin to Donald Trump.<ref name="BrownsteinVlad" /> In the week following the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], frequent insults and threats<!--every 10 minutes according to co-founder--> were received by the three Maison de la Poutine restaurants in Paris, some stating a belief that they worked for the Russian state. Another poutinerie in Lyon changed the name of its 20-year signature dish, Vladimir poutine, stating that it "was no longer funny". In Quebec, Le Roy Jucep announced that it was retiring the word ''poutine'' in support of Ukraine and reverted to "{{lang|fr|italic=no|fromage-patate-sauce}}" on its menus and branding.<ref name="CeccoThreat" /><ref name="ButterfieldThreat" /><ref name="BilefskyVlad" />

During the [[2011 Canadian federal election]], some voters reported receiving [[robocall]]s claiming to be from [[Elections Canada]], from a phone number registered to "Pierre Poutine".<ref>{{cite news |title='Pierre Poutine' robocalls plot detailed in new documents |first=Laura |last=Payton |date=27 August 2013 |newspaper=CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pierre-poutine-robocalls-plot-detailed-in-new-documents-1.1338630 |access-date=2 March 2022 |archive-date=2 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302142331/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pierre-poutine-robocalls-plot-detailed-in-new-documents-1.1338630 |url-status=live }}</ref> The calls targeted voters who had previously indicated they would not vote for the [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative Party]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/liberals-say-abortion-robocall-not-voter-suppression/ |title=Abortion robocall attacking Tories in Guelph was not voter suppression: Liberals |access-date=2 March 2022 |author=Postmedia News |author-link=Postmedia News |date=12 March 2012 |newspaper=[[National Post]] |archive-date=2 March 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220302141602/https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/liberals-say-abortion-robocall-not-voter-suppression/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The calls, made on election day or the day before, falsely advised voters that their [[polling station]] had been changed, in an attempt to [[voter suppression|prevent them from voting]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/215004/elections-canada-investigating-robocalls-that-misled-voters/ |title=Elections Canada investigating 'robocalls' that misled voters |access-date=18 March 2012 |last1=Maher |first1=Stephen |last2=McGregor |first2=Glen |date=27 February 2012 |work=[[Postmedia News]] |archive-date=22 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222191206/http://globalnews.ca/news/215004/elections-canada-investigating-robocalls-that-misled-voters/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The allegations became known as the [[2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal|Robocall scandal]], and subsequent investigation by the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] resulted in [[Michael Sona]], a junior Conservative Party staffer, being convicted of violating the ''Elections Act''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Michael Sona gets nine months in jail for his role in 2011 robocalls scandal |first=Glen |last=McGregor |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/michael-sona-gets-nine-months-in-jail-for-his-role-in-2011-robocalls-scandal |newspaper=[[National Post]] |date=19 November 2014 |access-date=2 March 2022 |archive-date=17 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017191844/https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/michael-sona-gets-nine-months-in-jail-for-his-role-in-2011-robocalls-scandal |url-status=live }}</ref>

Belgian Prime Minister [[Charles Michel]] had a Canadian lunch with counterpart Justin Trudeau on 16&nbsp;June 2017, during which they ate hotdogs and poutine. Michel tweeted later that this was "A great way to meet a dear friend though our fries are better", referring to the popular claim that fries were originally invented in Belgium.<ref name="HLNhotdogs"/> In 2019, Canada attempted to garner support for its campaign for a non-permanent United Nations Security Council seat in [[2020 United Nations Security Council election|the following year's election]] by serving poutine to UN diplomats.<ref name="Passblue">{{Cite news |last=Fillion |first=Stephanie |date=27 March 2019 |title=Canada, Ireland and Norway, Now Vying for the 2020 UN Security Council Vote |work=[[Passblue|PassBlue]] |url=https://www.passblue.com/2019/03/27/canada-ireland-and-norway-already-vying-for-2020-security-council-vote/ |access-date=19 June 2020 |archive-date=21 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621004901/https://www.passblue.com/2019/03/27/canada-ireland-and-norway-already-vying-for-2020-security-council-vote/ |url-status=live }}</ref>