Who is Charlie Demers? What to know about the Vancouver comedian (and NDP speechwriter)
Premier David Eby is under fire for a reported contract with the actor, comedian and author. Here's a look at his work and comments over the years
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B.C. Premier David Eby has come under Conservative party fire for a contract reportedly worth up to $450,000 to Vancouver comedian, actor and author Charles (Charlie) Demers.
The Conservative Party of B.C. released a copy of the contract on Tuesday showing an hourly rate of $165 for a total cost of $150,000 over two years, which could reach $450,000 if Demers is hired for two more year-long terms. Finance critic Peter Milobar said in a news release that the contract “exemplifies” the government’s misplaced spending priorities and “tone-deaf” attitude to taxpayer money.
The premier responded on Tuesday, saying Demers has only been paid $14,000 so far for his help writing speeches and, occasionally, jokes — not “quite as sensational” as the Opposition claims. He said his government is cutting costs in light of a record provincial deficit.
Eby said Demers is one of five speechwriters “necessary” for his job and that the use of contractors like Demers — who could not be reached immediately for comment — allows government to cut back on costs. He said every government office, including the premier’s, is working to slash costs to try to return to a balanced budget.
Here’s a look at the Vancouver comedy scene regular at the heart of the contract controversy:
His work spans many formats
Charlie Demers was born in Vancouver and his work in books, comedy, TV and podcasts often reflects his deep ties to the city.
His first book of essays, published as Charles Demers, was Vancouver Special (2009), which was nominated for a Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize. His novels are The Prescription Errors (2009), Property Values (2018), Primary Obsessions (2020) and Noonday Dark (2022). Both Primary Obsessions and Noonday Dark star a crime-solving Vancouver psychologist named Dr. Annick Boudreau. A new book of essays, The Eh Team: A Celebration of Canadianisms from Elbows Up to Poutine, comes out Nov. 4.
A standup comedian, he’s had a long and still very active career on stage. You can see him at Pacific Theatre’s The Comedy Weekend shows Nov. 14-15 at the theatre’s alley-style basement space in Vancouver, 1440 West 12th Ave. Tickets are available at pacifictheatre.org or by phone at 604-731-5518. His latest comedy special, shot in Vancouver, is available on YouTube.
His 2017 comedy album Fatherland, about becoming a dad, was nominated for a Juno Award.
He’s a longtime voice actor
Demers did voice work on the animated children’s series Beat Bugs (2016-17), which won two Daytime Emmys.
He voiced characters on the Emmy-winning The Last Kids on Earth (2019-21) and the new Crave series Super Team Canada (2025), in which he is the voice of a little-known superhero named Poutine. (Other stars are fellow Canadian comic actor Will Arnett and Vancouver’s Cobie Smulders.)
Demers also voiced Night Light in the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season 7 episode Once Upon a Zeppelin.
He’s a CBC Radio and podcast staple
Demers has been a regular on the long-running CBC Radio comedy hit The Debaters hosted by Steve Patterson, which features comedians going toe-to-toe on current events and topics Canadians are talking about.
In 2018, Demers talked about his left-leaning politics as a guest on Marc Maron’s influential WTF podcast, and about the differences — and surprising similarities — between American and Canadian politics, among many other topics. Demers has also opened for Maron on some of his Canadian standup dates.
He produced his own series about fiction and non-fiction books with a socialist slant called Well Reds: A Left Book Podcast, in 2018-19. Several episodes can be found on Apple Podcasts. During the pandemic, he worked with Anxiety Canada on a podcast candidly discussing his own history of obsessive compulsive and panic disorders.
He has close ties to the B.C. NDP
In his novel Noonday Dark, a main character is a standup comedian who has been hired to punch up speeches for a politician. Demers has done that in the past for current Energy Minister Adrian Dix and the late former Premier John Horgan.
He told Dana Gee in 2022: “Actually, there is one little detail in the book lifted directly from my time writing jokes for Adrian Dix. Adrian had to give a speech at the Vancouver Board of Trade — this was just after Christy Clark had launched something called ‘Free Enterprise Fridays.’ We had Adrian open that he was countering with ‘Theoretical Marxism Thursdays.’
“Apparently, it brought the house down. In Vaughn Palmer’s column the next day, four of my ghostwritten jokes were quoted, which was a high-water mark. So I decided to give that story to my character Danielle. It’s the only part of the book based on true events.”
With files from The Canadian Press
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