Entartistes

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The entartistes were a Canadian satirical political group active in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They threw cream pies at politicians and public figures they believed should be publicly embarrassed. A member who called himself Pope-Tart explained their idea: “You work for us. You can’t be too big for your britches or you’ll get a pie in the face.” The group formed from former Rhinoceros Party members, including François Gourd. In 1995 they offered $400 to anyone who pied Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, but no one did, so they began planning their own pieings. They mainly targeted Quebec politicians, but also pied people like Sylvester Stallone in 1998. The act inspired similar pie-throwing groups across Canada.

In 1999 they released a new list of targets, including Chrétien, media owner Conrad Black, and singer Céline Dion. In 2000, an offshoot group in Prince Edward Island, the PEI Pie Brigade, pied Chrétien. Ralph Klein was pied in 2003 by Christopher Geoghegan. Some targets pressed charges. Bruno Caron, who pied Parizeau, pled guilty and got 60 hours of community service. Stéphane Dion pressed charges; two members, Patrick Robert and Benoit Foisy, were convicted of assault and given 60 hours of community service. Geoghegan was convicted in 2004 and received 60 days in jail on weekends, 40 hours of community service, and three months of probation. Evan Brown, who pied Chrétien, was convicted of assault and got 30 days in jail plus $50 to a victims’ fund. Brown later left acting, moved to Halifax, and wrote a one-man show about the experience.