Jon Stewart visits Toronto for his TIFF debut

You might not noticed that "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" last night was a repeat, while the Colbert Report aired a fresh episode.

So why wasn't Jon Stewart in New York City on Monday night?

It's Canada's fault.

Specifically, Stewart was in Toronto for the Canadian premiere of "Rosewater" at the Toronto International Film Festival.

"Don't worry. Olivia Chow is gonna come back," Stewart replied when asked about the Toronto mayoral race. Given the extensive Daily Show coverage of Rob Ford, you knew Stewart would easily weigh in if asked.

"From what I’ve read and seen about (Mayor) Rob Ford, there are some skeletons," Stewart said. "I haven’t been (to City Hall) yet … but I’m going to go."

In an interview with the Toronto Star, Stewart was asked "Did you know the official program book for the festival has a welcome message from Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly, not the mayor?"

Stewart's reply: "His message I guess would be: when in doubt, smoke crack."

Rob Ford jokes aside, Stewart was in Toronto for his directorial debut, the story of Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari. Jason Jones (Canadian) interviewed Bahari for The Daily Show. Bahari's arrest and torture was sparked in part by the footage from the comedy program.

Ironically, Steve Carell, formerly of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," is also in Toronto for his new film, "Foxcatcher."

Stewart arrived in Toronto on Saturday along with Bahari and Gael García Bernal, who portrays the journalist in the film.

As for why the film debuted on a Monday, TIFF's new rule doesn't allow any film that has debuted somewhere else to play in the first weekend.

"Rosewater" played at the recently held Telluride Film Festival. TIFF is battling Telluride among other festivals to be the first festival to debut a film.

Hopefully, Stewart will drop in a kind word about Toronto in tonight's all-new "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Comedy Central in the United States and the Comedy Channel and CTV in Canada.

"Rosewater" will have a limited release in the United States on November 7.

photo credit: Toronto Star