Nova Scotia politician files complaint with talk show host Jimmy Kimmel

A provincial cabinet minister in Nova Scotia has written a letter of complaint to talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel, saying he didn’t appreciate a recent segment that made light of the Halifax Explosion. (Photo: Jimmy Kimmel/Facebook)

HALIFAX — A provincial cabinet minister in Nova Scotia has written a letter of complaint to talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel, saying he didn’t appreciate a recent segment that made light of the Halifax Explosion.

The letter from Labour Minister Labi Kousoulis says even though the disaster happened more than 100 years ago, Nova Scotian families still live with the memories of a wartime blast that killed about 2,000 people in 1917.

Kousoulis’s letter says “the wounds are still very deep and very apparent within Halifax and our province.”

During the segment, broadcast Monday, Kimmel and actor Rob Lowe used irreverent humour while discussing the disaster, with Kimmel saying at one point, “It was 100 years ago, so we can laugh about it.”

Lowe told Kimmel he was “obsessed” with the catastrophe, saying he successfully lobbied to have his character in a new movie named for the deadly blast.

In the new film “Super Troopers 2,” Lowe plays Guy Le Franc, a former hockey star whose nickname is “the Explosion.”

Lowe has worked on several projects in the Halifax area.

Kimmel said he had never heard of the blast, in which a munitions ship caught fire after colliding with another vessel and exploded — levelling the city’s north end.

Kousoulis says Kimmel owes Nova Scotians an apology.

“I would ask that you please take into consideration the levity of your conversation with Mr. Lowe,” the letter says. “I hope that you would offer an apology to all Nova Scotians.”