Trudeau makes his case to Canadians in year-end interview with comedian Mark Critch

It's been a "garbage year" for the prime minister, says comedian Mark Critch off the top of his year-end interview with Justin Trudeau. 

The This Hour Has 22 Minutes cast member got an accidental exclusive interview with Trudeau after the Prime Minister's Office cancelled all of Trudeau's scheduled interviews following Chrystia Freeland's shock resignation from cabinet. 

The comedy-sketch-style interview aired at 8 p.m. ET as part of CBC's New Year's Eve special. 

But the interview was filmed on Dec. 6 —10 days before Freeland's resignation. Radio-Canada also filmed a year-end interview with the prime minister on that day but chose not to broadcast the interview as it had become dated after Freeland's departure. 

The Critch interview was marked by laughs and jokes as Trudeau attempted to make his case to take the Liberals into the next election.

"Right now we're in a moment where everything is difficult, and Pierre Poilievre is trying to convince Canadians not to believe in themselves, not to believe in the CBC, not to believe in climate change, not to believe in gun control, not to believe in women's rights," Trudeau told Critch. 

"I believe Canadians rise to the occasion, and I am certainly not going to stop fighting at this moment where it's so important."

Here are the highlights from the interview. 

Trudeau publicly split with his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, in August after 18 years of marriage. 

But that wasn't the "devastating breakup" Critch asked the prime minister. Instead, he poked fun at Trudeau losing the confidence of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. 

"We got good things done together as progressives, and we're going to still try to bring them along on the more progressive things we're doing," said Trudeau about the political break-up. 

Since the interview was taped, Singh has vowed to topple Trudeau's government in a non-confidence vote. 

Trudeau spoke highly about his November visit to Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Fla.

As for president-elect Donald Trump's comments that Canada should become the 51st state and references to Trudeau as Canada's governor, Trudeau brushed off the remarks as jokes.