Reuters files

Stephen Colbert isn’t positive where the Earth’s rectum is located, but figures there’s a chance it could be Winnipeg as much as it could be Windsor, Ont.

The host of the satirical late-night show, The Colbert Report, was deflecting criticism on Wednesday night for suggesting in his latest book, America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t, that Windsor, Ont., might be the “Earth’s rectum.”

“It’s a question. As a journalist, it is my job to ask these probing questions,” Colbert said on his program, which airs on CTV and the Comedy Network in Canada. “It could just as easily be Winnipeg.”

Colbert then referenced a CBC online poll that asked whether his description of Windsor as the Earth’s rectum was good or bad for that city. A sizable majority of respondents answered positively.

“Apparently the Earth’s rectum is an improvement over Windsor’s previous reputation,” Colbert said. “So, you’re welcome, Windsor, you just got the Colbert Bump.”

In February 2010, the comedian launched an online campaign to change the definition of “Canada’s History” to that of a depraved sexual act after hearing Winnipeg-based history magazine The Beaver was changing its name to Canada’s History following years of censoring by online porn filters.