The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - A Muppet Heads To The United Nations

Episode Date: July 6, 2020

On election night last October he was compared to a Muppet. Now he's Canada's next Ambassador to the United Nations.And what's the riskiest action you can take that cold cause COVID -19?

and hello there peter vansbridge here with the latest episode of the bridge went daily as a result of COVID-19. 17 weeks on. Here we are still. So how many of you remember election night last October? And I don't know which network you were watching, but let's say you were watching the CBC. Rosie Barton was anchoring the show,

and I was lucky enough to be asked on to the panel, and I sat there with Bob Ray as we commented on various things that were happening that night. The wins, the losses, the ups, the downs, the makeup of a minority government, et cetera, et cetera. We had a lot of fun. Then we started looking at Twitter, and what were they calling us? Two nice guys like Bob Ray and me?

They were calling us Statler and Waldorf. Remember them? Statler and Waldorf. Remember them? Statler and Waldorf. The two old guys on the Muppets. Those two Muppets are sat up in the balcony whining and moaning about everybody they saw on stage. Well, that's what people, in a very nice way, described Bob Ray and my performances that night on election night. We had a good time. People seemed to enjoy it. We got lots of nice mail.

But we also got that Statler and Waldorf stuff. So why am I bringing that up today? Well, because Bob Ray got the big appointment today. He's going to be Canada's new ambassador to the United Nations, and you know what? Good for him and good for Canada. Bob Ray's a good man. Lousy putter.

From the few times I've played golf with him now, maybe he's much better now. But he won't get time to putt anymore. He's going to have to work every day at the United Nations for Canada. So that'll be interesting to watch that happen. And you know why I'll find it fascinating? Because if you watched the election last time, 2019, maybe you watched it in 2015, the night Justin Trudeau came from third place to first place and won the election. I was anchoring the program that night,

the last federal election that I anchored. And Bob Ray was one of the guests. He was sitting there with me, and I was kidding him, saying, okay, Justin Trudeau's won. You were the last liberal leader, interim they called it, but he was really the leader of the Liberal Party until Justin Trudeau came along. Leaders are rewarded.

Former leaders are rewarded in one way or another. And he'd be one of them. So what was the award he was going to get? Reward. And I can't remember which one I said, but there were two rumors around that night. One was that he'd be going to Washington as Canada's new ambassador there, and the other was to New York as Canada's new ambassador to the United Nations.

Well, it just goes to show you, sometimes those predictions turn out years later to be right. Well, congratulations to Bob Ray, who I guess will take up his post as soon as he and Arlene get ready to move down to New York. It's a great setup there. Nice little residence. And a great embassy staff for the new ambassador from Canada to the United Nations, Bob Ray. Okay. Here's your COVID-19 story for the day well I got a couple of them actually

but I found this one interesting I'm sure you've witnessed the mess that's going on in the United States especially the southern states Florida, Texas, Arizona, California well I saw this today from the Texas Medical Association. Now, one would think they've got enough problems on their hands right now.

But perhaps this may help. The Texas Medical Association put out a graph today. It says COVID-19, be informed. Know your risk during COVID-19. On a scale of 1 to 10, how risky is, and then they go through a number of things.

Okay? So I thought you might find some of this interesting. This is according, once again, to the Texas Medical Association. So if you have quibbles about it, don't go after me. Go after the TMA. So know your risk. The lowest risk on their graph. So that would come in at a one. The lowest risk, all alone in first place, is opening the mail.

Remember how worried we were at the beginning? Wow, don't touch your mail. Wipe your mail down. Whatever you do, don't touch your mail. Wipe your mail down. Whatever you do, don't touch your mail. Oh, wear gloves. Spray your mail. Use disinfectant towels. Well, they say of all the things that they've looked at, opening the mail is the least risky thing you can do if you're fearful of getting COVID-19. And they're all alone in first place. There are four things tied for second place. And they're kind of surprising.

Getting restaurant takeout is the second least risky thing to do. Pumping gasoline is also second. Playing tennis is second. Going camping is second. So those are all in the low-risk category. I'm not going to read the whole list here, but let me give you a few more highlights. Number three, third risk, grocery shopping,

going for a walk, run, or bike ride with others, playing golf. I'm going out for my first game of golf later this week. There's a whole bunch of them tied for fourth in terms of risk. Staying at a hotel for two nights, sitting in a doctor's waiting room, going to a library or a museum, eating in a restaurant outside, walking in a busy downtown, spending an hour at a playground.

We saw a lot of pictures over the weekend of people at beaches and a lot of concern about what was happening at beaches. They're actually right in the middle of this graph. Number five, going to a beach. Tied with shopping at a mall. Having dinner at someone else's house. Attending a backyard barbecue. Those are all sitting at number five.

So you're getting now into moderate risk territory. Sending kids to school, camp, or daycare. That's number six. Working a week in an office building. Swimming in a public pool. Visiting an elderly relative or friend in their house. Okay, that's all in moderate risk. Then you get into moderate high risk. I guess I am going to read all these. Going to a hair salon or a barber shop, that's moderate high, number seven.

Eating in a restaurant, inside. Attending a wedding or a funeral. Traveling by plane. Playing basketball. Playing football. Hugging or shaking hands when greeting a friend. Those are all moderate to high. Then we're into high risk.

These are high risk, eight and nine. Eating at a buffet. Really? Do you think there's any buffets anywhere? Risk, eight and nine. Eating at a buffet, really? Do you think there's any buffets anywhere? Would you ever eat at a buffet again, ever? Working out at a gym, that's still very high risk. Going to an amusement park, going to a movie theater. And then finally, the highest risk category.

There are four things in here. Attending a large music concert, going to a sports stadium, attending a religious service with 500 or more worshipers, and at the absolute top of the high-risk bar, going to a bar. All right? So there you go. A whole whack on that graph of things from the lowest risk, opening the mail, the all-alone winner of the low-risk category, opening the mail, to the highest of high risk, going to a bar.

And, of course, you can always rewind that if you want to hear them all again. Okay. Here's our final thread for today, and for many of you, this is, you know, perhaps what you think of most this summer, especially if you have kids, and it's about for really, really young kids, daycare, and for kids older than daycare, the issue of school, and for older kids, university.

Because here we are in the first week of July, and it's still not clear what's going to be happening later this summer and early this fall. But there are a couple of really good pieces that I would suggest you try and find for today because unlike the graph, I'm not going to read them all. I'm just going to give you some highlights from them. There's one in today's New York Times or the weekend edition of the New York Times, and there's

one in the Washington Post. So, let me give you the highlights. In the New York Times, it's an opinion piece from an epidemiologist and a pediatrician. They discuss how we can and should safely open schools. Their suggestions include the expected social distancing and hygiene measures, but also about getting creative about transportation, creating in-school bubbles and continuing to improve online teaching in case schools are forced to close again and the people who I've talked to both teachers and students and parents

are really concerned that they totally understand why nobody was really ready for online teaching, but they're concerned that improvements are not made because there's this rush to open schools and this belief that schools will open and there's nobody focusing on trying to make those online courses better and more workable for kids. So they make a point about that. But here's the point that I really liked. I think this is so true.

And it's certainly true in the States. You would be able to tell me whether it's true here as well. And this is it. This piece in the New York Times also notes that our priorities are out of whack because we're focusing on opening bars and gyms instead of having robust plans to open schools that will not only ensure children aren't set back, but also help the economy deal with its most pressing issue for the workforce,

child care. And I think that, you know, from what I've seen and what I've heard, I think that really hits the nail on the head. We talk about opening bars and restaurants we talk about that a lot we talk about it in the media we talk about it in common discussion we talk about it on our podcasts

how often do we talk about robust plans to open schools that will not only ensure children aren't set back, but also help the economy. Deal with what is clearly, if not the most, one of the most pressing issues for the workforce, and that is child care. So that's where the Washington Post comes in with its piece,

because they support that. They look at the economic impacts of childcare remaining closed, and they cite German researchers who estimate that 8.4% of economic activity in Europe will not happen if schools and child care facilities remain closed. A study by Northeastern University, apparently hasn't been published yet, but it's quoted in this Washington Post piece, shows that parents were losing a full day to addressing their children's needs at home. Now, I think what that means is they're losing a full day a week in time,

when you add it all together, to dealing with children's needs at home while they're at the same time trying to work. Now, Nicholas Bloom is also quoted in this piece as saying the pandemic experience has belied his initial research. Important here. His initial research that working from home makes one more productive strictly because of the change in childcare circumstances. Now, remember at the beginning, there was all this sort of,

I don't know when I say the beginning, the beginning of the pandemic, when we were all isolated at home and we were trying to find the silver lining, and a lot of us said, wow, you know what? This is great. We're working from home. We're actually, some of us, it's even more productive than when we were working at the office. Maybe we should be thinking about this all the time. Well, what these studies are showing is, wait a minute.

It's not more productive. And the reason it's not more productive. And the reason it's not more productive is because of the changing nature of childcare. So, there's some food for thought. I've heard from a lot of you over these last few weeks, all 17 of them, about how you've been trying to deal with the issue of your kids at home. And I know it's been, you know, there have been some gripping and emotional letters that you've sent in about how difficult that has been for so many of you,

the men and women who have spent their time trying to look after their kids, teach their kids, encourage their kids, keep their kids busy, especially when their kids can't see other kids. It's tough. And who knows how much longer that is going to go on. You know, we're doing, keep saying it, we're doing pretty well in Canada. Does the virus still exist? Absolutely.

Are people still getting sick? Absolutely. But the numbers are way down. I mean, we have flattened the curves, all of them. Hospitalization, ventilator usage, deaths. I think today or yesterday was the first day since early March in Ontario where there has not been a death. You know, that's really encouraging news. But at the same time, we're looking at pictures of, you know, party time in the bars, on the beaches,

over this past weekend as things start to open up, and is that going to cause problems? We don't know. We're going to see. We're sure looking at the mess in the States, where it just seems absolutely out of control. Cases, you know, 50,000 a day. Deaths, down. But the experts say these cases going up,

deaths, there's a lag time. Deaths will come. They're probably two weeks away. There'll be a spike in those numbers. Well, we'll see. Whatever the case, we don't want to look like what's happening south of the border. So with that, the normal cautions for the week. Please keep socially distant.

Please wear your masks. Please wash your hands. Please care about others. And get outside as often as you can. Fresh air beats stale air any day. Alright, the Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com, the Mansbridge

Podcast at gmail.com. You know how to reach us, and anytime you're stuck for something to do, you can go to thepetermansbridge.com. That's my website where there's all kinds of interesting things, including how to order the book I've got coming out later this year with my good friend Mark Bulguch.

Okay, that's all we got for the Bridge Daily for this day, for this Monday, day one of week 17. Thanks for listening. You know where to find us tomorrow. Thank you.