The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Braveheart Reporting

Episode Date: October 21, 2021

Setting up camp in the Scottish Highlands for a few weeks and starting with a sense of what my first international journey since Covid was like.  Bottom line -- it wasn't that bad at all.  And then a lookahead to what is in store in terms of some special programs in the next little while, something I hope for everyone.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge, coming to you from Scotland, right after this. Our podcast is brought to you by Questrade, Canada's fastest-growing and award-winning online broker. Tired of getting dinged with fees every time you buy or sell U.S. stocks? Well, good news. With Questrade, you don't have to.

You can hold U.S. stocks? Well, good news. With Questrade, you don't have to. You can hold U.S. dollars in your trading account and avoid expensive, forced conversion fees every time you trade U.S. stocks. Switch today and get up to $50 worth of free trades. Visit Questrade.com to open an account and use promo code QUEST. Conditions apply. Hi, we're in Scotland. Not exactly Braveheart, but listen, I'll tell you, there was a certain bravery in my heart on venturing on this little episode from Canada, this trip from Canada to Scotland. I'll tell you why.

I've always been fascinated by crossing the ocean, whether it was the Atlantic or the Pacific, right back to my earliest days as a child when we came to Canada from England. 1954, April of 1954. On board the Samaria. A ship, right? This was before, well, it wasn't before transatlantic air travel,

but it was at a time when it was, you know, pretty costly to fly. And so the deal was by ship. And it was fun. It was, you know, about a week. I was only, I don't know, six years old. So I don't remember really that much about it, but it was an adventure and it was the Atlantic and you looked out over those waters. And I think of that every time I crossed the Atlantic and I've done that dozens of times since by air as a result of my journalistic career. But I'll tell you, this trip, this trip was different than all of them

because this was my first venture internationally in almost two years since COVID. And so there was a bit of nervous apprehension on there. And that's where the brave heart came into play. But look, I'm double vaxxed. I'd taken all the proper precautions. I was prepared to wear a mask for a long time. And it was a long time.

Because as soon as you get to Pearson airport in Toronto, you have to have the mask on when you go in the building, right? That's everybody knows that, but that's it. You have the mask on until you reach your destination, which in my case was Inverness, Scotland. So flying from Pearson, Toronto, to Heathrow, London, and then a five-hour wait at Heathrow before the connecting flight to Inverness. All that period wearing the mask. Now, the only exceptions are if you're having something to eat or drink on board the aircraft or within an airport terminal. But I can tell you in the whole period for me, which was, I don't know,

24 hours plus by the time everything was done, during that whole period, I never heard a complaint from anybody. I know there are stories and there are facts backing up those stories about problems on aircraft. Not so on this flight. There were none. I didn't hear anybody complaining. Everybody wore their masks. Now, mind you, it was the middle of the night. Most people were sleeping. I had a good sleep on the flight over, but sleeping with a mask on is different. But no problems.

And no problems in either of the terminal buildings. Heathrow, for all the stories about Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world and lots and lots of people from different countries all over the globe. No issues. Things ran very smoothly at Heathrow. Very well organized. No lineups. Boom, boom, boom.

Everything was really, really well organized. A lot of people, you know, I landed at the Terminal Air Canada uses, which is Terminal 2, and then transferred over to Terminal 5, which is the main British Airways terminal. And that's a bit of a challenge because it's a lot of walking. It's partly a bus ride between terminals, but all good. Lots of people, but all good. No problems. So I wouldn't hesitate in telling people who asked, what was it like? It was not a problem. I mean, I'd been in Heathrow when it was a nightmare. That was before COVID.

This experience wasn't. Maybe I just hit a lucky day, I'm not sure, but it was busy. There were a lot of people around, but it was all very organized, and everybody was wearing their masks and moving on, doing what they needed to do. So that was the flight part for the most part. Now, I like this part of Scotland. It's north of Inverness, so it's a drive after arriving in Inverness.

But I've had a bit of bad luck in the last, I don't know, three or four trips that I've taken here. In each case, at least one of my bags, usually my golf bag, has, I won't say lost, because they always seem to know where it was, but it was misplaced. It didn't arrive when I arrived, which when you're playing golf, you usually, you want to hit the links the day you arrive, no matter how tired you are.

But it's a little tricky if you don't have your clubs. So you have to rent clubs and it's not the same. Anyway, as I said, the last three or four times, without exception, at least one of my bags has not arrived so i'm thinking and initially they can't really tell you where it is and they think they know and then they're not sure and did it ever leave toronto did it get mixed up somewhere in heathrow switching terminals, blah, blah, blah. So when I was up in the Arctic, some of you may remember about a month or six weeks ago,

a couple of the fellows I was traveling with, the crew members of part of our crew, Sanjay, the sound guy, and John, the camera operator, said to me, you know what? You should really get these little bag locators. And a number of places sell them. And they mentioned Apple. I mean, what doesn't Apple sell?

And they call them AirTags in Apple's case. But as I said, I'm not fronting for Apple here. There are a number of places that do these. But as it turned out, they told me about the Apple AirTag. So I got them. I got four of them. And they're about the size of a, I don't know, a loonie. Maybe a little smaller than that. And don't ask me how it works, but you sync it up with your phone

and you put one of these things in your bag. You put it in your golf bag, you know, in one of the zip things in the side, or you can put it in your golf bag, you know, in one of the zip things in the side, or you can put it in your suitcase. And because we're over here for three weeks, Cynthia and I, we had four bags. So I'd bought four air tags, but one in each bag. And I didn't know what to expect. But bingo, like right away from Pearson airport, I could see them on my phone.

I could see each bag individually where it was in the terminal building, whether they were together, whether they made it or were on route out towards the gate where the plane was. I could see all of that. Like Cynthia was saying, can we just, you know, like have a normal trip or are you going to be looking at your bags the whole way? Well, I was pretty much looking at the bags the whole way over here because I wanted to see where are these things going to disappear

because there's bound to be a problem that happens every time I go. But I followed them in Toronto. We get on the plane it shows them on the plane but what it says is they are with you so they're on the plane we get to heathrow and then there's separation the bags are one kilometer away they They're two kilometers away. They're at Terminal 2, and you're at Terminal 5. And that's when I obviously started to worry. And then slowly, you watch them. You literally watch the little marker on your smartphone moving towards Terminal 5 and right to the gate, and it has the gates marked off and sure enough they made the

transfer to the flight to Inverness on British Airways and there we were in Inverness with all four bags now it wasn't because of the airTags, but the AirTags did give me some comfort in constantly watching these things. And obviously, you know, you can use them for anything, right? You know, you can put one on your dog. You can attach them to your keys. Anything that you typically can't find when you suddenly need them. So, as I said, I'm not pushing Apple.

God, they don't need my help. And there are a number of these things out. I just happened to get this one, but it's great. And once again, I don't know how it works. I don't understand. You know, they try to explain it in the little pamphlet when I go on. I don't get it, but I don't need to get it. I just need to know where my bags are, and it worked.

So it was all good on the bag front. And there we were, arriving in Scotland. So what do you need to come here? You need to get on the plane in Toronto, you need the results of a, well, if you're double vaxxed, you actually need nothing else other than the proof of double vaccination. We took a rapid test as well just for our own comfort. Cynthia had been doing some concerts last week in Toronto, and there was a fairly sizable audience and fellow cast members and all that, and so they all felt that they would take rapid tests just to ensure that everything was good, and everything was good.

I took one as well because I'd done a number of events around the launch of my book. Did I tell you about my book? It's still doing well, off the record. Anyway, we took our test, and we get, you know, so you show Air Canada that you were double vaccinated, and you have the proof. And that's it. You're on the plane. Now, the British, once you arrive double vaccinated from a green country, which is where you are, not amber or red, but a green country, if're double vaxxed you get off the plane and you've had to have already booked before you even came you had to have booked a day two test with the british health service you give them an address this is before you leave canada you

give them an address tell them where you are, what date you're flying, flight number, all that stuff. And when you get to your destination, if you have an address or hotel name, what have you, you will find a package there with your name on it with the day two test. It's like a rapid test, you know, the thing with your, the swab that you do your throat and your nostrils. And then you package it up and mail it in.

And that's it. That's the process now for those who are double vaccinated. So this was day two for us today. And we just mailed off these little packages with our stuff in them and then they get back to you by email within a couple of days. It all goes to Glasgow. They do the tests. And they let you know whether you're negative or positive and that's that.

And then you're done. No more quarantining. You know, two months ago you had to quarantine for 10 days, 14 days, plus the day two test and a day eight test. Not the case anymore if you're double vaccinated. So we've done all the requirements that are placed upon us as a result of COVID, and everything's good. And up here near Dornick is where I am.

If you look at a map and you see Inverness, Scotland, about an hour's drive north, it's only about 30, 35 miles. A beautiful countryside heading into the highlands, right? You're in the highlands, so it's gorgeous. The weather's been great. It's been warm. You know, I'm looking out my window right now, and it's gorgeous, all blue sky.

There was a light rain overnight, so everything is growing. So Scotland, in many ways, like parts of Canada, this fall has been extremely warm. I mean, the trees are all still green here, for the most part. But it's been wonderful. And love the place. Getting some work done. Getting a lot of work done, actually. Which I want to tell you a little bit about.

I just want to make sure I've told you everything that you need to know about the trip. I think so. I mean, the headlines for me were no issues on the flight with other passengers, you know, being very upset about having to wear a mask. None of that came up, not once, at least not that I saw or heard. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen on occasion. It clearly does.

And that's why flight attendants, some in Canada, are demanding, you know, stiffer penalties and a cutback on the amount of alcohol served on planes. Because, you know, one thing can lead to another

as a result of perhaps something, a little too much to drink. No problems there at all. And everything ran smoothly. And if you're double vaxxed, you know, it would be nice not to have to do this day two test. It's a bit of a pain. You know, I'd never done

the throat swab before. I was used to doing the nostril thing as a result of rapid testing and self-rapid test. The throat swab, though, that's a little different. You know,

it's best if you have somebody do it for you. So Cynthia was doing it and, you know, it's best if you have somebody do it for you. So Cynthia was doing it, and, you know, she kept saying, you got to open your mouth wider. Your tongue's got to be flat. I can't see your tonsils. And I said, well, I had my tonsils out when I was like four. Well, there's supposed to be something there. Anyway, she's jabbing away in there, and I'm choking.

But as I said, all done. And that was the only thing as a result of COVID in terms of testing so far on this trip, if you're double vaxxed. This is The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge. Alright. So, I want to give you a heads up on some of the things I've got planned in the next couple of weeks. Doing a couple of special shows as a result of being here.

Obviously, not losing track of what's happening in Canada. Big week coming up next week. Cabinet shuffle. And from what I understand, it's going to be a big... Well, it's not really a shuffle. It's the new cabinet the new government's new cabinet being announced but a lot of people assumed well they'll just leave the same ministers in the same places add a couple for the spots that are being opened up

i'm hearing it's going to be much bigger than that we'll know on early next week when Parliament reopens and the swearing-in of the new cabinet occurs at Rideau Hall. That'll be interesting, and that will be one of the big discussions up tomorrow on Good Talk. Chantal Hebert will be in Montreal. Bruce is over here somewhere too, but he's checked out for this week, and deservedly so.

He's had a busy run. So he's taking the day off tomorrow from Good Talk. He's traveling up north in the Highlands somewhere. And Rob Russo, former bureau chief, Canadian Press in Ottawa, former bureau chief of the CBC in Ottawa, former correspondent for CP, Canadian Press, in Washington. He's in Ottawa. And Rob will be joining Chantel and myself for Good Talk tomorrow. And we'll deal with this cabinet issue.

Well, I also want to talk about inflation. You know, I've been harping away on this in the last six months. And you may recall some of the programs I did in the spring. And I was saying, what about inflation? It's got to hit at some point. All that money being spent, all that money out there, all these shortages, the big sea container issue, plants can't get the things they need.

It's going to impact inflation. And as inflation goes up and wages stay low, it's a problem. And some of us have lived through the high inflationary times, and we know how ugly it can get. Hopefully, that will not be the case here. But we were used to 1.5%, 2% inflation for quite a few years now. What were the latest numbers? Over 4%, doubling inflation in a short period of time.

With no end in sight to the numbers rising. That affects everything. Everything. From cost of food, cost of your basic needs, houseware, etc., etc., your mortgage. Is there an upside? Well, maybe interest rates will go up a little bit

if you've got money stored away somewhere. Interest rates favoring you. But a lot of us don't have a lot of money stored away anywhere. But we do have debt. Canada has enormous consumer debt. Well, those interest rates could be affected. So we're going to talk about that as well. There are a few things, and obviously there's a result in Alberta this week

of the referendum on equalization. So we'll get to all of that tomorrow on Good Talk. But I wanted to do a couple of other things over this next couple of weeks. Rob Carrick will be joining us. Rob is kind of a consumer finance guy at the Globe and Mail, and I've always liked his columns. They're really kind of ground level. I get it.

I understand what you're telling me, and I understand why it matters or should matter to me. Well, we're going to talk about something interesting. I'm not sure whether it'll be next week or the week after, but we're going to talk about the cashless society, which we've heard about for decades.

But how often do you use cash now yeah that's right not very often but some people are being left out here with the move away from cash to full credit and debit what's our world going to look like as we move further and further away from cash? So Rob will join us for that. Now, here's a name. You like history? Do you get excited by history?

Discussions about history? I do. Like, I've always been fascinated by history. It was probably the only subject in high school that I did relatively well on, was history. And so, one of my favorite historians is one of Britain's favorite historians as well. And he's a young guy, although everybody seems young to me these days. But I remember Dan Snow when he was just a kid.

Dan is the son of a name you probably, some of you will remember, Ann McMillan. Great CBC correspondent. Sister of Margaret McMillan, the great Canadian historian. Well, Dan's grown up in England. His dad is Peter Snow, who was one of the BBC's most famous broadcasters and a heck of a nice guy himself. But Dan wanted to be a historian. And he is, and he started History Hit,

which is, he likes to call it the Netflix of history. And you get a number of documentaries on it. But I've worked with Dan a number of times over the years. He's fantastic to listen to. And you'll have fun listening, Dan. We're going to do a special on basically on is history real? Like, can you believe history in this world that some describe as a post-truth era? What about history?

What about the history we're making now and recording now? Is it true to what actually happened? We've got a fabulous conversation with Dan on that. That'll be coming up. I'm thinking probably early next week. And here's the other story. You know, when's the last time you went to a library?

Or access to the library, either online or was it recently? Is it in the last year? In the last 10 years? What did COVID do to libraries? It's an interesting discussion and nowhere better to have it than here. One of the most influential people on the expansion of libraries in the world

was Andrew Carnegie. Good Scott. good Scott and you don't have to look far to find where his influence was as you know I I live in Stratford Ontario the library in Stratford Ontario was partially gifted by Andrew Carnegie with the Carnegie Library funds.

When he made hundreds of millions of dollars, he was the richest man in the world at the turn of the last century, so in the early 1900s. And his thing was books and libraries. And so he spread money around. More than 2,000 communities in the world can point to their library and say, if it wasn't for Andrew Carnegie, we wouldn't have that. Stratford, Ontario is one of those.

And there's a town not far, well, there's a lot of towns not far from here. But there's a little community called Dingwall in Scotland. It's kind of roughly halfway between Inverness and here. And Dingwall has a Carnegie library as well. Now, it was very small. And they've actually had to expand space, so they moved into another building. But the original Carnegie library in Dingwall is still there.

And why do I mention that? What's its significance? In 1962, guess who played for a night, kind of a concert, a fun evening, in the Carnegie Library. In Dingwall, Scotland. 1962. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Beatles.

The Beatles played in. Dingwall, Scotland. In the Carnegie Library. And so that's its claim to fame. So I'm going to take a pass by there. But what we're going to do on a kind of special program, there are a number of books coming out this year. Did I tell you that I have a book this year? No, there are a number of books coming out this year. Did I tell you that I have a book this year? No. There are a number of books coming out this year

that focus on the importance of libraries, the struggle for libraries. Are libraries doing actually better than we thought they were doing right now? As I said, a number of books coming out focusing on libraries. And one of them is written by two professors at St. Andrews University, just down the coast, south of here on the east coast of Scotland, home for the most famous golf course in the world, the old course at St. Andrews, but it's got a great university.

That's where Will and Kate went to university at St. Andrews. There are two profs there who kind of represent different generations, but they got together to write a book on libraries and so we're going to have a conversation with them that's coming up in the next couple of weeks and i'm looking forward to that you know it sounds like well that's kind of dry isn't it no it's fascinating where would we be without books? Well, we'll get to that in that conversation.

And there's a lot more coming up in these next few weeks. And I'm, you know, while we kind of straddle the two oceans or no, the two continents, either side of the one ocean, the Atlantic. So keep in touch with Canada, with shows like tomorrow with Good Talk. And we'll be in touch here with some of the issues that are at play

that go beyond just the normal talk about Bojo. What's he up to? The COVID story, which ain't going away anytime soon. And there are ups and downs with it. And I try to focus on the ups more than the downs. But it's all still around. Okay? So that's kind of where we are. I wanted to give you an update now that I'm here, how I got here,

what we've got planned for the next little while, and really quite looking forward to it. I was nervous about crossing the ocean. You know, I'm being, and we're being very careful about where we go and, you know, we have friends here. Seeing them, but carefully. And walking along the beach. You know, all across Great Britain, you're never far from a beach.

And there are some spectacular ones. And there sure are here, you know, from Dornick to Embo to up to Gillespie. There's spectacular beaches all along. But you can go anywhere on the east or west coast of Great Britain and find spectacular beaches. It's not exactly swimming weather right now, but it's still surfing weather for a lot of people. I'm not one of them, but you see them out there in their wetsuits,

on their surfboards, catching a wave. Great winds here, which creates great waves and makes it a real challenge when you're playing against the wind in golf. I've been on some holes in this country where on one day, I've hit like a six or seven iron to a 200-yard par three course or par three hole

when the next day a driver wouldn't get there because the wind was so strong coming at you as opposed to with you. But enough about golf. I hope you're doing well. I hope you're looking after yourself and taking care. And I hope you're going to be with us over these next couple of weeks because we've got some fabulous things to talk about as well as obviously staying in touch with what's going on in that hood,

as well as this one. So we're going to leave it at that for today, kind of a tease, a glimpse, from your correspondent, Braveheart, in Scotland. All right, I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks so much for listening. And we'll talk to you again with Good Talk, Shanteli Baer, Rob Russo filling in for Bruce Anderson right here tomorrow. Bye for now.