The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - "Enough is Enough" -- Is Trudeau About to Bring the Hammer Down?

Episode Date: March 23, 2020

Justin Trudeau didn't hold back today about what has to happen if COVID-19 is going to be slowed. "People have to stay in their homes". He wasn't alone with the blunt talk.And through it all, some thoughts on how to keep your sanity when all the news is so bleak.

and hello there peter mansbridge here with the latest episode of the bridge daily enough is enough. Those appear to be the key words of this day, Monday, as we start off yet another week in this incredible story of COVID-19 and the way it is moving around the world and we have not been spared either. I'm not going to go through the numbers, they change every hour, but I think you know that this situation is an extremely difficult one. Now, enough is enough is the phrase that the Prime Minister used on this day, and he was referring basically to, and he wasn't alone in this,

but he was referring to the fact that while the vast majority of Canadians, it appears, are responding to this plea to basically self-isolate, to stay at home, except where absolutely necessary, if you have to go out for food or some kind of medical help, if you have to go to the drugstore. But other than that, stay at home. And enough is enough is basically the response to those who aren't doing it. And so I think it's a signal that measures are going to be much tougher in the days ahead.

He's got a meeting scheduled with the premiers tonight, Monday night. He'll be teleconferencing the premiers. And I'm sure part of that is to do with what could be next. Because you go in these things, obviously, from the big ask, asking people to be a part of the plan, to ensuring that they're part of the plan, forcing them to be part of the plan, to ensuring that they're part of the plan, forcing them to be part of the plan. That could be next.

But we'll see. I don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but when you use a phrase like that, enough is enough, it seems to be indicating that you're moving along the different steps of trying to ensure there's a lockdown of some kind, that that's taking place. And as I said, you see it beyond just the Prime Minister. The Mayor of Toronto declared a state of emergency in his city, which will impact where people can go, what they can do, what will be open. The Premier of Ontario did it on a provincial scale.

And like many of the provinces, he's got worries that affect him directly, his province directly. In Ontario, the number I've heard is that they expect upwards of 300,000 snowbirds, Canadians who have chosen to live their winter months in the southern United States. It could be Florida, it could be Arizona, it could be any number of different places. But they're starting to come back. That's usually what happens. After the spring break and around Easter time, they start to come back.

Well, how's that going to work? Tens of thousands of people, many of them driving, not a lot of planes flying, many of them driving back. They'll get to the border. They'll be told they have to self-isolate for at least 14 days, given the fact they've been away from Canada. And that's if they're not experiencing any health issues. They'd immediately go into quarantine if they were.

But so they're going to cross the border, go to their homes where there's been nobody for a few months and the fridge is empty. What are they going to do? Where are they going to get their food? So these are all issues that various leaders of provinces and cities and the country are having to deal with. But it seems that today we reached a certain point in this story.

With those words of enough is enough. There was something else that happened today and it came out, I think, both Ford and Trudeau actually mentioned it in some regard. Trudeau announcing a $5 million program to help farmers through all this. And, you know, farming is still so incredibly important to our country, and we don't recognize that enough. I mean, I live in southwestern Ontario. There are don't recognize that enough. I mean, I live in southwestern Ontario. There are a lot of farmers here.

Farming is a huge part of our life. But farming is also critical to how we're going to do in these next few months. You need a food supply. That's one of the things all these political leaders have to be concerned about too. That's why they were so concerned about the US border and the threat to close it down. Sure, trade, and you think of trade you think of big industrial goods, it's not just that. It's the food supply. We get a lot of our food from the States. The States get some of its food from Canada. But farmers are critical to all this. And so the next time you're thinking

farmers, or you hear about farmers, they too, just like those frontline workers at the hospital and the fire station and the police station and then the cashiers of the grocery stores, farmers are critical for us. We've got to support them. We've got to be thinking about them. And not just right now, through the summer, because there's going to be a hangover from this. Whenever it does end, there will still be difficulties.

Canadian farmers rely because they have a hard time finding part-time help. Where do they get most of their part-time help, or at least a lot of it? They get it from migrant farm workers. where do they get most of their part-time help, or at least a lot of it? They get it from migrant farm workers. They come in mainly from Central America. Are they going to be able to come in? If they're not able to come in, who's going to do the work? These are all issues that will continue to pile up over the next while. So keep that in mind when you're thinking, when you are contemplating the different issues. Communities in general, all of them, big and small,

have big issues that they're constantly having to deal with. We don't hear it. It's not the dominant question that often comes up when discussing this story, but, you know, I'm in a small town south-west in Ontario. You take some things for granted. The water supply. Well, it doesn't happen automatically.

There are people who worry about the water. There are people who work at the water plant. Just like the people who work in the fire department and the police department and on and on. You know the list. Those people in the water plant have got to make sure our water's safe 24 hours a day they're worried about that and they've got to be well to do that job they're essential to us to our well-being

so when we're thinking of people to thank through all this, there are lots of them. There are lots of them. So communities, big and small, worry about hospital beds. Where are they going to get extra ones? And the likelihood that extra beds are needed. Many have them stored, have always had them stored, for emergency's sake.

Now somebody has to be in charge of the overall number in each province of hospital beds that are available, where to move them when certain communities get hit and others are perhaps a little luckier. So all these issues confront our leaders. Now, I also wanted to say something about all of us. And I thought of it, I'm no different than you. I worry about these things.

I wake up in the middle of the night worrying, worrying about my kids, my grandkids. You worry. That's natural. And part of worrying is the constant drive of information on this. And I decided today, and it's hard for me, I'm sure harder for me than most of you, is that, you know, it's okay to turn the news off every once in a while.

We know the story. There's a terrible virus. It's deadly. We have to do our best to stay away from it, to stay at home, to keep at home, unless we absolutely must have to get out for some reason, some legitimate reason. That's the story. That's going to be the story for some time to come on how to deal with it if you don't feel well. I think we're all there on this. Those things we know. So having to listen to every briefing,

every discussion, every expert, 24-7. That's not good for your health. You've got to back off. You've got to take a break. I would find and make your determinations on what your trusted source of news is. And, you know, if you want to tune into it every,

I don't know, three or four hours, once a day, that'll make your life a lot better. I've tried it a bit today. And, you know, I feel better. I know it's a terrible situation. I'm not ignoring it. You've got to back off a bit. But it's important to find that trusted source.

Obviously, you know where mine is. My life has been as a CBC person, and now when I'm outside of the CBC, I still go to the CBC, as I think many of you do as well. Anyway, there are good, solid news organizations out there, and there are some that aren't so solid. Decide who you want to trust. Make that your point of entry into the story each day.

And find something else to do with your time. I've mentioned this a couple of times, but we can do this. You know, you may not know that you have inside you the ability to paint, to draw, to write, to play a musical instrument, to sing. I'm still waiting for one of these that actually applies to me, but I haven't come up with it yet. But, you know, you might be surprised. And there's no harm in trying. You know, touch base with your friends.

Pick a friend today who you're going to call. Just a touch base. Just to say hello, how you doing? Here's how we're doing. Here's what we're doing to get through this. Believe me, we're going to have lots of time to do that. So let's do that. Think of your neighbors. Think of the elderly people you know. Keep them in mind through this. All right. Two other quick things. If things sound a little different this week than last week, it's because early yesterday morning,

early Sunday morning, like early, about 5 or 5.30 in the morning, I got up and I snuck into, I didn't sneak in, but I drove into Toronto. Believe me, there weren't many cars on the 401. Very few. Drove in with Willie, my son. Guess we had to get a couple of things

out of our little kind of condo slash office that we have in Toronto. We needed to get them out. We went in. We never saw anybody. We got the stuff out. We left, came home. We were home by, you know, late morning.

But part of what I brought was my real podcast equipment. Last week we did the podcast with just a handheld microphone and an iPhone. This week it's a little more involved and gives us the ability to do other things. Yesterday I talked to Maria Teresa from Milan to talk about the situation in Italy, and we put out that special broadcast. That was done just on a phone, just on the iPhone. And she was great.

And so many of you have written today to talk about her and the crisis that is facing her country and her spirit and the spirit of Italians in general. Anyway, that's one of the things we accomplished. So I set it up in my little office, and it's great. You know, maybe I'll, my office, the desk I'm using that I've hooked up with a microphone and everything,

has a little something from a lot of different things that I've done over my career. And the one I'll mention today, because it's the most dominant on this desk, is one of the torches from the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Ten years ago, right? We were celebrating what an incredible time that had been in Vancouver. And I'd been lucky enough when the torch crossed the country to have the opportunity to carry the torch,

run with it through our town, or, you know, part of our town. But, uh, I think it was about a kilometer and I was really worried. Oh my God, I can't run a kilometer. I'll never be able to do this, but it was a nice day. It was a little cool, but it was a nice day and the streets were packed and the people were so excited. And you didn't want to run because they wanted to see it, they wanted to take pictures, and it was more of a walk with it. But you had the opportunity, if you wanted to, to buy the torch you carried. And I did, and I have it here on my desk.

And I look at it, and I think, man, that was 10 years ago. It seems like a lot longer in some respects. In others, it was a moment of sheer pride and happiness for all of us as Canadians. And, you know, those days will return. We will have days like that again. And so that's a good memory to look at. And no, it doesn't still light. But it's still got the kind of the burn marks on the side of it,

more from the kind of smoke that the torch gave off. But at some point here, I'll take a picture of it and put it out there for you to see. But there's all kinds of things like that, kind of mementos from different times in my career that are scattered in a very disorderly fashion around my desk. And now we have the podcast equipment at the desk as well. Okay, I'm going to go out with a letter.

Great letters last week, right? And they're already piled up. We'll do this one day a week. I'll read your letters because there's just some fabulous ideas. But this one I'm going to read because this is all part of, you know, there are things we can be doing here to take our mind off the crises of the moment. And I got this great letter today. And so I'm going to read it here quickly.

Our collective current reality has given us all extra time for reflection. My thought train, hopping about as it always does, found my focus arrive on the subject of little white gloves. Mother's instructions as I entered the teen years were clear. Shiny hair, stockings, without catches or runs. Non-revealing clothing of quiet color, matching handbag and shoes, and to quote, don't forget your white gloves. A look is not complete without them. You are just not dressed without them. This is the 1950s we're talking about here. My first solo bus trip from home in the Glebe in Ottawa, great area,

was to Freeman's department store close to the Chateau Laurier on Rideau Street. I was to do a little reconnaissance and scout reasonable party dresses for an upcoming event. Ready to go in a blue and white sleeveless dress with a Peter Pan collar, armed with a 13-year-old's innocent confidence, I appeared at the doorway. Mother stopped me. Where are your white gloves, she asked. No one wears gloves anymore, I protested. It was summer. Mother put an end to the teenage rebellion. You will be going on the bus with lots of people into a busy shopping area and then a popular store. You will be going on the bus with lots of people into a busy shopping area and in a popular store, you will wear your little white gloves. It's for your protection. It was

another era, of course. I did not argue. My white glove collection included short everyday gloves, medium-length white doe-skin gloves for dressier occasions, and an inherited pair of long, glamorous above-the-elbow gloves with tiny pearl buttons at the wrist for formal parties. When the wild, wacky, and worrying world of this year, 2020, returns to some semblance of normal, many of our everyday customs and practices will have changed. How will we prevent the spread of another pandemic? Risking the boisterous laughter of my granddaughters, I ask, might those little white gloves fashionably reappear?

Not a great letter. My sister wrote that letter. And she sent it over to me today by email. I love the letter, love my sister, love the story. And she included a picture. I was going to make it the cover art for today's podcast but if I did that she would never talk to me again. By the way it was her son, my nephew Andrew who dropped me a line

not that long ago to make sure that I remembered this issue of the migrant workers for farmers and how important it is and how this summer will be so important on that issue. So thank you to Andrew and thank you to Wendy for that wonderful letter. Listen, I hope you have a nice evening and thanks for listening to The Bridge. You can always reach me at themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com.

themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com. We'll talk to you again in just seven days. Thank you. you