The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Getting Masks, Gloves, And Gowns Out Of China -- The Supply Chain Is Finally Starting To Move

Episode Date: April 30, 2020

News on the movement of PPE, Questions for you about school,And a deeply personal story that had me thinking a lot today.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here with the latest episode of The Bridge Daily. The last time I was in Shanghai, China was 1976, the spring of 1976. In fact, it was the only time that I've been in Shanghai. It was in the heart of what was then a deeply communist state in the old tradition of the last century. And I can remember walking along the Bund, which is the waterfront of Shanghai, which is a beautiful spot, very romantic spot. But I was walking along the Bund and the whole city was dark

because that's the way it was in the evening in China at that time. It was very dark. You could see the outline of those big, huge British bank buildings that had been left from the old days, the pre-49 days. But there were no lights on in them. There were no lights

on in the street. You almost needed a flashlight to make your way around. Dark, depressing. Shanghai. But that was 1976. Not like that now. Shanghai is a bustling city of at least 25 million people. And it's very modern. You take that same walk along the Bund, I mean, just go on the Internet, go on YouTube, punch in Shanghai. you'll see videos. Spectacular buildings and lots of brightness and light, and the Bund is beautiful. Back in 76, if a young Chinese couple were caught walking along the Bund holding hands,

you know, it could be jail. Not like that today. So why am I talking about Shanghai? Well, Shanghai is the spot that the world is going to to try and get the kind of PPE, the personal protective equipment that's needed in every country in the world that's fighting COVID-19. And the best place to get it, ironically, is China.

They make it fast. So we're talking masks, we're talking gloves, we're talking, you know, gowns, we're talking whatever the case may be in terms of PPE. China is the place to go, and the export city is Shanghai. So for weeks,

countries and states and provinces and cities have been trying to make deals with manufacturers in China, and specifically those close to Shanghai, for all of that. All of that gear. Plus, you know, in some cases, ventilators. So they've been trying to make those deals. And when they cut a deal, they charter a plane,

send it there, fill it up, get it out. Well, it sounds easy, but it's been very difficult. And it's especially been difficult for countries that are kind of at the back of the pack in terms of plunking big, huge piles of cash on the table. Or countries that are having a difficult time dealing with China these days. Well, Canada is one of those countries. So we've been having problems. And while we kept saying,

and you kept hearing the Prime Minister say, our plane's going to China, we'll be bringing back gear. Well, eventually we finally got in there. And a couple of weeks ago, we had our first big plane load of gear coming out of China that Canada had purchased. And the crews were talking about the difficulties

they were having in Shanghai. There's three huge airports in Shanghai, three big international airports. But the problems they were having being getting the aircraft service, getting it loaded, getting the pilots the downtime they need between flying there and then flying back. It's a long flight, 14 hours or so from, I guess, from Toronto. But those difficulties, to a degree, seem to be overcome.

We're still kind of at the back of the line in terms of the relationship between China and Canada is not great for all the different reasons we've mentioned in the past. And therefore, that kind of gets in the way at times on these. But right now, I'm being told, I was told today, by those involved in making these trips happen that we're getting one plane in there a day and one plane out.

So it's like there's at least a couple of planes involved here because there's a plane flying, it lands, crew gets a 10-hour break of some sort, the plane's loaded up and leaves the next day. But when it lands, a different plane takes off, heading back to Canada. So there's a shuttle situation going on. And we're averaging now a plane a day out of China

filled with personal protection gear. And that's good. That's great news. Because you know that all of that gear is desperately needed. It's desperately needed by frontline workers, whether they're at hospitals or police stations, fire stations, paramedics, you name it. But it's increasingly needed by the ordinary population, too,

who are being told now they should be wearing masks, they should be wearing gloves. So all that stuff's got to come from somewhere. Now, some of it is being made here in Canada and elsewhere in North America, but still the big shipments are coming out of China. So I thought I wanted to update you on that. We've talked about this in the past. And that seems to be the first hint of some good news on that front.

That the relationship on the ground in China at Shanghai is better now for the crews and the aircraft switching back and forth. And the frequency is better.

At least once a day. You can carry a lot of stuff on one of those big cargo jets. Alright, topic number two. And on this one, I need your help. Because I've been thinking about this for a few days now. I wanted to do a program on, you know, kind of the school situation. And from this particular angle, which is, you know, kids have been off school now for a couple of months

what is the impact that's having on our most important generation, our future leaders what impact is that having on kids now some provinces are operating on this front differently. Some, Quebec is going to be sending kids back to school in the next little while. Ontario, it seems, is not. Other provinces have made their decisions.

Mostly, it's looking like there's not going to be school for the rest of this school year. But most provinces haven't really announced a firm decision on that yet. But my question is, well, it's kind of twofold. What's the impact on kids? What are we finding out? Now, I, you know, I made some calls, I've read a lot, and it seems that most of what I'm seeing in terms of an answer to that question is kind of obvious, which is that the kids who traditionally do well in school are handling this issue,

learning at home, dealing with online classes. They're okay. I mean, they obviously prefer to be in social contact with their friends, that they have that contact at school, but they are actually dealing with the situation, handling it. Those who are not are those who were already having trouble in class. And they're having at least as much, if not more trouble now, distant from the school, from teachers, even though a lot of them are getting one-on-one time with teachers online.

Now, that seems kind of obvious. You probably would have thought that's the way this situation would unfold. But I'd like to hear more. I'd like to hear from you. If you've got kids at school, if you're noticing things about this time away from class, directly as it relates to kids, then drop me a line. The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com.

Don't be shy. Think about it over the next couple of days. Send me an email. The other issue obviously is going to be, you know, if the call back to school happens, whether it's, you know, next month or in June or whether it's, you know, in the fall, it's not going to be like it was. I mean, there's still going to be this issue of physical distancing, so what does that mean?

You know, you've got a class of 25 or 30 kids, as many teachers do. Well, how do you get physical distance there? Maybe have kind of a morning shift and an afternoon shift of students. Or some kids are sort of Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Others are Thursday and Tuesday and alternate weeks that way. I don't know. That way you get some separation. Schools have to be disinfected big time somebody told me the other day about a teacher having to go back into their classroom uh to pick up stuff and hadn't been there more

than a month and as soon as she opened the door there was this huge smell in the room and she realized that one of the kids had left their lunch in their desk. Now, that's understandable. Kids didn't know the day they left that they were never coming back for, you know, four, six, eight weeks or longer. So anyway, those kind of surprises, I'm sure, are around in more than a few schools. Anyway, schools, think about it and send me some comments.

Okay, this moves me to topic three, and it is a hard one for all of us. It's a hard one for me. I've told you in the past that I was in the Navy in flying training for a short period of time in the 1960s, 66, 67. And I was part of a group, I guess there was, I don't know, 15, 18 of us, who went through together through basic training and then primary flying school and then advanced flying school, and that's where I kind of fell off the wagon, the wagon being flying.

I wasn't good enough, quite simply, and the guys around me were, and they were terrific, but they were all friends, and they were terrific. But they were all friends, and many of us have remained friends over the years. Well, one of those guys was a fellow by the name of Alan Dick. He was from Winnipeg. And he became a good friend, as we all were friends. Alan was the son of a pastor.

And while many of us used the money we earned in those early days in the Navy, and it was not bad money because we were training to be officers in the Royal Canadian Navy. We were, I think, the last class through before unification back in, I guess it was in 67. Anyway, we all had different ways to spend our money. Most of us thought, you know, we should have motorcycles. And many of us did. And especially when we got to Portage to Prairie.

And we'd take that ride in from Portage to Winnipeg when we had a day off or two. Well, Alan, he didn't get a motorcycle. He was much neater than we were. You know what he bought with his money? He bought a 1928 Rolls Royce. And it was in pretty good shape. And he got it, I think, for not a bad price. And so Alan would drive around in a 1928 Rolls.

And I'd drive around on my Honda. And those were good times. And Alan and I stayed friends over the time. And in the fall of 1967, the rest of the class, I'd left by then, the rest of the class were awarded their wings. They were full-fledged pilots. They were commissioned officers of the Canadian forces. And off they went to different bases. But we stayed in touch, as many of us do still today.

And in 1969, Alan's dad, the pastor, was there when I got married in 69. He performed the wedding. And Alan was the best man. Alan flew a helicopter off the back of a destroyer for the Canadian Navy. One of those Sea King helicopters. But one night in the early 1970s, in the Atlantic, not far from Bermuda,

something went wrong, and that Sea King crashed. And Alan did not survive the crash. So today I was thinking of Alan and those brave young men and women who serve in the Canadian forces, some of whom serve on helicopters on board ships. And last night, off the coast of Greece, there was another helicopter incident.

We don't know what happened, and it may be some time before we know exactly what did happen. But six different members of the forces who were on board that helicopter appear not to have made it from that accident. Some are just listed at this moment still as missing. One is not. Sub-Lieutenant Abigail Cobra, who was on board that helicopter last night from HMCS Fredericton,

did not survive. So the country has been thinking about her and her comrades for most of this day. For Sub-Lieutenant Cobra, it's yet another dark day for Nova Scotia. Where she was from, just a week after the terrible incident in Nova Scotia. Now, last week, on board HMCS Fredericton, Sub-Lieutenant Abigail Cobra, who played the pipes, pipes. Recorded Amazing Grace on the deck of HMCS Fredericton. Had one of her colleagues

video it, I guess, on a phone and posted it to her Facebook page as a tribute to Nova Scotia. Well, I thought as we remember her tonight, we would listen to the way she played Amazing Grace just last week in a tribute to others. Today, we use her music's podcast exactly that way. Here it is. Thank you..