The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Not That Old 51st State Line Again.

Episode Date: December 3, 2024

As the stories keep getting leaked about what really happened at the Trump Trudeau dinner last Friday night in Florida, a new one has emerged.  Apparently Trump joked (was it a joke?) that Canada could always join the United States as the 51st state if it felt it was being so unfairly handled on trade issues.  Really?  Not that old line again.  That and a lot more on an "end bit" collection of stories for this Tuesday.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You're just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge, the old 51st state line. How long was it going to take before that came up? Apparently, not very long. Coming right up. And hello there, welcome to Tuesday. Peter Mansbridge here with The Bridge. And I think this day is going to be sort of a collection of different things. Nothing in particular. Just a kind of end bits day.

And we'll start with this one um when i woke up this morning and i do what i normally do i sort of scan the news stories see what's happening out there and one thing kind of bubbled along it uh it appears that it emanated from fox News last night. That's not to say it's untrue, but the issue is, was it a kind of joke or was it real? What is it? Well, it's more out of the old Trump-Trudeau dinner last Friday night at Mar-a-Lago, which caught a lot of people by surprise. But, you know, the two leaders, and, well, the one leader and the one about to be leader, had a dinner, and that's probably a good thing. You know, talk, talk, talk is better than fight, fight, fight. And there is a fight brewing on the terrorist question.

There is no question about that. So they decided between the two of them that they would have a dinner. And Trump invited Trudeau down to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida residence, where with senior members of each person's staff and cabinet, they had a dinner in Mar-a-Lago. I'm sure you've seen the pictures.

Best part of the picture is that kid in the background who's giving the like the heebie-jeebies sign in the picture. It's pretty funny. But slowly trickling out are details of what happened at the dinner. It was basically an attempt by the Canadians to say, you really don't want to do these 25% tariffs, because they're going to crunch both of us, and especially Canada, and you don't want to do that.

And so those arguments, which we've heard before, and which we saw to a degree in the last Trump administration back in 2016, were played out around the table. But apparently there was a point at which, and this is according to, and it's interesting to see, the early morning today, there were initially just two news sources on this, Fox News, and strangely enough, a number of papers in India. Now, whether they were just lifting the Fox story or not, I don't know, but India Today, the Hindustan Times, the Times of India, they were out there with this story. Eventually, Newsweek wrote something about it as well.

But there is a sense that this may have just been a joke It may have been a kind of funny point in the evening's conversations around the dinner table. But, you know, some Canadians are not going to take this as funny. But here's what supposedly happened. At a point at which Trudeau and the Canadian side were saying, listen, this is going to kill us, these tariffs. It's going to cost us tens of millions of dollars. And we've got to be careful about what we do on this, because it's also going to hurt you. But Trump, as we know, loves tariffs.

What has he said? Tariffs are the most beautiful word in the English dictionary I don't know I can think of lots of words that are beautiful but a tariff doesn't sound like one of them nevertheless that's just me so how did Trump respond to this he said listen this is this is my plan. This is what I'm going to do. And if you really don't like it, you know, you have an option. You could become the 51st state. How many years have we heard that line trotted out by different people,

including some Canadians? I mean, I remember hearing that when I was in public school back in the 1950s, people talking that way. And you'd kind of look at a map and you'd see somebody color in, you know, the American flag on the Canadian side as the 51st state. Like, we're only good enough for just being one state. I don't know. It could be 10.

Anyway, apparently during this conversation, there was, once again, I don't know whether, was it all lighthearted? Probably. But I don't know whether it was at all lighthearted. Probably. But I don't know. The fact that it never came out in any of the debriefs right afterwards or the clearly leaked stories that went to some Canadian and American papers of this is the inside story of how the dinner happened and what happened at it.

I didn't see this in there anywhere. But now it's coming out. But apparently Trump also said, well, you know, it could be, you know, somebody said on the Canadian side, well, you know, if there's a 51st state, it's going to be a democratic state, given the polling that's done and has been done about how Canadians feel. And Trump said, well, then we're going to have two. We're going to have sort of a, you know, one state from one side of Canada

and one state from another side of Canada. Now, this is all, I don't know whether this actually happened or not. Clearly something along these lines happened. But once again, was it all a joke? It's now out there, and you know that it's going to play its role in the discussions and the debates and the chats that happen in the days that follow. I've already seen, in terms of Canadian opinion pieces that have been written, arguments for the dinner, smart play on the part of the Canadian government to get down there and get in their say and have those discussions

and make it on friendly terms. And I've also seen pieces saying this was a classic bended knee, Canada going down to Mar-a-Lago, going to Florida, he's not even president yet yet and sort of begging. So you probably have a view on this as well, one way or the other. And it's going to become a part of the discussions that take place. How is Polyev going to react? What would he do if he was prime minister?

Would he have gone to Mar-a-Lago? If he did go to Mar-a-Lago, what would he have said? What would he have said when that issue came up, if it was an issue of any serious nature? So we're seeing the script play out. We talked last week on Good Talk. Have we seen the channel being changed? From the discussions about Trudeau's got to go,

to how we're going to deal with Trump. Is that what's happening? And if that is what's happening, does it change the basic landscape on the Canadian political story right now? I'm sure you all have views on that. And I've heard some of them already of people who've written in. It is not the question of the week, at least not yet. No, the question of the week is still, what is a journalist?

And many of you have written already. And you may be able to incorporate this story into it in the sense of, was this journalism that was prompted, it appears, by Fox News with some kind of strategic leak, one assumes, to the Fox journalist who first did this story, but it's now spread around and you know it's going to take on a life of its own. So, let me just repeat the question of the week. For Thursday's Your Turn edition. The question of the week is, what is a journalist?

This is at a time where, you know, questions about journalism and those who practice it have come up frequently. But the question is more directed at the fact that it seems more of those who care about news are getting their news from very different sources than they used to. Sure, there are those who still believe in the traditional legacy media, you know, in Canada, like the Globe and Mail, or the Toronto Star, the Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, you name it. Are those still the primary sources? Apparently not.

You know, apparently podcasts, even like this one. Now, this is not a newscast. It's a podcast. It's basically just me rambling on every day and talking to people I find interesting and trying to understand the stories that are happening in our world. And programs like Good Talk on Fridays, which is straight-up opinion. It's not a newscast. Every once in a while, I'll get letters from people saying,

you know, you're just expressing opinion, and you're not giving us the facts. Well, that's not what our mandate is. Our mandate is it's an opinion show. You're Chantel's opinion based on the facts she has uncovered as a journalist. You're Bruce's opinion based on his knowledge and experience as an analyst, as somebody who's worked for both conservative and liberal prime ministers in the past, advises MPs of different stripes when they ask for advice. But he bases his knowledge on years of polling experience,

working for political parties, and analyzing current events. So to me, it's a great mix on Friday, and it's been extremely successful. Good talk. You know, you just have to look at the Apple podcast rankings. It's the number one Canadian political podcast out there, has been ever since we started, like three or four years now. And I love that fact.

But once again, it's not a newscast, right? It's a podcast. It's opinion there to provoke your opinion, your thoughts, your ideas. And we have fun doing it. And that's the main thing. Anyway, so the question of the week is, what is a journalist in your view?

Is it a podcaster? Is it some former politician who's now hosting a so-called news program? Or is it the classic, you know, Bob Fyfe type journalist who digs and digs and gets stories, puts them out there? So I'd love to hear from you. I've already heard from a lot of you already just after the first couple of hours of this. You have until 6 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow to give us your thoughts on this question and include your name and the location you're writing from. Keep it relatively short.

I'd really appreciate that. And most of you have been doing just that in the last few weeks, sort of a paragraph, and that's it. Because obviously the shorter it is, the more responses we can get in. You write to themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com, themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com. And we love letters from anywhere in the world, including the 50 states south of us. And we often hear from our good American friends. All right. As I said, today, I want to catch up on, you know, I have this thing called NBITS where there are lots of great stories sort of passed through the system and never get mentioned. So every once in a while, I try to mention some of these stories because they're interesting. They're in many ways kind of news you can use, right?

So we'll have a look at that. Should I take a break now or should I take a break after? Let me do one of these stories first and then I'll take a break. I like this one. As those of you who listen to this podcast know and have known ever since I started. I love stories about airlines. Anything to do with airplanes. And I guess that's partly based on my own personal history.

You know, back in the 60s, straight out of high school, I was in the Royal Canadian Navy. And I was in their pilot training program. I went through basic training, I went through primary flying school, and then I was into advanced flying school. And I, you know, I was based in different parts of the country. I was based in Esquimalt in British Columbia. I was based at Camp Borden near Barrie, Ontario for primary flying school. And then Port of Surferry, Manitoba for advanced flying school on the twin-engined C-45s, Expeditors. Looked like a little DC-3.

People who know those planes will be horrified that I've made that comparison, but nevertheless, there you go. It didn't work out. I wasn't good enough. And therefore, I didn't graduate on and end up on what was then Canada's only aircraft carrier, the Bonaventure. It was based out on the East Coast, flying trackers. I never got that far, which was probably a good thing for the trackers and the Bonaventure and others who were based there. Nevertheless, I had a love for flying.

It was in my genes, if you will. After the Navy, I ended up working for an airline, eventually working for a little airline in Western Canada, out of Manitoba, in Churchill, Manitoba. I was working for Transair, doing everything from loading bags to checking in freight to checking in passengers. You name it, I did it all and loved it. Loved working for Transair.

And still, you know, I connect occasionally with some of the people I used to work with at Transair in those days. Anyway, that's kind of the root of my fascination with airplanes and the airline business. So this story caught my eye. And I've had it sort of in the back pocket for a while. Because I'm always fascinated by this. You get on a plane. And you're flying from A to B. What happens?

What's one of the first things that happens before you take off? They come over the system and they say, please ensure that your mobile phones, your cell phones, are in airplane mode. Right? And airplane mode basically means when you're on the plane, the phone doesn't work. It turns everything off. It turns the Wi-Fi off. It turns the cellular off.

You're unable to make calls. You're unable to check the Internet. Now, they were very strict about this when cell phones became a big deal in the 90s, initially in the 90s. And they kind of left the impression that if you have that phone on, things can go really hairy really fast. The plane can start doing weird things and it could be very, very dangerous. So whatever you do, don't turn your phone on. Go to airplane mode once they invented that and got it on all the phones. So really, what is the real deal about airplane mode?

Because these days when you get on an airplane, you can buy Wi-Fi access, right? But they tell you, you can have Wi-Fi, you can check the internet, but you can't make phone calls. You can't use any of the voice areas on your phone. And even now, today, if you fly Air Canada, if you're an Aeroplan member, the loyalty program,

you get free texting. Right? You can text anybody when you're in the air, and there's no charge. If you buy Wi-Fi, that costs you money. And then you can surf the net. You can do whatever you want to do, except you can't make phone calls. So this article, which I found in gizmodo.com, is headlined, You don't need to use airplane mode on airplanes.

In other words, don't buy into this airplane mode thing. Now, I know I'm going to get letters, I'm sure, from airline people who say, no, no, Peter, you're promoting a bad thing. But listen to this. Let me read a little bit of this. Putting your phone in airplane mode when boarding a flight feels like common sense. You wouldn't be crazy for thinking your phone in airplane mode when boarding a flight feels like common sense. You wouldn't be crazy for thinking your phone signal could interfere with an airplane's navigation systems, potentially causing a disaster. However, the necessity of airplane mode is largely a myth. And there's another reason airlines are asking you to turn your phone off. Start thinking about what that might be.

Keeping on with the article. Europe decided to allow phone calls and data usage on flights in 2022. They're requiring all planes to install PICO cells, that's P-I-C-O cells, which is essentially a traffic controller that ensures phone signals don't cross with a plane's communication systems. PICO cells are not new, however. They've been around for over 20 years.

Even without a PICO cell, there's limited evidence that a phone has ever interfered with a plane's electrical systems. The FAA, that's in the States, the Federal Aviation Administration, conducted a study in 2012 that found nearly zero conclusive instances of aircraft disturbances from cell phone usage. Most of the evidence on this seems to be anecdotal or severely outdated. Okay, we're getting to the crunch. And how many of you knew this or assumed that this was the answer? This, once again, from gizmodo.com. The real reason is this. Airlines think people won't stop yapping on their cell phones during flights,

leading to more instances of air rage. That's why regulators continue to ban cell phones, phone calls, and data usage on planes. It's just plain annoying. Now, keep in mind, federal law requires you to follow the aircraft crew's instructions, which includes turning on airplane mode. In other words, the federal law in the U.S., and I don't know, it may well be the same in Canada, probably is, that if your flight crew says you have to put your phone on airplane mode or you have to have your phone turned right off,

you have to follow those instructions. That's the law. Regardless of the technological discussion, you could face fines or go to jail for failing to do so. The point of this little discussion is, it's a myth. The whole thing is a myth about airplane mode on planes. Where are the origins of this myth? In 1991, the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, these are American organizations, banned the use of cell phones on planes,

citing the reason of ground network interference. At one point, this may have been true, but in 2005, an FCC member testified before the U.S. Congress that it was no longer an issue because of PICO cells. So there you go. I've always, you know, I understand the reasoning behind this if this article is true. Nothing drives you crazier than even just trying to read a book,

catch a nap, whatever, on a plane, and having the people in the seats next to you talking through the whole flight. Some people use it to sort of control their nerves about flying. They talk. They talk and talk and talk and talk. And you can't sleep. You can't read.

You can't focus. Imagine if they had phones and they could call people and talk and talk and talk. So is that really the reason there's phone bans on airplanes? Apparently so. All right. We're going to, enjoying this,

gone from the 51st state to using your phone in the air. We've got a couple more, a couple more stories from the NBIT file. And we'll get to them right after this. And welcome back. You're listening to The Bridge for this Tuesday. And we've kind of got a potpourri of stories for you today. You're listening on SiriusXM, Channel 167, Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast platform.

We're glad to have you with us. A reminder that tomorrow, Wednesday, is our Encore program. Thursday, we're back with your turn on that question of the week about what is a journalist, plus the random ranter. And then Friday, of course,

is Good Talk with Chantel Iber and Bruce Anderson. All right. Got some more stories here for you. Where we go? Let's go to this one. I know you're saying, Peter, enough with the airline stories. So I'll put the one about loyalty programs aside. Maybe we'll get to that in another week.

This one I found interesting. It's from a website called History Facts. Every once in a while they'll throw out a question, you know, about something historic, something that tweaks our history genes, and I have those as well as airline genes. I love stuff about history. I love stuff, and I'll concede, and I think you know already

from some of the books that I choose to feature on this program, I love anything that's got something to do with World War II. Not that I ignore other conflicts, whether they be prior to World War II, the World War I story, or all of those since. You know, Korea, the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, Middle East, Ukraine. Here's a story that History Facts wrote just a few days ago. they said tell us some things that became popular or became part of our lives because of world war ii so they had a whole list of them i'm just picking a few of them

and some of them might surprise you. T-shirts. Now, T-shirts weren't invented in the Second World War. They kind of became a standard part of the U.S. Army's uniform during World War I, and then became popular in other forces around the world as a result. As an undershirt. The term T-shirt came about in the 1920s. F. Scott Fitzgerald was the one who coined that phrase

and has stuck ever since. We call them T-shirts. But in World War II, it was once again made part of the standard issue military uniform in a lot of countries. By that time, T-shirts were already becoming more than just underwear. They were marketed to civilians and worn by younger crowds in high schools and universities. But it wasn't until after the war that they became ubiquitous. Soldiers returning home from combat had grown accustomed, once again I'm reading here from the History Facts website, historyfacts.com. You'll find all kinds of interesting stuff on this. Soldiers returning

home from combat had grown accustomed to the t-shirts comfort and began incorporating the item into their everyday dress. And of course, movie stars. Remember Marlon Brando wearing a T-shirt, James Dean. They made the T-shirt an undeniable staple of casual fashion. So that's the T-shirt story. Now, this one, I kind of knew that. This one I didn't realize. Did you realize that in World War II, the toothbrush became a kind of staple of everyday hygiene? Before World War II, not so much.

Most Americans started brushing their teeth daily only after soldiers brought the habit home with them after the Second World War. I did not know that. During World War I, poor dental care contributed to health problems on the battlefield. Soldiers suffered from trench mouth, a painful infection that caused sore and bleeding gums, and in more serious cases, fever and fatigue. As a result, the military emphasized stricter hygiene routines in World War II, including mandatory toothbrushing at least once a day for soldiers.

Troops were supplied with hygiene kits containing a toothbrush and toothpaste, or what was actually tooth powder, which turned into a kind of a, they describe it as an abrasive taste, a paste when mixed with water. By the time the war was over, the habit was ingrained with the everyday common American household. Shortly after, toothbrush bristles were introduced, and it all became a daily routine.

Not once a day, but three or four times a day. Blue jeans. Okay, blue jeans have been around for centuries in terms of the American West. But during World War II, blue jeans went global. Soldiers stationed overseas were often from working-class Western families, and they wore their denim, some of which was made specifically for soldiers with pride. By the early 1950s, the style was undeniable.

The newly-minted teenager demographic had adopted blue jeans as counterculture cool. Other developments on the home front also helped pave the way for the American denim boom. There you go. And here's the last one. Are you interested in this at all? Why did I find it riveting? But I did. Here's the last one.

At least the last one that I'm picking at. We all know those two. Red lipstick. Did you know that? Apparently, during the Second World War, women were encouraged to maintain a polished appearance. And lipstick, in particular, became a powerful symbol of patriotism. A slogan such as, keep your beauty on duty,

reminded women that their appearance could boost morale at home and abroad. Red lipstick emerged as a defiant beauty staple. When women in the Allied countries learned that Adolf Hitler had a dislike for the look, they embraced it. British women even went so far as to stain their lips with beet juice if they couldn't find or afford the real thing. Red lipstick became a powerful symbol. The U.S. Army commissioned its own shade, Victory Red, for women in uniform. And in 1942, cosmetic powerhouse Elizabeth Arden's Montezuma Red became standard issue. It was perfectly matched.

The red piping and chevrons on the women's marine uniforms. Aren't you amazed that you have gone through life without knowing some of these basic facts about our history? Of course, knowing how smart some of you are, you knew all of this. And you're just going, Mansbridge, it's about time. You sort of caught on.

Well, here's the last one. I didn't know this either. When do you think orange juice became a staple at breakfast? You guessed it, Second World War. It came out of World War II. America's wartime focus on health and nutrition It came out of World War II. America's wartime focus on health and nutrition led to food and beverage staples that resonated for decades. The orange juice craze among them.

In order to ensure troops were getting enough scurvy-preventing vitamin C. Remember scurvy? And how many, you know, of the great explorers of this world and their crews died because of scurvy, because they weren't getting vitamin C? Didn't realize it, didn't know that that's what they were missing? Anyway, because they wanted to ensure the troops got enough scurvy preventing vitamin C. The U.S. government worked on a viable alternative to cumbersome fresh fruit. Together, the Florida Citrus Commission and U.S. Department of Agriculture

attempted to improve upon canned orange juice, which already existed but was not yet popular. Their collaboration led to a breakthrough, evaporating the liquid from fresh juice to produce a juice concentrate. The innovation arrived too late to be utilized by troops during the war, but in 1946, Minute Maid orange juice

was an immediate hit. However, it took a 1949 ad campaign by Bing Crosby to kickstart the enduring breakfast staple. I love that. I love stories like that well here's one that wasn't on the list that I you know

I don't know I think I grew up believing this and I think it may have been it may have been my mother God rest her soul who left me to believe this

and I don't think it's true in fact soul who left me to believe this. And I don't think it's true. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's not true because this particular thing has been around long before World War II. Nylon, right? Nylon. Right? Nylon. Now, my mother convinced me somewhere in the 1950s, and I've carried this on. My God, I don't know how many people I've told this to. But I don't think it's true.

In fact, I'm sure it's not true now. And if I was a better journalist, I would have checked this out beforehand. But nylon, nylons, the nylons were a result of a joint invention by the Brits and the Americans during the Second World War. All the things that those two countries worked on together during the Second World War, nylons were one thing. Now, it was for, I don't know, parachutes or something like that, but as a result of

discovering nylons, they were able to make nylons for women. And how did they come up with that name, nylon? Based on that joint U.S.-British cooperation, NY Based on that joint U.S.-British cooperation.

N-Y, New York. L-O-N, London. And so whenever I've looked at that word, nylon, I've always assumed, she had to be right. Look at where it came from, New York, London. Now, I know I'm going to get letters on that. And some of you are going to say, no, no, no, no, it's true.

It's this certain aspect of nylons. And others are going to say, Peter, you're really stupid, man. Nylons have been around for, you know, long before World War II. Or nylon, the material. There you go.

Look at all the admissions you've got out of me on this program today. On one of those rare days where we just sort of ramble. Now, the stack is still considerably high in front of me here. There's all kinds of other stories. You know, on some days there's stories about yoga pills, there's stories about loyalty programs. There's stories about the final voyage of the SS United States. I love old ship stories.

I love the Titanic story. Have you seen the stuff that's online? Once they realize you're interested in Titanic stories, you just get them continuously. They just keep coming to you because the algorithm has figured you for a Titanic nut. So I get lots of those. All right.

Enough already. for a Titanic nut. So I get lots of those. All right. Enough already. Tomorrow, Encore Day. Thursday, your turn. Get your cards and letters in to the Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. The question of the week is, what is a journalist

in today's world? What is a journalist? And you can incorporate, if you want, this 51st state story that we talked to you about at the beginning of the program. It's all there. It's all there for you to talk about. And giving you the address, remember your name, the location you're writing from, and keep it short, please. Love to hear from you. And we'll have your entries on that on Thursday, along with the Random Ranter.

And Friday, of course, is Good Talk with Sean Tillenbruse. That's it for this day. I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks so much for listening. We'll talk to you again in less than 24 hours.