The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Smoke Mirrors and The Truth -- The Election Looms

Episode Date: June 23, 2021

Bruce joins for a wide ranging discussion on everything from the looming election to vaccines to airports to the Habs.  And of course England.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here with the latest episode of The Bridge. It's Wednesday, and you know what that means. It means Smoke Mirrors and the Truth with Bruce Anderson. A can of pet food, where every ingredient matters. Some companies like to brag about their first ingredient, but the A Can of Pet Food team is proud of their entire bag. That's because every recipe has been thoughtfully sourced and carefully crafted with the highest quality ingredients, starting with quality animal ingredients,

balanced with whole fruits and vegetables. Acana pet foods are rich in the protein and nutrients your dog or cat needs to feel and look their best. Available in grain-free, healthy grains, and singles for sensitive dogs. Acana, go beyond the first ingredient. Hello there, Peter Mansbridge in Toronto today. Bruce is in Ottawa and yesterday we actually sat down and were able to talk in person to each other for the first time in almost a year because I was in Ottawa. And we grabbed a quick lunch. That was so exciting. It was. I saw it, not just your upper body for the first time.

I saw the entire pandemic, Mansbridge, in person. And it was just a joy. And I knew we were going to have a great day, Peter. And I knew today was going to be good. But then after the Habs won late last night, I knew that you were going to be even in the best, probably the best mood I've seen you in since this pandemic started. I'm happy.

I mean, you seem to forget. And in a Stanley Cup, you need a goalie, a real goalie, a goalie you can 100% count on, and they've got the best goalie in the world. And so anything's possible, and game after game, it's really quite something to watch. But we had this conversation when Bruce was trying to make fun of the fact that I'm almost four weeks now carb-free, no-carb diet.

Now, it didn't work out too well yesterday at lunch because the little restaurant we met in just so happens to be that we're both minority partners in this restaurant, Gia Cantina in the Glebe in Ottawa on Bank Street. It's a great little place. It's kind of like a hole in the wall, but the best food you're ever going to get. And I'm afraid it's not carb-free. It's a little Italian place. It's really good, like really good. I'd say that we're working on carb-free, but we're not really. We're working on great meals that taste delicious. And probably in our advertising, our social media, we're probably not going to say it's a hole in the wall,

but I understand your point. It's a great little spot. It's about to be a bigger hole in the wall. If you got there, you didn't walk there. You didn't drive there. No. You got on a plane. What was that like?

You know what? there. No. You got on a plane. What was that like? You know what? It's different. That was my first flight experience in 15 months. And I flew Air Canada up in the morning. I actually had a speech in Ottawa yesterday, and that's the main reason I was there. And then I flew back later in the afternoon. And flights back and forth to Ottawatawa from toronto were every hour

before the pandemic there i think there's three flights a day now like it's crazy and there's not very you when i flew up in the morning the plane wasn't one third full it was quite a bit busier on the way back uh late in the afternoon. But the experience of the airports yesterday morning at Pearson, man, it's like a ghost town. And the Ottawa airport, even fewer people around. It's a little bit depressing because I love airports, as listeners know. I love the whole feel of an airport. I used to love reading books like Arthur Haley's Airport

because they're like a little city in themselves. But they don't look like that now. Now, hopefully that's all about to change through this summer and into this fall as things hopefully start returning to some kind of normalcy. But right now it's a strange experience. Everything went on time. You know, the flight was on time. You know, the people were friendly, the flight attendants,

you know, the ticket counter agents, all of that stuff, everything worked fine. Even the security people, the thousands of people we hire for security, I've never quite understood why there needs to be so many people on the security line. But it all worked fine. It all worked fine. I was reading in the States that the TSA,

that's the transportation safety people there, recorded kind of a new record since the pandemic started anyway. About 2 million passengers went through U.S. airports. Yeah. And that's still below the pre-pandemic numbers, but they're coming back. They're coming back. You know, in my work on the vaccine question, there's no doubt that the single biggest reason why people who might be hesitant

will agree ultimately to get the vaccination, those who will. It's the ability to travel and hassle-free travel, to be able to go places without a whole bunch of rules surrounding you and inconveniences that didn't exist before and might not exist for people who have vaccinations. So good for you, Peter, for getting on a plane and coming to Ottawa and saying Gia Cantina on Bank and First in the Glebe. And what great food is there. It's great food. And we strongly recommend it. All right.

This is an important day in the parliamentary calendar because it could be the last day of this particular parliamentary session and quite possibly the last day of this parliament before an election because the expectation is still it might be called sometime this summer, probably in mid to late August. But tell me about today because on the last day of a session, if you don't get certain things done with certain bills, they die. They don't happen, especially if there's an election called in the summer. And there's some big ones on the table, Parliament, right now. Yeah, the budget bill is still to be passed,

and there's a bill that's been a bit controversial in some quarters of the country and a bit noisy in the Ottawa precinct called C-10, which is about the renewal of the Broadcasts and Telecommunications Act. But really what we've been into for the last little while, Peter, has been, I think, a growing awareness on the part of the parties that they're probably heading to the polls. And that and so the positioning that is happening is happening because, you know, parties want to be able to go to the people and say certain things. increasing levels of kind of stress in their voices that they think that the Conservatives are obstructing passage of important bills. And that's a precursor to saying to voters, we couldn't get the work done that we wanted to do for you because the Conservatives kept holding things up.

So give us a mandate to go back into government and to do the work that matters for you. And C-10 for the government, especially in the province of Quebec, it seems, is an important message because it really, the way the conservatives talk or the liberals talk about it, they talk about it being a bill that causes a big tech, but what they really mean is the big streaming services and also the social media companies, Facebook among them, to pay taxes and be regulated the same way as other companies are that operate in the broadcast and telecommunications sector. So they want to talk about that bill in Quebec, especially. And the conservatives want to talk about how they're stopping it,

how they're fighting it, because they see it as an attack on free speech, that if you make YouTube videos about your cat, you're going to end up being regulated by government. And there's some exaggeration, frankly, on both sides of this argument. And so there's a little bit of posturing, but at the bottom of it, there's a substantive piece of legislation. There's the budget bill, which is, you know, obviously an easier bill in a way for government to talk about saying, you know, we couldn't get this done. And to set up a fight with the Conservatives in the context of an election campaign saying we needed to ask for a mandate. So that's a little bit of what's going on right now. But mostly, I think that the tensions around the House of Commons, this Parliament have really been growing for some time,

and there's not that much interest in trying to work together on any part right now. There's a lot of animosity and acrimony. The pandemic has made everybody exhausted. And I think that it seems almost inevitable at this point that there's going to be an election before this particular group of parliamentarians sits again. And today will be the day, I think the last day. Let me, well, let me talk about the election thing here for a minute, because, you know, it's been an interesting week. There have been a number of new polls, research analysis put out, Nanos, well-respected company, Abacus, your own company, has put out. And while some of these numbers are different, there is a common thread to them, and that is that the Liberals are ahead.

The Conservatives are in some trouble. The Nanos one is really quite a wide gap between the Liberals and the Conservatives. And the NDP, depending on which one you look at, the NDP are either doing really well above their normal, playing above their normal weight, as they say, but they're doing well in all of the polls. Now, I have a caveat here, which is I've always been a great believer in what Mulroney used to say, there's nothing focuses the mind like a hanging or an election.

Or an election, yeah or an election right that when you actually get there and you have to make a decision it can sometimes be different than the one you kind of talked about a couple of months before a campaign um so with that in mind and we've both seen campaigns uh where you where things started poorly for a party and that party ended up winning. Mulroney was an example. In 1984, Turner was ahead when the campaign started and lost it. Kim Campbell was ahead in 1993 and lost it.

But the old rule of thumb used to be, and it is an old rule of thumb. It's old because I remember it, but it was a different era. The old rule of thumb used to be that if you had a 10-point lead at the beginning of a campaign, and in those days the campaigns were 60 days long, they were roughly two months. Now they're you know

almost half that uh you couldn't lose it in 60 days it just was unlikely that you could lose a 10 point lead that's nobody kind of talks that way anymore because we live in a different era and we certainly live in a different era of the movement of information and things can change not just in a, in a month or two, they can change in a day or two. So I put all those caveats on the table and you tell me what all this data is telling you. Well, you know, first thing is I'm still writing down. You said that there were some other polling companies and I,

I didn't know about that. So I was writing those names down. I was going to try and look. There's so many polling companies in and I didn't know about that. So I was writing those names down. I was going to try and look them up. There's so many polling companies in this country. It's crazy. Yeah. So, Peter, look, I think there's really two things to know, and it doesn't really solve this dilemma that you're positing. One is fewer people pay attention to politics than has ever been the case in my life. Now, people who are listening to this podcast probably hear

me say that and say, Anderson's crazy. We're deeply interested in politics. And of course, if they're listening to this podcast, chances are they are. But there's a lot of people still that aren't. They probably shouldn't listen to this podcast. But there's a lot of people for whom politics is just not a thing that they get preoccupied with. There's so many other things going on in their lives. And so the politicians certainly experience how hard it is to capture the imagination and the attention of Canadians during an election campaign. It's easier. The rest of the time, it's really hard, but it's harder than it used to be. No question about it. So you can have a situation where a 37-day campaign can happen and almost nothing can change.

I think that's plausible more now than it has ever been. At the same time, because parties don't have the same root system, people don't grow up saying, my parents voted conservative, so I'm a conservative. And I've kind of followed the conservative party or the liberal party from birth almost to understand what it stands for and why it might be relevant to me. That doesn't exist anymore. And so we can have, especially in this age of social media, really combustible events that change the course of an election on a dime. I mean, I think Justin Trudeau started in 2015.

He was probably in third place. And I think the hope or the expectation at best for the liberals was that they would get to second. That's why they could make so many promises that in some cases they have not fulfilled because they never expected they were going to be in that position. Yeah. So I think it's fair to say that it's plausible either that this election will happen and that the numbers that we see at the start will be more or less what we see at the end. But it's also possible that events can happen, that a leadership debate turns into something which is galvanizing for people. They see something in somebody that

they either love or they hate. And that can really matter. There's always been this thesis that advertising was the most important thing. And I think it is hugely important, but I don't think it's as important as it used to be. I don't think everybody has the same level of attentiveness to the media platforms that deliver the advertising. And I think also people have become a little bit more inured to it in the sense that you can watch it and you can see it for what it is. And you can say, okay, I understand what they're trying to say to me, but I understand they're trying to say it to me so that I will change the way that I think or the way that I vote. So, Peter, just to set the table from the standpoint of what Abacus Data is telling us, I guess there are some

other polling companies, but here's the numbers that I'm kind of looking at right now. So, you're telling people that when they're sitting there having their Gia Cantina sandwich, they can be looking at the latest Abacus data surveys. You're trying to squeeze all your properties into one conversation here. Maybe we'll have little place cards. Maybe there'll be free Wi-Fi access if you just start at the Abacus site. But look, I think that there's a few things to bear in mind. If we compare to 2019, which was a good outcome for the liberals, but not the outcome that they wanted, a minority government, right? Heading into that election, 35% approved of the Trudeau government. Today,

the number is 44. Heading into that campaign, 33% had a positive impression of Justin Trude. Today, that number is 38. Heading into that campaign, 33% had a positive impression of Andrew Scheer. Today, 19% have a positive impression of Aaron O'Toole. And the last one is that heading into that election, 53% of voters said they definitely wanted a change in government. Today, that number is 38. So all of those things are a better starting point for the Liberals than in 2019, and not by a little bit, by a significant amount.

And so there's real challenges here, I think, for the Liberals not to get ahead of themselves, not to assume too much, not to assume that things can't go wrong. But obviously, for the Conservatives, there's some real challenges in those numbers that have been building up for some time. Yeah, I mean, the other way to look at it for the Conservatives is there's almost no other way than up. You know, they're pretty, they're close to their kind of base vote. They've been nibbled away a little bit. I noticed that the Bernier's party is up around four or five percent, which doesn't sound like much. And it's not much, but it all came out of the conservatives.

Well, some polls, it's eight in Alberta. Right. So I think that, you know, you're probably right, Peter, that they can't go any lower. But I think the challenge that they have is a worse challenge than we've seen since the Mulroney version of the Progressive Conservative Party. And it is that this tension between Alberta conservatism and Central and Eastern Canada conservatism has really renewed itself. And Aaron O'Toole is kind of feeling the pain of that. It's not the first time that existed, but he's feeling a version of it that's worse than Andrew Shearfeld and something that Stephen Harper was very good at tamping down, in part because he represented Alberta, but also because he was a pretty tough disciplinarian when it came to these kinds of things.

So like yesterday, it really, I don't know if the right word is interesting development, but a kind of an important development was that there was a bill about conversion therapy, which is a controversial practice designed by some people who say that they are practitioners who can make a gay person decide not to be gay anymore. So to everybody who's listening to this podcast who thinks, well, gay isn't a choice. And it doesn't sound right to have people offering a service that is designed to pressure young people who are gay into deciding not to be gay. So that was at the heart of what this bill was about that the liberals put on the table. And more than half of the Conservative caucus voted against that bill. Now, some of the Conservative caucus voted for that bill. And my point is, too, really,

I think for the Conservatives, is how in 2021 can you still be confused about what side of that issue you want to be on? And how can Aaron O'Toole imagine running a comfortable campaign as leader of this party if on a bill like that, he's got the majority of his parliamentarians, I think it was 62 of his MPs voting one way and the rest voting another way. That just didn't make any sense to me in terms of how this party is going to enter this campaign, especially after Aaron O'Toole taking the leadership said, I want Canadians to wake up in the morning and look at the Conservative Party and see themselves in it. So I think they may have a little bit worse problem because they've got this tension where not all those

Western Conservatives love Aaron O'Toole and the centrist conservatives in Eastern Canada don't know that they like the Conservative Party as it sits today. So they've got an extra challenge. It's not just about beating the Liberals for them. It's about figuring out exactly what they're going to put on the table. It seems to me like the Liberals slipped that one in, the conversion therapy bill, legislation, whatever we call it. It sounds like they slipped that one in on purpose. Well, they've been talking about it for a while, and it's Pride Month, and there's been a big conversation

in society, of course, about diversity and inclusion for some years. So it's not like this is the first time this has come up. You can see it coming a mile away. Yeah, but the timing is interesting. You know, just before an election, split the opposition party on a key, well, on an issue that is of importance to society one way or the other. And they, you know.

Parties do this to each other all the time. Right. They sort of remember that the conservatives said that they were going to run in 2019. They were going to run to repeal the carbon price. Well, the carbon price is still there and we have not heard them really talk about it. In fact, we've heard Aaron O'Toole say he's going to do some version of the same thing now, but they're going to run to repeal this telecom act, which let's be honest, not very many people know anything about it. So the idea that this is going to be the crusade that rallies Canadians to the conservative place on the ballot, I don't see it. But just as you say, well, okay, maybe the liberals kind of set this little trap basically for the conservatives to walk into, you kind of say, well, okay, maybe the liberals kind of set this little trap,

basically, for the conservatives to walk into, you kind of go, well, yeah, but couldn't the conservatives have said it's a trap, and we're not going to walk into it. And we're going to vote for this piece of legislation, and everybody's going to be surprised, maybe, that we were so clear eyed about it. So yeah, I take your point. And I think that's all part of parties establishing the differences between them. But I don't know. I still feel like if you want, if you're a party and you're running to win office in Canada and you don't stop and think about, well, what is a gay person going to make of our vote against this bill? You know, didn't didn't somebody in that conservative caucus want to stand

up and say to the others in that caucus meeting, do you think that that, you know, I could get a therapist who could convince you to change your sexual orientation? Because that sounds ludicrous, right? And if a conservative politician said it to another conservative politician, both straight, you could imagine in that room, people would go, oh, shoot, of course. How would it sound like to a gay person if we said, well, we have to oppose this bill because there's no answer after that because, I mean, they'll have language and I saw them tweeting a little bit about it, but these social inclusion issues have bedeviled conservatives for a long time. And there's only one guy who didn't let it get in the way and that was Harper.

He made sure it didn't get in the way. And he won. And he won three elections by making sure of that. All right. Well, I mean, let's agree, as I'm sure many conservatives will agree at this point, is that they have a difficult hill to climb on a number of fronts, especially when they remember that in 2019 it was a yeah sure it was a liberal minority government if we remember the conservatives the conservatives

won the election in terms of popular vote by what three or four points so they had a lead in the in the numbers they did and they did in did. In that sense of election day. And their starting point in this one, at least right now, is considerably far back from the Liberals. It is. It is. It's a tough road ahead, but it's not an impossible road. Can I just add one last thing?

Because your point about Harper having tamped this down, I think is a really good one. But the last punctuation for me on it is the election he lost. He lost because he allowed a debate to happen about a tip line for barbaric social practices. Right. And a debate about kneecaps and the citizenship ceremony. Yeah. And you're right in the phrasing of that he allowed

it he was already in trouble in those polls in that campaign and yeah and the advice to him from some corners was the only way to get it back is you got to get your base back and you got to do this and he did allow it um so you're quite right. He lost. Yeah. And he lost. He lost. Okay. Let's talk vaccines.

But let's talk them right after this. Peter Mansbridge in Toronto, Bruce Anderson in Ottawa. We're back with Smoke, Mirrors and the Truth on this edition of The Bridge. For this Wednesday, and you're listening either on Sirius XM Canada, channel 167, Canada Talks, or you are listening on whatever your favorite podcast platform is. And wherever you're coming to us, we welcome you to it. Okay, let's discuss the vaccine issue, because there's actually a number of interesting things happening on this front. When you look at the numbers, and I'm looking at them right now. The latest Canada numbers are pretty impressive,

and they continue that flow that we started about and talked about a lot last week with Anita Anand, the Minister of Procurement, in terms of the amount of vaccines coming into the country and them being administered. So in terms of eligible Canadians,ians so in other words 12 and over the latest numbers this is of last night 76 over 76 percent of eligible canadians 12 and over have received at least one dose that's a huge number it's phenomenal it's a phenomenal number when you consider in the states their promise biden's promise was 70 by july 4th he's not going to make it they admitted

that yesterday things have really slowed down on the vaccine acceptance on the part of a lot of people especially in the southern u.s and there are indications they're starting to pay a price for that with the Delta variant. Anyway, we're at 76, over 76%. The number of Canadians fully vaccinated, so in other words, they're both their doses, is now close to 24%. Now, just two weeks ago, when I got my second shot, it was 8%. So that's how fast it's moving up, right? 24%, almost a quarter of Canadians who are eligible, that's 12 and over, are fully vaccinated. So, you know, you look at those and you go, this is great.

It's moving fast, and we're getting lots of vaccines. The supply does not seem to be an issue. They're coming in by the millions. As Isaac Bogoch said to us the other day, it's flooded. We're flooded with vaccines, and that's fantastic. It puts us in a great position. But at that picture, you're noticing an area that we should be concerned about and what's that yeah i'm worried about only one thing really in this and i'm um and it has to do with the second

shot so we've got you know almost 96 percent who either have had a shot, say they're going to get a shot, say they could be persuaded to get a shot. Only 6% who say, I'm not ever going to take it. So we're probably going to get a very large number who take that first shot. But this week in our polling, we asked for the first time, how do you feel about the importance of that second shot? Is it essential to your health, to the protection of your health and to the ending of the pandemic? Is it a good idea to get the second shot, but maybe not essential? Or would you say that you think the first shot is really sufficient in terms of the protection that you think that we need? And what we find is a quarter of Canadians say the first

shot is sufficient, or it's a good idea to get the second, but it's not absolutely necessary. So that's a fairly big number. Right now, we only have, I think it's 2% of those who've had a shot who say they might or might not get that second shot. So most people, the large majority, almost everybody who's had a shot, Peter, are saying, I'm going to get that second shot. But underneath the surface, we can tell from these numbers that some of those people who say they're going to get that shot also aren't sure it's absolutely necessary. And when we look at the difference between young people and old people, or older people, I shouldn't say old people, older people, because I'm in the oldest category that I'm going to describe here.

So people who are 60 and older, just like mature, let's call them mature people, only 9% of people in our age group think that that second shot is not essential, only 9%. But among people who are 18 to 29, that number is 43% who say, maybe the first shot is enough. Maybe the second shot's a good idea, but it's not essential. So we need to make sure as a society that we finish the job with those second shots. And the data are telling us that if there's going to be a problem, it's going to be young people kind of having heard, oh, that first shot causes so much protection and the infection rates are coming down and life is busy and we can get back to doing regular things and maybe I won't find a time to get that second shot.

So it's not that they doubt the science necessarily or the value of or the safety of it's it's more that they maybe they've been hearing that that first shot provides a lot of protection and and maybe the pandemic is behind us so it's an important signal to keep an eye on and for vaccine promotion groups to to work on i i still find it a puzzle why that age group is you know is kind of blocking at the uh the finish line here and don't think it's necessary i mean every piece of advice they're getting you know every discussion about the delta variant and you see this happening literally around the world there's it's almost like a stampede to the second shot,

pushed by governments saying, this is a problem. You know, at first I thought the whole Delta variant thing was being overblown somewhat to try to get people into the line. For first vaccines, not just second, but for those who still were holding back. I even suggested it to Dr. Bogoch the other day. I said, you know, is this like, how real is this? Or is this like a scare tactic?

And he said, no, no, no, no, no. This is the real deal. And, you know, you can look in the southern states right now. It's a huge problem. And obviously Bojo thought it was a big problem in Britain and held off for at least another month, the reopening, uh, in the UK. Uh, so. Well, I don't get it. I don vaccines, you know, there is a phenomena where young people tend to feel more health invincible. And so that's a contributing factor. No question about it.

You know, throughout the pandemic, we did see them more likely to say, if I got it, it wouldn't be that severe. I'd rather, you know, go back to doing some of my normal life activities because I'm not that afraid of it. But I want to be careful not to characterize what is still at the end of the day, a minority of young people as though they're the majority. Like there is a schism, I would say, between young people, between those who are very cautious, very responsible, very preoccupied with protecting their health and the health of others that they care about, and who have been living diligently by all of the rules and the protocols and supporting policies in those areas. But there are some others for whom this is felt like a bigger inconvenience than they think is warranted.

And maybe that sense of invincibility, plus having heard so many times that that first shot causes a lot or creates a lot of protection, that in their minds, there's a rationality almost to saying, well, I'll probably get it. But it's I'll probably get it, but it's, yeah, I'll probably get the shot, but maybe it's not really essential. So they're not saying they won't get it. And I don't want to overstate the risk, but if somebody asks me, where does the risk exist? The biggest risk of us falling short of the measure that we need in order to have that community, that community immunity, it's going to be around that second shot and with people under 40. And the incentive may well come from what you were suggesting earlier, you know, the travel issue.

You know, young people want to travel. They don't want to travel just within the country, as important as that is. They want to travel around the world. And the continuing indications are we're getting close to some kind of vaccine passport. You can call it any number of different things, but in some places it already exists. It's probably going to exist here in Canada as well. You're going to have to prove that you've had a couple of shots to get on certain flights

and to get into certain places. So, you know, that will be the big incentive at some point. When you look at your data, what does the pathway show to you in terms of a country that has had at least one shot or is fully vaccinated? What numbers do you think we're looking at at the end of the day? Or let's say by the end of the summer, what do you think we're going to be at? Well, you know, until I saw these numbers on the second shot, I was thinking we're going to be, you know, close to 90 percent, maybe a little bit over, maybe a little bit under on that first shot. And pretty close to that number on the second shot. And I still think that we can get there.

A, I think the vaccines are going to be available. B, I actually think as complicated as our system is for some people who are trying to figure out, okay, did I get the first shot before this date? And was it this kind of shot versus another kind of shot? And where can I get it at a clinic or a pop-up clinic or a pharmacy? Or do I book online or do I phone or do I walk in? There's a lot of that. But that goes away the more people who've already had the shot and the more vaccines that come into the market. So my assumption is that July is going to seem a lot easier for people to get a shot. August is going to seem a lot easier for people to get a shot. I know that advertising is in the market. I'm working on one. You're helping me with it. This coalition called

Faster Together, 240 organizations that are all pushing messages out into the market saying, you know what, if you want to travel, if you want to go back to on-campus school, if you want to see your businesses strengthened, This is a step that's important to take. I also think that there are going to be some businesses, and I know that people are really struggling with what's the right thing to do, what's the ethical thing to do. But I'm following the news in the United States, and I know that there are some companies, large companies, large employers that are saying, if you're going to come back and work in our office, you're going to have two vaccinations.

You're going to be fully vaccinated. And if you're not, you're not coming back into our offices. Now, some of those businesses might end up getting sued by those employees. And I know that there's going to be a real hesitation in some areas to do it. But there are also sports franchises that have figured out, okay, we can have a fully vaccinated part of our stadium and not fully vaccinated part of our stadium. And I think that if there are some of those things over time, it will encourage enough people to get the shot in Canada because the will is basically there. It's not people saying, you know, my keys are going to stick to my head. That exists, but it's a very

small number in Canada. It's people saying, I don't know if I really need this. And one way or another, I think we just need to remind them that going to events with other people, music festivals, concerts, sports events, going back to the workplace, getting on transit, all of those things, they depend on us getting these shots and looking out for each other a little bit. So bottom line, you figure both those numbers are going to at least be in the 80s. I think so. I think so. I think we're going to have a very high watermark in Canada because I think what we've proven to ourselves

is that our instinct is to take the advice of the experts, to trust the medicine, trust the science, and to look out for each other a little bit. Okay, that kind of wraps it up for today, but I would be amiss if I didn't ask you, because a lot of our listeners have been asking, how did it work out with the pump and the radishes? It's so exciting.

I love the letter I got from that person who was concerned that you were drawing water from a creek that you weren't allowed to. Now, he was thinking you were in Ontario, but it's in Quebec, and there's probably some rules, but it's not like you're diverting the Ottawa River or something. I didn't dam up the creek and take off the water. No, it's been a great week in the life of our crops. We've had lots of sun. We've had some actual rainfall.

And, you know, I'm probably the least mechanical person that you know. You live in a smaller community. You're probably surrounded by people who know a lot about mechanical things. And I've kind of been an urban kid since I was about 15. I lived in a small town before that, but I didn't do much that was mechanical then. I was more into baseball. But anyway, I never learned anything about mechanics. So for me, buying a gas-powered pump and putting a hose in the creek and having it spray water on a garden, probably nobody who's listening to us

thinks that's a big deal, but that's a big accomplishment for me. And I was so excited. If I sent you the video of me cursing with joy at the spray of water that came out, you'd probably share it with everybody. And that would just embarrass me. But there is that video. I was so excited that it happened. And I'm'm gonna go and check out the crops later today and i'll uh i'll have more information to share maybe i'll post a

picture on uh on twitter you did remember to turn the pump off before you left last time did you oh yeah yeah i literally i had to connect four or five things and put some gas in a motor and pull a little starter cord and i got all of that done i was pretty i was pretty pleased with myself well i'm proud of you that's great thank you um we should let everybody know that while the bridge is going on hiatus at the end of this week uh for a while i'm not sure for how long it's it's all dependent on when this election may be called because obviously when the election is called, we're back at it full steam,

and we're planning some really interesting stuff for our election shows during the campaign this year, if in fact it does happen. However, while the bridge is on hiatus, smoke mirrors and the truth will not be. So every Wednesday from wherever we happen to be, we could be in one of those little patio chairs outside

Gia Cantina on Bank Street in Ottawa doing the podcast. But we will do it and we'll keep you up to date on all things that are of interest to you and to us. And we look forward to doing that. So Wednesday, Smoke Mirror and the Truth will always be around.

And if something remarkable happens, obviously we will figure out a way to be back on the air in a moment's notice as well. So that's it for today. Thank you, sir. We'll let you get out and check your pump and make sure all is good. It was great to see you yesterday, and I look forward to seeing you again hopefully in uh in a couple of weeks fingers crossed for tomorrow night halves finish off the golden night thanks peter great to talk

to you it's as good as done it's a you know it's as good as a done deal it's like england man are we doing well in the year 2020. I mean, we are the team. This is the year. This is the year? Rule Britannia, baby. Okay. That's it.

Take it easy. Yeah, you too. Bye. Thanks, everybody. Good to talk to you. You've been listening to The Bridge. I'm Peter Mansbridge, and we'll be back with The Normal Bridge in 24. Oh, listen, by the way, if you want to write, this is the week to write.

The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. The weekend special coming up on Friday will be the last one for a little while. So any thoughts you have, big thoughts, little thoughts, get them in now. Alrighty. Talk them in now. All righty. Talk to you tomorrow.