The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - The Weekend Special #2 - Your Thoughts, Your Questions, Your Comments.

Episode Date: March 27, 2020

Another week that challenged our emotions and yet another week that filled The Bridge's mailbag with how you are responding to all this. Some of what you had to say is the highlight of this episode.

and hello there i'm peter mansbridge with the friday episode of the bridge daily two weeks now since we've been daily with the podcast as we're trying to, you know, cover from different angles, different perspectives, this story that has enveloped the world. It's been very interesting and I appreciate all the comments I get and all the indications that the podcast is being listened to more and more each day. It's awfully hard with podcasts to get an accurate reflection of what your listenership is. However, the indications I've seen from the distributor that I have

for the Bridge Daily is that the numbers keep going up, and they are good. They're in the tens of thousands every week. And that is very much appreciated. And I'm glad that for some of you, it's become kind of a stopping point along this journey that we're all sharing together. In the first week of the Daily,

it was interesting that the podcast episode that garnered the most attention was a week ago today, a week ago Friday. And it was the podcast that had your thoughts and your questions and your comments in it because of the mail that I'd been receiving throughout the week. Now, I decided then that I would try to do this weekly, and trust me, I've had, once again this week, an awful lot of comments, many comments, and suggestions and some questions. So let's get right at it, and I will do the same as we did last week

by reading your comments. Keep in mind when you send in comments or questions or letters to themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com, include your name and your location, because it's nice to get a reflection of where these are coming from. And I should tell you that the podcast distributor also breaks it all down, shows me who's listening where in terms of locations. And, you know, it's been quite remarkable, really, because they're all over the world. I mean, I think every continent except Antarctica is represented in the list that they send me every day.

So that's good. That's nice to hear. Clearly there are Canadians in many parts of the world who are trying to tune back in to the kind of Canadian take on all this. And that's what hopefully they're getting with the Bridge Daily. So let's get started. These are in no particular order. They're just the way they came off the printer.

Alex Michael, Thunder Bay. Hello, Peter. I've been told that wearing a face mask will not prevent me from getting the coronavirus. You know, Alex, we've been through this a number of times, but I know that a lot of people are still confused by this. But you don't wear a face mask to prevent you from getting the virus. You wear a face mask to prevent others from getting anything you may have. That is the main reason for a face mask to prevent others from getting anything you may have. That is the main reason for a face mask.

Now, obviously, health care workers who are constantly confronted with situations within the hospital area, they wear them all the time. But just generally, for us ordinary folks, that's why you wear a face mask. Anyway, Alex writes, I'm viewing video footage from China and the outlook is presented as optimistic that life is returning to some normalcy. But in the media footage, all the people are wearing face masks, whether they're inside or outside. You're right. They do.

Now, I think in some cases, they don't need that. In others, they clearly do. If they were in that area in the Wuhan district, there were concerns, obviously. And so people were wearing face masks. And you see it in airports and all that. And Alex writes, is it perhaps some form of propaganda and things aren't going that well in China?

Well, you know, that's a question that a lot of people ask. And if you go back and listen to my very first podcast daily on this issue, I raise the whole question about China and China numbers because they look bizarre to me. China, where this seems to have had its origins, has had 81,000 cases. 81,000 out of a population of 1.4 billion. That's nothing. That's nothing.

It seems hard to believe. I mean, the U.S. has already passed that number. Italy's passed the number of deaths that China has. And so it makes you kind of wonder. Now, China is, just today, telling people we're closing down the theaters again because it's cinemas, because we don't want people going back into crowded spaces, because we're afraid of a second wave. And a second wave is a lot about what this story is about. Okay?

All right, Alex, thanks for your note. Richard Sainer. Richard, I love this. Richard got inspired by listening to the podcast the other day where I talked about Vimy Ridge. And he went digging in his family trunk and dug up some letters from his father. My father's visit to Vimy Ridge during World War II, he wrote some notes. My dad was in the Royal Canadian Mechanical Engineers and was in charge of a number of men tasked with maintaining the tanks. Now, this was in the second half of 1944,

after France had been liberated, and they had some time. They went down, it was about 50 miles away, 80 clicks. They went down to, or up to, depending on where they were from, operating from, but I say that they were in Paris, they went up to Vimy Ridge to see the monument there, because it had opened in 1936 for the Canadians who fought the battle in 1917. And his dad also wrote a daily diary. So he sent along a bit of that diary and a bit of a column

that his dad had written for the local newspaper back home, the Allura Express. I'm just going to read you a couple of sentences. You know Vimy Ridge. You know the story. I've told it to you before. Flip back a couple of podcasts if you want to be reminded of it all. But it's an incredible monument that's at Vimy. So here's what Richard's dad wrote.

I expect you have seen photos of the memorial, so I needn't describe it, but when one first approaches it, you can do nothing but stand and look on in amazement at the size and beauty of the memorial. If you can recall that at the outbreak of the war, it was reported that it had been bombed and blown to ruins. But one had to look awfully close to see where there's any damage at all. that at the outbreak of the war it was reported that it had been bombed and blown to ruins but one had to look awfully close to see where there's any damage at all and that was done only by shrapnel and that's correct there was there were certainly rumors that have been blown up by the

nazis when they took over that part of france but it was untrue fact, the true story appears to be that Hitler went there after they'd taken Paris, that he went down to see Vimy Ridge because he'd heard about it, and Hitler is kind of this amateur architect, and he went there, and so the story goes, and he definitely went there because there are pictures of him there. The story goes that he was blown away by this memorial and ordered that it not be put through any kind of destruction. Back to the letter, there are 11,000 odd names inscribed on the base of the memorial. I had a glance around to see if there were any on there that I would recognize? I don't remember all the names from the hometown, but I did see some that I recognized.

That's from Marshall Sainer's letter, and as his son Richard told me in his letter, that his dad, like many veterans of both wars, didn't talk about it very often because it's painful. And yet he did share those words. And Vimy is a source of strength for Canadians, always has been, and can be again now. To remember the courageous nature of the young men who fought at Vimy through a crisis.

All right, here's the next one. Taylor Foto from Langley, British Columbia. My question, have you had many former news colleagues reach out? What would you say to a journalist working right now? Well, you know, that's pretty straightforward. Tell the truth. Don't get bogged down by rumors, innuendo, and conspiracy theories. Tell the truth. Use the experts. Trust the science in telling the story. That's what I tell them, Taylor, and I think for the most part,

Canadian journalists are doing very well on that front. Donna Lockhart writes, we recently returned from Florida and are currently in day four of self-isolation. Friends and neighbours getting us supplies to our porch. Good for you, Donna. That is what Canadians are hoping to hear from the snowbirds who return. That they're taking it seriously. They're getting help from friends and neighbors to keep them supplied. If this happened worldwide, I know banks and businesses

need to be on board. This is an issue that she throws out there. She says it's a creative idea circulating on Facebook, which I would hope gets to decision makers. I'm going to read it. It's a little out of my depth, but I find it interesting that people are talking about this and coming up with their own ideas of how we can help each other through all this. It's out-of-the-box thinking, says Donna, for an out-of-the-box situation. I wish I had the name of the person who posted to give credit. It was on Facebook, she saw it, right? But here it is. The suggestion is for a worldwide timeout concept where all debt mortgages be stopped temporarily.

And the funds suggested for a worldwide time-out concept where all debt mortgages be stopped temporarily. And the funds suggested currently in the billions to bail out business business be used instead to pay for essential services like heat, hydro, water, and a basic income for food. All other household expenses like your mortgage, car loan, etc. be temporarily suspended in six months. Who knows then? These debts kick back in. The funds the government are currently fighting over would go to all Canadians for support and business, get basic heat, et cetera, paid for. Everything's suspended, so no one worries. I think this is the basic concept.

Listen, you know, I think it's an interesting concept. I'm not quite sure how, for those six months, the economy keeps going. And that's part of the concern here. The two concerns is the health concern and how it impacts people. And the overall economic concern and how you try to protect both is tricky. As I said, it's a little out of my depth here, but I find it interesting that people are talking on a big level like that in these chat groups on social media like Facebook.

Teresa Critch writes from Clarenville, Newfoundland. Teresa Critch, one of the famous Critch writes from Clarenville, Newfoundland. Teresa Critch. One of the famous Critch family, perhaps? Is it my hearing or imagination, but why is your voice and delivery tone suddenly different? It seems sharp and rushed, so much so on the last two podcasts that I would hardly recognize you except I'm on the bridge. Gee, I don't know, Teresa.

Maybe it was something I ate those two days. You know, I think I'm basically reading the same. There is, as you note later in your letter, you know, I'm using a different studio, I use that term loosely because we're not in the Toronto condo or in the house in the country doing this, and it's a different setup, so, you know, the audio probably sounds a little different, but that shouldn't have an impact on the speed that I read. Larry Williamson writes from Caledonia.

We've heard from Larry before. I love his letters because he always has some great ideas in them. He picked up on this whole idea I said about writing things down, keeping a diary. So here he says, shortly after the eldest granddaughter's birth, I realized that considering my age, I would most likely not be around to see them as grown adults. So here he says, childhood and my life up until retirement. This then became a daily journal that I've continued to this day. Now, I think that's great that you're doing that. And I have actually heard from other people doing the same thing. And when the kids are like so small, parents are actually writing them letters each day,

telling them about the experience they are all sharing. So later they will be able to read this as they grow up, and their kids, and their kids' kids. And now Larry also picks up on this. The letter from your sister concerning white gloves, you may have heard that the other day, and a return to past fashions could also apply to many other past practices, such as a return to vegetable gardening, fruit canning, homemade jam, home baking,

and family dinners around the table rather than hamburgs and deep-fried chicken from fast food restaurants. We may alter our views on what is important and what is not so much important. Time will tell. Thanks, Larry. Good ideas there. Paul Turek from Cortese, Ontario. Thank you for the latest episode with the young woman speaking to you from Milan. That was last Sunday afternoon.

We did a special. It really gives us the sense that we're all in this together, and her optimism is what's needed now. You're right about that. Thanks, Paul. A number of letters about Maria Teresa's commentary with us last Sunday on the situation in Milan. Susan McIntyre from Bowmanville, Ontario writes, the virus crisis has brought to light for

me the loss of media in small communities. I'm now retired two years in a small village of whom I am a newcomer and I hear lots about Toronto and their situation on TV, but I do not know what is happening in my area called Clarenton in Durham region. And she goes on with a number of examples of that. She says, I was a visitor in Victoria at Christmas time in the mid-1990s when Victoria received about five feet of snow overnight on December 24th. I remember that. My parents were living there then. The city had no snow equipment, so the city was at a standstill. I remember the local radio station stopped any kind of entertainment, started connecting people

together to help out. People with snowmobiles were connected to those who needed medication, picked up at the pharmacy, as well as the pickup and delivery of nurses to patients in their homes. And hey, you could repeat that for the snowmageddon that went through St. John's, Newfoundland earlier this winter. But the point that Susan's making is local media saved the day. And it's at times like this that local media is more important than anything else. You want to know what's happening in your town, in your community,

just as much as you want to know the big picture. And that's why I was one of those who joined the chorus of boos when the CBC shut down a lot of local programming at the beginning of this, replaced it with network programming at the supper hour. I thought it was just a colossal bad move. Anyway, fortunately, they saw the light within a week, and they're going back to what they used to do. It was nice to see that, in fact, the CBC can recognize when it makes a mistake.

Willa Henry writes from Kingston, Ontario. I wonder if now is the time to have minimum incomes. It's an idea that Hugh Siegel, former senator, I think Hugh is no longer senator because he passed the 75-year age mention. But a former top public servant in both Ottawa and Queen's Park in Toronto. It's an idea that Hugh Siegel has been a huge proponent of. If every family person automatically got enough to cover housing and food, it would prevent the disaster of homelessness, malnutrition, and desperation. I'm so grateful to know I have enough to weather this storm.

Most do not. Well, this whole idea of basic annual income in various forms, it's been debated over decades. I can remember my father, who was a senior public servant in Ottawa in the health and welfare department, trying to work on a basic annual income idea at that time, too. But maybe this will give new energy to those kind of discussions. Mark Elias from Montreal. I was curious to know if you've received any information on the different mutations of the virus that are circulating around the world

and if one mutation is proving to be more deadly than another. I think researchers and scientists are trying to determine that, Mark, now. I mean, I think for the most part, this first version of COVID-19 is similar in all areas, but they are worried about the next wave and whether it'll be different and how different it'll be. And if it's going to be like a seasonal flu, where every year when they finally come up with a vaccine and they finally come up with a vaccine, and they will come up with a vaccine, whether it's going to need a new one every year, a new and different one every year. So that, I can't answer that question for you yet. It's too early, but they're working on that.

Julie Rapp, Saskatoon. First of all, I'd like to thank you for giving me something to look forward to every day. I work as a dental hygienist and have been temporarily laid off. My office, as all others in the country, is closed and only able to treat emergencies as to keep toothaches and other dental emergencies out of the hospitals. With a shortage of PPE, that's personal protection equipment, in hospitals across the country, I think dental offices and other health clinics, such as physiotherapists, massage therapists, chiropractors, and the list goes on,

should donate some of their PPE to hospitals. I think it's a great idea. I think some have already started doing that, and others should be encouraged to do it. Peter Patel seems to be in the kind of Peterborough, Ontario area because his area code is 705. Actually, he says he's in northern Ontario. I have quite a few hotels and motels in Northern Ontario. I'm willing to offer two of our 12 properties to hospitals

to accommodate overflow of patients at the hospital. I've contacted the local hospital administrator. She's very grateful for the gesture. Good for you, Peter. He goes on, recently I heard that in the GTA, that's Toronto, there's a severe shortage of shelters for abused women. My offer stands to provide accommodation for these women too. That's nice to hear, Peter,

and I hope things have moved along on that front, and if not, somebody may well hear that and be in contact with you. Patrick Power from Waterford Valley, St. John's, Newfoundland. Well, the star on Cabot Tower atop Signal Hill overlooking St. John's was lit up last night, March 20th, for the first time since the holiday season. A coincidence or someone taking notes as they listen to the bridge? Either way, it's great to see.

We did talk about that the other night. If you still had your Christmas tree lights up, maybe flip them on for a bit. Give people something to think good about. I did have other letters saying, you know, you've got to watch how much hydro we use. We're going to need it. We have ours

on, but it's a tiny little, like, three-foot tree in our front yard, and we have it on for a couple hours each evening for that reason. He also mentions how St. John's came together because of Snowmageddon. He's right about that.

They certainly did. Okay, next letter. Jim Sloan. I live in Brandon, Manitoba. Not all that far from the airport where I believe you worked at one time. I did. Worked there, not for long. Couple of months, 1968.

We're of a similar vintage, 71 here. Jeez, Jim, you're right about that. Just this past Tuesday, I had a heart event which sent me to Winnipeg via ambulance for angioplast, and I was home Thursday with a new outlook on life. The world changed so much in a few days, it is surreal to see the St. Boniface Hospital in lockdown, with security and screening at the main entrance, trying to protect the institution. Unfortunately, there are still people not taking this whole thing seriously, while the security visits, a friend, people are, I'm missing a word here somewhere. Friends slipping in and out of the door and no one says anything but me and I was completely ignored. Yeah, you're right.

People have to take this seriously on every level. I'm glad you mentioned your trip into Winnipeg to St. Boniface Hospital, one of the country's great hospitals, because you took an ambulance in. And, you know, these are frontline workers that threw all this too. And when we're thinking of the various health care workers at hospitals and at fire stations and at police stations, we can't forget those people who were moving patients back and forth in ambulances. And Jim, I know you weren't dealing with COVID-19, but I'm glad to hear that the situation is looking better for you. We mentioned Richard Zahner at the beginning of this, his dad's letter from Vimy Ridge.

He'd also written, remember, about a week ago, I was kind of stumbling around talking about the flowers that were coming up in the backyard, the first flowers of spring. And I couldn't remember what they were called. I think I called them horse bells or something. Richard says, Peter, they're snowdrops. And you're right, they are. And they do look terrific.

We see them every year, but I don't think we've ever taken such joy in seeing them as we do this year and hope that they're a signal of better times to come. Two more. This one's from Michelle Dextra in Kanata, Ontario. As I listened yesterday to your podcast when you talked about impressive leaders who address their population, I was surprised that you went overseas to talk about a leader. I'm not.

I still think that Angela Merkel is top of the heap. That doesn't mean there aren't others who are doing well, very well in leadership roles. Michelle writes, while I will agree that her talk to her population was impressive, it seems to me you could have talked about Francois Legault in Quebec. He's been reassuring. He is impressed on the population how serious this crisis is, and he has been convincing. Michelle, I watched Premier Legault a number of times this week, and I agree with you. I think he's been very solid in a very difficult situation. Quebec is having a harder time than any other province in the country right now, and Legault has a very difficult job on his hands, but he is being impressive in the way he is trying to handle it,

at least from my vantage point of watching him here. All right. This is one to think about because we do the last two, and we try to leave on a, I don't know, a brighter note of some kind, if that's even possible. Tannis Wright writes from Sarnia, Ontario. Why don't you start a little contest about what we're going to name the generation which will be conceived

during this stay-home crisis. You know, we all have our, you know, there was the greatest generation of my parents were boomers like me and, you know, Generation X and the Millennials and

you know, what's the current one, Generation Z? I mean, you've got all these generations, and what's the one right now that's going to be coming along as a result of this? Because our world is different. This generation will face a different world than all of us did. What are they going to be called? So Tannis wants a contest of some kind,

and people should write in with their ideas. I mean, I think I've heard this elsewhere, but she suggests, you know, one idea may be the Coronials, the COVID kids. I don't know. I don't like that one. Coronials? That's interesting.

Anyway, if you have any ideas, send them along. The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. And here's the last letter for this week. Comes from Joseph Chavez. Not sure where Joseph is. I'd be very interested to hear what are your thoughts on the silver linings these pandemics

or this pandemic could bring once it's over you know it's awfully hard to think about that when you see the numbers when you see the hardship and the pain the suffering that's going on, to come up with a silver lining.

Perhaps if there is one, it's that we understand that we're together on this, that listening to the guidelines about what our leaders expect of us, to stay at home, to stay physically distant from others, to find ways to communicate that aren't person to person. Well, you know, we're learning about ourselves. We're learning about our community. We're learning about our country. In ways we never thought we would. In ways we never wanted to.

But perhaps when all this is over and it will be over we will have found a way to live our lives better for all maybe that's a silver lining I don't know, it's awfully hard to think that anyway, we're into the weekend as was last week if something comes along that needs an extra podcast, a special, I will certainly do one, as we did last weekend. But if not, we'll talk again on Monday.

I'm Peter Mansbridge. This is The Bridge Daily. Take care of yourself. Be safe. Thank you.