The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - The Weekend Special #25 - Enjoy.

Episode Date: September 4, 2020

Your letters, comments and questions for the 25th full week of the "bridge daily"!

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here with the latest episode of the Bridge Daily. It is the weekend special because it's Friday of week 25. An opportunity to hear from you, your questions, your thoughts, your comments on a variety of different issues that we've been dealing with on the Bridge Daily Podcast. Now, a couple of things you should notice. Most of the mail this week has been about the race next door. That weekly podcast that Bruce Anderson anderson and i

do on wednesdays and um there's some good questions in there and as i mentioned the other day we're looking at doing a race next door just on your questions and uh so we're going to keep it to that when we do that so it'll be be a Wednesday and it'll be soon. It may even be next Wednesday. We'll just deal with some of your questions. And as I said, there have been a lot of them and some very good ones as well. So if you wrote in a question about the race next door, that's when you should start looking for it.

If we don't do it next Wednesday, I'll tell you when we are going to do it on Wednesday. Just got to go over everybody's schedule here. But aside from those kind of questions, let me get at some of the comments comments that you had this week, starting with Kerry Cody, who writes, among other things, I chuckled to myself when I heard you compare our recent COVID-19 performance to the U.S. This was yesterday's podcast. And say how great Canada is doing. I don't know whether I said great,

but I definitely said Canada's doing better than the U.S. Come on, Peter, that's a low bar to set. I have an idea I hope you can entertain. Would you share with us the positivity rates relative to population for Canada, the U.S., New Zealand, and Germany? And even more interesting would be to add Spain and Italy into the mix. Okay. Thanks, Gary. Just a little homework, right? Just send it all to Pete, get him to do it all. You probably know when you search the internet on COVID stats, there's any number of different places to go to to find them.

And quite often you'll see they're different because they're calculated differently by different organizations. You know, for Canada, I use the Canada site, the Government of Canada site. The U.S., I use the Government of the U.S. site. And for more general, overall, kind of worldwide stuff, I go to the John Hopkins University site. So let's try and deal with a little, I mean, I suggest you go there yourself

to get in particular all the places you're talking about. But let me do some of it, and you'll have to bear with me as we kind of look at this. Their numbers on Canada are slightly different than the Government of Canada numbers, but their numbers show the average daily tests in Canada are 87 per 100,000 of population. Okay, 87 per 100,000 of population. And the positivity rate they're showing, the average daily positivity rate at 3.28, which is about one percentage point higher

than the Canada number that we talked about yesterday, which was 2.2. So they've got 3.2 or 3.28, says John Hopkins University. Once again, well below the 5% figure, which is accepted as the figure that you're aiming for as you try to get it down, obviously, to zero at some point. But under 5% shows you are basically in control of the situation. The U.S., well, we went through, you don't want to hear about the U.S.

because you think that's having the bar too low. So we won't do the U.S. Greece, 1.86%. They're doing better than Canada. 50 average daily tests per 100,000 population. We do more tests than Greece, but they have a lower positivity rate. Australia. Their daily positivity rate is 0.46%

based on 151 tests per 100,000 population. As we know, Australia and New Zealand are doing well. Iceland, average daily test, 134 per 100,000. Average daily positivity rate, 2.12. The U.K. average daily positivity rate, 5.47. So just over that 5% figure, but not by a lot. And that's come down. They're doing 133 tests per 100,000.

The U.S. by John Hopkins University is higher than the U.S. government figure. They're showing an 8.87 average daily positivity rate, 139 per 100,000 tested. You asked about France. France, according to Johns Hopkins University, the average daily positivity rate is 20.37%. But they're based on only 17 tests per 100,000 population. And if you think this one through, the fewer number of tests you're doing, the odds are you're just testing those who are already sick, and therefore you're going to get a higher positivity rate.

Right? At least that's the theory. I'm trying to find some of the other countries you mentioned, and it's not always easy because it's a graph, so you've got to highlight. Here's Germany. We often talk about Germany. They're kind of in the same ballpark as we are on the positivity rate, 2.67%,

based on 80 tests per 100,000 population. Mexico. based on 80 tests per 100,000 population. Mexico, here once again is another example of a country that's not testing very much, and therefore the odds are they're only testing people who are already sick, or they think they're sick, and therefore that rate is going to be higher. So they're only doing five tests per 100,000 for an average daily positivity rate of 29.52%. That's Mexico. You asked about New Zealand. New Zealand has been doing pretty well, and they still are.

89 average daily tests per 100,000. Their positivity rate,000. Their positivity rate, 0.40%. So well below 1%. Okay. You can find this. Go to the John Hopkins University site, and you'll find all kinds of stats. Are you a stats person?

And I am sometimes. I've carried away on it on occasion, as I'm sure some of you find I've just done right now. But I find statistics fascinating sometimes. And the problem with stats is you can make them work for you, you can make them work against you. So it's all in the way you read them, right, and the conclusions you draw from them.

But thank you for that note, Carrie Cody. Sorry, Carrie Cody. Doesn't say where Carrie's from, but she's a fan of the podcast. She says she listens to it in the middle of the night, 1.25 a.m. is when she said she was listening to this one. And so she's also asked me, because she's a fan of air travel as

well, and the topic of air travel, and as you know, I often do a lot of things on that. I've got a really interesting one that I'll do for you next week. But she asked me if I watch the program May Day. I do. And it's frequent repeats. I even watch them. I do find that it's a really well done show. All right.

Moving on. Spencer Stinson from Blenheim, Ontario. When I write, I usually like to comment on the content you've touched upon in the daily podcast, but this evening I have some direct questions I'm curious about your take on, especially with your long tenure at the CBC. This stems from the recent newly elected leader of the Conservative Party who seems adamant about this topic and even has a petition on his website about it. What is with the constant Conservative attack to defund the CBC? Where does this come from? And what's the real root of their argument about why this should happen? There's a number. First of of all it's not

you know it's not a there's definitely an element of the Conservative Party that would love to see the CBC defunded if not shut down and there's often been that it was back in the old progressive Conservative days as well there was always a segment of that party that felt strongly about that, and interestingly enough,

often prevented from achieving its goal by the leader of the day, whether it was Joe Clark, whether it was Brian Mulroney, and whether it was Stephen Harper. Keep in mind, the biggest cuts to the CBC happened under Jeanan cretien's and paul martin's rule during the 1990s but everything's on the table now look we're at a country with a huge deficit

and national debt right at some point when this pandemic's over, somebody's going to have to figure out how those numbers are going to come down. And part of coming down often means cuts in different places and in different ways. And the CBC's always a target in that. And they will be again. And when Aaron O'Toole talks about defunding the CBC he's talking mainly about CBC television

he's not a fan of thinks the private networks do that well enough also with CBC News Network, the all cable channel he's not talking about CBC radio and as a result I don't think he's

actually talking about the idea of public broadcasting in general. He's also saying this would be accomplished over the first mandate of a conservative government, first four years if it was a majority government. This will play to his base, the old play to your base theory, because the base of the Conservative Party is no fan of the CBC. But Spencer's question is, where does this go back to? Well, there are a lot of old-time Conservatives, especially, who believe that the fact that liberals are in power more than the conservatives are in power is because of institutions like the cbc that they believe have been more supportive of liberals than there have been of conservatives i was there for 50

years i find that argument baloney quite frankly it's as if there's some, you know, is there some sort of kind of mandate in the newsroom that, you know, you've got to do stories that favor the Liberals, not the Conservatives? No, there isn't. There are professional people who sit and discuss every day the stories that they think matter to Canadians, and they find the best way of telling them. However, once again, the Conservatives have been out of power more than the Liberals have been in power, and therefore, attacking the media, and attacking the CBC in particular, has been a common thread for Conservatives. It's also been a common thread for Liberals when they're out of power.

Believe me, I've seen that too. I've seen it on the part of prime ministers on both sides. So, I don't know, it's an issue. When you talk to a conservative, when I talk to a conservative, and I have friends in all parties, but when I talk to conservatives

and get in this argument about CBC, say you realize of course when the CBCs were started who started the CBC whose idea was it to have a national public broadcaster not Not a state broadcaster, like some of the wingnuts talk about. It's not a state broadcaster. It's a public broadcaster. You own it. The people of Canada own it. And the CBC, if it's wise, will listen to the people of Canada

when they have concerns or complaints about the CBC, about its programming. But the Conservatives founded the CBC, about its programming. But the conservatives founded the CBC. R.B. Bennett was the prime minister who brought in the CBC. It wasn't a liberal. It was a conservative. And it's, you know,

been one of the great national institutions of the country. Has it had rocky times? You betcha it has. Some of them self-inflicted. Believe me, I've had lots of arguments about the CBC. I mean, to me, the reason the CBC exists is for news and current affairs. That should be its primary goal, followed by arts, culture. But let's look at the CBC right now.

How often have you seen the national news, the flagship of the network, how often have you seen it on at the air at 10 o'clock at night? Not for the last month. Not for the next month. Hockey. Hockey rules, even though the CBC isn't making a penny out of hockey. It all goes to Rogers.

But have they protected the 10 o'clock hour for the National? No, they haven't. Just like they didn't for the whole time I was there. And I was in Constanari. And I'm a hockey fan. I love hockey. I'm a season ticket holder. But the CBC is supposed to protect its flagship program.

Never has. Certainly isn't right now. Anyway, moving on. But conservatives should remember, they started the CBC. It was their idea, and they did it to prevent the influence of American programming. Now, lots have changed since the early 1930s when the CBC was founded,

and sure, there are private networks, Canadian private networks, that run in prime time a lot of American programming. The CBC is supposed to offer a Canadian alternative. If it doesn't, the CBC's at fault. If it does, but it's not very good, it's the CBC's fault. And they should be called out on it. But, boy, be careful before you start killing national institutions that are there for the country's best interests.

Jim Stewart writes from Cambridge, Ontario. Thank you for this podcast. Those of us who are white Canadians need to hear her voice. Who are we talking about? Perdita Felicien. That was last Thursday night. And we've had a lot of mail that came after last week's weekend special

talking about that podcast because people listened to it through last weekend. She was fantastic. If you did not hear it, you should go back and listen to it. It would have been the Thursday night of last week. Okay? Not yesterday's Thursday night, but a week ago Thursday night.

She was terrific. In fact, there are a number of records here. She had lots of records, Perdita. She was one of Canada's top athletes, track star. Wayne Kruski, who has his own operation called RidgeRecords.net, Wayne writes, I'm writing in regards to your segment with Perdita Felician.

What a powerful conversation. I think there's far too many white people with opinions on what to do and not enough listening to black voices or indigenous voices or people of color voices, for that matter. As I listened to it, I had just finished the first episode of Kyle Brown's two-part series on ideas, that's on CBC Radio, about institutional slavery in Canada called Canada's Slavery Secret, the whitewashing of 200 years of enslavement. What an eye-opener.

I think an historical perspective is always good. One of my personal mantras is the future is a result of the past. The podcast should cause all white folks to pause and consider where black and indigenous voices are coming from. And then he goes on to basically give a review of all the different segments of that two-part series that was on ideas, Kyle G. Brown's two-part series on institutional slavery in Canada. And you're right, Wayne. Excellent podcast that you should, if you're interested, if you're inspired by listening to Perdita,

then you should look up that series as well. And here's another one. Another letter on Perdita. This one's from Ted Matthews in Kitchener. Hello, Peter. I was quite taken with Perdita's commentary last night, found it both riveting and in-your-face challenging, as it should be.

During my morning walk today, I was replaying your conversation with Perdita over and over in my head. Her explanation on BIPOC, being always exhausted, stuck like an earworm, so much so that I had an epiphany on it, a certain kind of epiphany. When I was a child, my brother and I were pulled out of public school

and inserted into the local Catholic school to prepare for First Communion, an agreement between our mixed-faith parents. It was six weeks of hell. We were different, did not know the routine and made it and made to suffer for it. Bullying, harassed by teachers and students, afraid to go alone for bathroom breaks, constantly looking over your shoulder and we spent our lunch times for six weeks sitting back to back in the schoolyard for self-protection. Daily physical and emotional abuse of some sort,

and it was exhausting. And I thought, this is what Perdita was referring to. Exhaustion every day of their lives, and they do not get to leave that behind after six weeks like we did. After 69 years on this planet, I thought learning how to deal with COVID and all its ancillary issues was enough, and now I have to deal with white privilege? Well, you were never too old to learn or react. Thank you, Perdita, for taking us to church last night. We needed to listen and hear what you were saying, no matter how difficult that conversation was for most of us. When the time comes that my grandchildren ask if I supported Black Lives Matter, I want to be able to say yes. I hope I'm up to that task. Ted Matthews and Kitchener. Ted,

thank you for that. Which brings us to the last one of, as I said, a shorter than normal weekend special because so many of the letters this week were about the race next door, which, as I said, will funnel into a special podcast that Bruce and I will put together for you in the days ahead. So here's the last one of this week. And it comes from Steve Mitchell

in Chatham, Kent. It's Ontario. That's where he lives. I guess he used to live in Toronto. And if you've been a frequent listener over the 25 weeks of the weekend special, then you know that I try to leave the last letter pretty much intact. So here we go.

Good morning, Peter. My name is Steve Mitchell. I will do all I can to keep this as short as possible. Firstly, I'm a big fan. I've been listening and watching you for as long as I can to keep this as short as possible. Firstly, I'm a big fan. I've been listening and watching you for as long as I can remember, and as far as I'm concerned, you're the most trusted name in news worldwide. That's very kind of you. Secondly, and the reason I'm writing you is regarding optimism. I am an eternal optimist, and I'd like the opportunity to offer that perspective to your listeners. I'm turning 40 in January.

Must be something about turning 40. We're getting all the turning 40 people. Perdita's turning 40. I think she turned 40 last weekend. Anyway, Steve says, I'm turning 40 in January. The year I graduated theater school in Toronto, Ryerson University, the SARS epidemic hit the city. As I'm sure your lovely wife remembers, that's my actor wife, Cynthia Dale,

the majority of productions, both film and TV, abandoned the city for good reason. My young acting career took an early nosedive. I, however, did not give up. I worked hard and made the most of all of my opportunities. In 2007, I was trapped in the ice with the cast of the children's theatrical production of The Backyardigans. We had boarded the ferry in Newfoundland and we were trapped for three nights only to be rescued by the Louis S. Saint Laurent. That's Canada's biggest icebreaker, and I'm very familiar with it. Word got out, and I became the correspondent on the scene and reported to Heather Hiscox each morning

on the state of the mood of the people trapped on board. Scary, yes. Heather, of course, the anchor of the morning news on CBC Television and CBC News Network. Scary, yes. Opportunity, of course. Now 2020 is upon us. This year I have separated from my wife, lost my job as a drama teacher at the school that I love, and dealt with the coronavirus situation.

So on to the optimism. Everyone deals with life, and I choose not to complain, but rather to find opportunity in dark places and work hard to move towards the light. I'm lucky to see the bright side of life on a regular basis. I have my job back due to the shrinking of class sizes. My ex and I are working together to raise our beautiful 3-year-old daughter, and now I'm realizing that I have something to offer at 40.

I'm wondering about working with you as an educational correspondent as the situation unfolds in Canadian schools. I will be back in the classroom, and my daughter Stella is starting JK, junior kindergarten, in two weeks. I would be thrilled to provide updates on the state of the Canadian classroom. I'm taking the opportunity to reform the way that drama is taught in secondary schools. No handouts, no accolades, just an opportunity to provide valuable information from the front lines of something we have never seen in Canadian schools.

In any case, thanks for reading. I hope you're well and thank you for what you do. And by the way, I witnessed my first loon show in Algonquin Park this summer and your impression is bang on. All the best. Steve Mitchell calls himself the educational optimist. Now Steve, thank you for the nice words about my loon call. If you hadn't heard it, it's from a couple of weeks ago on the podcast where I tried to imitate a loon and impress Steve. But then again, he's looking for part-time work. I'm not sure whether, first of all you got to realize

this is a hobby podcast nobody's making any money out of this if anything it's costing me money but it's fun and I'm enjoying it I love conversing with all of you but if you're talking Steve about just simply dropping a line every once in a while,

let us know how things are going in school. More than happy to hear it. And I'm sure that we'll share some of your thoughts on the podcast in the time ahead. But thank you for that, and I'm impressed. You're a believer in optimism and that you show it. Because none of us have easy lives. All of us have challenges, and especially this year,

we've all had challenges. And believing that there's a way to deal with challenges by remaining optimistic about the future is something I give you much credit for doing. Well, that's the Bridge Daily for this week, the weekend special. A couple of reminders. You can always write themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com, themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com.

If you're looking for back editions of the podcast, you can find them, I'm sure, on your podcast supplier. And if you can't, go to thepetermansbridge.com, and there you will find a variety of goodies, including podcasts dating back to a year ago now when we started with election coverage on a daily basis through the election of the fall of 2019. Then we went, well, we took a month or so off.

Then we went weekly for a while. And then mid-March, 25 weeks ago, we started daily Monday to Friday podcasts. But you can find it all on my website, which also has a section on Extraordinary Canadians, which is the book that Mark Bulgich and I have coming out with Simon & Schuster in November. You're going to start to hear a lot about that.

But if you want to get ahead of the curve, there are links towards how you can pre-order the book through Simon & Schuster right on the website. All right. Next week, Wednesday, is the race next door with Bruce Anderson. Monday, we're going to take off. It's a holiday weekend. We should all try to enjoy this holiday weekend,

unless there's some kind of overwhelming story that we need to put out a special edition of the podcast. We won't be back until Tuesday. So enjoy the weekend. Get out. Have some fresh air. Keep enjoy the weekend. Get out. Have some fresh air. Keep the rules going. And the longer this goes,

the harder they are to remember sometimes because you kind of get in a groove. But the rules are simple. Keep your hands clean. Wash your hands. Use hand sanitizer. Be smart when you're out. Wear a mask.

Please wear a mask. And keep your distance from others. Social distance, physical distance, you call it what you want. They're all important. All right, the Bridge Daily, the weekend special for week 25 is done. It's cooked. Stick a fork in it. Have a great weekend. We'll see you Tuesday. Thank you.