The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - The Weekend Special #3 -- Your Questions, Comments and Thoughts As We Carry On!

Episode Date: April 3, 2020

I asked you this week what you're doing to get through these long periods of isolation -- some great ideas for all of us. Plus your comments on farmers, truckers and the other heroes of "essential services" and what they say about our society today.

and hello there Peter Mansbridge here with the weekend special your Friday night edition of the bridge daily so here we are for another Friday night and what we do that's special or different from the other days of the week is it's basically your broadcast. It's your thoughts, your questions, your comments on this amazing story that's unfolding right in front of us, affecting all of us around the world. We're together on this. It's not nice. It's not in any way something we wanted to see happen, but it is happening.

And therefore, we're trying to deal with it as best we can. And that'll be the focus a lot of tonight's broadcast, your letters and comments, because a lot of you talk about the kind of things you're doing to try and keep your mind going, keep active, to keep a certain degree of sanity while this goes on around us. The weekend has also given us a lot to think about because as we witnessed Friday afternoon, some of the political and medical leaders in our country are starting to give a sense of just how bad it could be.

And the Ontario numbers came out. I'm not going to dwell on them here. You've had a chance to see them. You've read about them. You've watched things on television and on radio and online, and I will let you make up your own mind about how you feel about those numbers. All I would say is I think it's clear to me anyway, it would seem to me that one of the reasons to do this, to put these projections, because that's what they are. It's a model. Nobody knows with any certainty. This is a model, and this is how they determine what they're going this now is they want Canadians, those few, well, I won't say few.

There's a significant number of Canadians who still aren't taking this seriously enough. And governments are scared stiff about what that could mean. And so by putting out the numbers, they're hoping it will snap people into it. By toughening up the measures, and there were some tough new measures announced. Not enough for some people, too many for others. But I think you're going to see that now on all levels of government. You're going to start to see more measures restricting what we've always taken to be normal daily procedure. So I would stand by for those.

So that's all I'll say on the day's news. I know you'll be thinking about it this weekend, and you're going to have your thoughts. And if you want to share them with me, you know how to do it. The Mansbridge podcast at gmail.com. The Mansbridge podcast at gmail.com. So let's get to the things I did here. And these are in no particular order.

They're sort of built up from during the week. You may recall I talked about truckers and farmers earlier in the week and that we have to keep them in mind as well as obviously doctors and nurses and paramedics and first responders like firefighters and police officers as well. So I mentioned truckers and farmers and I'm going to be mentioning others next week. Anyway, I heard from Keith Currie,

who's the president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, representing about 38,000 farmers in Ontario. The point he wanted to make was the entire value chain needs to be commended for keeping our store shelves occupied and Canadians fed. He's right about that. He also talks about he's going to keep pushing government for more aid to farmers. I heard from Andrew Gunn of St. Thomas, Ontario, who on the farmers issue,

Andrew makes a good point on temporary foreign workers who come in and keep many farms going. And there's concerns about what's going to happen, how are they going to get across the border, how is the government going to help them get in, what will happen when they do get in, how are you going to police a 14-day isolation period. And Andrew makes the point of not only all those things,

but how is it going to work on the farm? Typically, this is reading Andrew now, typically the temporary foreign workers live in bunkhouses on farms. Most of these are modern and well-maintained, although there is definitely a range in terms of quality. Sometimes there can be dozens of people in the bunkhouses. Physical distancing will be a challenge. The issue of monitoring will likely fall to the local health units

or municipal officers, plus the usual oversight from the labour side. He also talks about Norfolk County, that's up near Simcoe, Ontario, where more than 5,000 temporary foreign workers come each year to work on farms. This is where most of our fruits and vegetables originate in this part of the country, plus lots of specialty crops like ginseng. Some farms have more than 200 seasonal workers. That'll be an area to watch. And thank you to Andrew for that.

Catherine Agar from Salford, Ontario. I guess that's kind of south of Woodstock, other side of the 401 from where I am in Stratford. Catherine writes, We are a dairy farming family. Two weeks ago, dairy farmers collectively responded to produce more milk to meet the demand at store level from consumers who tend to drink more milk at home.

I hadn't thought of that, but okay, I can see that. I drink a lot more milk at home than I do, you know, at the office or anywhere else. Today we've received notification to cut back because we now have a surplus of cream in the system because people are staying home and not ordering their coffee from Tim's or McDonald's with double cream. So we'll figure it out, but I really need people working from their home offices

to use more cream. All right, Catherine. Another point we never would have thought of, but glad you reminded it. Marilyn Sewell from Paris, Ontario. I'm encouraged by responses from government and many companies to this crisis. However, I don't think I've seen anything

by the big banks on reducing credit card interest rates, nor a big push from governments on this. Not sure how to make any movement on this. I don't think that's entirely fair, Marilyn, because I think governments have mentioned this, that they're pushing the banks, but it's more than banks, right? I mean, there are a lot of credit

cards out there. They all have high interest rates. So the banks have tried to justify over years of high interest rates because people default on the credit cards. So I don't know whether that's a legitimate excuse, but that is one of their excuses.

But the government seems to be suggesting that they are getting somewhere with the banks on this issue of credit cards, but they also point out, you know, it's more than just banks. Dale Tasker from Holland Landing. That's north of Toronto, a great farming area. I saw the attached sign at the entrance to our subdivision in Holland Landing, Ontario.

I believe this message of hope was installed by the town of East Willumbury. What particularly caught my attention was the final note. It's a big, you know, it's a fairly big sign and it's kind of in the shape of the Canadian flag. And on over the maple leaf in the middle, we will get through COVID-19. On one side, on one of the red banners, it says social distance, wash your hands, be calm, be patient, get outside, exercise. On the other side, don't hoard, read some books, check on neighbors, and this is the reason that Dale sent it. The last line is, most of all, be Canadian.

Tim in Arizona, Tim Dirkett. Tim is a snowbird. He sent a picture along of how great it is to be sitting in his backyard in Arizona, 85 degrees, having a squeezed grapefruit lemon vodka beverage on the patio. They've been living there or coming down there for five years. So I don't know where Tim's been lately, but he thinks that we should focus our podcast on what snowbirds need to know. When are we coming home?

Are there tips from those that have recently come home? Tim, let me tell you, I don't know how seriously they're taking it in Arizona. I know the numbers there are very low, but they're not going to be low for long. There are no borders for this virus. Somebody on Twitter said, and this is, pardon my, pardon the way I described this, but this is what they said. If you pee in one corner it's going to get around. Well, Tim, it's going to get to Arizona too. And I can tell you right now, if you're planning on coming home, I don't know where you live.

Maybe you live in Alberta. Maybe you're from Ontario or Quebec. I don't know. But I can tell you, you're going to be in for a shock when you get to the border when you come home whether you're driving back up with your vehicle or whether you're flying up you're in for 14 days isolation and you better phone a neighbour before you come back

because the only way you're going to get food is to have your neighbour pick it up and be waiting at your house for you because you can't stop between the border or the airport and your home. You got to go straight home and immediately go into isolation. And they are finding ways to check on you for that. Brian Lorkey, you know, I ask people, what have you been doing? It's a lot of, I got a lot of letters with answers on that. Listen to this. Brian, I think it's Lorkey. I started by swapping four cars, snow tires, two of my cars and my daughter's

and neighbor's cars. I gutted the second bathroom, and I'm still working on that. Working on a whole new shower now. Changed oil in the snowblower and lawnmower. Sharpened blade. Got ready for lawn season. Spring cleaned the basement. Half a ton of stuff for habitat restore. But unfortunately, they're closed.

New shelving to try to get organized. This is just in a couple of weeks. Hey, Brian. Brian's quite the handyman. That's great. Good for you. Barb Demaree. Never in a million years did any of us imagine we would be dealing with a

global pandemic and social distancing, or physical distancing, as some people are suggesting we should be calling it. Never dreamt that they would become part of our everyday vocabulary. I've learned that we can do this. Like everyone else, I'm taking full advantage of technology and having face-to-face visits with friends and family over Zoom and FaceTime. I have soft music continually playing in the background, thanks to YouTube and Spotify. As my son pointed out, there was no Netflix in 1918,

to which I added, and that's when the Spanish flu, the last big pandemic, to which I added, or FaceTime or Zoom or social networks. Families with children around all day are learning they too can do this. A lot of letters about, well, Zoom in particular. Carolyn Black from Waterloo, Ontario. Here's what she does to stay sane, she says, and keep her spirits up. I think every morning and every night about something I'm grateful for. I'm knitting up a storm. I work out every day, first thing in the morning, so that before the day even gets started, I feel like I've accomplished something. Something I think about that my mom told me often, doing something for someone else

will help you feel better about yourself. There's a lot of truth in that. Thank you, Carolyn. Larry Williamson writes about Winston Churchill because we had a podcast on what would Churchill have said. And I find his letter interesting because he says he's currently reading Eric Larson's recent book entitled The Splendid and the Vile. Well, Larry, so am I. I'm actually

listening to it on an audio book. And I listen to it while I'm walking. I listen to it while I'm falling asleep. And it's fantastic. It's a great book. It's focused on the first year that he was prime minister from May 1940 to May 1941. And just today he was talking about one thing that immediately made me think about this, about the situation we're in, although obviously it's absolutely different. But he said one thing. He said people are being urged to stay home, to stay indoors. Why?

Because the Luftwaffe was flying over and dropping bombs and getting in dogfights with RAF fighters. And he talks, though, about how the people were ignoring the warnings. And they'd actually go out and have picnics in the park looking up at the dogfights going on above them. Now, the BBC was doing play-by-play on some of the dogfights from the cliffs of Dover, looking out over the English Channel. Too much.

Jim Sloan. I have a hobby that allows me, and Jim's in Brandon, Manitoba. I have a hobby that allows me to get out and go wherever I like every day. It's ham radio. I've been licensed since 1979, and although I was inactive for a period of time in the 90s, it's been a big part of my makeup for most of my adult life. He reminds you that, you know, if suddenly the cell phone network went down, or regular communications somehow were in trouble, ham radio would be the answer. Tyler Steckley from Moncton, New Brunswick,

writes to remind us that there are over 100,000 foreign students who are currently in Canada, some who've arrived just in the last month. They're stuck self-isolating in a new country, some of them away from their families for the first time. Now Tyler knows what that's like because he studied abroad. And he works with international students. We might want to keep them in mind. And if there's any way you can help out,

if you know of international students who are in your area, if there's anything you can do to make them feel better, make them feel a part of the Canadian story here. I'm not sure what that would be, because if they're in self-isolation, it's not like you can drop by and see them. But maybe there is some fashion, some way, that through the universities,

you might be able to find a way that they can be talked to on social media. You might find out a... Kind of like the old pen pal days. Martha Moriarty from Newmarket, Ontario. My mission during this period of isolation has been to up my game when it comes to social media and online services. From FaceTime to Zoom chats to online shopping, I'm learning, learning, learning. And the connections made have helped me to stay in touch, daily touch with friends and family, reconnect with old and maybe far-flung friends, and also kept my kitchen stocked. I'm turning 70 this month,

and I would encourage anyone of my generation or any other to try it out. Ted Matthews, Kitchener, Ontario. The one project I have now is resurrecting my old stereo system. This is interesting. How many of us have this somewhere in the basement? For the most part, it's been gathering dust in the basement along with my old vinyl collection.

A few times I had components and records listed to sell and could never pull the trigger to complete a final sale. So I searched online and found a vintage hi-fi group on Facebook, gathered some information and began the project. I've cleaned my preamp and tuner over a couple of weeks and now have that set up with my speakers, which I had to get refurbished, and have them up and running. I will tackle the old turntable next and get it up with my speakers, which I had to get refurbished. And have them up and running.

I will tackle the old turntable next and get it up to snuff. So looking forward to playing LPs again. Trevor Barry. Where's Trevor? Not sure he says where he's... Oh, no, he's from sporadically sunny Saanich, B.C. Beautiful area. Each night after dinner at 6.30, I put my dusty old saxophone together.

Sometimes my kids help me out, trumpet, recorder, train whistle, drum, pots and pans. And we go out on the back deck of our suite with a commanding view of eastern sanich our suburban town bordering victoria and we play music for the 7 p.m cheer 7 p.m thank you hashtags to frontline health care and essential workers sometimes we broadcast on facetime or social media to family and friends. And a week later now, perhaps encouraged, we hear over a dozen other houses out there somewhere doing the same thing. It's amazing, it's inspiring,

and it gives us something important to do and to look forward to each day. Good for you. We're doing it here. We do it at 7.30 in the evening in Stratford. You know, our particular block, it's kind of a mixed bag in terms of the numbers who come out but it seems to get more every night maria angela vincenzi

montreal each morning i write a to-do list for my physical and mental health it includes an early morning walk while respecting distancing. It helps keep my 4,000 daily steps. Meditation, yoga, some news watching, listening to my favorite podcasts and cooking. I've also reconnected with people I had lost touch with. FaceTime and Zoom have been invaluable tools. My to-do list keeps me sane Anita from uh Anita P from Kamloops BC my husband 82 and myself 79 were most disappointed when our local fitness center where we normally spend most of our mornings closed of course it was for our own protection, but a big part of our life. No sooner it had closed, our kids, Susan and Steve, brought over a treadmill and a spin bike for us to use.

They are keeping us old folks active, healthy, and happy. 10,000 steps a day. No problem at this house. And she sent along pictures, and they look pretty busy. Willa Henry from Kingston, Ontario. My daughter, Anthea, returned from London, England, and faced two weeks of quarantine in our house. She insisted that we tap the maple trees and make syrup. My husband had been somewhat worried about his daughters who live in different parts of the world, so when Anthea insisted about the maple syrup, he went along. Forty buckets were placed on forty trees surrounding our property. Anthea collected and John boiled, keeping the required

distance at all times. We're now finishing our bottling and have about 20 liters of delicious maple syrup. That's great. And Willow sent along a picture of Anthea holding some pails, I guess, before they hung along the trees. Long letter from Linda Patch. But I'm just going to read one short part of it. I'm not sure. Linda's in Victoria, Victoria, B.C.

While my husband and I always had a garden, for many years we had a huge vegetable garden, and in recent years we focused on flowers. Last year, after his death, I created a small veggie patch, and this year I'm expanding it to grow more vegetables and fruits. I'm planning to expand it, filling my deck with veggies and herbs. My friends, some of whom are in condos, are speaking forgoing flowers on their decks and planting herbs and veggies as well. Perhaps the term victory gardens should re-enter our vocabulary.

That's what the Canadians and Brits did during the Second World War. They created victory gardens on their property to look after their needs. Linda also mentions, and there's Zoom, my classical stretch and Pilates, my book club, my floral arts program committee have all met online. Tonight there's a neighborhood cocktail party at four o'clock. My accountant has her choir practice online. And to think two weeks ago, I'd never heard of Zoom. Hey, you're not alone there, Linda. I hadn't heard of it two weeks ago either. And now we're all using it and similar services to it. It's great.

It's fabulous. I think I mentioned how we had a dinner party with four of our family friends in different cities, and we were all there on Zoom together, and it was great. David Oliver. This is a really good letter, too. Important. He wrote this after I talked about trucking.

Why is it that trucking is such a marginal business? Why do we depend on temporary foreign workers to harvest produce? Why are grocery store workers paid minimum wage? Why is it that all these essential workers are on such low pay, while people earning higher incomes are told to stay home as they aren't as essential? We're told that we are all in this together, but I don't see how these generally low-paid workers can feel that way when their

important work is so poorly rewarded. We need to rethink the way the wealth in this country is distributed. And David Oliver writes from Victoria. Lorna Higgins from the Scarborough Bluffs in Toronto. The Zoom app, which I didn't even know about it until a few weeks ago, has become a big part of my coping. My Dragon Boat team has regular training sessions via Zoom. I'd like to see that. My choir has restarted practices using Zoom, and for birthdays and happy hour, we get together virtually via Zoom. It's provided a great way to connect and carry on some activities. That's Lorna Higgins in Scarborough Bluffs, Ontario.

Okay, down to the last two. Annette Duval. I make a point of observing nature at least once per day, if not more. The birds of the bird feeders, the plants peeking through the ground, the greening of the grass, the muck of early spring. That's one of the key things she does. She sent me five things. That's the one I like the best because it's so true.

You know, I walked around the backyard a couple of times, well, many times this week because I'm trying to get my steps that way. It's kind of a tight square, but do it enough times, you get to 4,000. But looking at the garden, you see those kind of snow drops that have been up for the last week. They look terrific. And you can see behind them the tulips

starting to make their move. They'll be up, I imagine, another week or 10 days if the weather stays warm. Mother Nature just grinds on through all this. Not affected. You know, and it's going to be tough. Another month, that garden will be full. There'll be lots going on in the garden.

But we'll still be in isolation because this fight will continue for some time yet. And the other thing Annette Duval does from Barrie, Ontario, she limits her exposure to the news cycle. Well, I'm with you on that. I love the people in the news media. I was one of them for 50 years. I think they're doing a heck of a job trying to follow this story.

Challenges, many of them. Are they perfect? No, but they sure try. challenges, many of them. Are they perfect? No. But they sure try. But you know, there's only so much you can take of this story when the main part of it isn't changing day to day. And every once in a while, you got to take a break. Here's the last letter of the ones I'm reading. There were twice as many, at least, this week.

I try to read a selection, and I will keep doing that in the weeks ahead. And I encourage those of you who haven't written to write. The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. So here's the last one. It's from Alex Makel in Thunder Bay. With all this self-isolating, my days are seemingly melding in together

where there's an increasingly uncertain, there's an increasing uncertainty in knowing which day of the week it is. Your reading of our thoughts, questions, and comments each Friday evening allows me to recalibrate my bearings on the day of the week. Hearing an entire mailbag episode of The Bridge, well, it must be Friday. Tomorrow's going to be Saturday.

And so on. But here's the reason I really like Alex's letter. Email. Your podcast analytics may report one certain lovely listener in Marco Island, Florida. My 90-year-old mom, who listens every day. Her name is Pearl. Well, Pearl, this one's for you. And you and you and you. Tough times for all of us.

But I love the spirit so many of you show. And I look forward to talking to you again on Monday. Something comes up on the weekend that needs a daily special, a bridge special. I'll pop one up. But until then, until Monday, I hope you have a peaceful weekend. Stay at home. Do your steps. Try to think positive thoughts and care about those around you.

All right. It's Peter Mansbridge for The Bridge Daily. We'll talk again on Monday. Thank you.