The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - The Weekend Special #31- The People Are Always Right, And You Are The People!

Episode Date: October 16, 2020

Your weekly mailbag of comments, questions and thoughts.

and hello there peter mansbridge here with the latest episode of the bridge daily it is the weekend special number 31 here we are at at Friday in the close of another week. 31st week since we started all this. And I wanted to start by thanking you. Some wonderful letters this week, most of which I won't be reading here because they're just simply thank you letters for the podcast, which is always nice to hear. And lots of special notes thanking us for the podcast, which is always nice to hear. And lots of special notes thanking us for the idea that it was actually Bruce,

Bruce's idea, Bruce Anderson's idea, that we do a weekly look at the race next door. And we started whenever it was, I think 11 weeks ago. And there's never been a shortage of things to talk about on the race next door. And it appears to have struck a chord out there. Listen, I know we love our own politics and the different things that happen in our political situation and there's always something interesting coming out of Ottawa. But this whole U.S. election has been one of special interest to a lot of Canadians,

and not just Canadians because we're getting mail from, well, literally all over the world about it, but they're mainly Canadians who live in different parts of the world who, for some reason or another, are connected back to the bridge daily to get their sense of what we're thinking. And especially so with the Race Next Door, which has become a very popular podcast. A podcast within a podcast, as we like to say. So thank you for letting us know how you feel about that. A number of the letters this week as we get to the weekend special,

which is really your opportunity to let us know your thoughts and your questions and comments on the issues that we deal with. And mostly what we've dealt with for 31 weeks, not surprisingly, is the issue that is most on the minds of Canadians, and that is COVID-19. We had a really interesting podcast last night. There I go again using the interesting word, but I wanted to try to find something in a search for optimism, and this was not a bad week to be doing it

because most of the news is not good on the COVID front. But last night's podcast and the search for optimism in real concrete ways has also become very popular already with podcast listeners, and we appreciate that. Anyway, today's the day to read what's on your mind and your thoughts. And as I said, many of those thoughts are about the U.S. election this week. So let me get right to it. Once again, a reminder, I don those thoughts are about the U.S. election this week. So let me get right to it. Once again, a reminder, I don't read all of the letter.

Usually just lift a sentence or a paragraph or two out of it. Occasionally I will read the whole thing near the end of one person's letter. And there's no specific order to how this all goes. It usually is just the way it comes out of the printer. So let's start with Ray Gulliver. Ray's in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, and Labrador. Mount Pearl is kind of just outside St. John's. Or St. John's is just outside Mount Pearl.

I guess we'll let the locals make that argument one way or the other. Anyway, Ray writes, and on his mind is the U.S. election, and I've isolated a little part of it. Last week I was watching an episode of The Beat with Ari Melber on MSNBC. I like Ari Melber a lot. You know, he's a lawyer, but he's a broadcaster and a journalist, and he has a program every night at 6 p.m. Eastern, I believe is the time. Anyway, Ray was watching Ari last week.

The premise of the article was to not assume that the national polls mean a Biden victory. Ari pointed out that Joe Biden has a double-digit lead nationally in polls over Trump, yet at local levels, in some swing states, Hillary Clinton was further ahead of Trump in the polls in 2016 than Joe Biden is currently, and Hillary lost. That's true in some areas. That was true. But, you know, every time you get to a, you start breaking these polls down into local areas, you really got to look for that margin of error.

Because the smaller the poll, the bigger the margin of error, right? Keep that in mind. And it should always have it on the screen somewhere. Margin of error, right? Keep that in mind. And it should always have it on the screen somewhere. Margin of error. So often the broadcasters, and I was as much at fault of this as anybody, would not say it out loud, but it was there. And you've got to look for it. And also when the poll was done.

Those are important things. Polls aren't predictors. They're just a reflection of the moment that they were taken. All right? Anyway, carrying on with Ray's letter. I also watched a commentary from Anderson Cooper on CNN a couple of nights later, speaking of the same idea. Then this week on The Race Next Door,

I listened to Bruce and you discuss Thomas Edsel's New York Times editorial stating to be careful of the same issue. It's really interesting. We did that on Wednesday, and I noticed that on Thursday, yesterday, a lot of different programs in the States were talking about that column. So I'm glad we grabbed it and moved on it earlier than everybody else did. Back to Ray's letter. Sorry for the ramble.

Finally, here is my question. Do you truly believe that there is cause to be concerned here? My gut feeling tells me that the American media is trying to prevent voter apathy to scare residents to get out and vote and not assume that this will be what I've heard you call an annihilation of epic proportions. Well, I don't think I ever used those words because that's not the way I talk. But I did say that it looked like it was going to be a blowout, which I guess is the same thing.

I truly hope that Trump will get the boot on November 3rd, says Ray. And finally, the world will breathe a sigh of relief. Well, okay, Ray, we know where you stand on the issue. Listen, I think there's a certain degree of, especially in the American media, of being very careful about what their assumptions are about what will happen on November 3rd because many of them had egg on their face four years ago by making assumptions that didn't turn out to be true. Does the evidence look at the moment? I mean, we had a long discussion about this on the race next door with Bruce two days ago. And if you didn't hear it, you should, because it was really good.

But the evidence is overwhelming at the moment, at the moment. But there are still 18, 17, 16, depending on which day you listen to this podcast, before the election. Will people drastically change their mind? Maybe. Maybe something will happen that will make them drastically change their mind. So, you know, the numbers you're looking at, the polls you look at, you can't emphasize it enough.

They are reflections of the day the poll was taken. They're not reflections of what will happen on November 3rd. They'll give you an indication of the mood of the country, how significant it is, and which direction it appears to be going with only a couple of weeks left in the campaign. So, to steal a phrase from Donald Trump,

we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. Okay. Brad Buss writes, I'm amused by Canadians' fascination with the American Supreme Court system and its judges. So many Canadians can name and have opinions on each of the judges. They prognosticate doom and despair

on future rulings. I understand this is because of the constant blaring of the megaphone to the South, that is the American media, but I find it frustrating that these same Canadians, myself included, know little to nothing about our own Supreme Court. Perhaps this would be a worthy topic for a future broadcast. What are the issues of our Supreme Court, the judge's past ruling trends, and dare I say, some predictions on future rulings that affect Canadians way more than the American judicial system? All right, Brad, it's certainly something to consider. We will keep this in mind and look for a good hook, as we say in the news business, to do something on our own Supreme Court. There are differences in the way these

places operate. There are certainly differences in the perception of the people. The Supreme Court in the U.S. is a really, really important factor for a lot of Americans in terms of the way they vote, and not so much in Canada. That doesn't mean there's no respect in Canada for the Supreme Court. I think there is, but the assumption is that the decisions are made for the most part, based on the law and not on the ideological positioning of any particular judge.

And I think even with the Americans, you've got to be careful here. I mean, when George Bush appointed John Roberts, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in the early 2000s, the assumption was, because John Roberts is a known conservative, that his decisions would all be leaning towards the conservative view on whatever that issue was. However, he argued in his nomination meeting, hearing, that no, he would be basing

his decisions on the law and everyone, yeah, yeah, sure. The same way they're actually doing to the current nominee of Donald Trump. And as they've done to other nominees of other parties, or, you know, the other party, the Democrats, in the past. But John Roberts, when crunch time came on some rulings, did not side with the conservative side of things, much to the consternation of Republican presidents. So, listen, that is one of the arguments for the lifetime appointment. They don't owe anybody anything anymore.

Nobody can do anything to them. They strictly sit on the court for the rest of their life, no matter how old they live, unless they choose to resign or retire. And they'll make their decisions based on their views of the law. That's the argument. Anyway, Brad, good idea. Certainly something to keep in mind. Robin Ward from Edmonton.

Last night's pod within the pod was great. Thanks to you and Bruce. Lately there have been some comparisons between Canada and the U.S. on your podcast. Just wondering, are there any things the U.S. does better than us? Things we could learn from and do more of? I have no idea, but since all systems have their flaws, just wondering. Listen, we're too, you know, put everything else aside about current issues and current leaders and all that.

Put those aside and look at these two countries. These are two great countries, the United States and Canada. And we're different. We're not the same. And some of the things we do, we do better than they do. Some of the things they do, they do better than we do. You know, we play better hockey. They arguably play better football.

But that's just sports. We have great entertainers. They have great entertainers. They have great entertainers. Per capita, we probably have better entertainers and artists than they do. We've learned from them in lots of areas. They've learned from us in lots of areas. So I'm not going to sit here and say, you know, we're better at this than they are at that,

beyond the sports and arts comparisons. You know, I would probably argue we have a better system. A better, our parliamentary system is better than their system and affords a better chance of a real democracy. I mean, they talk openly, Americans, our friends, our best friends, they talk openly about every sort of element of their society is the best in the world. And I kind of cringe every time I hear them doing that.

And, you know, senators and presidents, congresspeople, they use that phrase all the time. And listen, I'm glad they're proud of their system, but, you know, they're not the only system in the world. And others have some pretty good values and, you know, pluses on their side as well. So, Robin, it still comes back down to the fact that we're two pretty good countries with lots to be proud of on both sides of the border. Kelly Gulliver.

She's a Newfoundlander as well. She writes, I love her opening line, would like to thank you for putting me to sleep. Thanks, Kelly. Wake up. Hey, Kelly. Wake up. Hey, Kelly, wake up. I'm reading your letter.

Let me explain, she says. During this past seven months and all of the uncertainty, I found myself every day tuning into our daily, then weekly COVID updates from our Premier. Being from Newfoundland, Labrador, that would have been Dwight Ball. I found his voice calming and reassuring. Unfortunately, Premier Ball has since stepped down. But fortunately, my husband put me onto your podcast.

I find myself every night listening to your voice before I fall asleep and have been pleasantly surprised that your voice is also calming. So thank you for having your podcast so this old newfie girl can feel calm and relaxed before shut-eye. Keep up the good work, Kelly Gulliver. Alright Kelly, now do you fall asleep while I'm still talking or do you fall asleep after I'm finished? When I know the answer to that question,

I'll know whether to be grateful for your comments or start worrying about them. Dylan Short from Mississauga, Ontario. Okay, let's see how we're going to deal with this letter. Your ongoing conversation with Bruce on the race next door has been interesting and very informative for someone who's interested but not dedicated to USA politics and this year's election. Like you have described, it's hard to watch the train wreck, however, it's even

harder not to watch it. Beyond the theatrics that are, thankfully, quite different than Canadian politics, how are a number of the actions being taken even legal? Or a big deal? The current issue is misleading ballot boxes, where the New York Times states government officials say the receptacles are illegal and could lead to election fraud, but the Republican Party says it will continue the practice. Additionally,

CNN reported officials said a cut data connection was to blame for the outage of the Virginia citizen portal for much of the day. I can't imagine these types of tactics happening in any other civilized country. It seems that these events are just part of the game. I would appreciate your thoughts and will listen with anticipation. Well, Dylan, some of this is just part of the game, but it's a game that often ends up being fought in the courts and decisions are made one way or the other on some of these episodes.

And eventually someone decides whether it was all legal or not. Now there's a great deal of worry and concern that this election is going to end up being decided in the courts. Now we saw that happen in 2000, Bush versus Gore, and some people think it'll be happening here too because of a number of avenues the Republicans are taking, or at least the Bush White House is taking, in the belief that it's going to lose the election on the normal basis, so they better find a backup plan to try and win the election in a different way.

What do I think? I don't think that'll happen. I do think one way or the other, the decision on November 3rd will be clear cut. It may be November 4th or 5th because of the mail-in voting and how long it takes to process that. It may be a couple of days beyond what we normally see, or it could be all over by, you know, 10 o'clock on November 3rd

if the decision is clear-cut in a number of key areas. Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Texas, Arizona, and all the list goes on. Anyway, that's my view. Randy Shantz from Toronto. We've heard from Randy before. He's got an interesting take on something we spent a fair amount of time on last week at the end of the weekend special. It's kind of a follow to that.

Good day regards the subject of burnout related to women having to bear the extra cost and the extra work of caring for children during COVID-19. It starts even in the best of times. The decision is made to start a family, and who ends up taking a substantial break from the workforce? Usually the mother, while the husband takes little or no maternity leave. I believe in the old East Germany, they required both parents to take the same amount of time off. This was supposed to make raising of children affect both parents' careers equally. This isn't how things work in our current system. Generally, women take a pause in their career or even stop working to have children. One thing that helps keep this systemic discrimination in place

is that usually the husband has a higher income, so if he takes time off from work, there is a financial penalty. So now let's take advantage of our current crisis and start the implementation of very low-cost daycare and incorporate renovation and building of new daycare centers that have HVAC systems to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. If this is a viable idea, it would also help with the economy in both job creation

and in greening the economy by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That's from Randy. And listen, you won't find too many suggestions out there of copying an element of the East German style of life, but this is one of them. And it is one of the ways Randy sees of leveling the field. Laura C. writes from Ottawa. I listened with interest to the discussion about how the pandemic has had a differential impact on women. My heart goes out to the women with children who are on the brink of burnout and distress as a result of these overwhelming circumstances. One question which immediately jumps out at me is where are the men in this situation? It seems strange to me in 2020

that women are still expected to undertake the majority of care, homeschooling, household chores, all while juggling full-time motherhood and a professional career. This is an excellent opportunity for us as Canadians to show ourselves as leaders in gender equality. It is an unprecedented situation, which is having an impact on the emotional, mental, and physical health of women, and I hope the women can count on their men and spouses to share the burden in an equitable and fair manner. The second point I'd like to make is that as much as I would like us to be supportive and compassionate about women in this situation,

I would also like us to be equally understanding and empathize with the women without children, who are living alone, not near family, and who might be struggling with loneliness, isolation, judgment, depression, heightened anxiety, and increased stress at work, as they are often asked to, or worse, expected to, take on the increased workload of colleagues who are struggling with the overwhelming burden of care at home. Oftentimes, these women have no family support and do not have someone close to them to talk to at home when they too are on the brink emotionally, mentally and physically. This is an overwhelming time for many Canadians and I do hope that we are all provided with the emotional, physical and

mental supports required to help us through this unprecedented situation. Thank you for that, Laura. Laura, writing from Ottawa. And here's the last letter for this week's weekend special. And it's a story, and you know how I love stories. And I've often asked people to write in about their experiences in terms of air travel as it starts to pick up a little bit. Not sure what's going to happen now with numbers spiking all around the world,

in certain places anyway, Europe, North America, for sure. So I was more than happy to get an email this week from Janice Lottie in Aurora, Ontario. So I'm just going to get to read it. This is the full length version of one of the letters. My daughter's April 2020 wedding was understandably postponed. Rachel lives in Edinburgh and contacted us in August, asking if we would travel so she and her partner Michael could marry at a small family celebration, which was in keeping with COVID rules in the UK at that time. The truth is, when the kids made the decision to cancel in April, we were relieved. When the ask came in August, we felt safer, but we still would have preferred to not travel internationally.

On September 15th, it's not long ago, it's only a month ago, on September 15th, we, a family of five, set out for the airport to take British Airways to London, then on to Edinburgh. I remember you were contemplating a trip to the UK yourself over the summer, so I wanted to share our experience. And I'm glad you did. As it turned out, I didn't go to the UK over the summer. We go to Scotland every year. And we wanted to go and see our friends

and see some of the things that we have going on over there. But we, you know, for the obvious reasons, chose not to, and we're going to miss 2020 in Scotland, and just hope, fingers crossed, that 2021 allows us to. Let me get back to Janice's letter. Outstanding experience transferring through Pearson Terminal 3. Masks, social distancing, and lots of room since not many travelers. In fact, on the Boeing 787 we boarded, there were no more than 50 people, so absolutely no concerns about social distancing. I'm not sure how many people 787 carries, but it's a couple of hundred,

maybe 300, somewhere in there, two to 300. No more than 50 people, so absolutely lots of room. We all wiped down our seats, kept the masks on, and settled in for the flight. Completely uneventful, other than the severe turbulence that I grit my teeth for and endured. It sometimes gets a little bumpy out over the Atlantic. London Heathrow was a complete contrast. Lots of people traveling, mostly in mass, but no social distancing. People everywhere, and it was difficult to find a safe spot to wait for our connection. I watched a whole load of folks in line for a flight to Corfu, full of excitement for their vacation and having no regard for the COVID protocols.

It was unnerving. And then the absurdity was that the connection to Edinburgh was full. The Airbus A320 was packed shoulder to shoulder with about 170 people. Masks on, but that was it. We arrived, quarantined the 14 days at Loch Ness, and then had the wedding celebrations of 11 people in a private home in North Berwick, following all the rules so the event could be catered. I know all those places, right?

I know Edinburgh. I know Loch Ness. And I know North Berwick's got a great little golf course. And this fantastic island off North Berwick, which for centuries has been home for bird life. And it looks like it's covered in snow because nobody's been out there for centuries to scrub off what the birds have left. Anyway, I digress.

We arrived. I said this already. The return trip to Canada was smooth. Heathrow was quieter than when we came out, and it was notable that before boarding, our temperature was taken, and per Government of Canada requirements, the list of COVID questions were asked of each passenger who boarded,

a total of about 40, on the same equipment we came over on. Don't know how long airlines can sustain moving 40 people across the ocean on these planes that carry, you know, seven, eight, nine times more than that. And it's a very good point, Janice, because the airlines are dying. And they're begging for help from government. And they're stuck with all these huge planes. Many of them they parked,

they've been parked for more than a year down in places like Arizona and New Mexico. But they're losing big-time money. Janice's final sentence. We are in quarantine again, and we thank our lucky stars that the wedding was October 3rd, because six days later the UK lockdown began for two weeks and the wedding would have had to be cancelled.

Keep well and safe, Janice Lottie, Aurora, Ontario. Thanks for that, Janice. Listen, obviously we're happy for your daughter and her partner that the wedding went ahead. We're happy for you that for the most part it sounds like your experience was pretty good. And hopefully you'll come out of quarantine with nice thoughts and great photos

from a special event for your family at a very difficult time. For them, for you, and for all of us. Well, that kind of wraps it up for the weekend special number 31. Next week, two weeks to go until the U.S. election, two weeks of what's going to be really hard slogging on the COVID-19 story. We're in the second wave. Are there things we can always do, right?

We talked about them every day for the last 31 weeks. And we will again today. Wash your hands. Socially distance. Stay away from big crowds. Wear a mask. And we added again today. Wash your hands, socially distance, stay away from big crowds, wear a mask. And we added a new one yesterday, smile, even when you got that mask on. It affects you and it affects those you see who can actually see past that mask. So those are important things that we've all been doing. And when we do those things, this thing plateaus.

And the numbers start to come down. But we have to do them. We have to remember to do them. And here's the other thing you can do now. I think I told you that I drove into Toronto yesterday because I wanted to get the old man flu shot. You know, there's two flu shots, right? There's the one that most people get,

kids and teenagers and young adults, and I think it's all those under 65 or 70. But if you're over that, which I am over, you've got to get the extra dose know, the extra dose flu shot. It's like having a double. So they're in limited supply, and you've really got to search around to find them, and there's, like, kind of lineups in the pharmacies, and you've got to make appointments in doctor's office.

Anyway, I got lucky. I got my flu shot yesterday. So I'm feeling good about that. But it is an important factor in these next couple of months. I mean, the health officials are really worried about this double whammy. If you get them both, get the seasonal flu and COVID, it's going to make it really difficult for you. So at least you can right now, for most of us,

get the cure for the seasonal flu. Get the vaccine. And hopefully, before too long, there'll be a vaccine for COVID-19. But in the meantime, we've got to do those things. So this weekend, make sure you practice them too. I'm sure you will. So this is Peter Mansbridge. This has been the Bridge Daily for the weekend special, number 31.

You can always go to the website, thepetermansbridge.com, to find out whatever you need to find out about past editions, about how to preorder the book that Mark Bulgich and I have written. Called Extraordinary Canadians. You're about to hear a lot more about it, because there's a big push coming on the publicity side in the days leading up to November 10, which is the release of this book.

And we're very excited about it and we're quite anxious to put it in your hands. You want to pre-order? You can do it right through the links that are on my website at thepetermansbridge.com. And if you want to write, as always, themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com, themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com.

And one other thing, if you want to rate this podcast, please do so. You can find it on Apple Podcasts. You can rate it, and we'd appreciate it if you did. Anyway, that's it for this week. I hope you have, you know, a terrific weekend. We all deserve one, right? But remember, others, be kind, smile, and stay safe. Thank you.