The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - The Weekend Special #36

Episode Date: November 20, 2020

Your letters, thoughts and comments.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here with the latest episode of the Bridge Daily. It is Friday for week 36. You know what that means? It means the weekend special. And what a week it's been on a lot of different fronts. So we'll get to your letters in a moment. A couple of things on the housekeeping front in a way that I'd like to go over. One on housekeeping in terms of the book, one on housekeeping in terms of COVID-19. So get rid of the book issue. First of all, thank you, thank you, thank you

for the many comments and letters that are being sent in. After the book, Extraordinary Canadians by Mark Bulgich and myself has been named the number one bestseller of the week on its first week in bookstores. So that's pretty impressive. Number one overall bestselling in nonfiction. Now, we better enjoy it while we can, because by next week, the overall nonfiction title will go to Barack Obama.

Not bad competition. Hopefully, we'll still be on the rankings of the overall nonfiction books, and also in the more restricted category of just Canadian nonfiction books. We're hoping to still be ranked in that area too. But your letters have been a real comfort to both of us, and it's very kind of you to say so many nice things. Many of you have clearly bought the book. Thousands have been sold already. And it seems like many of you, at least those of you who buy the book and listen to the podcast, have taken me up on my offer to sign book plates, which you can put. You know, they're kind of sticky. You put them inside the book because obviously I'm not going to be able to get around the country

on book tours, given the situation with the pandemic. So I've been doing that and literally ran out of book plates. I had lots of them here, but I ran out of them two days ago and I'm waiting for a new shipment to arrive. With any luck, they'll arrive this day and I will get these off in the mail over the weekend. But whenever they do arrive, I've, you know, I've got a whole stack of your letters that have not been sent stickers yet. But you will get them and any more that come in. So once again, appreciate

that very much. The one other thing I should mention, a number of you have written in to ask if I was going to do an audio book of this particular book. And the answer is no, not on this one, but I did do an audio for the foreword of the book, which I believe is on the Indigo site. Anyway, I'm going to have it put also onto my own website, thepetermansbridge.com, and go to the down on Extraordinary Canadians and you should be able to hear that. Hopefully that'll be up by this weekend. If you so feel that you'd like to hear the forward read by me, you should do that. All right, on to some developments on the COVID story. And obviously the story of this week that has caused a great deal of excitement

has been the progress on the vaccine front. You may recall back at the beginning of all this, in the first couple of weeks, we did an interview with the project at the University of Saskatchewan that is helping a number of the big vaccine developers with research. And in the interview, one of the interviews that we did on that, and this is early in the game when people were saying, oh, it could be anywhere from two to five years before we see a vaccine.

Well, the information we got in that interview from the University of Saskatchewan was much different, saying that, listen, there are people working on this from around the world, and we're confident that a number of projects are going to be successful in the short term. And going through all the proper testing, we could see a vaccine much sooner than people are talking about. And I said, well, how soon? They said, well, the earliest would be 9 to 12 months. And I said, oh, okay, so that's early into 2021. They said, well, not actually, because we started this research in December of last year. So they said the earliest is likely somewhere around December before you could actually get it out after it's been through all the various testing. Well, guess what? They're now saying,

they're now projecting December, the second half of December, the second half of next month, if all the approvals continue as they are so far, and the Pfizer, for one, is putting its vaccine candidate before the FDA in the States, and one assumes in other authorities in different countries, including here, they're doing that today in the U.S. And the expectation is that could take two weeks before approval is gained, if approval is going to be given. And then they would start.

And so you're into sort of mid-December when they would start with, it's very much a staged entry into this vaccine program because we're talking about tens of millions of people who are going to need it. You know, 330 million in the states alone. And the staging in would start with the most vulnerable in terms of age, so the elderly. And they're talking over 75 with certain conditions, and probably many of the frontline healthcare workers. So that would be the start. Then they would sort of progressively drop age. They go to the

over 70, then over 65, and by the time it's rolled out fully, it could be well into the spring of 2021. And that's the American schedule. I imagine the Canadian one will be somewhat similar, but we don't know yet. Nobody's talking dates. At least they hadn't at the time we're recording this weekend special for you right now. So all of that is encouraging. And it kind of lines up with what we told you in March and April, right? Which is encouraging as well, that we were talking to the right people at the right time.

But in my own view, I like to think that we're kind of at the halfway mark here. We're really no further along than that. But there are indications, and some encouraging ones, from Europe. And here's why. As you know, when all this started back in February, March, it was raging in Europe before it really hit here, especially in countries like Italy and Spain, Germany, and eventually Britain, France. And so they were considered to be a few weeks ahead of us.

In fact, most people will say that the COVID infections that occurred in North America occurred not from China, but occurred from Europe. The virus started in China, moved its way eastward at that point, eventually ended up in Europe, and then from Europe it came to North America. So this span of time, this distance between Europe and North America is important to keep considering.

They went into the second wave earlier than North America did. North America is at full tilt on the second wave right now with horrendous numbers across the states, but also bad numbers across Canada with the exception of Atlanta, Canada. So what's the encouraging news then? The encouraging news is it has been noticed in Europe, just announced this morning by the WHO, that European numbers, new case numbers, have dropped in the last week or two.

They're running at about 2 million a day. They're now around 1.8 million a day. Now, that's still a lot of new cases, but it is showing signs that it is slowing down. So if that's the case, we might hope that over the next six to eight weeks, we're going to see a slowing down in North America of the pandemic numbers in terms of new cases.

However, those are all encouraging signs from vaccines to numbers, but they also are a warning sign that this is still full on right now. And you have to be careful. So let's get to some letters. Eileen Crooks writes from St. Albert, Alberta. And once again, I don't read the whole letter with rare exceptions, but I do read elements of some of the letters. And that's what I'm doing today. So Eileen Crooks from St. Albert, Alberta writes, I'm inspired to write for the first time in

response to your mention yesterday of the importance of smiling as part of our COVID mantra, which you periodically recite toward the end of the podcast. That smiling may also improve a golf swing is something I'll be happily testing next spring. That's my, that was my, you know, I'm convinced that in fact it helps my swing. I don't know why. A lot of things could help my swing. Here in Alberta, says Eileen, golf season is long over.

We had our first real snow a couple of weeks ago, so winter is well and truly with us here. Knowing that winter will soon find most other parts of Canada that it hasn't already reached, may I suggest an addition to our COVID mantra that may help all of us enjoy this season more and stay connected to our communities this winter. So here's Eileen's list. Wear your mask, keep a safe social distance, wash your hands, smile, and keep your sidewalk clear.

Yeah, we want to keep our sidewalks clear because the last thing we need this winter is those accidents that cause so many injuries and more at times, and that's people falling, especially the elderly. And that will happen if you don't clear your sidewalk. So thanks, Eileen. Another one from Alberta, Megan Rondo. I'll read a couple of chunks of her letter. I was listening to the podcast episode on Wednesday

where you and Bruce were discussing survey results on how governments in Canada are doing in their fight against COVID-19. As an Albertan, I really identified with the results in regards to how my province is handling the pandemic. At the onset of the pandemic in March, I would say Alberta's approach to handling COVID-19 was very similar to other provinces across the country. The lockdown, along with a beautiful summer, helped to ensure our COVID-19 numbers were low and manageable.

Things have changed dramatically since then. As of today, and that was yesterday, as of today, Alberta has more than 10,000 active cases with 287 people in hospital. 57 of those are in ICU. Alberta Health Services said the number of unknown sources among active cases on Wednesday was 76%. On Monday, Alberta reported its highest number of COVID deaths in a day, 20. I was listening to the press conference with our chief medical officer. I was making dinner on Monday,

and when I heard that number, I screamed out, holy shh. You can imagine what that word is. Forgetting that my four-year-old was also in the kitchen. I don't think she noticed, but I hope she's not at preschool right now

screaming, holy sh... I know I'm worried about how things in Alberta will look over the coming months, and those survey results show that I am not an outlier in my province, which I sometimes feel like as I tend to lean more left on the political spectrum. All right, Megan. You better watch those words. You better be careful. You don't want to hear from your preschool teacher.

Deborah Sachs in Ottawa. First, yes, promising vaccines are on the horizon, and Canada is well prepared to take advantage of this. Deborah's right about that. Both the two that have come out in the last week, Pfizer and Moderna, are companies that Canada already has deals with on the number of vaccines. They're different.

Pfizer, which could be the first one out, keep in mind it's got to be kept at an extremely low temperature. And you need two doses, 28 days apart. And before it becomes in any way effective. So you have to look carefully at the way these are being done. I mean, one of the assumptions is because Pfizer needs this, you know, the vaccine's got to be kept at minus 70, which limits all kinds of things, including the way you move it around. One of the assumptions could be that with Pfizer, they become the vaccine of choice for cities,

where you can build the proper facilities to keep them at minus 70 and limit the amount of travel around the city you've got to do. Because you could say, for example, use big buildings, you know, like hockey arenas to arrange the vaccinations. The assumption is it won't be happening in doctor's offices initially. They're going to be very controlled by governments and where these things, where the vaccinations take place. And the other vaccine possibilities, like Moderna,

where the temperature issue is not as limiting, could be the ones that are used in rural areas, so there's more travel involved. But that's just one of the assumptions that's being played with right now. Anyway, back to Deborah's letter. All I've been reading is that there will be a slow and staged rollout, beginning with those most at risk. Yeah, we went through this, and that's true.

Healthcare providers, frontline workers, elderly residents of care homes. Meaning the majority of Canadians may be at least 9 to 12 months away from being vaccinated. Yeah, I don't think it'll be that long, but it's probably going to be 6 to 8 months anyway. Second, I have not heard of or read reports on these vaccines in terms of how long they will provide effective protection. Three months, six months, 12 months, or indefinitely? That's a really good question. My assumption from what I've heard in the interviews I've heard, although I've never heard that question asked directly,

but my assumption is, bang, you get it, and bang, you have been put in the position of being vaccinated and immune from getting the disease. We certainly hope that. We don't want to go through this every couple of months. We want to get a new shot. But it's a good question, and I'll make sure I ask somebody next time I'm in the position to do so.

And Deborah concludes, honestly, we are weeks away from Christmas holidays. We all want to be with those we love most. No vaccine is available as of this moment. I would definitely gift my holiday guests with a complimentary and rapid COVID-19 test so they could join me around my Christmas dinner table. Why has the Canadian government neglected this interim measure and focused its resources and efforts on a vaccine that may be 12 months away from many people?

Deborah keeps getting further and further away from when the vaccine may be available. You know, I'm sorry, Deborah, I don't agree with you. These rapid tests, there are so many false positives, false negatives coming out of those, as there are, quite frankly, on the routine test. Not as much in terms of a percentage, but enough of a

percentage on the rapid test to say I'm not going to trust that result. In terms of saying, okay, doors open, everybody in. Let's have a big Christmas dinner together. This year is not going to be that year. And I think we all just have to face up to that and find other ways of dealing with that issue.

And if it's Zoom dinners or any of the other platforms, Zoom has become the sort of word that we all use to describe an activity as opposed to describe a brand necessarily. But listen, there are ways to connect with your family that don't involve face-to-face. And if you care about your family, as I know all of you do, then you might want to wait. If we're going to miss one Christmas of face-to-face dinners

versus one Christmas where somebody could get infected, I vote for the former. And I hope you eventually do the same. And next letter comes from Alexandre Wright. He's in Niagara Falls. Or she's in Niagara Falls. It's unclear, I think. I don't know.

I can't say for sure. And I don't know. I can't say for sure. Let me see. We're going to pick. She, he goes through a number of examples of where they've met me or bumped into me over the years. Air Canada flights. Lobby the Shadow Laurier Hotel. It's one of my favorite hotels in the world.

It's the Shadow Laurier. Where Alexandre used to be a concierge. And apparently I treated him very kindly when I was there. Must have been an off day. Anyway, sorry. Here we go. In all the years, I'm 32 now. To some, I'm old.

Believe me, you're not old. I know old, and it's not 32. If you want to trade, let me know. I've watched you conduct many interviews. From what I can remember, I've never seen you do one with someone as combative as a President Trump. A little hypothetical, how do you believe you would handle such an interview? Well, I've done lots. Perhaps the most combative was Margaret Thatcher.

The difference between Margaret Thatcher and Donald Trump is she was smart. She was tough, tough interview. It was a bit of a disaster on my part. With Trump, I mean, listen, the guy's a liar. He constantly lies. He lies all the time. And so you would have to be prepared for that. I tried to interview Trump in the election year and also in the first year of his presidency, and I couldn't get through. And I tried everything. I tried the

regular channels through the press office. I tried one of his mean, I tried the regular channels through the press office. I tried one of his friends, Mark Burnett, the producer in the U.S. who produced all the big hits, Survivor, The Apprentice, all of that. I know Mark because Cynthia knows his wife, Roma Downey and anyway Mark says he tried but I don't know how hard he tried I would

like to think he tried hard but whatever it didn't matter because Trump wouldn't do the interview but if it had happened it's you know there's only one way to interview somebody like that, and that is to constantly, if they're lying to you, and you know they're lying, is raise that issue about, actually, Mr. President, that's not true. That is not the case, et cetera, et cetera.

And that would become, become you know increasingly combative and explosive and he has this tendency to walk away from interviews when that happens but Margaret Thatcher didn't walk away she just kept swinging she was something else have you watched The Crown yet?

I actually thought Gillian Anderson I was puzzled by that choice to play Margaret Thatcher, but I thought she did a heck of a job. Somebody who sat across from Margaret Thatcher, I thought she did a pretty amazing job. Okay. Here's the last one For this week Week 36, the weekend special

Nikki Forrest Nikki writes, listening to Thursday's podcast That was like a week ago Thursday With Dr. Isaac Bogoch As a resident of Halifax I want to comment on the level of compliance that I see. For sure, we benefit from lack of population density as a whole, but we do have urban centers as well as multiple university towns across the region.

We are not perfect, but I do see commitment from the population on wearing of masks at all indoor venues. Physical distancing is practiced. Businesses seem to do an excellent job at ensuring everyone sanitizes and has a mask upon entry. It has been hard for retail and restaurants, but many have adapted and the community supports them. They are open for business. As we enjoy a level of freedom in Atlantic Canada that most other areas do not, I believe we are reminded daily of how much worse it could be and as such are committed to do what we can. I know that the bubble has a definite negative economic impact, and it has been extremely difficult for those wanting to come and go to see family,

but the alternatives could be much more devastating. Thanks for the podcast and the book, which arrived this week. I read the last story about Hope Swinimer. Wonderful story. First, she's very committed to her extraordinary work, and she certainly is. So that letter from Nikki Forrest, and talking about the realities of the Atlantic bubble,

which has been incredibly successful. And when you see those numbers, you look at the numbers. Just Google Canada COVID, and you go to the official government website and then you sort of go into the most recent data and the epidemiological data. See, that's, I was going to be an epidemiologist, but I couldn't pronounce the word. So I thought, you know what? I'll do something different. Anyway, go into that Google site, Canada site, and keep dropping down until you get to the day's most current data. And that breaks it down. Every province, by case, by percentages, the whole bit. And the stark reality is Atlantic Canada and the far north,

although they've had a problem in Nunavut this week, the Atlantic bubble is constant in terms of dealing with this issue. And they've dealt with it right. And government leaders in Atlantic Canada and public health care workers and public health officials and the people of Atlantic Canada deserve credit for all of that. Okay. Relatively short edition of the weekend special this week,

but we want to try and get this one inside half an hour because parts of the country, this may be your last weekend with some sense still of fall. I know in the West there's a lot of snow on the ground, but central Canada right now, it's actually shaping up to be a very nice day today. And lucky for me, I think as I mentioned the other day, having new roof put on the house,

well, you know, new tiles there past the 20-year mark, and some of them look like they were put on when the house was built in 1912. And so that's being done, which is a messy job, but certainly easier when the weather is nice and the weather is nice today, but it's going to take a few days. Anyway, I'm trying to wrap things up.

Time to remind you of a number of things. If you want to write about any of the podcasts or about requesting a book plate for Extraordinary Canadians, write to me at themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com. themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com. themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com. You can also go to the website, thepetermansbridge.com, and you can pick up any past episodes of the podcast that go back almost a year. Well over 1.1 million downloads now, so it's a popular podcast,

and we're proud of that fact as well. And my pal Bruce Anderson deserves some of the credit for that, because numbers have certainly picked up since we started doing our weekly commentary on various issues, and mostly centered this fall, of course, on the U.S. election situation. We've got a couple of high-profile guests coming up in the next little while. I won't tell you about it until they're locked in, but they've all agreed to do the program, and so we're looking forward to doing that.

The book, you know where to get it. You can get it at any of the major booksellers, both in person or online, where a lot of the sales are taking place right now, and that's Indigo, have been a terrific partner with us. Amazon, Costco,

which has been a terrific partner on the book, and we appreciate that. And also, so has Walmart. So those are kind of the major retailers. But don't forget your independent book sellers who have the book stocked as well. I thought I might go down by the, look in the window of the Stratford bookstore and see whether they've put me in this window yet as the number one selling nonfiction book in Canada this week.

You know the beauty of that title, right? You can never lose it. You're always going to be a number one bestselling author. So I take that. If we don't sell another book, I still get to keep that title. But I think we might sell a few more books yet. It's the perfect, and I don't say this with shame. I say it seriously. It is a perfect Christmas gift, especially for this year. These stories are really inspirational. These stories are really inspirational.

These stories are about extraordinary people who've been confronted with major challenges in their life and have faced them head on. And we can all learn from their stories. Anyway, enough on the sales front. The weekly reminders of things that we should all keep in mind, the washing of hands, don't lay off on that. Keep doing it.

I tend to forget at times, and then I get right back at it. Wear a mask when you're outside, when you're inside. If you go to stores or grocery stores or whatever, that's pretty well mandatory everywhere now. But don't forget, wear that mask and keep those masks clean. You know, you got to wash them occasionally, right? Keep your distance, avoid big crowds, and yes, smile. All right, I'm Peter Mansbridge. This has been the Weekend Special number 36. Great to talk to you. Look forward to talking to you again on Monday.