The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - The Weekend Special #48

Episode Date: February 12, 2021

Every Friday is your chance to express a view -- your e-mails with your questions, comments and thoughts.  Today is no exception with entries from across the country and around the world. 

Hello there, Peter Mansbridge here, and you're just moments away from today's episode of The Bridge. It's Friday, and that means it's your day, the weekend special. Ah yes, we all love Fridays, right? TGIF. You're not kidding. We're grateful it's Friday. And this is Friday number 48 since the bridge went daily as a podcast almost a year ago now. And it's the end of week two. Our first two weeks on Sirius XM, Channel 167 Canada Talks,

and we're happy to be here as well. Listen, Fridays, if you didn't know already, the weekend special is focused on what you're thinking, your questions, your comments, your ideas about any number of the different things we've talked about during the week or anything else as well. And I love Fridays because you really get a kind of sense of the country in terms of who's listening, where they're listening, what's on

their minds. And so this week, just like last week, man, we got a lot of emails. I don't read them all. Can't. Simply isn't enough time. And I don't read all of. Can't. Simply isn't enough time. And I don't read all of each email that I do select. It's often I just read a paragraph or two because that's the best way to move through this and get as many of them as we can onto the podcast, onto the broadcast. So let's get going. The first one comes from Dan Hurley

on Gabriola Island, British Columbia. Don't you just love that? Aren't you envious of that? I live on Gabriola Island in British Columbia. Sounds pretty marvelous. Anyway, Dan is reacting actually to something I said yesterday about the 1988 Olympics

in Seoul, South Korea so Dan writes thanks again for another great podcast today I enjoyed your reflections on the Olympics in particular the anecdote about the Seoul Games and the dove incident that's when the doves were burned alive in the Olympic flame

by accident. I remember watching your podcast broadcast back in 88 and thinking, did that really just happen? However, I seem to recall that the doves were in fact already released before the flame was lit rather than after. Well, Dan, you're right. Check the videotape, and actually the doves had just been released, and some of them were sitting around the flame, on the thing that holds the flame. There's a name for that,

which has, of course, escaped me at the moment. And then the flame suddenly was lit, and bang. Some of the doves were immediately, well, they were burned to death. So you're right about the order. The bottom line is still the same. Doves lost their lives in the Olympic flame and I can still recall because I was watching, not just on a monitor but I was actually watching because I was in the stadium and, you know, we had a pretty good view from that end of the stadium of what was happening.

And some of the doves actually flew right into the flames and never came out the other side. So a terrible situation. And the situation, as we pointed out yesterday yesterday is that's the last time they use doves in the opening ceremony they use pigeons now just in case something like that could happen next letter comes from steven mcgawhee and he's reacting to a story we told i was about a week ago, about a C-141 Starlifter that, when taxiing on the airstrip in Churchill, Manitoba, where I was working at the time in 1968 around Christmas,

taxied right into the side of the hangar. The wingtip got damaged, and that's a long story. You want to go back and listen to it. It's a pretty long story. You want to go back and listen to it. It's a pretty good story. Anyway, the issue was about what's done to ensure accidents like this don't happen. So Stephen writes from Trenton, Ontario. As the aviation industry becomes so slack that pilots no longer have checklists, the C-140 actually, Stephen, it was a C-141, hit the building because the pilot and co-pilot were not watching the marshaller. Technology may be wonderful on aircraft, however,

it reduces a three-, four-, five-man flight deck to only two, fewer eyes to see out the window, fewer people to consult. Well, I'm sure there's a lot of truth to what you say. On that particular crew, there was a five-man flight crew because they were on their way to Vietnam, and there was a number of shifts within that flight plan. And I think they were following the marshall. I can't remember exactly how this came down, but there seemed to be some question about how well the marshall was doing his job in that case. Anyway, Stephen's point is pilots have checklists for a reason.

You know, it's not all memory. And it's the one way to ensure your memory is solid is you go through a reason. You know, it's not all memory. And it's the one way to ensure your memory's solid is you go through a checklist. And in some cases, there could be, you know, dozens of things on that checklist, but you go through it. One of the pilots calls out, you know, check, check this. And the, uh, the other pilot who's monitoring the situation says, yeah, you know, all green or all red or whatever the case may be on each particular thing that's being checked. Now, I'm not going to argue with Stephen because Stephen was a CF-104 Starfighter pilot.

And I assume he was because he talks about his days. He said we had a checklist on the 104. And that was one of the hardest planes, if my memory serves me correct, that was flown by Canadian forces and other forces as well. I think its nickname was the, was it not the Widowmaker. It was one of the mainstays of the NATO forces during the height of the Cold War. Anyway, Stephen, thanks for that from Trenton, Ontario.

Next letter up. Daniel Rau in Calgary. And this is a result of yesterday's question about social media and is it biased and does it have an anti-conservative bias? A new study shows it does not. But a lot of you took this to mean, okay, let's have a question about the media bias generally, not just the issue of social media, which is different.

But nevertheless, Daniel Rao writes, the media is biased for the most part depending on the author's point of view. I'm not picking on you by using this example, but it bugs me. More because the CBC uses our tax dollars. Yes, they do. In fact, a lot of media organizations use your tax dollars. They're given grants from various different areas to help in various areas of production. It's not just the CBC. CBC definitely gets the most.

But so do a lot of media organizations. Many you might be surprised to learn about, but they do. Long before Justin Trudeau ran for office, there was a campaign that was run on whether he would even run at all. And this goes right back to his childhood. Apparently the media was doing stories while he was a little boy about whether or not he'd run for office. According to Daniel, after he became an MP,

it was, will he run for leadership, and so on. Now, I could be wrong here, but how many times have you seen articles on whether one of Stephen Harper's kids will run for office? Okay, let's break that down a little bit. First of all, Justin Trudeau didn't get very much publicity until he gave the eulogy at his father's funeral. And then he got a lot and a lot of questions.

We were asked about whether he might potentially run for office at that time, and then it kind of died off for a while until, in fact, he did decide to run. And then, sure, there were lots of stories about whether or not he'd ever run for leadership. And I don't think that's unnatural. I'm sure if one of Stephen Harper's kids had decided to run or does decide to run, those same kind of questions will come up. And if you don't believe me on that, look at another conservative leader. Look at Brian Mulroney.

Look at his kids. How many times have there been stories about Ben Mulroney. Look at his kids. How many times have there been stories about Ben Mulroney and whether he should run? And in the last leadership race, last year, there were all kinds of stories about Mark Mulroney, who's a very successful banker in Toronto, who a lot of people, including this podcast, were asking, is Mark Mulroney going to run?

Why isn't he going to run? He could be a great candidate. And you know what? He's a conservative. I don't know. I think he might look a little harder at that one, Daniel. Brent Harris writes, and this is on that same topic of media bias. In August, my province in New Brunswick had a snap election.

I was already slated to be the next candidate for the Green Party of New Brunswick in the next election. I didn't think it would be so soon, but I was vetted, engaged, and tried to put my best foot forward. In New Brunswick, our print media is 99% owned by one company, Brunswick Media, a division of J.D. Irving Limited. I knew that running for the Green Party in an industrial city with the biggest oil refinery on the eastern seaboard would be tough. I'd hoped that I would get a fair shake from the media, however, with regards to my vision, ideas, and platform. Although I was the most known candidate during the snap election in my riding, the media reported it as being at a likely tight race between the two main parties. This story went on, and I believe it created voter bias, as the desire to not waste one's vote or the desire to avoid a certain outcome would push their vote toward one of the two main parties. In the end, the media was dead wrong.

I finished in second place with 23% of the popular vote and ran the entire campaign on a fraction of the money as the main parties. Well, that's not a bad argument, Brent, and it may well be right. And I think we've generally the media, first of all, that's kind of an overworked phrase. The media is not a monolith. Different news organizations do operate differently, radio, TV, print, individual stations and individual papers, no matter the ownership, do have certain differences. But you make it sound like every single media organization had that same angle,

that it was really only a race between two parties. And if they did have that, then that was wrong. They should have their eyes wide open to the various possibilities. And certainly the success of the Green Party in the federal election, which had occurred the year before in New Brunswick, was worth noting as they went into the provincial election. And if they didn't, they should have. Melissa Hillman writes, let's see, where's Melissa from?

She's from Sydenham, Ontario. Actually, she wrote a letter as a result of our podcast the other day about travel, about the ability to travel, and for most of us in the last year, the lack of the ability to travel. And she has a number of interesting comments, but what I found most fascinating was a quote she had from her dad, whose name is Brian Finnegan. Here's what he said. As I age, I come to a deepening awareness that nobody gets out of this alive.

The clock is ticking. Time left is not some elusive intermediate thing. It's an ever more substantive reality looming over the near horizon. So a wasted year is a stolen year, not one that will fade into the smoky mists of memory, but one that leaves me feeling resentful and bitter about the lost opportunity. We cancelled some amazing adventures this past year, ones we had carefully planned and eagerly awaited. The reality is that these experiences will not just be rebooked to be enjoyed at a later date. They are just gone, stolen. People who've been burgled or robbed

often talk about a sense of violation, a feeling that doesn't just go away. Maybe that's a bit of what I feel, unjustly violated. On balance, I have a wonderful life, but like so full of so many joys and blessings, and I hope it continues for many years to come. But the growing collection of obituaries from family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors is a nagging reminder to embrace every moment and opportunity while I have the chance. Stay safe, everyone. Thanks, Melissa, for sending that along, what your dad had written, Brian Finnegan. I'm sure there are a lot of people who feel exactly the same way that he did in that letter. All right, the next one comes from Meta Badger. And where's Meta from?

Picton, Ontario. And it's also about travel. My daughters and I decided to be COVID responsible, not travel, for Christmas. So in January, I received a parcel in the mail from my youngest, 23 years old. It was your book, Extraordinary Canadians. We had not talked about how I'm a fan or about how I was listening to your podcast, nor did I mention your book, which I'd been thinking about ordering but not gotten there, yet with all the rest of moving,, et cetera. I'm in the middle of the book and enjoying it very much, but I reward myself with a chapter when I feel I have accomplished whatever task I have set for myself.

So obviously this book is in place of travel and thank you for the plug. Extraordinary Canadians is a really good book. I wrote it with Mark Bulgich, my longtime friend and colleague, and it's been extremely successful. It was number one, I think, five weeks in a row on the Canadian nonfiction list. Anyway, I'm in the middle of the book and enjoying it very much, but I reward myself, as I said a moment ago, when reading one particular

chapter. I'm trying to walk every day, baking, painting, etc. I've just read the chapter about Rabbi Reuven Bulka. He has touched my soul. His words touch me deeply. The preparation for the speech he made in 2014 after the murder of Captain Cirillo on Parliament Hill was unimaginably difficult and heartbreaking. He is a person that to me represents a true Canadian. Personally, as I watched the spectacle of January 6th of this year at the U.S. Capitol, I was taken back to that day in 2014. It was like a lightning bolt of a jolt in my memory. So emotional, so sad. I just want to thank you for putting these unknown Canadians into this book for us to know and appreciate.

I'm tearing up right now. We are not shaken to the core, but shaken toward firm resolve. Rabbi Bulka. And we should all be praying for the rabbi because he's going through some difficult times right now with cancer. Thanks for that, Meta Badger. Andy Hawkins writes from Digby, Nova Scotia. And this is about this question of what is it about Trump?

What are the Republicans so scared of? And that's what Andy Hawkins is talking about. I think Trump's hold over the Republican Party boils down to one of two things. The Republicans realize that, as you said, 30% of the people who voted for him voted for him, not necessarily the party. If you take a share of the electorate away from the Republican Party, they're dead in the water. I cheered when I heard the rumors about Trump starting his own party because it would certainly split

the Republican vote. Same subject, David Oliver writes from Oak Bay, British Columbia. Great episode today, I chuckled all the way through. This is the Smoke Mirrors and the Truth with Bruce on Wednesday. I agree with you, Peter. I can't understand why the Republicans seem so scared of Trump.

If it's to do with fundraising, how does that work exactly? Isn't there a centralized party fundraising structure? Well, sure there is, but they fundraise around a person. But David's saying, why don't you, Bruce, talk about that? Well, maybe we will. A very long letter from a retired teacher in Edmonton, Karen Boshy.

Long and good letter. Can't read it all. But I am going to read two paragraphs from it. This is about an issue that's extremely important through this pandemic time. Karen writes, I can imagine how stressful it must be for children navigating through daily routines

amid COVID precautions and restrictions. Seeing red cautionary flags everywhere you go and in, everything that you do, almost without exception, would be frightening. That's a lot for a child to handle. When I was young, it had a profound effect on me and left me with insecurities, odd little habits, lasting fears, phobias, and anxiety issues that although I have managed throughout my adult life, remain the elephant in the room. One of the biggest factors contributing to mental health problems is living through traumatic and negative life events. This unprecedented pandemic has been difficult for everyone

and changed just about everything in our lives suddenly. Fearing germs and getting sick, exaggerated and perpetuated over a long time, will surely exacerbate anxiety and the development of more serious mental health disorders. Karen, thank you for writing this letter. As I said, it goes on much longer and in much more detail. But it does raise this issue. We've hinted at this more than a few times in the last year, but the mental health issue is an important part of this story and cannot be ignored. We had a number of letters in response to the piece we did on the travel industry,

in particular watching how one particular company tried to deal with the travel situation, a tour company, when the pandemic hit, and what it's been trying to do since in trying to rebuild its business and be prepared for the eventual time when people will start traveling again. And that will happen. We don't know when. But for companies in it, it's a tough, tough slog. Anyway, Debbie Niven wrote a very long and detailed letter

about her company and some of the things they're trying to do and i applaud her for that um i can't read it all because hey it's too long and be it almost you know it'll come off like a commercial but i have heard this week from half a dozen, maybe too many, four or five at least, different travel companies who said, we really enjoyed that podcast. We want you to know we're all trying to find solutions to the travel issue because it's so important to Canada and is tourism. 10% of our economy is tourism based, not all on travel companies, obviously. But the overall number is really important. One out of 10 jobs in Canada is as a result of the tourism business.

So I just wanted to acknowledge, Debbie, that you went to a lot of trouble to write all this. As I said, I'm not going to read it all. In fact, I'm not sure if I'm going to read any of it. But she does make the point out again, we're surviving with the help of the Canadian government and are very grateful and we're thriving because of our ability to pivot and create a new offering, an offering that we will be able to also market when travel returns as a way to experience our carefully curated programs

before you decide to travel. And good for you, Debbie, and good for your company and the others that are working at that, because it's not going to be returned to normal. It's going to be a return to, well, a different era in a lot of what we do, including what we do in terms of travel. All right, we've got more to come. Has COVID killed summer camp when you were a kid?

I did. I remember, you know, I'm sure I had the same experience that many of you did on my first summer camp. I was like, I was scared. I'd never been away from home alone for even a day, I think. And then suddenly I was gone for two weeks. And those first few nights with other kids, I didn't know. Supervisors, I didn't know. You know, those were maybe scary is too big a word,

but it was something that left you in doubt about what was going to be happening during the night and the next day. Anyway, summer camp turned into this wonderful thing for me. I enjoyed it. I went back for a number of years. In fact, I think I ended up as either the assistant waterfront director or the waterfront director at one of the summer camps and loved it. Absolutely enjoyed it. But the last time would have been, I guess, the summer of 66, because at the end of that summer,

I joined the Navy and that was it. I was heading off into my adult life. Anyway, got a nice letter from Ted Gorslin. And it's called Summer Camps and COVID. Ted's the director of Camp Oconto, which I think is near Kingston, Ontario. My wife and I run a summer camp for girls north of Kingston called Camp Oconto. We're in our second year of running the camp

having taken over the reins from my wife's family who were good stewards of it since the 1980s. Before that it was my wife's grandmother and grandfather who were at the helm. A true family business and the love of camp and the outdoors and all that it offers for young people. It's important to remember, and I did not know this, it's important to remember that some of the draw for camps in the early part of the century, that's the last century, in Ontario was to get kids out of the cities and away from some of the disease of that era,

most notably scarlet fever. Camps right now find themselves at a flashpoint for so many of the issues surrounding COVID. On the one hand, they offer a largely outdoor environment to a group of kids who have, in my mind, borne a disproportionate share of the burden of the cost of COVID. Think school closures, social restrictions on experiences that are once in a lifetime, while also shouldering so much of the blame of it. On the other hand, it's a congregate living setting. One of the concerns that led the government to close summer overnight camps in Ontario in the spring of 2020 was the unknown effect of these vectors of the virus possibly spreading it within the groups and then leaving camp to disperse within

the province. Like every decision in this pandemic, for any medical decision, there is a reciprocal social cost. Summer camp, I believe, represents a vision of hope for kids who need something at the end of the tunnel to look forward to. The reason I think this would make for such a great episode for you to do on your program is that there are numerous camp directors, characters out there, who could gladly speak with you about some of the challenges in planning right now. And I'm sure there are. I can think of a few from back in my old camping days. But listen, your point, Ted,

about camps, the impact it can have for kids, the impact it can have on their mental health, to be out there laughing, canoeing, and singing at a summer camp. Something to think about. Nice note from Teresa Critch. Teresa Newfoundland. Very short. And this is after the Monday podcast broadcast where we had Cynthia Dale

talking about Christopher Plummer and her work with Christopher Plummer in theater and screen stage. And the letter is very short. Wow, wow, and more wow. No other words. Thank you, Miss Dale. That was the Monday podcast, broadcast.

You can go back and listen to it if you want. It's the last element in there. It's only a couple of minutes long, but Cynthia tells a wonderful story about Chris Plummer. Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Ashley Taylor writes, I listened with interest last Friday as you read a letter concerning prioritizing

vaccine distribution across Canada and the concern that every province should get their proportionate share, even if they're in a low COVID area. Living in Saskatchewan, we're experiencing just that. All doses of the vaccine we have received have gone to our major cities and hotspots. To date, our city and our region have had no vaccinations, not health care workers, not care homes. It was only today that I heard the first comment from anyone in our area concerned with this.

Up to now, I've heard nothing. Personally, I'm happy to see this happening regionally in our province. Potentially calming bad areas is good for our area. I'm happy to continue waiting and have faith in our government to make the hard decisions on where to distribute our limited supply. This is becoming an issue in different parts of the country. But glad to hear that argument from Ashley in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. I used to be in Moose Jaw every day when I lived in Regina, 1975-76, working for the CBC. Our offices were in Regina.

Our station was in Moose Jaw. And so every day I was doing a story for the National because I was working for the National as a reporter at that point. And, you know, we'd usually be shooting that story in Regina, but then we'd have to drive down the highway, 45 minutes or an hour, past all the RCMP checkpoints because they used them for training on that stretch of the Trans-Canada, and we'd feed our items from Moose Jaw.

Don Katsak. For us, Fridays are always a busy day of the week. The traffic in Iqaluit is almost always full volume, especially downtown area where we live. We wanted to change that routine away from it all last Friday. We took our kids with us and grabbed some takeout so we don't have to rush cooking for lunch. We drove out near Apex Road and went on a quiet spot to eat in. As we were all eating, I listened to your Friday podcast and I heard my name aloud. That caught me off guard. jumped and screamed I was not expecting that at all That was cool

But I'm so sorry Because I didn't know that you worked with my uncle I wanted to apologize for James Arveluk He's my oldest uncle I knew him as Jimmy Arveluk We worked together at the radio station in Churchill Fabulous guy I last saw him, I think

we talked about it last week, in Pond Inlet. He passed away not long after that. James passed away in April 26, 2016, from stroke and pneumonia. He's buried in Apex Nunavut. He cared for us all. I just wanted to write for that closure. Thanks, Dawn. Where are we going here? Beverly Smith Giles from Great Village, Nova Scotia. Hi, Peter. Just listened to your weekend podcast and had to share with you how much I identified with April, the long-haul driver who relied on you to keep her company. Loved that letter last week.

Keep her company and probably awake while she's on the road. I, on the other hand, like to end my day listening to the bridge. I often have difficulty getting to sleep and have discovered your deep, calming voice is just the thing I need to put me in dreamland. Please don't take offense because I find the subject matter of great interest and always listen to the whole podcast, just not all at one time. Whenever I wake up during the night, I rewind to the last thing I remember hearing and listen again. Then in the morning, I play it to my 89-year-old mother, who has been a fan since your national days. We've had some good discussions on the subject matter, especially when

Trump was the hot topic. Lots of head shaking during those days. Keep up the good work. Bev Smith, Great Village, Nova Scotia. All right, here's the last one for this week. It's from Mary Williamson. And this is, this one really touched me. Mary writes, I've been trying to write this email for a few months and starting and stopping. I'm not sure if this actually reaches the man's bridge himself. It does. You're talking to the staff at the bridge.

This is it. But I hope at some point he will have the opportunity to read this email. A few months ago, almost a year ago now, I had what would be one of the last long phone conversations with my father. It has taken me some time to write this email. I'm not sure how or where to begin. So this last long phone conversation with my father is where I will try to start. I had an unusually long talk on the phone, as I don't know if either of us liked being on the phone. Anyway, he was so happy and excited.

Truly, in a way, I hadn't heard it in his voice in a while. That Peter Mansbridge had read one of his letters, or possibly two, I could feel his smile through the phone. It was a really lovely feeling that we both shared together that day, and I cherish it. Thank you for that. It meant so much to him and to me. My father died of a massive heart attack on May 22, 2020. Now, Mary's husband, his name was Lawrence James Williamson, or Larry Williamson. And I decided, when I read that letter, to go back through my emails from last year. And sure enough, there was a number of indications that Larry had written to me. One of the first people to write when this podcast, now a broadcast, started, The Bridge.

And I reread the letter. It's kind of a long one. He's in Caledonia. And this is the part that touched me most. One of the first things that I wrote about or talked about, broadcast about on the bridge was keep a diary. We're going through history. Keep a diary because future generations will want to know how your family got through this time.

And that's what Larry picked up on in one of his letters that he wrote to me. I'm reading from his letter of March 24th. You previously mentioned the idea of keeping a journal and talked of a letter from someone who has decided to do that. Both my son and my daughter, like many of their generation, got married later in life than did their previous generation and also chose to have children later.

As a result, I now have two young granddaughters, a nine-year-old and a four-year-old. Shortly after the eldest granddaughter's birth, I realized that considering my age, I would most likely not be around to see them as grown adults. I decided to write about my life for them to read, starting from who my grandparents, their great-great grandparents were, and about my parents and a bit about them, my childhood and my life

up until retirement. This then became a daily journal that I have continued to this day. So. Larry picked up. On this theme of a diary. And he talked about his daughter. And now here we are a year later. With his daughter, Mary, writing to me to talk about how important it was for her dad to have that connection with me.

So I didn't know until Mary wrote that Larry had passed away. And I'm so sorry to hear that, obviously. But so happy to hear that there was something about the connection that we had. And that he was doing exactly what I thought was such a good idea for others to do, which was writing stuff down. And I hope you see a lesson in what Larry wrote and the connection that he's still making long after he's passed away with his family and telling stories about what was important to him. All right.

That is the weekend special for this weekend. A couple of things to keep in note. Monday is family day. Another reason why I just read that letter. We should all think family this weekend. And in so many cases, we can't be together. But we live in a world where technology allows us to be together virtually so easily. So let's celebrate Family Day as best we can.

While we're doing all the things we're asked to do, masking, double masking, washing our hands, staying socially distanced, staying away from big crowds, being careful, staying safe, thinking about others. And we will continue to get through all this. But Monday, being a holiday,

I'm going to take the day off from the podcast and enjoy that day. The SiriusXM program will be on at noon on Channel 167 Canada Talks on Monday, and it's a repeat of a broadcast that hadn't been heard yet on SiriusXM. And it's a really good one and really connects on the family theme. It's our day with a couple, one a teacher, one a professional, in another area, line of work, and their two kids, and how they're getting through each day.

How they're doing homeschooling. In their case, they're an Ontario family. It's really good. Lots of reaction to it. So that'll be on Sirius XM on Monday at lunchtime. No podcast as such on Monday, but we'll be

back on Tuesday. So listen, have a great weekend. I'm Peter Mansbridge. This has been The Bridge. Stay safe. Enjoy the weekend as best you can. Think family. We'll talk to you next week. Thank you.