The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - The Weekend Special #5 -- Your Questions, Comments And Thoughts As We Stay Calm and Carry On

Episode Date: April 17, 2020

I love your emails and there were lots of good ones again this week.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here with the Friday edition of The Bridge. At the end of week five, The Bridge Daily is once again going to focus on your thoughts and your comments and your questions as we have worked our way through yet another week of the COVID-19 crisis. Hope you've all stayed at home, unless you absolutely have to, unless you were essential. I'm sure you have.

It's funny, the number of letters I get, there are people say, you know, I can't even keep track of what day it is, and that's why I'm glad you do the mailbag on Friday because when I hear it, I know it's Friday. You know, David Cochran, the CBC reporter who's been covering this story and has been covering it well, as have a lot of journalists. But David likes to say, there are only three days in the week now. It's yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Well, some truth to that. Today's Friday, or at least the day we record the mailbag is Friday, so it's out Friday night, but I know a lot of you choose the weekend to listen to it, because I see the numbers, I don't see who is actually listening. I'm not Facebook, I don't track you like that, but I can see how many people have heard any particular podcast at any particular time. So, you know the drill. I get a lot of mail every week, and I pick a fair number of your questions and comments and thoughts, and I go with them.

And they're usually relating in some fashion to things we've talked about during the week. So we'll get right to it. I don't tend to read the whole letter. Usually there's one, and there is one this week where I'll read it all. But I keep it to the end because it's something that in some fashion has particularly moved me. So we'll do that at the end of the podcast tonight. But let's get started. And I love this first one.

It's from Charles Libnicki. And I love it because it's from Wheatley River, Prince Edward Island. You ever heard of that? I've heard of it. It's a tiny little town, but I've been there more than a few times, and I ended up going there in, I guess it would have been the mid-1990s. I was on Prince Edward Island with my good friend, the late, great Peter Zosky, at a golf tournament he did at the Green Gables Golf Course. And

somebody told us, hey, if you like antiques, you got to go to the antique store in Wheatley And sure enough, I went, Cynthia went. We had a great time. We ended up getting a fair amount of stuff there. Furniture. And shipping it by train. Back east. And I have, in fact, I have the actual main post office desk from O'Leary PEI from probably 100 years ago at least. And I have it in my place in the Gatineau Hills,

north of Ottawa. So Wheatley River PEI is a place I'm aware of, so it was great to see this letter from Charles Lubnecki. I'm writing you from Wheatley River. My wife and I are farmers here on the island. We were lucky enough to bring our daughter back to Canada from the Netherlands

when COVID-19 was building up momentum. The day we self-quarantined after she returned, I received this 1945 Victory Nickel from my eclectic artifact collection of Canadiana. I carry it in my pocket every day, and it brings hope that one day we will win this battle. And Charles included a picture of that nickel,

the Victory Nickel from 1945. And you know what, Charles? I have one just like it. And mine is the picture I used for cover art for this week, this day's podcast. So there you go. And it is a great symbol because it has the big V for victory on it. And just like that battle was won, so too will this one.

Chuck Penfold writes from Germany. In fact, he's on the sunny east bank of the Rhine near Bonn. And I remember the last time I was in Bonn, I remembered exactly when it was. It was 1985. It was for a G7 summit that was hosted in Germany. And I remember being there and being in Bonn, which was at that time the capital of West Germany. So what does Chuck write? He says, I was pleased to hear you mention Angela Merkel, who is referred to by some as Mutti, Mum, here.

I'm certainly not a member of her party, and I haven't agreed with everything she's done in her close to 15 years in office. However, there is no other leader I would prefer to have leading my country during this pandemic. You've probably heard me talk about Merkel Merkel and did so just the other night I think they are going to miss her and the world's going to miss her Chuck goes on to say so often since a certain individual took power in the country to the south of your border I have often found myself thinking when watching or reading the news

about some big international meeting that Muti is perhaps the only adult in the room. Well, Chuck, you won't be the first person to have thought that. Many have thought that Angela Merkel has been the leader of the Western world for certainly these last three and a half years. She will be missed.

Jennifer Bennett. She's in Gander, Newfoundland. She's the mother of six-year-old twin boys. She's a guidance counselor to a K-12 school. And she writes that she wanted to give a little insight on how our day looks in the Bennett household. Well, not surprisingly, since she's a guidance counselor, she's got her kids busy with things during this time.

And her advice is, you know, engage in your child's creative minds. My boys have started their own baking show. They posted two videos on social media with step-by-step instructions on how to make chocolate chip cookies. Hey, I'm coming. I'll be there. And Easter egg mini chocolate oatmeal cookies.

Here's her six-point plan to stay calm during COVID. Maintain a regular routine. We all need routine. Two, physically active. Get out and get moving. Walk, jog, rollerblade, bike, play street hockey. Three, stay in touch with loved ones daily, virtually, text, phone, four, mindful of news coverage, limit your amount of news coverage, 30 minutes daily, getting the current updates, rules and regulations is sufficient. Well, you know, there's a lot of truth in that. 30 to 60 minutes a day may be enough. It can just get too hard on you.

Number five, keep conversations open with family. Ask your parents, teachers, administrators, school counselors of the unknown questions you may have. Talk your thoughts out. Don't keep them bottled inside. And finally, keep physical distancing or social distancing. Wash your hands. Thank you, Jennifer. Susan McIntyre writes from Bowmanville, Ontario. I cannot thank you enough for the interview you broadcast on Thursday. That's just last night.

It gave me such hope that we will get through this. My resolve was beginning to wean. I'm so thankful for those scientists in Canada who are collaborating with other scientists around the world to provide us with a vaccine that will allow us to again be with our loved ones and give them a big hug. I've been sending virtual hugs, but I will never again take for granted that feeling of two arms of another human being surrounding me and giving a big squeeze. Nice letter, Susan. I think you capture the feelings of the vaccine center at the University of Saskatchewan, one of the leading ones in the world, certainly one of the leading ones in Canada. And they're working to try and find a vaccine. There was one little element that didn't run from the interview last night.

They'll run now because I think it's important. It's very short. It's only less than a minute. But what I wanted to ask Volker was this. We were caught by surprise by this virus. There had not been any preparation for the next big pandemic. Or there had been, but it hadn't been fulfilled in the way it should have been. So the question now is, sure, we're going in a race to try and find the vaccine for this,

but, you know, it will be followed by another one. So is there work going on at the same time for what could follow this? So here's his answer. You know, part of the feeling on covering this story and watching it unfold for a lot of people has been, why was the world caught off guard? Why didn't we know? Why weren't we ready with a vaccine? Now, is it even possible to deal with a question like that? How

can you be ready for an unknown disease like this? Well, I think it's an excellent question. And the science has progressed a lot over the last few years. And this is exactly something that we're working on now. By using computational bioinformatics and structural science and biochemistry and crystallography, a lot of very, very new technologies that really just came up over the last few years, we can now start to predict what the next pathogen might look like and then develop vaccines for it and then test them in our animals. So in essence, we're remodeling evolution that might take place in the future and develop vaccines that are now available for whatever pathogen might emerge in the future.

So it's possible? I think so. We're working on it. So once again, that was Volker Gerz from the University of Saskatchewan, the Vaccine Centre in Saskatoon. And listen, if you want to hear the full interview, go back

to Thursday night's podcast. It's really interesting. There's a lot of interesting stuff in there, not the least of which is, you know, you keep hearing that the minimum amount of time is needed until they can come up with a vaccine is 12 to 18 months. Well, I asked Volker, where are we on the countdown of those 12 to 18 months?

And he says, well, we're about four months into it. So in fact, it's like eight to 18 months. And he says, well, we're about four months into it. So in fact, it's like eight to 14 months. It could be as early as late this year around Christmas and what a present that would be. All right. Peter McKinney writes from Beaconsville, Quebec. Okay. Here's what Peter's upset about, and you probably just heard in a way what he was upset about.

Well, he's not upset, but he wanted to point out that there are the sound levels in the podcast sort of kind of go up and down. Keep in mind, Peter, this is amateur hour, okay? I'm doing this out of my house with my own equipment on my own, right? And so I'm not, I don't have the benefit of the great technical people that I used to work with at the CBC. So I'm trying to make this work. And I'm afraid that there are going to be times when you're going to have to adjust up and down the levels as we go through something like that where I drop in interviews. They may be a little low, they may be a little high and if they are I'm sorry about that. Renee Robichaux

in Delta BC writes, sounds like you get as much out of this podcast as we do. You know, I do. I really, I look forward every day to doing the podcast. And something always comes up that I want to talk about. Occasionally I'll pop in an interview. And, you know, I love doing it. It's really helped me as well, just like you are all looking for things to do to pass the time. This is passing the time for me.

Anne Campbell writes, I just finished reading a very enjoyable book about the power behind the throne. This is a result of my discussion about books about Churchill, who is a hero of mine. And I've just finished yet another book. But I guess Anne wanted me to recognize that not everybody saw things the same way as Winnie did.

So as she says, I just finished reading a very enjoyable book about the power behind the throne, Clementine, the life of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purcell. Try it. You might find a different perspective of Winston. Okay. I'll go searching for that. I'm in the middle of actually reading the latest book I'm reading. One of the other great interests of my life ever since I was a little kid has been the story of the Titanic. And I can remember the first time I heard it is when we came to Canada in the 1950s. We came by sea.

We came on a ship across the North Atlantic. That's a story you don't want to hear when you're crossing the North Atlantic as a kid. But anyway, I'm reading a new book on the Titanic. It's called The Ship of Dreams. And it's a great book because it's not just about that voyage. It's about that time, that era, the Edwardian era. And it's really very interesting. I guess I'm a little more than halfway through it. Jill Lees from Brantford, Ontario.

In one of your first podcasts, you mentioned keeping a daily journal might be useful in dealing with this imposed isolation. I started a journal that day, and I keep a record of my feelings, both positive and negative, as well as some things I observe around me. I've also noted the daily stats about the cases and the hospitalizations and deaths, Canadian, U.S., and international. I also note some of the decisions implemented by the different levels of government. I found this very helpful, and I hope it will make sense to my grandkids

when they read it someday. And that was the whole point of me suggesting that you keep a diary of some sorts, because it's history you're writing about. And your family, generations down the road, you keep a diary of some sorts, because it's history you're writing about. And your family, generations down the road, will love to read about what you were going through. Pirio Hartman. I'm not sure the pronunciation of the first name, whether it's Pirjo, it's Finnish.

I'm in Abbotsford, BC. My granddaughter is graduating this June. She has worked so hard. The ceremony in Vernon, B.C. is cancelled. What I will miss most is her right-to-passage walk across the stage to receive her diploma and her future. I'm wondering if any other grandmother feels the same way. I'm sure there are many who feel exactly that way. Both grandmothers and grandfathers, fathers and mothers, aunts and uncles. We're going to miss that part of the rite to passage for so many young people. It'll be interesting which schools or institutions try to find a different way of doing this

so we can share in some of that together, either at the same time or later than usual. Here's one from Jennifer Pitendre in Calgary. I spend about seven hours of the day in my sewing room making masks and scrub caps that I've been sending to my daughter in Toronto for her friends and hospitals. I have a need to help the frontline workers and hope in a small way that my efforts will. We try to support local restaurants by occasionally ordering takeout curbside and have a box in the trunk for them to deposit the order direct with a mask left in the box as a tip when we pick up groceries,

since stores have said they will not accept cash tips. You know, I applaud you for the time you're spending in your sewing room making masks for hospitals. That's great. And I applaud you for the takeout. You know, we did a podcast last week on takeout, and a lot of you found it interesting and heard the stories about how some restaurants are trying to stay in business, trying to keep people employed by going 100% to takeout because they can't bring people into the restaurants. We tried takeout last week, first time here in Stratford,

first time for us, and it was great. There is a leap of faith, just as there is when you go to the grocery store. But it worked out great. We're glad we did. Jennifer also says there are all great diversions from the constant COVID-19 news, but it is never far from mind. With a daughter in Toronto, another in Cambridge, UK, a son in the south of Calgary,

eight siblings with offspring in Australia, and my husband's six siblings in New Brunswick, we also use Zoom, Messenger, WhatsApp every day. That's a big family, and they're all over the place. Nancy Fielding writes from Leduc, Alberta. This is a really thought-provoking question, and I am of two minds on the answer. The question was about our podcast at the beginning of this week

that we called Just Watch Me. It was about Pierre Trudeau head-to-head with Tim Rafe. 50 years ago this year, during the October crisis, on the steps of Parliament, arguing about the need to have the army in. If you didn't hear that podcast, you should go back and listen to it. It was on Monday night. It was quite something to listen to that exchange again.

It goes about, what was it, about five or six minutes. Anyway, Nancy writes, Part of me would like to see the political leaders step back a bit more and let the chief medical officers take the helm. That would reduce the politicizing of the crisis and help us to be more dependent on scientific fact. On the other hand, if the leaders are at the microphone, by all means they should be challenged in the way that Mr. Rafe engaged Mr. Trudeau all those years ago.

On the journalistic side, that is the mark of a good reporter. On the political side, it would encourage the leaders to speak the truth and not speculate or spin. Yeah, I'm not sure about your last point. I don't know what ever stops them from speculating or spinning. But you're right. Tim Rafe did a heck of a job on that front. Mark Infuzzi from Niagara. Infuzini from Niagara. Infuzini from Niagara.

Who also, we had a lot of mail about the Just Watch Me podcast. Here's what Mark says. That scrum illuminates the stoicism of that period, which is both exemplified by the Prime Minister and the reporter. The reason over passion, Trudeau mantra, is on full display. The discussion is unscripted and heated, but both articulately defend their points of view authentically. Public figures have lost their reputations and vocations with an inadvertent verbal misstep.

As a consequence, scripted daily press conferences seem like a safe choice. Well, there may be a safe choice, but you're quite right about what that from 50 years ago showed in terms of a true, honest back and forth. Cam Beefus is a teacher in Edmonton, and he says he uses the exact same clip you shared about Pierre Trudeau being questioned on the steps of Parliament about invoking the War Measures Act. Students over the years have wonderful responses to this clip. One, they are usually amazed at how in-your-face the questioning is to the PM. No physical distancing happening there. Two, they're stunned at the aggressive response by Trudeau and his obvious frustration with the line of questioning.

They've never in their short lives seen a leader respond with so much force and straight-on clarity. You know exactly what he means and what he's thinking. Weak-kneed, bleeding hearts, go ahead and bleed. They are used to politicians not answering direct questions. I'm in Alberta, and they are usually intrigued by Trudeau Sr., not the picture that resonates with our narrative in this part of the world. Get that. Okay.

Thank you, Cam. Okay. Thank you, Cam. Okay, moving on. There's one more, actually. Valerie Cormier from Vancouver. Also on this, the Just Watch Me podcast. When I read the title of Monday's podcast, Just Watch Me, I rolled my eyes. Here we go again.

Poor Justin being dragged into yet another comparison with his father, I thought. Then I was pleasantly surprised to hear that entire scrum. I have vague memories of the FLQ crisis, but even back then I wondered about the context. Thanks for providing it. Pierre Elliott Trudeau's arguments were more compelling than I'd previously thought.

I do still think he was brash and arrogant, though. And yes, he was charming. Robin Ward from Edmonton. Thanks for the Bocelli tip. Andrea Bocelli. Remember? I mentioned about his concert outside the Duomo in Milan last weekend where he sang, among other things, Amazing Grace. So thanks for that. Amazing Grace was a wonderful thing to behold. Another go-to for me when I need

to pick me up is Barack Obama singing Amazing Grace at the Reverend Clementa Pinckney's funeral. It's a testament to the human spirit. That's from Robin Ward in Edmonton. Graham Nolan writes from Ottawa. I was wondering what your thoughts were about the Prime Minister going to his cottage at Harrington Lake in Quebec over the Easter weekend. Canadians have been told to limit travel between provinces, yet the Prime Minister crossed the border from Ottawa to Quebec to go to the cottage.

A similar argument could be made about Andrew Scheer having his family join him in coming back to Ottawa when Parliament reconvenes. I'm not sure there's an easy answer to these questions in these difficult times. Everyone wants to be around their loved ones, and I feel for these two men who want to balance their heavy workload with family. In my opinion, the country should focus on what they're doing to combat COVID and not focus too much on their personal lives. Listen, I could see where some people got upset about that, but, you know, to me, I thought that was just a waste of energy, arguing about that.

There are things to challenge on accountability about whether lives have been properly thought about here on this issue. I'm not sure that's one of them. So I think, Graham, I agree with you. Donna Edmonston from Winnipeg. Bracket, go Jets, go. Bracket. Yesterday's podcast had me in hysterics

with your description of you cutting your hair. Maybe you should post a photo on Instagram. I don't think so. If you heard that, I had I tried to cut my hair. Listen, there's not much of it to start with.

But where there was hair, I really botched it. Jeff Howard. Greetings from St. John's, Newfoundland, and Labrador. And I hope you're well. I just finished listening to your latest podcast and had a chuckle when you were describing how long your hair was and your attempt to give yourself a trim.

Ironically, this is the 36th anniversary of the big ice storm in St. John's, and CBC just posted a clip from the archives of the National on the storm. Looks like you needed a haircut then as well. Yeah, I had quite a bit of hair then. That was before it all disappeared on me. So it was a little long back there 36 years ago. Here's an interesting letter from Robert Welch. He's an MBA student and a broadcaster in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. And it's a question really about journalists and journalism

and how one handles these kind of stories that we're going through now. Today it's on the lines of being someone whose usual beat is the courts or convenience store hold-ups or car crashes, the sort of things which are local news. And now all the assignments have become COVID, people on ventilators, people who can't be with loved ones as it approaches the end. In this case, home isn't back in Toronto or Boston or New York

because obviously the story is at home. How do these journalists who put together these stories day in and day out shut off what's in their head because they've seen it and somehow still get some sleep? Hey, you know, journalists are people too, and there are some things you cannot unsee or unfeel. And as a result,

there are some nights where you can't sleep, given what you have seen. And I'm sure for those on the front lines of covering this story, it's the same way. And news organizations have to be very careful with their people

at the front lines of this story, and not just the front lines. The people who are working in the edit suites and the writing desks who are challenged by this story every day. And so news organizations are very careful about this and spend time talking to their staff and ensuring that if they need help, if they need help, if they need people to talk to, they will supply those people.

Jeff McConnell from Victoria, B.C. writes, I, too, am a golfer, and taking us through your imaginary walk on the Royal Dornick Links, Scotland, gave me something to apply for my walks in the neighborhood. In my case, imagining a game at my home course, at Uplands Golf Course here in Victoria. I've played there. Great course. Also, I really enjoyed the podcast from last Thursday with Bruce Anderson. I always enjoyed Bruce's insights from when he was on the CBC's At Issue panel

and found his thoughts from COVID and what the future may hold to be really interesting. I hope you're able to convince Bruce to join you again on the podcast in the future. Oh, I think we'll be able to do that. Bruce is a good friend, and we enjoyed those days on At Issue when he was with us, and I certainly enjoyed that conversation last week. Okay, we're down to the last letter. And I really, really like this letter. It's from B.D. McMmillan in White Rock, British Columbia.

Always loved that name, White Rock, B.C. So here's what B.D. Macmillan had to say. And I'll read it all. As I said, I try to do this with one letter a week because I just find that it touches something deep for me. A lot of your letters do, but I have to pick one. And this is it for this week. Hi, Peter, writing to you from White Rock, B.C., thoroughly enjoying your podcast.

One in particular, when you were visualizing a golf round in Scotland as you did your 4,000 steps in your backyard, reminded me of my dad. He used to tell us that some of the best trips you will ever take are the ones you will take in your mind. My dad had a business of his own in a small town in Selkirk, Manitoba, and there were five kids in our family, so I guess that was his way of telling us his wallet couldn't stretch for trips.

Although we always had a week holiday in Clear Lake every summer. Love Clear Lake. You know, I lived in Winnipeg. My daughter's family has a place at Clear Lake. Great spot. I can remember going to Clear Lake the first time in the summer of 1967 when I was based in the Navy at Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Go figure, the Navy in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. How did that happen? I was in flying training, and we were, the advanced flying school was in Portage at that time.

Anyway, I digress. I haven't traveled extensively in my soon-to-be 76 years, but I have traveled a bit, collecting postcards along the way. So this week I decided to start mailing out those postcards I have saved to friends and family, with messages such as this, Have enjoyed these last four weeks as I visited Santa Barbara, or Santa Monica, or whatever my postcard was from. I have taken this memorable trip in my mind,

thinking of you. Stay safe. On my daily walk, I drop that postcard in the mailbox, thankful the postal workers are still on the job, hoping to put a smile on someone's face when that postcard arrives. Thank you, B.D. Macmillan in White Rock, B.C. I love that letter, and I think we could all imagine it, whether it was in your mind or in your words right there. Thank you for everybody who wrote this week.

There's never room to get everybody's letter in, but each week we try to put as many in as we can. And I know you enjoy it, because when I look back at the most popular podcasts in the last month, I mean, they're all pretty popular as far as podcasts go, but the one that usually leads the week is the one you write. Your thoughts, your questions, your comments. So good for you. So we've got a weekend coming up.

We're somewhere not in the middle of the story. I guess we're kind of approaching getting close to an area where you can actually see the middle over the horizon. But we are moving forward. And we're moving forward because those of us who are not essential are staying at home. We're keeping physically distant from others on those rare occasions when we go out because we have to whether it's the

grocery store, the pharmacy, or wherever it may be. And we're appreciating those who are essential and we can all do it in our own little ways. You know, we go out on our porch every night at 7.30 and join many of our neighbors in clapping or whistling or banging pots as we thank all of those who are essential, who are working. For us, in hospitals and police stations and fire stations, in the paramedic offices, in grocery stores, in liquor stores, the truckers, the farmers. The list is very impressive.

And it's a list we should never, ever forget. All right. Please have a nice weekend. A safe weekend. Touch base with people you know. Touch base with people perhaps you haven't talked to in a while. It's all good. I'm Peter Mansbridge.

This has been the Bridge Daily. Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you again on Monday. Thank you.