The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - The Weekend Special #59

Episode Date: May 7, 2021

Your letters, comments and questions on everything from bee-keeping to vaccines.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here with the latest episode of The Bridge. You're just moments away from the weekend special. Like you, I have been so grateful and so thankful for frontline workers during the COVID crisis. Let's just talk about the frontline workers at SickKids, which is one of the world's best children's hospitals. SickKids doctors also work behind the scenes on incredible breakthroughs to help our kids and generations to come. Listen to their inspiring stories in a new season of the popular podcast called SickKids Versus. Each episode explores a major SickKids discovery like, well, a virus-fighting super molecule or a cure for hard-to-treat cancers.

Just visit sickkidsfoundation.com slash podcast or search Sick Kids Versus and spell versus VS. So Sick Kids VS. You'll be amazed at what you learn. Ah, yes, it's Friday. And we love Fridays. Weekend special means it's time for your thoughts, your comments, your questions. And it's been another week where the mail bag has been full with lots of thoughts from many of you in different parts of the country and, in fact, different parts of the world. The worldwide audience of The Bridge comes to the fore every Friday with the weekend special. So let's get her started with the reminder that they come in no particular order,

although I try to save one for the end that, I don't know, for me kind of sums up the week. In different ways, every week. Not all the letters that come in make it onto the mailbag, onto the on-air edition, and they don't always end up on the air in their entirety. I read all the letter, but I'll often just pick out a small part of it to actually run on the program.

All right, the first one comes from Keldip Jassal, and you'll never guess what it is he does for a living. You may recall last week that we had on one of the podcasts a discussion about how there were beekeepers at a number of airports in the U.S. Because there had been a feature article in one of the airline magazines that I get a chance to read every once in a while. And talked about how this had started in the last 10 or 15 years

and had become a very productive area of the wide open spaces around airports to pollinate that land. And at the same time, it turned out that it had some impact on keeping away geese and the kind of birds that can cause all kinds of problems for aircraft as they're coming into land or taking off. Anyway, Kaldib Jassal writes, because I mentioned at the end, I wonder what's happening with Canadian airports. Kaldib Jassal writes,

Hi Peter, I'm the beekeeper at Toronto Pearson Airport. Many Canadian airports have started to keep bees in the last five years or so. And then he goes on to give a link to the beekeeping situation at Pearson. It's easy to find. You just, you know, go to the main website, torontopearson.com,

and eventually, you know, click in bees and what have you, or just Google it and they'll take you there. So I thought that was pretty good. It means we have a beekeeping audience for the bridge. Here's another one, same topic. It's from Anna in Ottawa. Anna has chosen not to share her last name with us. I always prefer when you give your full name and where you're writing from.

We'll let this one pass because it seems pretty legit. Hi, hello, Peter. I'm in good company during my daily walks with the bridge. In response to your interest in the bees in Canada on your Thursday show last week, the new Senate of Canada building in downtown Ottawa also has an apiary. So all those people who say there's no value in the Senate,

those senators do nothing. Well, thank you, Anna, because you're proving that, in fact, they do at least one thing well, and that's they host an apiary on the roof of their building. Good for them. The building is of the former government conference center. Many of those great constitutional conferences of the 70s and 80s, and I think into the 90s, took place in the government conference center,

which before it was a government conference center was, you guessed it, the original Ottawa train station. Trains used to come in, come right up alongside the Rideau Canal and go right into the main train station, which was right there at the corner of, well, it comes right up to Wellington Street there. Right across from where now is the Westin Hotel. Now, I remember that train station because when I was in the Navy in 1966,

for Christmas of 1966, I was posted on the West Coast. I was in Victoria at a Squamult. And we took the train. We were allowed to go home for Christmas. So we took the train all the way from Vancouver to Ottawa. And I remember, because it had been the first time I'd been away from home for any length of time. And I remember well the train pulling into the Ottawa train station. And my parents and my girlfriend at that time were there to meet me in the train station.

Anyway, apparently they've got an apiary on the roof of the building. The Ottawa Citizen did a feature, so same thing. Go to OttawaCitizen.com and try to the uh the bee story if you're interested in that apparently they have 750 000 bees okay that's the buzz on that story oh Rebecca Hock from Port Perry, Ontario writes, thank you for talking about the Canadian connection to the Netherlands during World War II.

This is what we did yesterday because it's the anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands, a good chunk of which was done by Canadians. Both sets of my grandparents were children, and they have many different stories about the Canadian soldiers. They immigrated to Canada after the war, either on their own or with their families, all because of Canada's involvement. My grandmother was even featured in a newspaper

because she came with her parents and brothers and sisters on a plane, and she adds a picture of that plane, and it's great. It's on the Iceland Airways. It's hard to say for sure what it is. It looks like a DC-4, maybe a DC-6. That landed somewhere in Canada. And all the kids are lined up by height. Okay, the shortest on the left of the picture up to the tallest on the right

of the picture. But Rebecca adds at the end, I would not be here today if the Canadians would not have been there and helped the Dutch during the war. We got there just in time. It was a dire situation in the Netherlands when the Canadians arrived there and liberated the Dutch in late April of 1945. And the final liberation was on May 5th, so just a couple

of days ago. In fact, I had a number of letters and comments about the Dutch story, because it's a wonderful story. I'm on the board of Historica and so we released just last year on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands we released a Heritage Minute very, just a great one

those minutes are so good they're so well done I mean obviously I'm biased I'm on the board but man, that team that puts those together are some of the best visual people that we have in this country. Because they condense into a minute, you know, an often involved story. But they do it in such a way that it grabs your attention, makes you proud to feel Canadian and be Canadian.

And they're often very emotional stories, and that one is, especially so. And yes, that's my voice at the end of it. Anyway, here's another letter, and it comes from my good friend, my colleague, my buddy, my co-author of Extraordinary Canadians, Mark Bulgich. Mark and I had been to the Netherlands a few times doing these stories. Your words about the 50th anniversary of the Dutch liberation by Canadians brought back many memories. General Kitchings summoning the ghosts at the surrender table. The mother of that little boy who wanted him to know what a Canadian was. There was another moment I will never forget. I was with a group of CBC people in the town square of Appledorn as our technical people were laying cable

to get us ready to broadcast the big parade on the weekend. Suddenly a woman approached us from the bakery carrying a basket of muffins. She said she was so thankful to us for liberating the Dutch, she just had to give us the muffins. I told her it was very nice of her, but just for the record, I was too young to have liberated the Netherlands. This is Mark talking to this woman. I wasn't born until several years after the war. Doesn't matter, she said. You are a Canadian. You fed us at the end of the war.

Now I'm going to feed you. It was hard not to cry. And if you've been to the Netherlands, and almost anywhere you go there, if you say, hey, I'm from Canada, I'm a Canadian, or if you're wearing a Canadian flag on your bag or on your jacket or something, they'll notice you. And it is remarkable the way they greet you and look after you and care for you. All because you're Canadian. All because 76 years ago, those young guys, and they were all guys at that point, the women came in the year that followed the liberation to help rebuild.

But those young guys who came and thousands of them sacrificed everything to support the Dutch. And that relationship with the Dutch is very strong. In communities far and wide in this country, here's one of them. And Ed Garneau writes to me from right here in Stratford, Ontario. Today's talk about the liberation reminded me of an incident I hadn't thought of in years. In 1982, during a gap year backpacking trip in Europe,

I was on a train in Holland near Arnhem. I had my backpack with its ubiquitous Canadian flag on it, propped against my seat. An older lady kept smiling at me from a few rows away. I smiled back. As she got up to get off, she leaned towards me, pointed at my flag, and said with a strong Dutch accent, Thank you, Canada. Canada is a good country. Having just been to Dieppe and seen the graves of all those Canadian boys,

Dieppe in France, of course, in terrible August 1942 raid there, botched raid in the planning, not as much in the execution, and most of whom were about my age when they died. There was a very moving moment. I cried. And by the way, the beautiful orange tulips at the Dutch Memorial Gardens by the Lion's Pool,

that's here in Stratford, just down the street from here, are especially beautiful right now. There were young fellows from Perth County who were a part of the liberation of the Netherlands, of Holland, the area around Appeldoorn and elsewhere. And there's a Dutch Memorial Gardens that's supported by the Dutch, just like so many other spots in Canada.

I think a member of the Dutch royal family was just here in the last year or two and walked in those gardens, and we're talking about small gardens. This is like smaller than most people have in their front yard, but it's there lest we ever forget. than most people have in their front yard. But it's there lest we ever forget. Because the Dutch don't forget. Now, here is a sign of the times, and it's going to lead us into our break before we start off the next section of the weekend special.

This, I think, is a sign of the times. I saw it on, you know, I can't remember. It was either on Instagram or it came in my junk mail. But it's from a company called Key Masks. And they have all kinds of fancy masks. Masks for women, masks for men, masks for kids. masks. And they have all kinds of fancy masks. Masks for women, masks for men, masks for kids. And guess what

the headline is on this? Closing down sale. Up to 50% off. As the pandemic is winding down, we decided to shut down our store. Everything must go.

It's first come, first serve. Please stay safe and get vaccinated. We have discounted prices. Check it out. Okay, this is not an ad. This is part of the weekend special. It's a sign of the times. This little company probably didn't set up until about a year ago to make masks, fancy ones. Remember when

you couldn't get a mask? You couldn't find a mask? Now there are masks everywhere you look. And the first of the closing out sale. All right. Time to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Are you still trying to find ways to get into the world of crypto? Well, look no further. BitBuy is Canada's number one platform for buying and selling Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Bitbuy has launched a brand new app and website with a new look, lower fees, and new coins.

Bitbuy is your one-stop shop to get involved and super easy to use for beginners. Visit bitbuy.ca or download the Bitbuy app. Enter referral code PODCAST20 to get $20 free when you make your first deposit. Peter Mansbridge once again. This is the weekend special right here on the bridge. Whether you're listening on podcast or whether you're listening on SiriusXM, Channel 167 Canada Talks, good to have you with us. Okay, we're carrying on with our letters,

the mailbag section of the weekend special. And for this one, we reach out overseas to a fellow who's written to us every, he writes to us every couple of months. We find him in a different part of the world. Why? Because he works on a ship. I can't remember now whether it's a tanker or a cargo ship or what have you. It's not a passenger ship.

It's not a cruise liner. Jeffrey Oliver. He's from St. John's, Newfoundland. But right now, he says he's currently anchored outside Antwerp, Belgium. So what's Jeffrey's concern this week? Here's what's on his mind. What's the big deal about a vaccine passport? Why the hesitation?

There are many countries which already require visitors to meet certain health requirements in order to enter the country. For example, I have a yellow card, which means I have had a vaccine for yellow fever, without which I'm unable to enter certain countries around the world. I also have my vaccine record book, which shows when I received several other vaccines. And a few years ago, when sailing to New Zealand, I was required to get a chest x-ray to check for TB, which I had to submit to the New Zealand Health Authority before being allowed entry.

It seems to me that a vaccine passport is nothing new. In terms of needing a vaccine passport in order to do more day-to-day things like going to a grocery store, I can see where that could get tricky, as everyone has the right to food and such. But needing it to go to the movies or a sports event where you're likely to be surrounded by lots of people, I think that's a great idea. Maybe it will put an end or at least stop the growth of the anti-vax movement. For those people who are unable to get the vaccine due to health issues, there could be an exemption in the passport

so that people with underlying conditions wouldn't be held back for anything. Well, Jeffrey, you know, I think a lot of people tend to agree with you on that. When it initially came up in Canada, there was a hesitation around the privacy issue, and the government seemed to be indicating that it was hesitant on that. That's changed in the last couple of weeks. And it seems to be universally, well, not universally, but there seems to be a lot of acceptance in a lot of different parts of the world. And Canada seems to be going along with that, although they're fully investigating all the potential issues surrounding a form of vaccine passport. I agree with you.

We actually have kind of vaccine passports in some cases because you're right. That little yellow book of your record of vaccines, you need to get in and out of certain countries. This one gets complicated because of the different vaccines, and some countries accept some vaccines, not others. So that'll be an interesting thing to see how that unfolds. Alex Cianfloni, Brock University, has a number of things, I'm going to read just one.

I recently completed my third year of university completely online at Brock University. Since I know young adults such as myself listen to your podcast, I feel compelled to give all post-secondary students recognition for completing both the fall and winter terms online. This term has been unique for me, with a recent death of someone dear to me and my job prospects very limited. I still remain optimistic for a brighter future in the months ahead. I figured I might as well let you know, since I'm roughly your son's age, and our experiences have been very similar, but at different institutions. Thank you for keeping me stable throughout these past two terms. I look forward to the in-person classroom experience once again.

Good luck on that, Alex. A lot of people hoping that will start next year. Yeah, my son's a year ahead of you, and this is his graduation year. And it's not going to be the graduation that he dreamt of since he was a little boy. He goes to University of Toronto. His graduation's coming up in a couple of weeks.

There'll be no, you know, fancy ceremony. He'll be at home, online, watching all those other young people who he came to university with four years ago get their degrees as they too are standing in their homes, looking into a computer camera. It's just not what was hoped for.

Now he lives in a hotspot. So he was very lucky at 21. He got his vaccine just two days ago. He got his shot. And so that's the upside of this moment. He also has a job that he's been working part-time at and he'll be now working full-time at. So that's good.

But I appreciate and understand the frustration for a lot of people, and Alex getting through third year is the same. This is not the experience that they thought it was going to be, at least in this moment. And stealing the excitement of the graduation moment is very unfortunate. But you know what? There are a lot of other things that are going well, and I think you've got to take that

and embrace that moment. Robin Ward writes from Edmonton, I just listened to yesterday's Smoke Mirrors and the Truth. It was excellent. I so appreciate your and Bruce's insights. You hit a home run with Bruce as your discussion partner on Wednesdays. Bruce is a real asset to the Canadian political commentary community. All right, Robin, really?

What are you, his aunt or his cousin or something? He's rational, analytical, respectful, calm, compassionate. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A combination of personality traits that one does not always hear in the public sphere. Thank you both so much for smoke mirrors and the truth. Combination of personality traits that one does not always hear in the public sphere. Thank you both so much for smoke mirrors and the truth. Wednesdays are the highlight of my week. Another Bruce fan.

Paul Thompson writes, you know, we had a discussion about NaziZI, the committee advising on inoculations and the controversy surrounding that committee and how it's come down on the different side than some of the other experts. And it's created all kinds of communications problems. Paul Thompson writes, Nice program today. I'm delighted to hear you and others shedding light on NASI and specifically what you refer to as their communications problem. This is an important part. So Robin Ward in Edmonton, you better be listening to this.

I was delighted to hear you suggest to Bruce that he was being rather generous in his appraisal of their, in my view, irresponsible actions with regard to vaccines. A little knock at the perfect prince there. I think the doctors you have on each week are great, and I cannot thank you enough for your insightful discussions hey we're lucky to have bruce with us there's no doubt about that he's a big factor in the weekly unveiling of the bridge and the wednesday program obviously in particular

he's been great and he's a long-time friend of mine. Graham Mount writes from North York, Ontario. I enjoyed listening to Isaac Bogoch's candid take on Twitter when you had him on as a guest this week. I'm wondering if you have the same it's net negative view that he does of the social media platform. Twitter can be such an amazing tool. All you have to do is look at what's happening with the Vaccine Hunters Canada Twitter account. Started by a small group of people who sought to share valuable information about where folks can access a vaccine. It's helped thousands of people across the country get vaccinated, sure has. I do worry about the negative impact Twitter is having on our young people.

I'm in my mid-20s. I'm thankful I didn't grow up with Twitter the same way teens and young folks are today. Too many people say hurtful things and are able to hide behind a screen with no consequences. And then there's the misinformation problem Dr. Bogoch spoke to when you had him on the show. What's your view? Is Twitter more bad than good? Isaac Bogoch, of course, is one of the top-ranked infectious disease

specialists in the country, and we have him on often as a part of our doctor's group. That gives us an assessment every Monday of sort of where we stand on things. What's my view? Well, I kind of hinted at it, well, more than hinted at it in the conversation with Dr. Bogoch the other day, but here's how I replied directly to Graham, because I dropped him a quick email back the other day.

What I said was, it's in your control, is what I tell most people. If you want garbage, you follow garbage. If you want smart stuff, you follow smart stuff. So more good than bad, if you're smart in your choices. If you're not, then it's more bad than good. And that's a pretty simple, I mean, you do control what you follow. You can block the garbage. You can never follow the garbage. There's lots of smart people, smart organizations that you can follow. And just ignore the crap. Barb King. She loves Isaac Bogoch too.

He's from Alberta, deserves an award, says Barb King. I'm writing to you from a recently designated, just yesterday, hotspot, which is a wonderful southern Alberta town named Okotoks. First, I wish to thank all the residents of this province who've done their civic and humanitarian duties these past several months to follow the COVID guidelines and adhere to the restrictions, keeping themselves and others safe, and who have been going for their vaccinations when given the opportunity to do so. Second, it's my hope that recent events such as the Bowdoin Rodeo that made national headlines

does not leave the rest of the country with the misleading impression that what the government and the Alberta Health Services asks us to do is not being followed. Yes, not everyone is following them, but there is a large number of people here who are. Third, I write this prior to today's announcement by the Premier, Jason Kenney, about the newest COVID restrictions, I wanted to ask you, Peter and Bruce, what your opinions are regarding Alberta's current situation. What crucial next steps would you recommend be taken? Lastly, with all hope and optimism, I know that the majority of Albertans will do their part to get us through this. With much

gratitude, I say thank you to all the healthcare professionals in this province who are working so hard to battle this virus. Barb, I'm not a doctor. I'm just a journalist, and a retired one at that. And I don't think it's for me or for Bruce to tell anybody what to do. All I would implore with governments and healthcare professionals who have a responsibility to talk, that they are open and as transparent as possible,

that they deal in the facts, and that we deal in the facts, and that we deal in the facts. You know, I had a number of letters this week with wanting me to read these examples of misinformation they'd seen. I'm not going to read those out loud on a podcast or a broadcast. All that does is further the misinformation. It doesn't matter if I say it's

garbage. To some, it won't be. So I don't go there. All I ask is that those who are dealing with the public are as transparent as possible and that the public listens and uses a degree of common sense. Dr. Jane Rusnak in St. Catharines, Ontario. I'm a bit behind in my listening, but I was able to catch some of the Friday podcasts.

That's last Friday. One listener was lamenting about how could they convince vaccine-hesitant family members to get vaccinated against COVID-19. One of my practical and entertaining patients had a great approach for his wife. She entered the room while he was booking his vaccination online and offered to book hers as well. She declined, saying she would wait, would think about it. He her suit yourself but the first chance i get i'm out of here to mexico and i guess you'll be staying home her response okay book me he proved that you just need to know your audience the same is true as a family

physician you have to remember what is important to the individual, whether it be to travel or to spend time with family or friends or to not have to leave in fear. People need to make informed decisions by weighing the pros and cons. But as a bottom line, the potential benefits significantly outweigh any potential risks, and the risks and consequences of COVID-19 infection are too great. I have, however, been known to add a few pleases when I ask them to seriously consider vaccination. Always good to hear from Jane Rosnack. Dr. Jane in St. Catharines.

Excuse me. in St. Catharines. Excuse me. Nancy and Dave Mills, right from Halifax, and we're getting down to the end here. I think we just got one more after this. Nancy and Dave Mills. Greetings from Halifax. As you know, recently the COVID floodgates have opened in our province, and I want to thank

you for having Dr. Lisa Barrett on your podcast last Tuesday to discuss the dire situation we now find ourselves in. I wept twice today. The first time was during the daily COVID briefing when our premier announced that two people had died from complications of COVID in the Halifax area. One was a woman in her 50s. I'm in my 50s, so maybe this is why it struck me so hard. And a man in his 70s. Both these individuals died at home, and one of them had not even been identified as having COVID.

This was an incredibly sad piece of news to hear on top of the announcement of another new daily high case count from our province. The second time I wept today was hearing Dr. Barrett tell the story of the young man in ICU gasping for breath. It was heartbreaking. The latest wave of COVID has crashed ashore here in Nova Scotia, and it has shaken us. I felt very uneasy as I listened to Dr. Barrett say that things are as bad as they can get without being out of control. But as I reflected on the conversation, I actually listened to it twice. I hung on to the words of the young man in the ICU.

I'll get there, he said. Oh, thank you for that. Nancy and Dave Mills in Halifax. And that was a really gripping interview with our friend Dr. Barrett. And I've had many, many comments, like Nancy's there, about that interview and how it impacted them. All right. The last letter I'm going to read, it's not long, but it's not short either. And for some reason in the transmission of it over email, I can't format it in a printing fashion to be able to read it comfortably on air. So I have to actually move my laptop in here. So there may be some sort of kind of crashing and banging here for a moment.

It comes from Chantelle Corsi. I don't think Chantelle. Oh, you'll understand here in a minute why she doesn't say exactly where she is. Hi, Peter. It's been a long day, and I'm probably too late sending you in my input for the weekend special. No, you're not too late. This came in during the night. This is an exceptional week for my husband and I. I can honestly say I cannot provide you with a location of where I am writing from because we're on a one-way cross-Canada road trip

in the midst of moving from Vancouver to Ottawa. Well, so it's not quite cross-Canada, but it's a long way. Yes, this is the worst time ever. We've been planning this move for a couple of years, mostly to be back with our families. Little do you know that you've been accompanying us this week as we drive across Canada by listening to your podcasts. We are now in Red Rock, Ontario.

We decided to drive instead of fly to give us time to reflect, and it's a great plot device for the bridge between one chapter to the next. The drive also makes it feel almost normal again, and we're getting a bit of a reprieve from the constant pandemic reminders. I'm posting our daily road trip adventures on Facebook so that our friends can accompany us virtually. Based on their comments, they are all chomping at the bit to travel again, aren't we all? What a vast and beautiful country we have with amazing topography,

ranging from having the mountains in your face to that flat part in the middle. Manitoba is astonishingly flatter than Saskatchewan. Well, parts of it anyway. The drive gave me time to think about a few random bits I would like to share with you. You may recall that back in late February, I wrote to you asking about vaccination advice for my pregnant daughter who is a frontline nurse. Thanks to Dr. Boguch's answer on your podcast, she got vaccinated. In hindsight, that was the

best decision given that pregnant women are very vulnerable to the variants and are now considered a priority for vaccination. I can't thank you enough for asking the question. That was very kind of you and it made a real positive impact on our family. Both my husband and I got the AstraZeneca vaccine in BC about three weeks ago. We're hoping to get our second dose in Ontario. I'm concerned about falling through the cracks due to the timing of our move. It would be great if you could confirm this with one of your guests during an upcoming podcast. All I can tell you is you'll get your second dose, but it's going to take a while.

I mean, I got AstraZeneca as well in late March, and my appointment for my second dose isn't until late July. It's going to take a while. My husband has been wondering if both doses of vaccines are the same or different. Lo and behold, you answered this question during Monday's podcast with Dr. Bogoch. That's right. They're exactly the same, first and second doses. And they may even be able to mix brands, right?

You could have had an AstraZeneca for a first dose. We're still waiting on a decision, but it seems likely, not confirmed, that you'd be able to take, say, a Pfizer or a Moderna as your second dose. And that may be needed because of supply issues. As you know, most provinces now have roadblocks to enforce the travel restrictions. We did not come across any except for two. One in BC, where the RCMP was off to the side of the road, not stopping any vehicles at the border between health authorities.

And a second at the Manitoba-Ontario border. The OPP stopped all cars to ask why we were traveling. We provided our response, and they did not ask for any documentation. They told us we would not believe just how many people are moving from BC and Alberta to Ontario. Who knew? I'll say, who knew that? I haven't heard that. We actually saw the sign of the longitudinal center of Canada

just outside of Winnipeg. Thank God we're not going to be, we're not going to Newfoundland. You don't want to say it like that. We could all be so lucky to go to Newfoundland and stay in Newfoundland, live in Newfoundland. Spectacular scenery, great people, fabulous food. And Mark Critch. I mean mean one more could you want

electric cars i recall the episodes you did with bruce on electric cars a listener had a question about charging stations we saw quite a few in bc but they seem few and far between in the prairies it might be because we were mostly off the Trans-Canada Highway until close to the Manitoba-Ontario border. I'll be on the lookout for charging stations while we cross Ontario. Talking about cars, here's a bit of trivia for you and your listeners. Did you know that the world's biggest tandem and axle truck is in Sparwood, B.C.

I did not know that. And she includes a picture. It's big. Last but not least, I gave your book, Extraordinary Canadians, as a Christmas gift to my brother-in-law, whose name is also Peter. He really enjoyed it. I have a suggestion for a sequel if you're considering writing another book. Perhaps you could dedicate a book on extraordinary Canadian elders. They have such fascinating stories and wisdom to share. I'll never forget when I asked my friend's

elderly father about his days as a World War II pilot with the UK's Royal Air Force. His face immediately lit up, and he went into great detail recounting his war stories. He said he has never come across such an exhilarating time since then. I now wish I had written down his stories before he passed away. Sorry for the long email. I'm a bit too tired to edit for brevity. I totally understand if you don't share it,

and I thank you so much for reading it. Have a great weekend. What a great letter. And, you know, I'm sure you've had lots of time throughout that journey to be thinking about all kinds of things but I think you should know that a lot of us envy you

that you've got the time to do a cross Canada trip I mean I love flying as all of you know. And I cherish those times that I crisscross the country, getting to see different cities and meet different people. But I miss the time that you used to take. You know, I started this broadcast today talking about the train ride I took as an 18-year-old heading home for Christmas from Vancouver to Ottawa. You know, seeing the prairies, seeing the Rockies,

going through northern Ontario, doing all that. I can't remember how long it took. You know, two or three days. Relaxing. It was great. Now it takes two or three hours in a plane. And you've got to hope for a clear sky

to be able to see anything on the ground. But we've got a great country. Lots to be proud of in our past. And lots to be proud of in our present, including those amazing people who are doing things to help others through this pandemic.

So, I think we all felt for a moment anyway part of your journey your cross canada journey right now and so thanks so much for taking the time to a listen to the podcast and b drop us a line safe journey and for all of you safe weekend we're at the weekend. I hope the weather's okay for you. It's not great here in southwestern Ontario. It's actually kind of blah. We're all looking forward to the real sense of an oncoming summer. Get your vaccine if you can.

Just about everybody's eligible now. But it takes persistence on the phone, online to get an appointment. But you can get one. So do it. And stay safe. Just because you've had a vaccine doesn't take away from the fact

that you've got to be acting with common sense, keeping a mask handy, staying distant, avoiding big crowds, all of that. So have a great weekend. Look forward to talking to you again next week. I'm Peter Mansbridge. This has been The Bridge. Thanks for listening. Talk to you again on Monday. Thank you.