The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - The Weekend Special #9 -- Your Big Ideas

Episode Date: May 15, 2020

Celebrating the 100th episode of "the bridge" including the last 45 as "daily" on COVID-19, we spend this weekend's special on your Big Ideas for how to use this opportunity to change Canada for the good.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here with the latest episode of the Bridge Daily. It's Friday, weekend special day. Here we are at the end of week nine of the daily edition of The Bridge, where we have been focusing on, what else, COVID-19. Every day for the last nine weeks. Lots to talk about today because we have some of your big ideas, some of your big projects, some of the things you've been thinking on of suggesting that the country use its resources, its energy, its innovation to come up with some new ideas on a big project front. So it in fact could have an

impact on not only the way we live, on our society, but on our economy. That's the idea behind the big projects. Well, we've also got your regular mail. We've got a lot of it, so we're going to get right to it. I just wanted to make one comment. You know, the White House was running around earlier today saying, big announcement, noon, on the vaccine. Don't want to miss it.

Well, they never suggested they had a vaccine, but they certainly suggested there was something big and new going to happen in their noon news conference. I've got to say, when President Trump announced it, it was treated as if it was news. But quite frankly, you know, seriously, what was the news in there? The news in there was a vaccine might be ready by the end of the year or January.

It's interesting, right? All the things Trump says are going to happen, whether it's the turnaround in the economy or the new vaccine, all the good news, it's going to happen after the election. In other words, it's not going to happen before the election, but it's going to happen right after the election. Okay, sure, Whatever you say. But on this point about

end of the year, is there an echo in this room? Switch back the Bridge Daily to April 16. We did a whole show on exactly that, focused on one of the Canadian entries in the race for a new vaccine, the University of Saskatchewan. And what did we determine there? That when we used to talk about 12 to 18 months

is the earliest it would take for a vaccine. That was from back when things started, late last year in December, which put us at the end of this year, December or January. So, all news is old news, I guess. Enough about that. I guess President Trump is listening to some of the back editions of the Bridge Daily. Must have caught it there. All right, let's get serious with your letters, your questions,

your comments, your thoughts. We'll get to your big projects in a minute, but first some kind of like regular mail. And we start off with, once again, I don't read all of your letters, just parts of them. Some of them are quite long, so I just kind of boil it down to a bit from each. And also, there's no particular order in these, just kind of the way they came off the printer, okay?

This comes from Sonia Horry Thiessen, originally from Steinbeck, Manitoba, now lives in London, Ontario. I work at the Museum of Ontario Archaeology here in London, and the nature of my work does not allow me to work from home. It's a job that requires working with the collections and handling the artifacts on a daily basis. I worry about museums in general and how they're going to survive in the future.

Much of the revenue generated by museums comes from education programs. With the schools being closed, museums have taken a big hit financially. I used to work at the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg, and they've had to lay off a significant number of staff in the last few weeks due to lost revenues. And when museums are finally allowed to open again, will people actually want to visit? Many new exhibits in museums involve technology

that requires a lot of interactive screen touching by visitors. I highly doubt that people will be lining up to try out the touchscreens anytime soon. It's unfortunate museums have taken such a big hit, as they are such a valuable part of our society. My three children have grown up visiting museums and always enjoy when we find a new one to explore. I hope that when things calm down a bit and people are looking for a place to go,

they'll take a trip to support their local museum. Sonia, you make a lot of good points there. I hadn't thought of the touchscreen issue for museums. I don't know, if they wore plastic gloves, would that help? I'm not sure how that works. But nevertheless, museums are such a critical part of our understanding our own past, the way we've developed as a, you know,

the human race and as we've developed as a society. Museums are an important part of informing ourselves about ourselves. So we don't want to lose that. Gail North in Vancouver. I count myself as one of your loyal listeners. Thoroughly enjoy your podcast as I walk to work, so much so that I laugh out loud or finish your sentence aloud. It's great fun. I don't know how I'm supposed to take that, Gail. I know, I tend to leave big pauses. I do that deliberately, Gail, so you can kind of jump in and finish my thought. Anyway,

you frequently mention a book you've read, and time doesn't allow me to jot down the title. Any thought given to creating a reading list. Maybe I'll think about that but this next letter kind of handles it for me. Tim Jenkins from Mississauga. I thoroughly enjoy your podcast. A few weeks ago you referenced that you were reading Eric Larson's book The Splendid and the Vile and next up was The Ship of Dreams. Coincidentally, I had just finished Larson's book and then purchased Russell's book on your recommendation. That's The Ship of Dreams about the Titanic. Having finished both, I would appreciate any further recommendations

or updates on what you are currently reading. Well, I decided, you know, I'm a big history buff, so those first two books you mentioned, obviously, are history. But I decided in the midst of this thing, you know, I'm a big history buff, so those first two books you mentioned, obviously, are history. But I decided in the midst of this thing, you know what, I need a good bit of fiction. So I've been reading Stuart Neville's latest book called Rat Lines. It's set in Ireland in the early 1960s, just before President Kennedy's visit there.

I won't say any more than that. Good book. So far. I'm halfway through it. Christy Lease writes from Burlington, Ontario. I work as a PSW, public service worker, at Joseph Brandt Hospital here in Burlington, on the palliative care unit.

Thankfully, we have not had any cases of COVID on our unit, but it has been a trying time for us as we try our best to support our patients and their families. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to be facing death in this time where there's limited visitors. Also to have us hospital staff coming into the room with all our gear on, mask, full face shield and gown. I think that's the hardest thing is that they can't see my smile under my mask. On my days off I have been sewing scrub caps for the staff. They help to make the face shields more comfortable on our heads. And there's something fun for patients to look at instead of just boring, scary masks and shields. I've donated over 40 caps, and now I'm selling them with 25% proceeds going to the food bank and Food for Life.

So I'm also thanking you for providing me something worthy and informative to listen to while I sew. Sometimes I listen to four or five episodes on my day off to catch up, and it helps keep me company as I sew. Christy included a picture of some of her friends at the hospital, her coworkers, and they're all in their masks and caps. And you can tell, even with all that on, that they got big smiles on their faces. And obviously that's what they want to show the patients they have to deal with as well. And so I appreciate that, Christy, and keep up the extraordinary work that all of you do

in your essential roles. Bethany Collicutt from Charlottetown. Monday's podcast got me thinking about my new life working from home. I teach at a community college and usually spend my days surrounded by people in various forms of chaos, and I had very little opportunity for solitude. That was my life, my identity. I was busy, my life's theme. Now that I'm teaching online, I found there were brand new gaps in my day that needed to be filled. I've taken up yoga. I'm training for a marathon, and I've discovered audiobooks.

I found the solitude I've craved. I certainly miss haircuts and restaurants, even getting my teeth cleaned. But I think I've taken more away from this work-at-home opportunity than I have ever imagined. David Oliver, who we've heard from a few times before, writes from Victoria, and I'll condense this down a little bit. He was throwing another name into the history of great leaders mix, and this is one that a lot of people probably wouldn't think of, but he makes a strong argument for it. Remember Churchill lost the election in 1945

after winning the war and being incredibly popular through the inspiring words he gave the people of Britain. Then he lost the election that was held right after the war ended in the summer of 1945. He lost to Clement Attlee, who was the labor leader. He was a one-term prime minister. Churchill then won again in 49 or 50. But Clement Attlee, for a guy who was just there in one term,

had a huge impact in terms of change. People want to change after the war. The National Health Service, sickness and unemployment benefits, family allowances, pensions, finance, housing, town planning, labor relations, workers' compensation, and the list goes on and on. David lists it all in his letter. Here's why I think Attlee was a great leader, he writes. He did not allow Britain's perilous financial position, close to bankruptcy, much of the time, and beset by shortages of food,

housing, and resources, not to mention disagreements around the cabinet table by some pretty big personalities, to distract him from putting into effect the needed changes. There's a lesson for us today. This COVID-19 pandemic has revealed some deep faults in the management of the care of the elderly and the way people doing vital work are underpaid. I think there's an evolving consensus that things need to change, but it won't be long before some people say we can't afford the required expenditure. It will take leadership of the kind demonstrated by Clement Attlee, principled, determined, pragmatic, to bring about that change.

Here's one from Scott Dryden. in Morden Manitoba originally from Smith Falls Ontario I work as a civil engineering technologist instructing drafting at a Winkler high school Winkler's just east of Morden I walk my dogs twice a day once in the morning once in the late afternoon while listening to your podcast one morning I forgot my dogs twice a day, once in the morning, once in the late afternoon, while listening to your podcast. One morning, I forgot my Apple Watch at home. So when I went to take the boys, that's his dogs, for their walk, I was disappointed that I would not be able to listen to the bridge. It was the Friday Mailbag Edition. What a pleasant surprise I received. Mother Nature can be so tranquil. The birds were singing up a storm. I remember on one of your April podcasts, you commented to get outside in the backyard, listen to the birds. You know your stuff. That's what I love about the podcast. It bridges reality with what is going on in our Canada land. I now listen to Nature's podcast on our morning walks and The Bridge on our afternoon walks. Thank you for bringing me into the moment which allows me to see the trees

within the forest. Thanks, Scott. Ashley Brunshaw in Kitchener. As I've been hearing more and more about places in the country reopening, Ontario now somewhat included, it has caused my anxiety to increase. Part of it was around masks and where to find them, or finding a way to make a cloth covering. When you read the piece from the Washington Post about Etsy, I went straight there. By the way, in case no one mentioned it to you, Peter, Etsy is basically a craftersamazon.ca.

I was able to find a local seller who's donated hundreds of masks to her local hospital, and funds raised from the sales of the masks on Etsy are being donated to the local food bank. They are stylish, and I agree with the article that this will be the new fashion statement. I got excited about all the designs, and it has reduced my anxiety around this issue. Alex Cianfloni. I don't know, Alex. I hope that kind of put an Italian accent into that. I don't know whether that's right or not.

Alex is the student treasurer of the Sociology Student Association. BA honors sociology with a concentration in criminology at Brock University. He sent in a bunch of questions. I think he's questioning me, but you know what? I'm just going to turn these questions around and you can think about them. Because I don't think it's for me to answer these for you. One, Asian-Canadian discrimination and racism

has been on the rise all across Canada. Do you believe this treatment will sustain itself post-pandemic and find itself into the political sphere? I sure hope not. I don't know whether that's going to happen. China's a big player in the world and will continue to be, and even with those who are giving the big tough talk these days, on the other hand, they're trying to make big deals with China. Look no further than the White House.

Three, will the pandemic and the American response further strengthen Trump's re-election campaign, or will the Democrats move towards the 2020 presidential election? Well, that is going to be the fascinating part about the next six months, isn't it going to be? We'll see how that election plays out. I have my thoughts on that, but I can't express them here. Four, this pandemic has shown that the long-term health care system

is failing under the private sector. Would concrete action be taken once the pandemic is over, or would the government simply neglect the shortcomings and move forward with their agenda? I don't think any government, federal or provincial or municipal, if they're involved, can ignore the situation in long-term health care. And I think there's going to be a major part of our next few years once we get past this in terms of trying to determine it.

Lastly, Alex says, one of my favorite interviews of yours was with Gord Downie back in 2016. It really showed the heart of a gentleman who was taken too soon, and your journalism surely displayed that without question. Gord was a friend, great musician,

fabulous Canadian, and we think of him often. Okay, time to get to some of your big ideas. I'm just going to, you know what we haven't done in a long time, is take a short music bridge. It's so long ago that I don't even know which music some of these are. But let's try one for 15 seconds or so while I get my papers in order for the big projects. All right.

Yikes. That was a little heavy, wasn't it? Let's dial that one right down and out of here. All right. The big ideas, we asked for your ideas, your suggestions, your thoughts on a big project. We heard Ralph Goodale the other day on the big water project in Western Canada, which would have a huge impact, create a lot of jobs,

create more food security, have an impact on climate change. This is not just to divert a little bit of water into a couple of farms in Saskatchewan. This is a big deal. So that's one. But let's talk about others. And once again, these aren't in any specific order. Some of them are quite long, and some of them are very short. But let's see what we can do here. I'll give you the warning now. This episode may run long. All right. Robert and Donna Lockhart write, as governments across Canada look for ways to stimulate our economy and strengthen it for the long haul, we have a golden opportunity to accelerate the development of homegrown industries and business

that contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. Here are three examples. The development, manufacture and installation of green energy equipment, products and infrastructure. The development, manufacture, promotion and adoption of electric transportation. And three, the development and manufacture of products, materials and processes to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings. Since this is an emerging sector and one that requires a well-educated and skilled workforce, Canada has a chance to stake a significant claim on this new frontier. However, if we don't act quickly, we'll miss the opportunity to be leaders and significant players.

I think there's already some progress on a number of these fronts, but this could be the opportunity to really expand that and get a lot more people and businesses involved. This letter goes on quite a bit. I'll read one more small section. One very impactful component of this big idea that we can take on right away is to speed up the transition to electric cars and trucks. Road transportation compromises one-fifth of Canada's GHG emissions. However, only about 2% of light-duty vehicles are electric. A huge bonus is that about 75% of our power comes from renewable sources and nuclear energy. Government policies, investments, and messaging are powerful tools to encourage the development and adoption of electric vehicles and the required infrastructure. Okay.

Ted Matthews from Kitchener, Ontario. He's got three ideas. They're all big. And they're all summed up in one sentence each. Pretty much, anyway. So here's Ted's offerings. One, build a waterway system of locks from James Bay to Lake Superior. That could increase the number of goods needed in the north

and generate travel opportunities and income. That is a big project. Very expensive. Would involve a lot of people and building. I'm just not sure if the result is one that can prove itself as a revenue generator. It might. I'm all one for opening up areas for better transportation from the north,

especially with climate change well in play. Ted's second idea, implement lighter than air infrastructure across Canada groups to work on the design of airships for transportation of commodities and passengers development of LTA ports across the country and training in the hiring of pilots mechanics, baggage, goods

handlers hey that's what I used to do. The tumble down effect and income generated would be tremendous. Wouldn't that be different? Airships across Canada. You know, one terrible accident

kind of killed airships as a big commercial venture other than to take sky shots of football games. Third, you mentioned the idea of rerouted rail traffic around urban centres. I remember last fall seeing signs on farms in Oxford and Perth counties saying no rails through farmland. So what about an initiative to look at redesigned rail cars to safely carry these different dangerous goods?

Surely with our technology, we could come up with something to make everyone feel safer. I still think we should get trains out of the middle of major cities and finding a safe way to move them around cities would be a huge project. Okay, Ron Fisher writes, this is

also very detailed and quite lengthy, and I boiled it down, Ron, to what I think are the most easily understood parts of this. But I think it's good. I think it's very good.

So here's Ron Fisher's big project. Most of our power tech is old, very old, and needs to be replaced. Now's the time to rebuild the entire grid and build it as a national grid, albeit with provincial subsectors. Our surface power lines are subject to bad weather of all types, from wind, ice, snow, and just trees falling over.

In a more extreme climate world, we need to harden this infrastructure and put it underground, from everywhere to everywhere, to every home and business. While we're burying all this power, we should use the same trenches and put fiber optic lines to every home and business in the country, thereby future-proofing our communications infrastructure and finally giving every home and business broadband internet access. And while we're digging up everything anyway, quite a lot of the water infrastructure is hopelessly antiquated. Let's relay that at the same time.

Lastly, one of the biggest fossil fuel consuming areas in Canada is home and building heating and air conditioning. This can be easily reduced in cost and environmental impact if we switched everyone to geothermal heating and cooling. Very few people do this because it's expensive and install-wise a bit complex for the layman. What if, while we're buying everything else, we put massive community-sized geothermal coils under the streets in front of every home and neighborhood and interconnect them into a single massive geothermal loop for homes. Into

each home would be a connection to the main loop and a heat pump that would replace the furnace and air conditioning. The cost of installation amortized over life of the project and maintenance can be built into a monthly charge that should be far less than people pay now for their heating. Rural can have these systems installed under the national plan for a low monthly cost that should be far less than their oil bills. This idea is huge and would cost a fortune, but if the government did it under a crown corporation with lots of small local workers and contractors, it would employ tons of people, and much of the cost could be recouped by charging for the services monthly,

directly to the consumer, with a mandate to make it less costly than current private sector options. With scale and 25% interest, or 0.25, in other words, a quarter of a point interest loans from the Bank of Canada, it should be doable. Don't let the biggest corporations in on it.

They'll suck up too much of the cost and profit, and we won't get value for money. You asked for big ideas. I hope you like this one. Ron, I do like that one. I think you've got a lot of interesting things in there, and there's no doubt it is big. It's huge.

It's national. It could have a big impact on the way we live. It could have a big impact on jobs right out of the gate. I think you've got something there. Sylvia Wheeler in Welland, Ontario. I'd train PSWs at nursing homes better, make the staff more professional. It's a hard job as some seniors have physical and mental problems.

Increase their ability to understand patients. These people are heroes and we need to give them our help to train them better, to give them more access to the knowledge they need to do the job we ask of them, and that will involve more money. So that's a big spending project. I'm not sure where it creates more jobs,

but nevertheless, it is a big idea. Deb Broomfield from Owen Sound. Maybe this is the time to put significant funds into building senior and retirement homes that would allow our older population a safe and happy place to live out their lives. I think when we're going to do this study, these inquiries into what happened

in these long-term care homes and retirement homes, we're going to have a better sense of what's needed, what's actually there, do we need more? If we need more, how would they be better built? Sarah Tacone, I've heard from her a couple of times in the last few weeks. Always on a different subject, and again today a very different subject, but it's part of the Big Idea program.

As a former elementary public school principal, I've been thinking for many years now that our current model of education needs a complete overhaul. Everyone knows that our current education system was created in the early industrial era and very much resembles a factory model that truly is no longer well equipped to deliver a quality education program for 21st century student learning needs. All aspects of our education system need to be re-examined and modernized to address this essential learning skills of the 21st century students. One area

that could help the reopening of schools while maintaining the social distancing criteria is year-round schooling. Students and staff breaks could be staggered throughout the calendar year. This change would reduce numbers in the classroom and definitely assist in managing post-pandemic logistics, but more importantly, it may be a step towards providing a better quality education for today's learners. We need major educational reform. Gary Aslanian from Geneva, Switzerland. We heard briefly from Gary last week, and he flushed it out a little bit in this letter for a big idea.

My proposal is simple. Canada Health Act and the Medicare system we have been proud of for many years needs updating. There's nothing wrong with opening up an act from 1984 in 2020. Things change. The act says that to receive federal government funding for health care, the provinces must pay for all hospital services that are medically necessary, as well as doctor services that are medically required. However, the Canada Health Act doesn't define medical necessity or provide a process for doing

so. This part needs to change. We need to switch from medically necessary to health and well-being necessary. Are drugs taken at home not medically necessary? While taken at the hospital, they are. Is dental care at the hospital more necessary than that at the dentist's office? Is home care less medically necessary than hospital care? Is immunization not medically necessary as we don't have full coverage in the country? Without going into details, there are numerous studies that prove that spending money up front on these things is going to save us money in the long run. Not surprisingly, most of other like-minded countries have already done these things a long time ago. All right.

Thanks, Gary. It's always great to hear from Geneva. Dave Jersic has a big idea. He's a retired engineering technologist. Re-energize the idea of a Windsor to Quebec high-speed rail. New track line required. Massive jobs. See if Bombardier, with government backing, would be interested in designing new COVID-19-friendly rail cars. Imagine safe, fast rail service in one of the busiest corridors in northeastern North America. It would also be a huge boom for the tourist industry,

if that industry survives. Well, Philip Stiff must have been listening to Dave Jersic when he wrote that, because Philip Stiff writes, On your idea about big projects for the country, I think we should invest in a new high speed rail system and not just in southern Ontario and Quebec. We should have a national-wide system such as maglev trains capable of traveling between say Winnipeg to Calgary in just a few hours. Perhaps with the airline industry in the state it is, it's really time we start looking at some alternatives

that could revitalize the towns in between the major urban centers. Rail line can do that, especially now that there's no Greyhound bus services in Western Canada. Phil lives in Winnipeg, by the way. Susan McIntyre's big project. She's in Bowmanville, Ontario. I've never understood why we've not created a system of collecting solar energy by capturing the sun as it shines on all the windows we have

and tall office buildings and residential homes. I'm suggesting that we retrofit existing buildings and houses with shutters of solar panels. These shutters would be closed over windows when the sun is shining. The surface area on many tall buildings, office and residential, would capture a tremendous amount of solar energy that could be directed to the grid, eliminating the problems of nuclear waste and coal generation. This project would create a tremendous amount of work

in engineering, manufacturing, and construction. Canada has a company that's manufacturing solar panels presently. However, it's associated with China. So are a lot of things, Susan. But this project could build this manufacturing industry and put Canada in a strong position as an expert in solar energy generation as the world needs to deal with the issue of climate change. Down to the last couple.

Here's the last big idea, this one. It's from Jay Archibald in Beaumont, Alberta. I'm late to the big idea party, but I'm inclined to suggest, as have others, that we ask various levels of government to fund a series of massive redesigns of our current infrastructure to greatly accelerate human-powered transportation, dedicated and protected all-season bike lanes, properly distanced walking paths to drastically reduce our dependence on vehicles. The upside, besides the employment opportunities associated with such a large-scale project,

includes the positive mental and physical health outcomes, which in turn save significant dollars in usage of our health care system, lower emissions, reclamation of all of the space we've dedicated to cars. I like that, Jay. Okay, we always try to end on a letter that sort of separates itself from the concerns that are expressed in other parts of the mailbag. And this one does.

Obviously, it touches on the times we're living through. But I liked it. It's from Debbie Whalen. She lives in Nova Scotia, but she grew up in New Brunswick. And she's written this letter about her dad. Dad was 12 years old when his mom was taken away to the St. John Tuberculosis Hospital. This would have been around 1946, a time when those infected with TB were isolated in these specialised hospitals, where the prescription was rest, fresh air, sunlight, and proper nutrition.

My grandparents ran a small farm in rural New Brunswick, selling eggs and milk and growing their own produce, which was carefully preserved to last through the long winters. Subsistence living, hand to mouth, is how Dad referred to it, looking back. When my grandma got sick, Dad's younger sister was sent to stay with her grandparents, and he was tasked with the cooking along with his farm chores. It was by necessity he learned his way around the tiny farmhouse kitchen. He recalled hundreds of trips up and down the stairs in the old farmhouse to make sure the pipes from the wood stove didn't get too hot. He did this for over a year while his mom was quarantined at the sanatorium. Dad's lifelong love of cooking was sparked by this event in his young life.

He loved to try out new recipes and was most often the chief cook and bottle washer on his many fly fishing trips with his sons and fishing buddies. I wonder how many other young people are making their first forays into cooking during this pandemic. Will their experiences during this unprecedented time be passed down through the generations, as has my dad's story. Dad passed in 2013. I miss him every day. And these days I wonder, what would Dad think? Thanks, Debbie.

And thank you. It's been another busy week on the Bridge Daily. It's time for a couple of days off for all of us. It's a holiday weekend. We're hoping the weather might be okay and we can maybe get outside a bit. Getting outside is good as long as you keep your distance. Physically distant, socially distant, whatever you want to call it. But if you get outside, whether it's the backyard or a park or a walk or near some water, enjoy it.

The fresh air is good, especially this time of year. Just keep the distance. Wear a mask. It's okay. Remember that letter earlier? This is the fashion statement of the year. Pick a mask you like. But stay safe.

Have a great weekend. This is Peter Mansbridge. Thanks for listening. The Bridge Daily will be't be 48 hours. It might be 72 hours. At the earliest, it'll be Monday night, depending on what kind of a day, what kind of a holiday day that is.

Anyway, have a great weekend