The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Welcome To Week 37 - Something Special To Tell You

Episode Date: November 23, 2020

Guess who tomorrow's special guest is? Plus the latest on the book, the Washington follies, and the vaccine.

and hello there peter mansbridge here with the latest episode of the bridge daily it is monday of week 37 welcome to week 37 we've made it into another week. And I'm pretty excited today. I'm excited not only about a new week dawning, but I'm excited about what I can tell you about tomorrow's show. Because on tomorrow's podcast, we got a really special guest. Hero of mine, hero of a lot of Canadians. Not a non-controversial figure, because at times he's been very controversial. Attacking government from his particular position on major environmental issues.

And that's made him a few critics, if not enemies, over time. That's all right. He's not shy, and he's not afraid to take them on. So who am I talking about? You've probably got some ideas. I'll give you some other clues. He's an author. He's a broadcaster. He's an environmentalist. He's a Canadian

academic. He's a companion of the Order of Canada. You know what that means? Well, most people talk about the Order of Canada just as that, right? So-and-so has an Order of Canada, which is, you know, it's a great honor. And it is one of the highest honors any Canadian can receive in terms of a public honor. The Order of Canada. There are a limited number of recipients, and in some particular cases, well, here, let me back up a bit. There are three levels to an Order of Canada.

The first level is if you are a member of the Order of Canada. The first level is if you are a member of the Order of Canada. The second level is if you are an officer of the Order of Canada. And the third level, the highest level, is if you're a companion of the Order of Canada. And there are very few who fit in that category as companions of the Order of Canada. They're mostly former prime ministers, the occasional former premier, former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, former governors general, but also some very particular Canadians who have made their mark not only locally, but nationally and internationally.

And our guest tomorrow is one of those, a companion of the Order of Canada. And there are a limited number, and I forget the exact number allowed at any particular time, and in some cases, when the companion position is fully occupied, you have to wait for somebody to pass away before anybody else can be elevated into that category. And there are more officers of the Order of Canada than there are companions. And there are a great many more members of the Order of Canada than there are either officers or companions. All right. Well, our guest tomorrow is a companion of the Order of Canada. Got it figured out already?

You must have. David Suzuki is our guest tomorrow. And I'm excited about that because I haven't heard from David in the last little while. But he has a new venture that he started, which really for him isn't that unusual. Because it's going to be broadcasting. And the broadcasting is going to be on a podcast like this. And David reached out to me through some of the people who work with him to ask whether he could come on this podcast, On the Bridge,

to talk about his new podcast, which comes out next month, early December. And so I said, absolutely. Because beyond, you know, wanting to talk about competition, I wanted to hear what David has to say about COVID and the moment we're passing through and the world we are living in now. And quite frankly, that's a lot of what his new podcast is going to be about. So tomorrow on the Bridge Daily, we will have a very special broadcast with none other than Dr. David Suzuki.

You know, PhD in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961. Professor in the genetics department of the University of British Columbia from 1963 until he retired from that position in 2001. But you know him best because of television and radio. Since the early 1970s, he was the original host of Quirks and Quarks. And, of course, he was the longtime host of The Nature of Things. And The Nature of Things, Canadian program, but extremely popular in different parts of the world, is seen in over 40 countries.

In over 40 countries. Of course, we've got to keep things in perspective. The Bridge Daily is heard in over 160 countries. But it's a podcast, not a television series. And you watch, David will get that kind of recognition immediately once he starts his podcast. And good for him and good for us that we're lucky enough to hear him tomorrow. So mark that one on your calendars because, as I said, you're going to talk about COVID in the moment we're passing through.

And he's going to talk about the life he's living now. I mean, he lives in British Columbia. He lives in Vancouver. He lives right on the water overlooking English Bay and the Pacific Ocean. I mean, gorgeous view. And he's just come through eight months and remains in a situation. BC has put in, once again, all kinds of restrictions. But much of that time he has been looking after his grandkids

and the youngest ones, and he's been teaching them the things that he's learned. And can you imagine being one of those grandkids, listening to David Suzuki every day? Well, he'll give us some of the lessons he's given them when we talk with him tomorrow. And if the Suzuki name, if you're a hockey fan, you've probably heard, you know, if you follow, if you really have to follow the Habs on those nights when the Leafs aren't playing,

well, the Habs have a great young forward by the name of Nick Suzuki. And if you're wondering, could there, would there, you know, is there any kind of relationship there? There is. Now, it's not, you know, it's a little distant. He's the grandson of a cousin of David Suzuki's. So there is a relationship there. And there's another Suzuki hockey player on the way. Plays for the, I think, the Barry Colts in the OHA. All right, I'm getting a little off course.

The main thing here is David Suzuki will be our guest tomorrow, and I'm very excited about it. The other news from the weekend is, hey, guess what? The book plates arrived. And so that stack of letters, which came in Thursday and Friday, that I had been unable to send replies to with signed book plates for Extraordinary Canadians, the number one best-selling book in the nonfiction categories, I did all weekend.

I did a lot of them, actually. And they're so on their way to you. And if you wrote over the weekend, they'll go out in today's mail. So I have more book plates. For those of you who can show me that you bought the book, I'm happy to send you a signed book plate. The big book news, obviously, over the last couple of days has been the release of Barack Obama's new book, which apparently sold, wait for it, 800,000 copies on the first day. 800,000 copies on the first day. 800,000 copies on the first day.

So I don't know, I may have a hard time holding on to that first place in general non-fiction books sold in Canada this week. That might be tough. But that's okay. Barack Obama is a big deal. And he should be a big deal. So that's the focus on the book, on Extraordinary Canadians.

Very happy to hear the letters, some very kind letters from many of you about what you've heard about the book, what you've read in the book. Those who've started it already and all those who wanted book plates, I've dealt with that. Next point I wanted to mention was we're hoping that by Wednesday, Bruce will be back with us. And we'll probably kind of update the U.S. election story and the, as it's called now, the clown show that's going on by the president-elect administration as it tries to ready for taking over on January 20th, not made easy by the fact the Trump administration isn't allowing them access to any of the number of things that they need to have access to.

But that hasn't stopped Joe Biden from moving forward on giving us a glimpse through leaks at this point of what his new administration may look like. And he's done that through the fact that tomorrow he will actually announce some of the key cabinet positions that he is holding. And they're interesting to look at because most of them have leaked out i mean they're not 100 confirmed but it certainly seems like uh this is the way the direction they're going in um the main appointment that is expected to be announced tomorrow is the new secretary of state which is critical to the way the world looks at the new Biden administration. Now, there had been some thought that the person who supposedly finished number two in the sweepstakes, Susan Rice, who, as you know from past podcasts, is a friend of mine, not a close friend, but is a friend. And she was one of those who was expected to be on the short list for Secretary of State. She had been the National Security Advisor for Barack Obama and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for Barack Obama. She is expected to be somewhere in this administration.

And the Secretary of State seemed like a position that she was in many ways groomed for. But she would not have been an uncontroversial pick. The Republicans are no fans of Susan Rice and would have given her a hard time and still may give her a hard time if she in fact is nominated for a cabinet position. So the front line of the Biden administration seems to be, if the leaks are right, to be ones who are not household names, but ones who are names for the areas that people understand and know about. So the new, uh, secretary of state state is expected to be a chap by the name of Antony Blinken, who was number two as secretary of state, uh, in the Obama administration.

Almost also was number two in the national security advisors role, uh, at the, uh, during the Obama white house, he's very well respected. Um, that's not to say I've ever heard of him before cause I haven't, uh, during the Obama White House. He's very well respected.

That's not to say I've ever heard of him before, because I haven't, but that doesn't mean anything. He's certainly being heard of by people not only in Washington, but people around the world. So that's expected to be a key position. And the other two that are being talked about are National Security Advisor, a chap by the name of Jake Sullivan, who also has a background from the Obama administration. So that one, too, will not go to Susan Rice. She won't be getting her old position.

And that was one that was thought of because one of the interesting things about the National Security Advisor is that you do not have to be confirmed in a Senate nomination. And if they wanted to bypass that issue for Susan Rice, putting her in her old job, either one of her old jobs could have got her around Senate confirmation, because that also includes today the ambassador to the United Nations. That job is likely to go to somebody by the name of Linda Thomas-Greenfield. So that's your front line, the front bench, certainly of the way foreign issues are going to be dealt with by the Biden administration. Those are the names said to be in the positions to be announced officially tomorrow. So where does that leave my friend Susan Rice?

I'm sure she's getting something because, well, let's put it this way. We talked about being on the bridge in the last week or two, but it's a sensitive time considering positions for the future are being determined right now. So it was not a good idea to do the podcast. However, the rumor, rumor du jour, is Susan Rice for Secretary of Homeland Security,

which is no small job. That's a big one right now in terms of a lot of issues from terrorism to COVID. So we'll see. That may or may not be the case. But it's interesting to watch how the Biden group are moving forward in trying to prepare themselves to take power and prepare themselves in substantive ways on policy and people. as they call him now, seems to be more focused on his golf handicap than anything else right now, where he seems to be playing golf every day or every second day.

And meanwhile, the death toll on COVID continues to rise. Enough said on that. Okay, the final issue I wanted to talk about is, in some ways, it's encouraging news. And that, of course, is on the continued situation on COVID-19, on the coronavirus. We have yet another today, another vaccine, one of the leading vaccine makers coming out and saying, we're around 90% on efficacy and we're very close to going into final testing and we could have our vaccine out and going

into arms within a very short period of time. That obviously is encouraging, very encouraging news. What are some of the areas why AstraZeneca, and this is the one that's coming out of Oxford University in Britain. And we've talked about it before because it has been often talked about before in terms of what should we expect on the AstraZeneca vaccine. Well, we should expect the difference between it and Pfizer and Moderna is that AstraZeneca is not one that is concerned about, or not concerned isn't the right word, but it is not one that has to be held at extremely low

temperatures. AstraZeneca could basically be in your, you know, your picnic basket cooler to move around. It's much easier to transport around. It doesn't need the two-dose output. It's probably more like a dose and a half. But the main thing is this is another one with a very high efficacy rate. It's expected to be somewhere around 90%. Some of the tests have been around 70, but done the way that they want it done, it's going to be around 90, they say.

That's really encouraging. That gives you three solid blockbuster vaccines that could be out very soon. We had one of the leaders from the U.S. Health Department say they could have the first vaccine going into arms by December 11th in the United States. And that would be most likely to frontline health care workers and certain other aspects of society. It's going to be a while. It's going to be a long time before this rolls out

in ways that are going to impact the overall population in the U.S. and as a result elsewhere, including Canada. Now you ask on the Canada front, how are we on AstraZeneca? Did we buy it as well? We did. You know, the Canadian government and the agencies it's had out there buying up pre-ordering vaccines on the basis that if they work, we're guaranteed a sales. We have purchased AstraZeneca, we've purchased Moderna, and we've purchased Pfizer. But that's not all. The one that a lot of people are waiting for and hoping for that will be coming, they say, very soon is the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Why are they excited about that one?

Well, one dose, that's it, that's all. And like AstraZeneca, no special needs on, you know, extreme low temperatures for transporting and storage. So, you know, this whole issue about vaccines has been quite remarkable. And, you know, a lot of different Canadian research operations, including universities and research outfits, have been involved in the development of these vaccines. So this has been a worldwide effort. And funded by governments, and there's no question about that,

it's been one of the things that's actually worked well, it seems. We're not there yet. We haven't seen vaccines going into arms, and we haven't seen, once they do go into arms, whether there are any problems as a result of that. But everybody's got their, more than just their fingers crossed, they've got their reputations on the line, that all this is good. As a result, listen, I'm no expert.

I'm like you. I go by what I read and what I hear from people I trust. And as a result, those are people who are healthcare professionals or researchers or scientists or people who clearly know what's going on. And of the ones that I trust and listen to that I've heard in the past few days, my latest thinking is basically this, that we are roughly at the halfway point in the battle against COVID-19. We've been at it for eight months solid, and more if you consider when this really started tracking,

which was almost a year ago now. But I figure with the absolutely rapid movement on the vaccine front, if in fact they start giving out vaccines in mid-December and then really start moving them in January and February and they start going into the general population early in the new year. I think we have the potential of looking at a summer next year much different than the one we've just been through, one that we can have some confidence in. And by this time next year, for sure, we'll be past, not just the worst of it, we'll be past, we'll be looking back at COVID-19.

Now, I know that may be wishful thinking, but I can only go by what the evidence that is piled up to now. Now, maybe a week from now, I'll have to say, you know what was wrong? They've changed their minds. But to me, that's the most positive way of looking at things, is that we're at the halfway mark. And nobody wins the race at the halfway mark. They just have to be determined. Now we can see the finish line.

And it gives you a, you know, kind of a different feel. I mean, we're in a rough spot right now. There's no question about that. It's going to be ugly for the next couple of months. But there is, you know, the old light at the end of the tunnel. I remember, this is a diversion, but I remember in the middle of the Meech Lake crisis in 19, whatever year that was, 89,

one of those, you know, first ministers meetings in Ottawa that dragged on for a whole week and they were shuttling back and forth between the Shadow Laurier and the Conference Centre. And the meetings were all held in private and you didn't know what the heck was going on. And I can remember us scrumming David Peterson, who was then Premier of Ontario.

I don't know, maybe it was 90 or 91, whatever. It doesn't matter what year it was. There was just all these coming and goings, and somebody threw a mic in front of David Peterson. I think it was Wendy Mesley. Threw a mic in front of David Peterson and said, what's the latest? What's happening?

Have you guys reached an agreement? And he looked at the camera and he said, there's light at the end of the tunnel. We just can't see it yet. I've always remembered that one. It was a great one. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We just can't see it yet. I've always remembered that one. It was a great one. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We just can't see it yet.

And that's in a way kind of like where we are right now. There is going to be light at the end of the tunnel. This is going to wind. And we're starting to get an indication of where that light may really become visible. So that's my, I guess that's more my hope than it is a prediction, but that's where I figure that we are. All right. We start week, what is it, 37?

We start week 37 of the Bridge Daily since we went daily on COVID-19 and the U.S. election too. And so I remind you once again, tomorrow's special show, really looking forward to it with David Suzuki as our guest. And then Wednesday, Bruce will be back and we'll do

the latest mop-up on the U.S. election and the new administration and the outgoing administration and what it all means. So we look forward to that too. That gives you the next couple of days at least a sense of where we're going and what we're doing. All right. So with that, I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks for listening to Bridge Daily. You know that we will be back in 24 hours. Thank you.