The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Who Wants To Be A GG? -- The Weekend Special #45

Episode Date: January 22, 2021

Some opening thoughts on the Governor-General story -- and then your questions, comments and thoughts for week 45.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here with the latest episode of The Bridge. It is Friday of week 45, that means the weekend special, your thoughts and questions and comments as we close out 45 weeks since we went daily, mainly with the COVID story, but as you know, with lots of other things, including the situation south of the border. And we have some thoughts on that one today as well, as we listen to your suggestions for the line of the week, which is what we ask for. And, man, we've got a lot of letters. So I will start to plow my way through some of the best ones

in the next couple of moments. But first of all, a quick comment on the latest game show in Canada. Who wants to be a Governor General? Yep, here we go. With one of those pressing questions that helps us understand the future of our country. We have a Governor General who, for the first time, steps down. Julie Payette, amid allegations of harassment at Rideau Hall. Not a proud way to depart the scene, but nevertheless, that's what happened.

So the question becomes, who should replace her in the role of the Queen's representative here in Canada. And it's interesting, already there have been lots of names tossed out there. What was that great line in Casablanca? Round up the usual suspects. And there are a lot of the usual suspects on the list. Great people, great Canadians. Wayne Gretzky, Margaret Atwood,

Christopher Plummer. I remember when Brian Mulroney tried to convince Jean Beliveau, number four, the Habs, captain of the Habs, one of the most respected hockey players

ever. And Prime Minister Mulroney certainly wanted Jean Beliveau there, and I think Canadians would have been absolutely ecstatic at the thought that Jean Beliveau was the Governor General. But he decided, no, he was not interested in the job. Never gave reasons. We can guess what they possibly might have been. How about, you know what? The job's actually not that interesting.

Might have been one of them. So the question becomes not who should be the next governor general, but who would actually be interested in the job. I think it's time, you know, not that anybody's asking me my personal opinion on this, but I think it's time that we took a pause, took a kind of time out and thought about this role in terms of a country that's now more than 150 years old, is this a role that we need? Is it truly part of our democracy in terms of what's important for us? And absolutely, some people are going to argue,

yes, it ties us to our past and our history. Others are going to say, you know what, it's time to move on. It's time to use the money elsewhere. But I think it's a worthy discussion to have, and Canadians might want to encourage that discussion. In the meantime, why not appoint somebody who understands that job, who knows that job, is revered by all angles on this issue.

And that's David Johnston, who was Governor General before Julie Payette. A wonderful person, a brilliant mind, one who's constantly thinking Canada in the future as opposed to in the past. And, I mean, I don't know. I mean, I think he and his wife were more than happy to leave Rideau Hall when they did.

They even had an extended term appointed by Stephen Harper and extended by Stephen Harper. And I think by the time they left, they were anxious to get back to their their home just down the road from here in Stratford. Not in Stratford, they're closer to Kitchener-Waterloo. But they're closer to Kitchener-Waterloo, but they're back, and perhaps they're not in the slightest bit interested in ever going back to Ottawa, but you never know.

Anyway, I think that would be a perfect solution. While we sort out whether or not this is something we want to continue with, and if in fact we do want to continue with it, what is the kind of person we're looking for this is something we want to continue with. And if, in fact, we do want to continue with it, what is the kind of person we're looking for in terms of being the next Governor General? Or do we go back to the old system of letting the Brits appoint the Governor General? Some out-of-work relative of the Queen?

I don't know. Don't get me started. We may well find out soon what the plan is. In the meantime, the plan here on the bridge, as it is every Friday, is to get a sense of

what you're thinking. And the question we threw at you this week was, give us the line of the week. Because inauguration weeks is to get a sense of what you're thinking. And the question we threw at you this week was, give us the line of the week. Because inauguration weeks do tend to come up with lines. Sometimes they live forever. Like JFK's lines from 1961. Ask not what your country can do for you,

ask what you can do for your country, and many others in that speech. So was there a line of some significance through this inaugural week? And did it come from Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, or someone else? So that was the question I asked you, and you delivered. I'm going to read some of the letters I got. There were dozens that came in. So let me, let me get started.

John Mullen from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. President Biden's one line for me came after the speeches when Joe Biden was virtually introducing his cabinet staff. He said something to the effect that if anyone talks down or disparages a colleague, that he would fire them on the spot. And he said it twice for effect. He'd spent the day trying to diametrically oppose himself and his style from the last four years of Trumpism, with his speech of unity and by signing executive orders to erase Trump's policies.

But that one moment, whether it was scripted or not, was more passionate and heartfelt, for me anyway, than the rest of the day. He set the tone for how he expects everyone to conduct themselves in his administration. How different is that from the last president? So that's John Mullen in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Thank you, John. Once again, I don't necessarily read the whole letter. I read parts of the letter if we're going to get through all these. Here's an interesting one. It's not the line of the week, but it may be the question of the week. It comes from Derek Forsyth in Edmonton. I was listening to your story of when David Bowie visited the CBC studios to do a presser with Australia, and in the course of telling them

the story, you referenced the Friendly Giant crew. I did that because the studio that Bowie was using was shared by both the National and the Friendly Giant. It reminded me of my efforts to try and find old episodes of Friendly Giant five years ago for my son, Tegan, now 10, to watch before bedtime. I remember watching those big hands move the chairs around at the start and end of each episode and all the fun music and stories with Rusty and Jerome. Don't we all, of a certain age? The episodes are timeless. I can't understand why the CBC has not put them back on the air or put together seasons of the show for sale to the public.

I've written the CBC on a couple of occasions on this. They've never answered. I thought maybe you would have some insight as to why this wonderful children's program has being locked away and denied to today's kids. Well, Derek, great question. I was one of those kids who grew up watching Friendly Giant. But the answer to your question is I don't know. I don't work for the CBC anymore.

I have a contract to do some documentaries, but in terms of picking up the phone and finding out who's in charge of something like this, that's not me anymore. They don't take my calls on things like that anymore. But you obviously, whoever you wrote to, whoever you called, it's really, I got to tell you, most people I know who end up writing to the CBC do get an answer,

so I'm surprised you have not got an answer. But I would write to the head of children's programming, CBC Television Toronto, and ask your question. Because it does seem, unless there are some kind of rights issues surrounding the Friendly Giant, and that's entirely possible, there may be. I can't understand why there wouldn't be some ability through JAM, the streaming service, and I haven't checked JAM. You might want to do that to see whether you can pull up any old episodes of Friendly Giant.

I know you can find some on YouTube. I know this because in writing my next book, I have a reference to the Friendly Giant. And I checked it out. And there were some old episodes on, I think it was YouTube. It was certainly just a Google search on Friendly Giant. Well, you'll come up with something. Sarah McDonald writes from Toronto. A quick question I thought of while watching Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony on Wednesday.

There was a significant Christian presence in the speeches, songs, prayers, poetry. I know that Biden is a devout Catholic, so these things would be quite important to him. But in a country where there's supposed to be a division of church and state, it seems curious that these aspects were so prominent at the ceremony. Can you think of any instances where religion has been featured in such a way in a Canadian government political setting? Short answer to this, I didn't find it that striking. I mean, as we did a podcast, I think it was Tuesday night, on the history of the Bible and inaugural speeches. And it's been pretty consistent through the history of the United States. Not every time, but most times there's been a Bible and it's usually of some either historic or family significance to the person who was being inaugurated.

Singing hymns like Amazing Grace and others. That's not unusual. And it's not unusual to see some of that in Canada as well. More than a few times I've watched people sworn in as members of parliament or into the Senate, and they've had a family Bible with them. Not all, of course. Not everybody follows the Bible. They follow other religious books. And they've had them with them.

So I don't think there was anything overwhelmingly unusual about what we witnessed on Wednesday. All right. There are a lot of letters and entries into this line of the week surrounding one particular person on Inauguration Day, and I think you can all guess who that is. Here's one of them from Tish and Mike Whitfield from Barry's Bay, Ontario. I guess Tish is doing the writing. My husband and I continue to enjoy your informative and entertaining podcast. Until just now.

One of my takeaways from this week is the last three lines of the poet laureate Amanda Gorman at Joe Biden's inauguration. For there is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it. These three lines can apply to so many situations in our lives. My husband Mike's takeaway is from President Biden's inaugural speech. We must end this uncivil war. Yes, I think you're both right on both those counts. Those should live for some time, those lines. This one is from Melissa Hillman in Sydenham, Ontario. It's a long letter.

I'll read a small part of it. She is also talking about Amanda Gorman, and her poem was called The Hill We Climb. And she, in particular, points to this part of the poem. Somehow we've weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken, but simply unfinished. You know, that applies to so many of us. It applies to this country as well.

We're not finished. And if you read the book that Mark Bulgich and I put out a couple of months ago called Extraordinary Canadians, you'll see very clearly some of the areas that are not finished, and we need to finish them. Thank you, Melissa. Wendy E. Bateman, she says, still hibernating in the highlands of Halliburton. Sounds wonderful. She, too, points to Amanda Gorman. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. That's from Amanda Gorman's poem.

I love that line. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. Karen Boshy. Karen's a retired teacher from Edmonton, Alberta. She put in a number of quotes, all from Joe Biden's speech, including the one we just heard a few moments ago,

we must end this uncivil war. Of the ones she has written down, this is the one I like the best. Some days you need a hand. Other days you need to lend a hand. Okay, that was Karen Boshy. Paul Gertin from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The best line I heard this week? I forgot to press record.

Yeah, Paul, that was a pretty good line, wasn't it? You didn't hear that on the podium in Washington. You heard it right here on the bridge. When I talked about the interview that Bruce and I had with Ian Bremmer, who was fabulous and will be on the show in the next few weeks, we hope. We did a great interview, Ryan, about 40, 45 minutes, I think, about the kind of world that Joe Biden was inheriting. There was only one problem. I forgot to press record. Thank you, Paul, for the nomination of Line of the Week.

Louise Smith from Orleans, Ontario. Well, I've spent the day watching all the happenings in the U.S., and I have to say I agree with Bruce. I was so happy to say goodbye to the outgoing president. My husband and I had flicked between CNN, CTV, and CBC and had to laugh at the commentators on CNN. Their feelings expressed what we felt, but as Bruce stated, we're not exactly professional. However, we loved it.

That was a discussion Bruce and I were having about how it seemed to, certainly on some networks in the States, they were like over the top in their excitement to see the end of one presidency and the beginning of a new one. Anyway, she comes down to the line she likes the best, I think, here somewhere. No, she talks about the highlights for her of the day. The big highlights, Amanda Gorman. The inaugural concert, that was on Wednesday night, and it was spectacular. And perhaps especially the words of encouragement from the past presidents, Obama, Bush, and Clinton.

So refreshing. Those looked like they were taped in the middle of the afternoon around the time of the Arlington Cemetery ceremony. And they were great. You know, kind of ad-lib comments from the three former presidents. It was interesting that the three

of them there. Because, of course, there are five living former presidents. Jimmy Carter is not well. Well into his 90s, couldn't travel. And you know who the fifth one was. And who wasn't there. Who checked out in Blountown.

Here we go with Tammy Boudreau. Now, Tammy didn't want to take a chance. She quoted just about every line of the day. I'm going to read a couple of the ones she suggests. A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making. That was Joe Biden. Important line. And this one. Politics doesn't have to be a raging fire.

I like that one. Tasha Prisney in Edmonton. For me, the line of the week came from the CBC's Adrian Arsenault. Tasha Prisney in Edmonton. For me, the line of the week came from the CBC's Adrian Arsenault during the coverage of the inauguration. I'm paraphrasing, but during the swearing-in of Kamala Harris, she said something along the lines of, and there are shards of glass on the stage from the ceiling breaking. Great line, Adrian.

That was from Tasha Prisney in Edmonton, Alberta. Chantelle Corsi. Not sure where Chantel is writing from. Okay. The line of the week stands out for me is from Ian Bremmer. She's joking because of course we didn't hear Ian. Thanks to that fool who did not press record. Actually, she says, it's Bernie Sanders' inauguration mitts. They need no line. They speak for themselves.

On a more serious note, I decided to highlight three lines in honor of three big firsts from the inauguration. Amanda Gorman, for there is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it. Kamala Harris,

Even in dark times, we not only dream, we do. We not only see what has been, we see what can be. And President Biden, On this January day, my whole soul is in this, bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation. And that phrase, my whole soul is in it, Biden credited to Abraham Lincoln from his inaugural address in 1865, I believe, his second inauguration, not long before he was assassinated. Why did I select these lines, says Chantal? Because who said them represent big historical firsts,

and there are common, lasting threads, unity, aspiration, hope, realistic. As you say, there will be good days and bad days. All three also spoke from the heart. Yeah, I agree with that. Karen Argento from Calgary. I know that people throughout the world listened to President Biden's inauguration speech on Wednesday.

It was one promising unity and coming together of the various fractions in U.S. society today. Many reflective and meaningful words were spoken by the President, but the sentence that spoke to me was as follows. Lead not through the example of our power, but by the power of our example. I only hope he and we can live up to these words. Thanks, Karen. You may have heard me stumbling around trying to pronounce a name

that apparently is really hot stuff, especially for young people who are leading the charge where gamers have taken over the music in terms of the most popular aspect for young people in their lives today. Anyway, Tim Pohl writes from Winnipeg, I just checked with my teenage daughter, the name you mentioned rhymes with cutie pie.

I didn't know either. I had to repeat it more than twice before the penny dropped for her to realize who I was talking about. And that's because I had no idea. I had never heard the name before, and I tried to say it exactly as it was written, which sounds like PewDiePie. Well, it's not PewDiePie. It's a straight uplift from CutiePie. So it's Pew pewdiepie it's a straight up lift from cutie pie so it's pewdiepie

Ron Fisher wrote as well same thing for the record I don't really know pewdiepie however my son tells me it is pronounced PewDiePie. Kids coming to the forefront here with us adults. And then Michael O'Reilly had to stick the knife in a little more. Sorry, I hate to be that guy, but I have to save you from mispronouncing PewDiePie. That's how it's pronounced, not PewDiePie.

Just to make sure I saw it, he headlined his email, much like epitome. Remember when I told that story about epitome. Remember when I told that story about epitome? The first time I saw the word epitome come up on the teleprompter was a late ad to the newscast, so I hadn't seen it beforehand. I had to read it live. And as I saw the word crawling up the prompter space on the camera, I saw it and I thought, I've never seen that word before. What is that word? And so when I finally got to the point where I had to say it, I said, epitome, and got upstairs into the newsroom after the show and everybody was laughing at me. They said, it's epitome. I went, oh my gosh. Epitome, a word we all use all the, you know, not all the time, but quite often. I'd never seen it spelt before.

And for some reason, when I saw it the way it is spelt, it totally blew my mind to epitome. Anyway, Michael also has a line of the week. It was from Joe Biden. This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward. And we must meet this moment as the United States of America. If we do that, I guarantee you, we will not fail. Okay, we're getting close to the end here.

Two letters left. This one's from Angela Willett. And let's see, does Angela say where she... Yes, she writes from Ridgeway, Ontario. As a teacher of 27 years, I recently borrowed a couple of your ideas to implement with my grade 7 and 8 blended class. Virtually, of course. During our religion lesson on Tuesday, we discussed the history and importance of the Bible during inauguration ceremonies. I was lucky enough to have our parish priest join us on our Google Meet call. It turned into quite an interesting discussion, and the students were very intrigued.

So thank you for that. And that was the day, Tuesday, that we did this story. And it's a fascinating one, actually, in linking the history of the Bible and its usage on inauguration day by not all the presidents, but by some of them. Thank you also for the invitation to share with you quotes from the week that we believe will stand the test of time. Again, I conveniently used that idea with my friends in grade 7 and 8.

I challenged them to do the same while listening to President Biden's inaugural address. Again, this resulted in some interesting post-inauguration day discourse. I wanted to share with you one of the quotes we chose. It was, we'll lead not merely by the example of power, but by the power of example. We talked about how this is such an important statement, not only for the president as he begins his work as leader, but so meaningful for all of us. With my students today, we discussed the potential within each of us to be leaders. That is to lead with our actions and not merely our words.

With that potential comes responsibility. We spoke about how each of us is responsible for doing our part with so many things, now more than ever. The pandemic, the environment, racism, stereotypes, etc. We ended on a positive note, one of hope for a brighter future. I, for one, am very hopeful, especially with our future in the hands of youth like the students in my class. Well, good for you, Angela. That's a wonderful letter.

And I love knowing that while that was going on in Washington, in the center of American democracy, which has been buffeted so much in the last, well, the last couple of weeks and the last four years, that many, many kilometers away, in Ridgeway, Ontario, Angela Willett was in her classroom with her kids, watching that speech and then discussing the phrase they found the most powerful. And it was about leadership and what they could learn from that. And I love knowing that fact. And I think Joe Biden would love to know that as well, because that's probably exactly what he was hoping for, that there would be small pockets, especially of young people around

the country, listening to what he had to say and trying to draw lessons for themselves from his words. Well, that's what happened. All right. Here's the last letter. And listen, I've liked all these letters today. I really enjoyed this one. And you'll understand why when I get to the end.

This one is from Jeffrey Oliver. He's from St. John's, Newfoundland. I've been thinking about your podcast about trust and truth. Clearly the former administration wow it feels good to finally say that, Jeffrey says, did not much care for the truth. We all know what that led to. A large number of people in the U.S. who don't trust the media unless it's pro-Trump media, don't trust politicians unless it's Trump, who believe in conspiracy theories so ridiculous, I, well, they're so

ridiculous, I'm at a loss for words. And finally, an insurrection at the Capitol. Obviously, President Biden has his work cut out for him, but in his inaugural speech, he talked about the importance of truth and facts. This got me thinking about the Fairness Doctrine. This is the act in America which had the mission to encourage the larger and more effective use of radio in the public interest in order to promote a basic standard of fairness in broadcasting. I believe the act was repealed in the late 80s under Ronald Reagan. Republicans repealing an issue of fairness? I'm sure you have a much broader understanding of it than I.

Well, I'm not sure it's a much broader understanding, but I do know that there were concerns and expressed also within certain elements of the media that you can't dictate to the media exactly how they should report. And so that was part of it. But we know what it's led to. Back to the letter.

My question is, why does nobody talk about trying to bring something like this back into American broadcasting? It seems that mandating Fox News and the more liberal-leaning news outlets nobody talk about trying to bring something like this back into American broadcasting. It seems that mandating Fox News and the more liberal-leaning news outlets also to give equal time to those being called out, be it their political opponents or whomever, could help centralize and possibly de-radicalize a portion of the U.S. population who still believe that former President Trump was the legal winner back in November. I'm interested in your thoughts, and Bruce's too, if this falls more under the banner of smoke, mirrors, and the truth.

And I think it does. I think it's a great question that Bruce and I can toss around with, because I can see how the arguments could develop on both sides of this issue. But it does strike to one of the basic issues that confronts us today as news consumers and as news producers. And so I think it's absolutely worthy of discussion. I'll talk to Bruce about it, and we'll see when we can fit it in. Now here's I was going to say the part of the letter I enjoy the most.

I enjoy the whole letter, but I find this part like the images I get when I read this part of Jeffrey's letter are striking. So here goes. This is how he closes it out. Thanks for reading and for continuing the daily podcast. I'm currently at work at sea since December on a ship en route to Finland and Sweden from Mobile, Alabama.

It's been a long crossing of the Atlantic, dodging storms, but we'll be passing Bishop's Rock and entering the English Channel and calmer seas. There's a metaphor there somewhere relating to the recent changing of the guard down south. Wishing you well and a happy new year. Kind regards, Jeffrey Oliver, St. John's, Newfoundland, but currently 450 nautical miles west-southwest of Land's End. Sent from a geophone. I love that.

You know, Jeffrey's out there. Well, I guess he's close to, I mean, he wrote this on, well, he just wrote it yesterday. But he'll be approaching Lion's End, UK, and then heading into the English Channel. But he'll be approaching Lion's End, UK, and then heading into the English Channel. But he's out there and has been out there in the North Atlantic on a voyage of a couple of months. But somehow, and I think this is just like,

this is so like the era we live in. There he is, bopping along in the choppy waters of the North Atlantic. And what's he doing? He's somehow managed to tune in the bridge. He's listening to us. And hopefully he's listening to us right now as we talk about his letter. And we send him our best wishes,

and those of his crewmates, for a happy and safe New Year. Quite a story. Thanks, Jeffrey. We loved hearing from you. And we loved hearing from all of you today on the weekend special here on Friday of week. What is it?

46, 45. I've already lost track. Whatever it is, it's up there in the mid forties and it's been, it's been a historic week and it's one we'll read about in the mid-40s. And it's been a historic week. And it's one we'll read about in the future. It's one our kids and our grandkids will read about in the future too.

Because no matter where you are on this question of what's been going on in the U.S., it's history that's being written. And a bit of history going on here in this country as well. We actually have a governor general stepping down amidst stories that are not worthy of that position. And we're also sending this out on a day when there's a conversation will take place between the new president and the Canadian prime minister. His first meeting, I'm told,

on the phone with one of his new friends on the world Leaders Tour. So we'll see what that produces. Definitely things to talk about, from Keystone XL to the pandemic, which I assume will take center stage, and the troubles that Canada's having on vaccine deliveries and the rollout and what help the U.S. may be. Issues about our border.

Lots of things for the two men to talk about. The two men who are friends, and there's a lot riding on this relationship, that it's going to be beneficial to both, so we'll see how that turns out. All right. That's it for the bridge for this week. Another week floats by,

and we're getting near the end of January for this week. Another week floats by. And we're getting near the end of January already. One more full week to go before we turn the clock into February. Hard to believe. But we're still here, and we're still trying our best to obey the protocols. Wash our hands. Socially protocols. Wash your hands. Socially distant. Avoid big crowds. Wear a mask.

Do it all. Try to find your spot in the lineup for when vaccines come to your town. All right, I'm Peter Mansbridge. I really do wish you a good weekend. I hope wherever you are, you're able to get out and get a bit of fresh air with all the safety conditions around that. We'll be back on Monday. Thank you.