The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - You Want Change In The Way The Media Operates -- Your Turn

Episode Date: January 11, 2024

This week's question was a popular one: "What one change would you make to Canada's news media?". People from coast to coast to coast wrote in with their thoughts and some pretty good ideas. Also today the Random Ranter makes the case for Canada's teachers -- what he thinks they need.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. It's a good one. It's a doozy. You're going to like it. Your turn on how to improve the media. That's coming right up. And hello there, Peter Mansbridge in Toronto today. Thursday, your turn, Random Renter. And your turn this week, we kind of shuffled the deck a little bit in terms of how we're organizing the Thursday program. We're giving you one focused question and letting you respond to it

in short, to the point answers, cut-off time, Wednesdays at 6 p.m. Eastern. And most of you, well, the overwhelming majority of you made that cutoff time and appreciate that very much. Okay, let's get at it. The question this week is, if you could change one thing about the news media what would that change be well once again just like last week when we talked about one change for the political system you had answers and lots of them lots of them so let's not waste any more time let's get right at it. Ooh, a little music there. Getting excited. Okay, starting off with John Rempel in Fort Fraser, British Columbia. The biggest thing I think the media could do to improve itself would be to get journalists to keep their political opinions to themselves. People want the truth.

Today, if you want to know what's going on in the world, you have to spend half the day listening to a right-wing radio pundit and the other half of the day listening to Global or CBC and then assume the truth is somewhere in the middle. Yvonne Clifford, Cambridge, Ontario. I'd like to have unbiased news reporting. When I was a young person, the news was a huge part of my family life. My dad had to watch the 6 p.m. local CGOH news, Ottawa, 6.30 American, ABC or CBS,

and he finished off the day with the CBC National News. My dad, like all of us, took what was reported by these different organizations as truth, and why wouldn't he? The stories were reported very similarly with very little so-called spin. Today, depending on the stations I'm listening to, I can have the same story reported with various interpretations. I'm tired of having to check facts and finding that the so-called truth has been stretched or misinterpreted. Alex Texas from Fraser Heights, Surrey, BC. I'm in my late 30s. My suggestion is that we should get rid of journalists.

My friends and I have all stopped listening to mainstream media. My generation is frustrated with mainstream media coverage because we don't feel like the news is ever reported without opinion anymore. The average starting salary of a journalist in Canada is $40,000 a year. This is roughly the same salary that we have decided is the minimum wage we should pay any human to do any work. You are part of the old guard. I guess Alex is talking about me. You're part of the old guard of journalists that could afford to be thorough. The current generation of journalists are starving and doing side gigs just

to pay the rent. How thorough can we possibly expect them to be with their reporting? I sympathize with their struggle, but I would advise them to retool for a different profession. We keep going on this theme, but far and away, there's a wide range of ideas overall that came in, but most of them, I've got to gotta tell you most emails are about separating fact from fiction we'll keep going here with deb greening in saskatchewan one word facts not opinions not both sides of a story is presented by the principal players not sensational entertainment based stories just facts renee vander Kooi in Brampton, Ontario. Just give us the facts, nothing else.

Not your best guesstimate, not what you think is happening, just the facts. We can figure it out from there. Joan Berta in Niagara Falls, Ontario. I wish news media would concentrate on facts versus opinions and or interpretations. If news media concentrated on facts, there would be less political spin, less fake news, less controversy about the actual happenings, less personal notions about what the broadcaster intends, less opportunity to showcase individual personalities,

charisma, etc., with the intent to gain attention. For me, it is truly disconcerting to listen to three or four news broadcasts that all report different information about the same event. Report news. Let the commentaries discuss what they might think the event means, or may cause, or whatever those opinions may be. News is not opinions. Emilio Lavacidis in Scarborough, Ontario. No more analysis or explanations. This is where it all starts going downhill. When covering current events, give only official statements from governments, officials, or the involved parties, or direct footage, audio, or text of the event in question. No individual opinions or bystander testimony.

I understand that this will make news more dry, but is that really a problem? News should be engaging enough to those who want to know. Leave the ideology, opinion, explanation, or framing to the viewer or listener. They are quite capable of that. Tracy Wang in Surrey, BC. I think we need to provide journalists with professional training on how to distinguish between facts and opinions. Every journalist, and even the readers and listeners, should know the facts are statements that can be proven or verified to be true.

They are based on verifiable evidence and are generally not influenced by personal opinions, feelings, or beliefs. Facts remain constant and do not change over time. Opinions are expressions of personal beliefs, judgments, feelings, or preferences. Different people can have different opinions on the same issue. For example, Deb gives some, or excuse me, Tracy gives some opinion, or some examples. Donald Trump was impeached twice during his presidency. This is a fact because it refers to specific events that occurred, versus Donald Trump's impeachment was a politically motivated witch hunt.

This is an opinion because it reflects a subjective interpretation of the events surrounding Trump's impeachment. Jacqueline Day of Cochrane, Alberta. Just as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency requires ingredients and nutritional information be listed on food products, I would implement a system of labeling and transparency in our news media. When a broadcast segment includes opinion, I would add a message to the screen stating opinion. In news segments, I would add a statement of transparency to each report along the lines of

in the reporting of this story, X number of sources were interviewed, two eyewitnesses and a PhD expert on this topic, or something to that effect. Rules need to be implemented to alert the public to propaganda, as it's clear a dangerous majority of the population is unable to make this distinction without assistance. Penny Robertson in Selby, Ontario. That's, if I'm correct, that's a part of Greater Napanee. In this era of disinformation, I'd like to see mainstream news outlets hire full-timed fact-checkers like CNN did with Daniel Dale during Trump's presidency. We need a constant rebuttal of the alternative facts that are being spouted in the political sphere. Daniel israte,

of course, you know, Canadian trained, Toronto Star all those years during Rob Ford's mayor term. Donna Reed in Vancouver, I would ensure that reputable news outlets hire more investigative reporters and they give them the budget and time to pursue an issue fully and carefully without any predetermination of what the conclusion will be. The reporter should follow the evidence and in their reportage include information about the resources they consulted and their other sources, unless they are confidential. Having more investigative journalism reported would give a consumer of the information, the facts, and the tools to evaluate their credibility and reliability and to reach their own conclusions. Okay, that's the whole issue around opinions, but it's not just of journalists.

There were a couple of letters like this. Martha Orlochi in Ayr, Ontario. The one thing I would change has to do with reporting expert opinions. There's nothing more annoying than listening to an informed interview with a real expert and then the media feel they must counter the opinion with a contrarian, usually a crackpot. Just saying, the players have to be in the same league, not NHL versus Junior C.

Luke Roy in Ottawa. What I would change is to remove all of the Vox Pop type efforts that lots of TV and radio news seem to be doing nowadays. All of these tell us what you think, or don't forget to answer our latest poll on your social media. It does nothing to help the reputation of the media. I want to know what Chantelle Hebert, Bruce Anderson, Andrew Coyne, or Althea Raj have to say about the latest issue in politics, not what Betty or Bob from Sarnia think.

This constant plea for getting the everyman opinion plays to my ear as a bit desperate and only serves to cheapen the actually qualified and informed opinions of the experts. Next segment is about breaking news. Ian Hebblethwaite from Moncton. Honestly, there's one thing I would change today about Canadian news, and that is less use of terms like breaking news. One thing I would change for tomorrow, whatever changes we see in U.S.-based news networks,

don't follow their lead. Jody Mills, somewhere in New Brunswick. Simple, no more breaking news. Back in the day, we had to wait for the local newspaper to find out the news, and we all waited, and the newspaper had time to confirm the news. No breaking news until you have facts to back it up and if it turns out what you said was incorrect you are fined you report too many things that are wrong you lose your designation as a credible news source okay and you know i'm biting

my tongue on some of these because there can be a response to some of this stuff. But this is your turn. And I appreciate what you're saying. I really do. And you obviously have real concerns and many of you from different parts of the country. That's the beauty of this program. Sherry Hertz in Toronto. The most important action that can be taken to support high quality journalism in this country is to educate the public. Beginning with regular age appropriate lessons in school and continuing with ad style campaigns for adults in the general public, we can develop a society with critical assessment skills that will demand access to reliably sourced,

unbiased reporting and analysis. Knowledgeable consumers will drive high quality services. Dane Stewart in Montreal. I'm an independent artist. This is about financing of the media. I'm an independent artist. This is a career with financial challenges, much like working as an independent journalist. One way that I'm able to make ends meet is through government grant programs like those offered by the Canada Council for the Arts. could be created to fund smaller projects created by independent journalists, perhaps with grant programs targeting rural areas that meet the expanding need for local news, which has been absent as many media organizations have had to scale back in recent years. Then again, there's a different view. Get government out of financing the media.

Connor Whalen in Flusherton, Ontario. I think government funding of news should stop. It is counterproductive in many ways. It can stifle innovation to adjust to new platforms and find new revenue streams. Also, whether true or not, it can hurt their image of being objective arbiters of the news. At the very least, it can lead people to believe that there may be a conflict of interest on certain topics. Shana Evans in Abbotsford, B.C. I'd like to be able to subscribe to a variety of media outlets on one platform. We do this with our music and our podcasts.

Why not the news? Currently, the only way a number of news outlets can survive is by charging a subscription to read their online content. Not so different from when we would pay for that paper to show up on our doorstep. However, one of the major criticisms of the day is polarization. Polarization can be seen when people get their news from a single source, where they are subjected to either overt or unintentional bias. How do we counter polarization? By taking time to read from a variety of perspectives,

preferably well-thought-out and educated perspectives. But it becomes expensive to subscribe to multiple news media online papers, which leaves many people stuck reading the free news on their platform of choice. If we could have one subscription that let us read articles on stories from a variety of sources, perspectives, I believe it would help make it more affordable for individuals to support solid reporting and help decrease polarization. Still with financing, Ken Good of Elmsdale, Nova Scotia. With the shift in the ways folks access media, the financial challenges to news organizations are obvious and well-known.

For example, the loss of advertising dollars. To maintain impartiality and importantly avoid the appearance of government control and or influence, I'd suggest that a portion of media service providers, Bell, Rogers, here in the Maritimes East Link, part of their revenue or profit should be allocated to a fund that finances traditional media outlets. These outlets would then be accessible at no cost through the same providers. No paywalls and easily accessible real news. Anne-Marie Klein in Toronto.

We desperately need to turn around the slow collapse of subscription-based news media by injecting funding, particularly from news subscribers. To accomplish this, I would overhaul the federal digital news subscription tax credit. Currently, you get a 15% tax credit. That's a $75 income tax credit if you have $500 or more in annual subscriptions. I'd raise this to 100% tax credit on the first 200 and 80% on the next 300. Can't talk about the media without saying something about the CBC and Ben Hendrickson in Yellowknife writes, I'd suggest setting up the CBC with a one-time endowment from government and

then making them a not-for-profit independent of government. It would no longer be a crown corporation, and people could donate to it to expand the endowment. From the endowment, CBC would plan an operating budget. An endowment would mean CBC could stop accepting advertising and stop the need for future annual funding through general tax revenue. For context, as a Northerner, I know that without CBC, many indigenous peoples in indigenous languages and people in smaller communities would never receive any news.

So while CBC needs to up its game for sure, it is needed. Don Whitmore. Where's Don? Oh, he wrote from Palo Alto, florida i think he's a snowbird the government should adequately fund our public broadcaster the cbc with this additional funding they should be required to increase local coverage of news and have regional reporters in all major urban areas able to quickly travel to where news is happening, be it downtown Ottawa or Yarmouth, Nova Scotia or Soyuz, B.C.

Doug Johnson in Vernon, B.C. I'd like to see CBC Radio become a 100% news outlet. They should make this a global news outlet with news from everywhere, with a Canada desk, a US desk, a Europe desk, an Asia desk, etc., etc. I get frustrated when the news only comes on at the top of the hour and only lasts for five minutes. Surely they can improve on that. To people who love CBC Radio for its broad spectrum of information. I'm telling you, won't like that. Oops, sorry, I wasn't supposed to say anything. Michelle Dextras in Canada, Ontario. I often watch CBC National at 9 and then Le Telejournal at 10.

I often feel that Hugh MacLennan's novel, Two Solitudes, is reality. There's not often news on either program that affects Quebec in particular, or English Canada in particular. I'm not saying there is never any news from the other side. CBC covered, well, the death of Carl Tremblay from Les Cabois et Fringons. But, for example, this year is the 100th anniversary of Jean-Paul Riopelle's birth.

You know, of course, Riopelle, the painter, sculptor, born in October of 23. And the last time I missed it, I have yet to see anything on CBC National. I don't know. I can't speak to that. There may well have been something. Both CBC National and Le Téléjournal need to make more effort covering use that affects specifically English Canada and or Le Canada Francais. Keep two solitudes fiction.

Reflect the country, okay? Percy Phillips, Portage la prairie you know percy's written a fair number of times uh over the years of the bridge so have a couple of others who are in the in today's section of letters most are new to first-time writers and it's great to have so many first-time writers, but Percy's got a good point here. Canada is a big and complicated country, and it's hard to report accurately and comprehensively. The one thing I would like to have changed is to erase the regionalism that emanates from the Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa reporting bubble. By regionalism, I mean the stories from the regions all seem to be fires, floods, drought, and seems to portray an attitude of, why would anyone live there? Rather than here, where logic and intelligence comes from. The politics of BC is unknowable. Alberta is always a bit crazy, etc. Saskatchewan

and Manitoba are mysterious, but who cares really? The Maritimes are quaint, and Newfoundland is a great place to holiday and explore. But the real country is in the triangle, the place that views itself in the mirror rather frequently. That is a long-time complaint, and you're not the first one to make it. I used to make it when I lived on the prairies. I used to complain about Toronto asking for an item from me and saying at the end, make sure you stand in front of a grain elevator. That's what most people think of the prairies.

So, you know, stand in front of a grain elevator if you do your report. Jesse Wright in McKenzie, B.C. We need more coverage of local issues, less coverage of the Ottawa bubble. To get specific, one way I would do this is to change where national reporters live. I would place more in the rural west maritimes of the country and stop hiring people in the Ottawa-Toronto-Montreal bubble. Paul Blake. I think he's somewhere near Toronto.

Really, do we need to know about everything that's happening everywhere? Canadian news organizations need to focus more on regional national stories and only cover the top international story of the day. Why do we hear about a hotel in Texas that explodes or something in L.A.? Who cares? In a similar but more specific vein, Mike Montague in Barrie, Ontario. One thing I would change about our news media

is the way it tends to cover real estate and housing-related news, more specifically the data. Similar to weather patterns, housing data is inherently regional. What occurs in Barrie, Ontario, where I reside, often diverges from the national statistics that are typically reported. Interviews. Wade Giffen in Vernon, BC. If the media interviews some elected official, they should keep asking the same question until they get an answer, not allowing the interviewee off the hook and moving on to another topic or question.

If the interviewee does not answer the question, the interviewer should state they're disappointed that the interviewee will not answer the question. Mark Rolston from Comox, BC. My pet peeve with media in Canada is why do they not persist in having a politician answer a direct question instead of allowing them to deflect the question by going off on a tangent? They seem to be afraid to take a hard stand, afraid the politician will not call upon them at a press conference or speak to them in an interview if they are deemed to be too aggressive and persistent. Frustrating, to say the least, especially at election time. Still with interviews,

but a couple of examples. Eric Lessard in Pierrefonds, Quebec. I would like interviewers to push back when questionable information is provided by guests being interviewed. Example, Pierre Poliev, the carbon tax is bad. Interviewers should ask, what would you do to help reduce carbon emissions so Canada can meet its climate change targets? Another example, interviewer to Elise Stefanik, a congresswoman from New York, a Trump flunky, as Eric says. Will you certify the results of the next election? Answer, no, I will not.

The interviewer should have asked her but if trump wins will you certify can you explain why yes for trump and no for biden i often find that interviewees are let off easy when they provide information that could or should be questioned um we got a bunch of other ones too but you know what we're going to do here right now? We're going to take a quick break while I clear my throat and keep going. Great letters. These are great letters. Be right back right after this.

And welcome back. You're listening to the Thursday episode of The Bridge. It's your turn and your turn on the media. One thing you would do to change the media in Canada. You're listening on Sirius XM, Channel 167, Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast platform. Glad to have you with us. Random Ranter coming up still later on in this episode as well, because it's Thursday. So here we go with some more. Sean Aiken in Whitby, Ontario.

One problem identified is people's mistrust of the media as being biased or fake and fraudulent. I propose a rating system whereby a government agency with vetted staff acceptable to all political parties evaluates individual media organizations. A system could be established stating the media outlet's usual political leanings, factual reliability, who funds it, etc., and journalists themselves could have a biography link where readers or listeners could assess their professionalism and backgrounds. This information would be made available to the user wherever and whenever media is accessed. I'm hoping the public could then follow media that is professional, trustworthy, reliable, and free from lies and bias, and would avoid any unrated news.

Darren Neal in Oshawa. Regular weekly reporting for each level of government on current policy and legislative implementation. Detailed data, data tables, graphs, and expert critiques on the impacts, current stage legislative implementation. Detailed data, data tables, graphs and expert critiques on the impacts, current stage of implementation, demographics affected and where the opposition parties stand on the policy and legislation ensured a reliable, validated, non-partisan report card on governments. Factual details should be reported to the electorate

to support ongoing political participation and to support an informed electorate. Ken Peleshock in L that name, Ken. Sorry, Pelishock. Pelishock? Anyway, Ken writes, Every post from a Canadian news outlet ought to have a standardized Twitter-style community notes where users can post a correction or clarification and or rate other community notes. This would incentivize trustworthiness as you could algorithmically rank both news and organizations and fact-checkers. I'm not sure about that.

You end up with a lot of strange people commenting on good organization. Anyway, I hear you. Scott Clement in Ottawa. Every journalist, anchor, producer, and editor should be part of a certification process, much like those in the fields of law, medicine, and engineering. Just as lawyers, doctors, and engineers are held to a high standard in order to protect the people they serve and can be stripped of their credentials for failing their code of ethics.

I believe that those who present us with news should also have high standards of which they must abide. The rules and guidelines would have to be designed and established, but if you're found to be reporting misinformation, you lose your job. Imagine the other professions self-policed their code of ethics and lawyers only had to answer to their firm. Doctors only had to obey the rules set out by their superior. Engineers could cut corners as long as their firm allowed it. I believe the news media has just as important a role to play in this world as other professions. I guess you've got to decide who the certification process is, right?

The last thing we want is governments determining, you know, who should be in certain businesses based on their past performances. But anyway, I hear your point. Lawrence Rainey in Muskoka, Ontario. Stop giving equal weight, so-called both sides coverage, to extremist, borderline fascist rage farming. Great term used by Bruce. Lawrence writes, demagogues and anti-democratic forces when reporting any news about anything proposed or implemented

by the current centre-left governments of Canada and the US. and anti-democratic forces when reporting any news about anything proposed or implemented by the current center-left governments of Canada and the U.S. Both governments, Biden and Trudeau, may well be replaced in the coming year or so by extreme right-wing regimes that could destroy the most diverse or the more diverse open, pluralist, even progressive regimes we have enjoyed in North America, which resulted in almost a century of relative peace, freedom, and prosperity in our countries. And yes, I'm inclining more traditionally conservative, including more traditionally conservative governments in both nations since World War II, which bear little or no resemblance to the current alt-right alternatives, Trump and Poliev, seeking to gain power and control.

That's from Lawrence Rainey in Muskoka. Ian Campbell in Winnipeg. When I was doing my undergraduate and graduate studies, accurate citation was stressed to us as we were reading, writing, and interpreting ideas. I've internalized that in my real life to critically question ideas wherever they are presented. I've never understood why news media do not cite their sources heavily. Studies say, what studies? Whose research? Can you link to the study? The mood on the street is, what street?

How long did you stand there? What city? What time of day? How many people did you actually talk to? Derek Dillable in Ottawa. The change I'd like to see in the media is an open and straightforward standards for all media organizations. I'd like to see these guidelines fully acknowledged by every organization right there on the front page of the newspaper and website for everyone to easily see.

Standards such as how do you verify sources? Do you commit to science-based factual evidence and the search for the truth? Will you fully acknowledge when you inevitably make an error and have to correct it? What are the standards that you expect from each and every employee within the organization? Acknowledging and promoting the highest standards could make many Canadians proud of their media, and many would come back and rely on it more. Some news organizations, like the CBC, by the way,

have those standards, and they're publicly available. Just go online, you'll see them all. Drew Monkman from Peterborough, Ontario. One thing I'd like to see is much more responsible daily weather reporting when it comes to climate change. Listening to a typical weather report today, you almost never hear the term climate change being used. Weather presenters should be playing a leadership role in teaching the public about what's happening in a community local climate.

For example, they should be pointing out how much warmer a given day, week, or month was in comparison to the long-term averages in Peterborough, for example. The month of December was a staggering 5.7 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1971 to 2000 normal. This was never reported on our local Czech's global TV weather news. lot of news operations in the country that in fact do report on the climate change issue and if if you want an example of one go to my new book how canada works you'll see the story of one very well-known Western Canada meteorologist who is specialized in the climate change story and how important it is, especially to those who work on the prairies, especially in rural areas.

Actually, I cut off Drew's a little more here on the same subject. Weather reports should also include the daily reading of atmospheric CO2, point out how quickly the level is rising, and explain that this is the main driver of global heating. It's also time to stop spinning any warm spell as wonderful news,

even when it's happening in January, and has the fingerprints of climate change all over it. And here's something I said I wasn't going to do, but I am going to do it. Because last week was the first week we did this, the one change to the political system you'd argue for. This one came in late.

This will be the last coming in late letter that gets read in this section. Because it was the first week, I think there might have been some confusion. So I want to read this one because I really like it. Donna Gauthier in Riverview, New Brunswick. What I would change in our system is mandatory voting and civility. Voting is a privilege and a great opportunity to voice your opinion. Mandatory voting could also help eliminate non-eligible voters as we still use the honor system for ID. I was a federal returning officer in the riding of Moncton Riverview D.F. for the

2015 and the 2019 elections. As for civility, I was always surprised to see our fellow Canadians berate election workers. With three hours training, sitting on folding chairs for 12 hours, trying to serve their fellow neighbours, angry or not, wanting to wait two to five minutes or park more than a block away from voting stations. Yet many are probably Costco paying members happy to walk through massive parking lots to shop there and wait 5, 10, 15 minutes in line to pay for their purchases. Voting is free and it's a privilege. Canadians should be reminded of this and appreciate the great service being provided. Thanks for that, Donna.

Okay, we've done our letters for today on the issue of one thing you change in the media. You heard all the letters. I'm going to pick a winner for this week. Doesn't mean I agree with what they're saying. I just think it's a good letter. And the winner will get a signed copy of my latest book. But first, but first, something completely different. While I take another look at the letters and pick my winner. First, it's time for the random ranter. His take on something completely different.

Coming up right now. There are so many societal problems right now. There's poverty, there's crime, there's mental health, addiction. I mean, the list goes on and on. And sadly, there really isn't a magic solution to any of it. There's no short-term fix. The best we can hope for is some kind of incremental improvement to people's lives. And I think that investing more in education is the place to start. Education paves the way to opportunity and schools are where the rubber meets the road. They're not just a place to learn facts

and figures. They're the village that helps shape who our children become. And right now, they're underfunded and understaffed. I mean, the current demands being shape who our children become. And right now, they're underfunded and understaffed. I mean, the current demands being put on our schools go so far beyond just education. They're having to feed kids, they're having to clothe kids, and in some cases, they're having to go to their homes and collect them in the morning. There's no lack of will in the education system. I've seen schools bend over backwards trying to find ways to motivate their students. But the problem is there are so many needs and not enough resources. Just think about what a classroom can look like. You could have a

refugee from a war zone who may or may not speak English. Then you've got recent immigrants with language barriers. Add to that kids with physical or developmental issues, kids with behavioral issues, and then you've got kids that are low achievers, kids that are high achievers, and everything in between, all with just one teacher, supported perhaps by a smattering of teaching assistants, school counselors, and administration. It's not enough to stop some kids from falling through the cracks, and there's no easy way to say it. Those are the kids most at risk for perpetuating our societal problems. It's really an unacceptable situation. We need to do better. If we ever hope to fix what ails us, then we really need to commit to a kids-come-first philosophy. Investing more in our children today

will pay dividends down the line. But I get it. We can't just write a blank check, and even if we could, there's already a teacher shortage in many parts of the country. Money doesn't grow on trees. School boards are going to need to figure out how to do more with what they already have. So that's why I'd like to see them rely more on online resources. I'd like them to start by making sure that every kid has access to a device, be it a laptop or a tablet, and that every student has access to the internet at home. Yes, there are homes without internet, and it's not a school's responsibility to provide internet,

but it's not their responsibility to provide food and clothing either. Now look, I know online education is not for everyone, but I think the pandemic has shown us that for some, it's a great tool, and I think we should take it to the next level. I think the provinces should develop their own formal lesson portal as a resource for teachers to supplement their daily classroom activities with. I'm not talking about just a video lesson like teachers recorded during the pandemic. I'm talking about lessons that are interactive, that are curated, that are fully produced. It would allow the kids who are already strong some autonomy to forge ahead and engage in self-directed learning, giving teachers more in-person time with the students who

frankly need more of their in-person time. But you know, when it comes right down to it, online learning and digital literacy are two pretty vital life skills in todayperson time. But you know, when it comes right down to it, online learning and digital literacy are two pretty vital life skills in today's world. So I don't see a downside to providing quality curriculum-based lessons online. It would open up new opportunities to rural students, it would give parents a great starting point for helping their kids, and it would fall in line with what I think is now the default way that most people access information. I mean, what I'm proposing here is already happening informally in classrooms. There are schools offering online tutorials. Pretty much every classroom has a

smart board these days for displaying videos. There are all kinds of third-party apps and websites. There are provincial resources, curriculum guidance, and so much more. But as far as I know, there's nothing formalized. It all comes down to an already overburdened teacher to gather it and curate it into a lesson plan. All I'm proposing is for provincial education ministries to support their teachers with some modern tools that would allow them more face time with their students. Because when it comes right down to it, a teacher can be one of the most impactful influences on a child's life. There you go, the random ranter for this Thursday and his views on, well, on education and on the role teachers play.

I know teachers can be a very controversial subject for a lot of people. But, you know, partly because, you know, teachers in my family, one of my daughters is a teacher, great teacher. There are half a million teachers in Canada, and you include everybody, you know, elementary, high school, college, university. I think there's more than half a million.

And we entrust them with so much, right, in terms of the future of our kids, future of our country. And sure, there are going to be issues that we debate about what teachers say and what teachers do and what teachers unions say and do. But, man, we place so much responsibility in their hands. And we care so much about the outcome of that responsibility. And all the rancher's saying is, we've got to give them the tools. We've got to give them more tools. More tools than they've got.

And it's hard to disagree with that. Okay. It's time. It's time to pick a winner from our letters. First of all, let me say, this has been a great experiment, this idea of asking you for one thing that you change first of all, let me say, this has been a great experiment, this idea of asking you for one thing that you change in whatever aspect of life is. That's going to be the general theme going forward.

I sat down, came up with a list of areas that we could do this on, and we'll have a new one next week. I'll announce it on Monday. And once again, you'll have three days to come up with a short, snappy response, just like the ones we heard today, which were great. And we heard them from all over the country, right? We heard them from the Maritimes. We heard them from Central Canada. We heard them from Western Canada.

We heard them from the territories. And we want to keep doing that. I'd like to get this kind of collection of thinking. It's amazing how in some areas there were so many similar thoughts from different parts of the country. So, you know, I hope news media is listening. You know, this is just a podcast. This is just like a program of opinion, right?

We're not a newscast. I'm not doing my old job. That's gone. That's years ago now. This is just an exchange of ideas and thoughts and opinions. And today it was yours. But your concerns about the news you get and how you get it is important. It's absolutely important.

So, so glad you heard it. And I hope people in the different news operations in the country were listening as well. But enough already. Time for a winner. Do you know where Portage La Prairie is? Manitoba? I'm sure you do. It's right on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Basically, it's southern Manitoba, but right in, almost in the middle of the province, along the Trans-Canada Highway. I know Portage well. I lived there. I lived there. I lived there for, I don't know, almost a year. Had a lot of friends there. I was back a couple of years ago, did the National from Portage one night.

Did it from inside the curling rink in Portage. A lot of great curlers in Portage. Well, also in Portage, I've never met them, but I hear from him every once in a while because he writes into the bridge, is our friend Percy Phillips. And Percy's this week's winner, so let me read it again. Canada's a big and complicated country, and it's hard to report accurately and comprehensively on everything. The one thing I would like to have changed is to erase the regionalism that emanates from the Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa reporting bubble. By regionalism, I mean the stories from the regions all seem to be fires, floods, drought, and seems to portray an attitude of, why would

anyone live there, rather than here, where logic and intelligence comes from. The politics of BC is unknowable. Alberta is always a bit crazy. Saskatchewan and Manitoba are mysterious, but who cares, really? The Maritimes are quaint, and Newfoundland is a great place to holiday and explore, but the real country is in the triangle, the place that views itself in the mirror rather frequently. Percy, this is not the first time we've heard this complaint, right? And it's been made for decades. But it's still being made, which tells you something.

That maybe there's a basis for that concern. Percy, you're this week's winner. I'll sign a book and you send me an email with your address and portage and I'll get you that book out within the next week or so. Thanks everybody for listening today. It's been a treat and it will be out within the next week or so. Thanks, everybody, for listening today. It's been a treat, and it will be a treat again next week. Tomorrow, stand by for Good Talk.

Chantelle Hebert and Bruce Anderson will be by. And as always, there'll be lots to talk about. Thanks for listening. I'm Peter Mansbridge. It's been a treat talking to you, as always. Talk to you again in 24 hours.