The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Your Turn and The Random Ranter on Hockey

Episode Date: January 26, 2023

Your take on a variety of this week's issues from trust in media, to the Dominc Barton interview to the Ranter's Rant on doctors.  And then the Ranter puts his thoughts together on what he thinks his the sorry state of affairs at the NHL.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. It's Thursday. That means your turn, your opportunity to weigh in on the issues of the day. That's coming right up. And welcome to Thursday. Peter Mansbridge here in Stratford, Ontario. This is the Your Turn episode. It also means the Random Ranter. And the old ranter has been hitting a few over the fence here lately. In spite of what I thought might have happened, a lot of people tend to agree with the ranter each week, no matter what his topic is. We'll see how they feel about this week's rant, coming up in a few moments. But first of all, it's the opportunity to hear from you, from wherever you may be in the country, on some of the issues that we've been talking about in the past week.

And this week is no exception. Lots of cards and letters coming in. As always, I do read them all. I don't use them all on the program. And sometimes I only use bits and pieces of some of your letters. But that's, you know, that's just to simply allow time to hear from as many as possible. So let's get right at it. In no particular order except in subject.

Just yesterday we talked about this issue about the media and how people feel about the media in today's world. It's a challenging issue because all media organizations aren't the same. We've said this repeatedly and therefore it is sometimes hard to make an overall judgment. Although people do, I mean yesterday we were referring to an American study by the Gallup organization into Americans' feelings about whether or not they trust the media. And the interesting thing about that study is it showed the results over the last 50 years and the gradual decline in trust and faith in the media organizations in the United States. Now, that wasn't really that peculiar because there are many different organizations that survey trust as an issue throughout a number of professions.

But on the journalism side, there's been a pattern, clearly, in the last number of years of a declining trust factor. Now, to be fair, many organizations, not organizations, many professions have shown a similar lack of trust, which is disturbing that we, a people are having less and less faith in some of the organizations and professions that have been a part of our life for decades. But specifically on the profession of journalism, a number of these different studies have shown similar conclusions. The numbers may be slightly different here and there, but the fact that the trend was a downward trend has been the case.

So you had a number of thoughts on that, even though this was just yesterday's podcast, and some of you perhaps haven't even heard it yet and will on the weekend. I noticed a lot of people catch up on the podcast on the weekend and that's great if you're not listening on a daily basis on SiriusXM, which runs the bridge at noon Eastern and again at most days at 5 o'clock Eastern as well. It's a repeat. Alright, Sherry Hertz writes from Toronto.

As a strong believer in the quality of professional journalism, I'm distressed to hear that the majority do not hold a similar view. Social media has its place, but what does it say about us all when at a time in history where it has never been easier to find information on any topic of interest, that so many are ill-informed? Good question. Neil Tobin writes from right here in Stratford. I cautiously write this email given the fact that I view you as an expert on the media and I am just a consumer.

Hey, we're all consumers. I'm no more of an expert than you are, except, you know, I've kind of been in journalism for half a century, so I know some things. But I think we're all experts if we consume. We have certain knowledge and opinions about the issue. But Neil writes, I also clearly know that I have no empirical data

to support what I'm about to say, but here we go. On your podcast of January 24th, that was yesterday, you discussed the concern with distrust in media, and as you rightly said, the media is not monolithic. Sorry, not yesterday, but two days ago, Tuesday. Over the last 50-year period, you discussed, in my opinion, the local national media has moved more from a pure news reporting to more of a news opinion media. There's some truth in that. Sometimes it comes from the slant on what is reported to the guests being interviewed. Unfortunately, I believe people

tend to listen to news in their own silo, and I believe if you want to get past the opinions to real facts, you need to expand what it is you view. When you only listen to your silo, the echo chamber distorts anyone else's view. When it comes to international media, I believe that is where I believe there is much more trust in the reporting. To have this same debate over trust in media on, you know, some of the, you know, in Britain and France and elsewhere.

So it's not something peculiar just to hear. I hear you on this issue of silos. I think you're, you know, you're right about that. The podcast world is, you know, you've got to keep reminding yourself, as I have to keep reminding myself, this program, The Bridge, it's not a newscast. It is basically a daily rant, sort of like when I get up in the morning, I kind of think about what I want to talk about,

and there's obviously some personal choice in making that decision. But it's not a newscast where I'm trying to reflect just the news of the day. I'm basically using my podcast to reflect what I'm thinking about. And I gather together with, in some cases, my regular contributors, you know, the Chantels and Bruces and Bryans and many others, you know, to talk about those issues. And I'm encouraged that you seem to find many of these people interesting and helpful in trying to expand your own knowledge. But, Neil, I hear what you're saying.

Anne-Marie Klein, I live in Toronto and found the two stories you shared on today's podcast about journalism really worrisome, especially the part about the global dangers to journalists. I wanted to focus on the findings you shared with us about trust levels, and I speak as someone who goes across to Scotland twice a year and listens to UK reporting while there, but also follows a couple of UK news politics podcasts. In comparing both journalistic groups,

I'm growing more and more disappointed at the timidity of Canadian reporters and at their reticence to challenge our politicians. I find that when premiers or national leaders are answering questions, reporters don't have the same steely resolve to bluntly ask them to actually answer the question they've posed or to press them if they receive a vague, misleading,

or factually incorrect response. I see this all the time, and I see it too often when Premier Ford or one of his ministers in Ontario are answering with a divergence in the left field to avoid a direct answer and wonder why they are afraid to challenge this behavior and hold them accountable like their British counterparts do consistently. It's frankly embarrassing that our press gallery is so timid that they allow leaders to obfuscate without redirecting them, or that they let them continue to mislead,

one example being Pierre Palliev's continued misnomer about the Liberal NDP coalition. For me, it's this trait of Canadian reporters that is causing my growing mistrust and disheartens me, and I wonder when we will see greater courage among the press attending these conferences. Thanks always for a great weekday listen. Good points, can't argue with them. Jules Gagné, it is incumbent on every consumer of news to carefully consider the source of news items, their reputation for reliability, cross-checking with other sources that one considers reliable. There is a good chance that that survey is tracking.

What that survey is tracking is not so much the decline in trust in news outlets, but more the proliferation of unreliable and biased sources, which drags down the overall rating. Sorry, Jules, that wasn't your writing. It was my reading. Pamela MacDonald from Burlington. Pamela McDonald from Burlington, McDermott from Burlington. Man, oh man, you better wipe these glasses. The deterioration of trust with the press is alarming. I think the combination of big money, the competition for our attention with the internet, the craziness of Fox and Trump, Musk and Twitter, all seem to be factors

in the destruction of the foundation of news. I trust somewhat, but now feel I need to check facts to the best of my ability. I also look to sources I can trust, you being one of them. That's kind, but never stop checking the facts. When in doubt, check. No matter where you're hearing it from, check. That and Brian Stewart revealing how much the world is arming itself now

has me having ridiculous thoughts of a possibility we're heading towards another dark age. Pam, I think we all worry about that at times. Lucas Zarnacki. Lucas wrote a lengthy letter. I've warned you all about lengthy letters. You only get a little portion of them on, no matter how good they are. And Lucas's letter is a good one.

But here's his main point. I want the Canadian public to have a vibrant and credible media that they can trust and depend on to get their information. Like you, I also worry about the consequences for liberal democracy should trust in the media continue to erode. Sadly, and as you mentioned in your discussion of the Gallup study, this decline is not an anomaly, but rather part of a decades-long trend that we have not even seen the rock bottom of yet.

I wish Gallup was wrong on this topic, but many other studies and scholars have come to the same conclusion. Trust in the media and other Canadian institutions is eroding. Lucas writes from Calgary. All right, Monday of this week we had a pretty special interview. We'd managed to convince Dominic Barton, the former Canadian ambassador to China during the episode of what has been called the Two Michaels issue,

and also the former managing partner of the McKinsey Group, which has had its own controversies surrounding its relationship with governments and certain private sector operations. A number of letters on it, on this conversation, including this one from Jason Craig in Conqueror Mills, Nova Scotia. I listened with interest to the great conversation with Dominic Barton concerning his time as ambassador to China, as well as his time and thoughts around McKinsey Consulting. I could not help but wince, however, upon hearing the descriptor of the two Michaels, whether it was during that conversation or, in fact,

in the written description notes for Monday's podcast. Throughout their unjust attention, and while the story was in the headlines, I always shook my head when I heard that description, whether it was journalists, the prime minister, pundits, or anyone in between. It always felt dehumanizing to me. This is saying the two Michaels instead of their names. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Jason writes, I don't believe it was intentional, of course, but it has always had that effect for me, and I wanted to put it out there.

Well, good for you, Jason. You know, it's interesting. During the height of that story, it used to bug me too, listening to them being described simply as the two Michaels. And here I am now doing the same thing. So thank you for pointing that out. Ken Pellishock from Listerwell, Ontario. Thank you for doing what you do. I was glad to hear some update or further information on the Michaels. Knowing some of my fellow Canadians in China, the story was of great interest to me. It seemed like the news just stopped talking about them once they got home, which I found odd.

I can't be the only Canadian interested in this story. Anyway, big fan of the podcast, particularly the Ukraine commentary with Brian. I know there's a lot of you feel that way about Brian, and for good reason. Christina Marshall. Hello again from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. By the way, in Phnom Penh, both P's are enunciated like the P in Peter, at least in the Khmer language. So you'll hear Phnom Penh. But according to Christina, it's Phnom Penh when

you live there. I enjoyed your discussion with Dominic Barton very much, especially the part regarding China and Canada's trade relationship with China. Having lived in Southeast Asia for many years, around 15 in total, it's nice to hear a different, more nuanced perspective on these issues, as all the smaller countries in the region have a very different relationship with China. Now, most of the mail we received on the dominic barton interview was very positive

uh bill teason though was not positive and there were a couple like this bill writes from crystal city, Manitoba. When I saw that you'd been interviewing Mr. Barton, my ears perked up. I was interested in hearing directly from the person at the center of the McKinsey brouhaha. I can't say I was particularly impressed with his defense of his former company. And even less so after hearing this morning's episode of the New York Times' The Daily Podcast. McKinsey was fingered as the consultant hired by so-called non-profit hospital corporations to propose and implement strategies to extract maximum revenue

from some of the poorest Americans. This despite laws forbidding extra billing beyond what Medicare pays. And now Mr. Barton has moved on to Rio Tinto, a mining giant with its own sordid list of worldwide human rights and environmental abuses. When money talks, ethics too often take a back seat. Well, that is certainly one view of the way McKinsey operated and including in the days when Barton who himself

has apologized and said he was sorry for some of the things that happened during his days at McKinsey but nevertheless that has not been enough for for people like Bill Thiessen in Crystal City, Manitoba.

Okay. Here we go. Lots of letters continuing on the ranter's view on taxes. Remember two weeks ago, the ranter said, let's move taxes, let's hike taxes to pay for the services we want. And then just last week, he took off on doctors, saying the problem with doctors is doctors. Well, I thought, boy, we're going to get a lot of mail on that one.

Talk about trusted professions. Doctors are one of them. Rachel Shildrop from Stratford. Two letters from Stratford. That's a first. Rachel writes, My mom and I are huge fans of the bridge, and I felt inclined to write in after last week's Random Ranters segment.

Growing up in a house of frontline health care workers, it was interesting to hear this outside perspective on the matter. Over the last two years, health care workers, doctors especially, have been applauded figuratively and literally for their work during the pandemic. However, I've noticed a shift in the way that they are being viewed by the public. Being one of the only professions earning the same pay, if not more, over the pandemic seems to have caused a bitter attitude towards them. Rightfully so, after so many have lost so much. While I agree with the ranter,

our healthcare system desperately needs to be changed. I wonder if this general opinion towards doctors rises from a place of resentment rather than genuine concern for the system. All right, Rachel. Mary Reinhart in Barrie, Ontario. I want to add a bit of a different perspective on the health care crisis. I was married to a CFO of a fairly large hospital, and through this was exposed to much on both the financing from ministry as well as what happened at hospital level. Our hospitals in Ontario have CEOs and other C-level administration-type personnel earning significant dollars, most close to or over $500,000 a year with benefits.

I don't know if that's true, but I'm assuming that Mary's done some research on that, have heard little from them or about their input or responsibility into the crisis at the hospital level. I wonder as to why we call and pay these individuals CEO salary when in comparison to a CEO in the private sector, they're not responsible for revenue, customer acquisition, product or product development, pricing on most of any product, collection receivable, determining wage and job description and negotiations, such for all unionized jobs, marketing, although they brand and market for donations,

the reality is the criticality of marketing depends on sales and revenue generation and is not inherent to hospital financing. Basically, as I see it, CEOs are glorified operations managers. With current issues in hospitals, is this an aspect of productivity and value we should be reconsidering? Okay. Michael Fury in Dalmany, Saskatchewan. That's just outside of Saskatoon. A follow-up to the renter's tax rant. I too have issues with the tax system, but would be willing to pay more for the right reasons, such as mental health care and an improved education

system, but I have a problem with our governments, both provincially and federally. Federally, there's too much waste, and no politician is prepared to step up and address it. They all make noise at election time, but do nothing about it, hoping we are accepting of them, making promises they will not keep. Provincially, they're no better. Max Oleson. In regards to the random ranter's thoughts on doctors, I have to applaud. It was a nuanced and accurate diagnosis, something that is sorely lacking in most commentary on health care. On this topic, as was evidenced in last week's letters about raising taxes, there's a lot of vague proclamations about waste and a broken system

without saying what specific waste should be thrown out and what specific mechanism in the system needs mending. The Rantor pointed to one thing that is clearly broken, and that's far more than most ever do. He was also clear that individuals can mean well, but become lost in self-serving systems. Doctors are no exception, though it shouldn't be up to them to fix their system.

Vaughan Stewart from St. Catharines, Ontario. In previous emails I've sent regarding medicine, I've raised the point that it is most difficult for Canadian young people who have received their medical education, training and certification abroad to return to Canada and practice medicine. My daughter is my example,

Australian example. The random ranter has made my point better than I could. The unwillingness of the medical colleges to quickly accept credentials from places such as UK, Ireland or Australia without expensive processes and a rewriting of exams is ludicrous. Once credentials are verified as belonging to the applicant to prevent fraud, the rest should be easy. Okay, you're probably saying, don't you have any doctors listening to your program? Dr. Shervin Zandi-Rihe, Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster University He writes I've been a long time listener and first time writer

Thanks for your great podcast Very informative and at times provocative As it should be in a democracy I'm writing about the latest rant by Mr. Ranter About selfish doctors I will agree that there are physicians that are selfish and some that are scared of eroding responsibilities. That being said, Mr. Ranter's claim that the shortage of physicians

and delays in care due to selfish physicians seems to miss part of the blame. In Canada, it's the provincial governments that fund medical school and residency positions. Training a physician from the beginning of medical school can cost up to a million dollars. Residency typically costs us taxpayers about $150,000 per resident per year. Neither physicians, the Royal College, which certifies physicians, or the provincial colleges, except CPSO in Ontario,

sorry, don't know what that means, determine the number of training spots. These are determined by the provincial governments and how much funding is received by the various universities. We should be investing more in our training, and perhaps the higher taxes that he recommended in his earlier rant could help fund that. Our physician shortage problem is a complex issue

that perhaps a full podcast session could be devoted to. I love the way everybody wants to program the bridge. I have no problem with that. Keep coming. Mark Russell. This episode had me thinking on so many levels, but please, can you investigate why our country is so incapable of generating the medical and healthcare professionals we so desperately need? can you investigate why our country is so incapable of generating the medical and health care professionals

we so desperately need? How broken and how out of alignment is our post-secondary education system when Canadians have to go to other countries for medical training, let alone the ethical issues with poaching talent from developing countries? Lee DeFeo from Stony Creek, Ontario.

I agree wholeheartedly with the random ranter's take on doctor training and the exclusivity of this group of professionals. I've had friends whose children have gone through the rigors of applying to Canadian medical schools. It is not for the faint of heart. Some gave up. Foreign students are given some additional consideration in admissions because they pay more. Many of our best and brightest go abroad to train. Some choose another career path, and that's sad. Not sure if the

solution is to get government involved to expand the training program and limit the number of foreign students, or let the College of foreign students or let the college of doctors attempt to solve the problem themselves the opportunity to train as a doctor in canada needs to be fixed if we aim to have enough for the population here's the last letter on uh on the ranter this week joanne bamford in wainfleet, Ontario. I listened to the ranter yesterday speaking about doctors. I'd have to say that I agreed with him wholeheartedly. We don't have to look very far for evidence of the problems in doctor land, such as hospitals and family practitioner offices.

I too do not blame the individual doctors for the sorry state that we see our systems in right now. Most are brilliant and hardworking, but knowing that their decisions are coming from within the system causes me to think that they need to overhaul big time. I think that oversight from outside the profession may be helpful and provide forward thinking. Why in the world haven't universities kept up with the demand in producing more doctors in these times? For years, the tsunami of boomers were forecasted. You'd think that smart, brilliant doctors would be able to address the issue

and ensure that adequate spaces would be available for the students suitable to be future doctors. There you go. As increasingly happens, we get more and more comments each week on what the ranter has to say. Well, we're coming up on the NHL All-Star Game in another 10 days or so.

And the ranter has hockey on his mind. And there have been a number of issues surrounding hockey, as we all know, in the last little while. The ranter wants to add to that. And man, he's determined to add his voice on this issue. The ranter, may I remind you, is from Western Canada, where some of our great hockey teams and great hockey players are from. So he's a hockey fan.

But man, he's getting, well, I'll let him speak for himself. Let's just say he's having a hard time being a hockey fan on some issues today. So let's have a listen. This week's comment from the random renter this just in the nhl pays nothing but lip service when it comes to diversity all right maybe that's not a real headline but it's what i heard when ivan provarov refused to wear a pride jersey for warm-up during an LGBTQ plus night in Philly. He cited religious reasons. Okay, well, the way I look at it, he's perfectly within his rights to not wear the jersey. In fact, I think people are perfectly within their rights to be homophobic, misogynist,

or even racist. Go ahead, make your choices, no matter how stupid or ill-informed. But remember, in the real world, choices have consequences. Unless you play in the NHL, that is. Because Provorov skipped the jersey, played the game, and then got his actions defended by his coach, his team, and the league. It's disgusting. And it shows just how gutless and spineless the NHL really is. But why would anyone expect anything else? Remember the 2018 junior hockey sexual assault scandal? No doubt some of those players, they're in the NHL right now.

How about Kyle Beach? He's the player that was sexually assaulted by a coach and had it covered up by an entire management team so as not to upset their Stanley Cup championship. They did it so well, that coach was able to move on to abusing players on college and high school teams. Let's face it, the NHL is tarnished. It's a league without integrity. So in an attempt to polish their appearance, they came up with the idea to have nights celebrating other cultures and orientations. Well, somebody needs to tell them that diversity isn't just a marketing campaign. You either believe in it or you don't, and the NHL is showing through their actions that they don't.

I mean, how else can they allow Provorov to play and then defend his choice to sit out the warm-up? I don't get it. The NHL isn't a game. It's a business. An entertainment business. The players, they're employees. Their job is wearing the jersey and towing the line. If Provorov can't do his job, scratch him. Call it a one-night upper body injury.

But sit him out instead of making the NHl ground zero for the culture wars playing him was a choice a choice to insult the very people they're trying to attract to the game i mean what's the point of having a diversity night when your immediate actions betray your words and the situation in philly it's just the tip of the iceberg. The Russian iceberg, that is. Because you know what team has never had an LGBTQ plus jersey? It's the Washington Capitals, home of everybody's favorite Putin-loving star, Alexander Ovechkin. I'm guessing the Capitals know full well that Ovi won't wear a pride jersey. So instead of doing the right thing thing they've decided to protect their investment well you know the great eight he can great eight my shorts no one in the league makes me matter i don't care

how good he is he's an unabashed putin supporter just check his instagram we're coming up to a year of war there are hundreds of thousands killed and wounded and And whoop, there it is. Putin. Front and center. With no apologies, no repercussions from the league, and no real heat from the media. In fact, quite the opposite. Everyone is busy falling all over the guy. Or making excuses for him. Or both. The great eight is an entitled, unaccountable star. I guarantee you if Ovi or Provorov were fourth liners,

the NHL would be singing a different tune. It's disgusting, but it's par for the course in the NHL. And until they stop valuing on ice performance over all else, I don't see it changing. The random renter. What'd you think of that? I'm sure we'll hear from you. Okay, we're going to take a quick break.

We've got lots more letters, your letters, from your turn on a wide variety of subjects. So part two of your turn on today's bridge. We'll be back right after this. And welcome back. Peter Mansbridge here in Stratford, Ontario. You're listening to The Bridge, the Thursday episode of Your Turn and the Random Ranter,

right here on SiriusXM, channel 167, Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast platform. And a reminder that tomorrow, like yesterday, will also be available on our YouTube channel, so you can catch us there. On to more of your letters as we go into the final segment of your turn for this week. I took a shot yesterday at people saving,

I don't know, in some cases, some of their best stuff for their book that they wrote on their times in office. And I got nothing against authors. I am one. So I understand the book business a little bit. I also understand that you're not going to get rich unless you're one of a very, very few people, extremely successful authors

of which there are some in Canada Margaret Atwood for one anyway Kate Wilson writes Peter you mentioned a difference between a government senior leader taking a confidential document home to use as reference when writing a future

book and taking a document to use for profit in other words selling it. In other words, selling it. I was talking specifically about selling it to a foreign country for insight on your country's secrets. Anyway, Kate writes, some of these leaders' books make $80 million or more, so not sure the difference. Would welcome further elaboration.

Well, I don't know who you're talking about. I know that the highest advance paid to an author in the U.S., political leader, was Obama. 65 million U.S., which would be, you know, somewhere around 80 million plus. But that wasn't just for Obama's book, for Barack Obama's book. That was also for his wife's book. There was a couple of books there, but come on. Most people who write books.

Mike Pence, he ain't going to make $65 million. You know, he might make a couple of million, although I hear that his sales have been pretty pathetic, which doesn't surprise me one bit. Corruption, we raised this issue of past corruption in Ukraine and concerns about it resurfacing as a result of all the resignations that took place in the Ukrainian government this week over the issue of corruption, although we weren't detailed what exactly was corrupt about what they were doing.

Ron Fisher writes, I would say that yes, corruption is still going on in Ukraine, but it's very telling how serious Ukraine is taking this question, that they would get rid of key people due to corruption questions. That says that they are truly committed to ending corruption. If they do this at a time of extreme emergency, then they are truly committed to ending their issue with corruption. Gus Livingston writes about something I talked about on procrastination the other day and how it's dangerous to your health. Gus Livingston from Dunville, Ontario writes, I listen with interest regarding your topic

on procrastination and the negative effects it can have. Well, procrastination can easily be solved by doing these easy and effective exercises. The first thing you do is, well, actually, I think I'll tell you about that later. Oh, that Gus. He's a funny guy. John Clifford from London, Ontario. I've got to be in London this weekend.

I've got a speech down there. Social media, John writes, social media's increasing contribution of disinformation, intimidation, misogyny, racism, and other hate-filled rhetoric is not only frightening, but also risks destabilizing, if not undermining one of the core principles of democracy, free speech. As free societies jealously guard everyone's right to freedom of expression, we risk that same freedom of speech actually subverting the stability of

liberal democracies around the world. It is not time for a careful re-examination, is it not time for a careful re-examination of free speech, perhaps re-establishing this right as a privilege, requiring an equal measure of responsibility, and possibly even restrictions. That is the debate. Peter Smith in Lively, Ontario. I have neither read nor heard much analysis of what would

happen if Russia were successful in taking Ukraine. If Russia controls so much of the world's grain supplies, would they not weaponize it? How much of the world's population would be pushed into starvation, and would it not mean skyrocketing prices in the Western world. Would that not foster political instability? All good points. Alexa Wing. I listened to the Good Talk episode in which you discussed Jacinda Ardern. When I heard the news of her resignation, I was also very surprised and impressed. I mentioned it at a dinner party last night.

One of my guests was a Portuguese citizen and mentioned the famous, in Portugal, resignation of the now Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, in 2002, when he was not obligated to leave office. Anyone who leaves a powerful office and doesn't have to is impressive in my mind i just hope the next act for jacinda is all she wants it to be

bob welch in st johnsbury vermont my parents met at a radio station at emerson college in boston and in the early 1960s there are real reel-to-reel tapes on shelves in my parents' basement, along with what must be hundreds of records. I was down there over the Christmas holiday and for some reason began looking closer. In my mother's handwriting, I see CBS Correspondence. What could possibly be on the tape, I wondered. It's a good thing I have a real machine in my office. I digitized it about five minutes of my dad speaking with CBS Moscow correspondent Marvin Kalb. Of course, there's questions about how a kid in the early 60s would get into radio, and the conversation turned to propaganda in the Soviet Union.

Obviously, Robert thought of this because I've been talking about the Kalbs just last week on the death of Bernard Kalb, Marvin's brother, at age 100. Marvin's still alive. He's 92, 93. Neil Sundin writes, I understand Prime Minister Ardern's decision to retire. I'm recently retired after a 35-year career in firefighting, the last five as a chief officer. When I submitted my date, our mayor asked why I was retiring, being at the top of your game.

My analogy was leadership is like a relay race. I'd run my leg to the very best of my ability and did not think I could maintain a high performance if I chose to run the next leg, doing disservice to my team. I'm old enough to remember the 1978 fight between Alley and Spinks. Sometimes it's wise to go out on your own terms. Couldn't agree with you more. Steve McLeod from Barrie, Ontario. I have been a listener to your pod since its inception, especially during COVID.

What a great job on the coverage of helping us normies maneuver our way through how and what we should be doing to keep each of us safe. Now we seem to be onto a different divisive issue, and that is the mess south of the border in the USA. I've been immersed in trying to find the right people giving good information on what is going on there, and I've been successful in doing so. Steve's main question is, do you see the same kind of things happening in Canada? Well, they could if we're not smart about it. There are already those who take a similar view of the world

as some of those that are clearly concerned you in the U.S. And it's just a matter of ensuring that people are better informed about the world in which they live and the issues that confront them. Neil Rankin in Yuma, Arizona. It's time for you and Bruce to cease talking about Trump. Surely there are lots of other topics that rank higher than Trump. See my previous response to the previous letter.

We talk about these things because they're important to talk about. Or we'll see them on our own front. Katerina Hague in Winnipeg. I have more of a question than a comment regarding the Polyev interview with CTV Winnipeg, I have more of a question than a comment regarding the Polyev interview with CTV Winnipeg.

Could it be that we talked about this two weeks ago on Smoke Marys and the Truth. Could it be that he prefers small-town journalists instead of the tough ones in Ottawa? I don't buy that. First of all, Winnipeg's not a small town. That's part of my heritage. Small town is Churchill. That's a small town. Winnipeg is not a small town. That's part of my heritage. Small town is Churchill. That's a small town. Winnipeg is not a small town. And I found over time that the journalists in cities in different parts of the country, different regions of the

country ask really good questions that are important especially to their audiences and sometimes it's good for national journalists to realize what's really being discussed out there in cities and towns right across the country. So I had no problem with that Winnipeg interview. It was enough to create 45 minutes of talk on our podcast. Ian Cumming in Fall River, Nova Scotia. One of my courses in aviation, flight management at Thunder Bay,

was aviation history. It required a paper on our favorite aircraft. And I think he was saying our favorite is his and mine. The DC-3. Upon graduation in May of 84, I landed a job with air dale and pickle lake as base manager we used them to fly gasoline diesel cargo and groceries to the neighboring reserves it was the military version of the c-47 with the double doors off the back sill remember them well we had lots of them at trans air i can can remember disassembling a brand new pickup truck,

cutting a one-foot square corner out of the box to fit it around those doors. We delivered the chassis, cab, and box on the same flight, but in pieces, to Fort Hope. I still love seeing that workhorse fly, but as I watch Lost Horizon, which I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, great old movie, and I talked about the DC-3 in the opening sequence,

as I watched Lost Horizon this Wednesday night, I couldn't help but notice something a little off with our chosen bird. I looked up the trivia on my favorite movie app, IMDB. They point out that it was a DC-2. That's okay. It was the basis of the same great aircraft. Just thought you would want to know that tiny slice of trivia. Thoroughly enjoy your program. I'm hooked. Thanks, Ian. That is a great piece of trivia, and I did not know. I knew there was a DC-1 and a DC-2, and they were in limited production, but they formed the basis of the greatest, in my view and perhaps in yours, the greatest aircraft of our time, the DC-3.

First off, the production line in the mid-1930s, still out there flying today in many parts of the world. All right. Here's the last letter for today. It's a two-parter, very short. It's from Jason Jollimore in Truro, Nova Scotia. Hi, Peter. You recently read an email to your podcast wanting more Janice Stein interviews.

Jason agrees. And guess what? I talked to Janice this weekend. We are going to do a monthly or every five weeks or so. What are we missing? Podcasts with Janice Stein. But here's the best part of Jason's letter. I never had this happen before.

This is special. P.S. My father, Joe, once stood in for the back of your head during an episode of This Hour Has 22 Minutes several decades ago when he worked at CBC News World in Halifax. The back of my head. That's not a pretty shot. But Joe stood in for it.

He played the back of my head on 22 minutes. And one would have thought that must have been worth a Gemini or whatever they call those awards today. Because that's a challenging part, to be the back of my head. Thank you, Jason, and thank your dad, if he's still with us, for that incredible piece of acting, the back of my head. That's it for this day. We'll be back tomorrow, Friday. Good talk available on all our

platforms, including our YouTube channel. Chantelle and Bruce will be here. We'll have lots to talk about as we always do. I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks so much for listening. We'll talk to you again in 24 hours.