The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Your Turn and The Random Ranter on J D Vance

Episode Date: October 3, 2024

Your letters this week on what's on your mind, and then the Ranter takes on J D Vance. Plus, we finally have some time for a few interesting End Bits.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You're just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. It's Thursday, that means your turn and what's on your mind. Plus the random ranter. This week he's on J.D. Vance. That's all coming right up. And hello there, welcome to Thursday on what has been a shortened week for the bridge, but nevertheless, Thursday's means your turn, and we do have a number of comments from you on a variety of different things that are on your mind this week. And then, of course, the random ranter comes by. He watched the U.S. vice presidential debate this week, and he had some thoughts about J.D. Vance. We'll be interested to hear that.

We also will have time for some catch-up on NBITS. We've had lots of NBITS sitting ready to go in the last few weeks and just no time to give them. Hopefully today we'll have some of that time. But let's start with you, because Thursday's is your turn. Adele Vath Nolan from Hanover, Ontario, writes this. And this is a big deal in Ontario right now. It has been for a while.

But Adele writes, Why are governments allowed to expropriate farmland, such as in Wilmot Township in Ontario, but cannot expropriate a corporation's property, say Highway 407? Farmland is finite, and the people who own it depend on that land for their business, just as the investors depend on 407 for their income. Okay.

I assume this is a rhetorical question in a way because Ontario has the power to do both the things that Adele mentions. It intends to build a new highway and will indeed soon begin to expropriate some farmland to make room for it. The other part of her comment is about an existing highway Ontario built north of Toronto many years ago, then sold. That's the 407.

The new owners made it a toll highway. There's always been opposition to that sale, and critics have urged the government to buy it back and make it toll-free. Ontario has made no actual move to do that, although I hear Doug Ford, the Premier of Ontario, just again this week, was saying that maybe he'd look into that. Jeff Lavery in Orleans, Ontario. Orleans is kind of the east end of Ottawa.

Jeff writes, I have a question regarding non-confidence votes during minority governments. Is there a certain number that the official opposition party and the opposition parties, the other ones, can table during a session? Or can they bring about as many as they would like? I just asked because I feel Mr. Polyev, after two failed attempts, will just continue to keep bringing them forward. I think he's at three now. I'm hoping you will say there is a limited number because it feels like the cogs of bureaucracy get stuck

when an official party focuses on what it wants versus what's best for the country and for the people. Here's your answer, Jeff. 22 days in each session of Parliament are made available to the opposition parties. The government decides when those days are. So right now, the Liberals are bunching a few closely together because the NDP and the Bloc are not in a hurry to join a conservative motion of non-confidence. The Conservatives are likely to have two more opposition days in the fall. The NDP and the Bloc will have one each. So there's your answer.

Kathy Newins in London, Ontario Last week's rant about the tragically hip Touched my heart so much I replayed it for my husband when he got home The tragically hip and their music Has been the soundtrack of our lives From hockey arenas to bonfires at the cottage, from stadium concerts to belting out every word in our car on long road trips home to the East Coast.

Love that. The image is just in the sentence. Amazing. Thank you for sharing your love for the hip with us and reminding us of such happy memories. That's right, the random ranter last week, you know, inspired by watching a documentary on the hip, did his rant on the hip.

And for all of those of us who've followed the hip for many years, enjoyed that for sure. Marilyn Wallace from Fanny Bay, British Columbia. Marilyn writes every week. She writes every week. She has a comment about no matter what the question is, no matter what the time is, Fannie always has, Fannie Bays, Marilyn Wallace always has a comment.

This week, Marilyn writes, water is on my mind. As a former high school science teacher, I used to suggest to my students that there might come a time when other countries would aggressively seek our Canadian water. After all, we have one of the world's largest reserves of fresh water. to haunt me as I listened to a potential American president proclaim that California's water problems could be easily solved by accessing the big faucet of water available in Canada. Of course, climate change has caused drought issues globally, and our northern snowpack cannot provide the solution. A discussion with an oil field worker reminded me that there are industrial processes that permanently contaminate water, rendering it useless forevermore. The scale of this loss is immense. The safeguarding of our water resources is a critical issue,

and all of us must do what we can individually while also holding our political leaders accountable with the necessary policies. You know, Marilyn often hits the nail on the head, and she does again with that one. You know, I'm 76 years old. This water issue and our safeguarding of our water has been, you know, an issue for as long as I can remember. But it's also one where, you know, we kind of take it for granted. We just assume we're okay. And we're never going to have to defend our rights to our water. Well, you know, as water becomes more scarce for other places,

they start looking around. So we've got to be aware of it. Joan Van Huguenbois. Hugugenbois. Hugenbos. Hugenbos. It's got to be Dutch, right, Joan? I'm not sure of the proper pronunciation, and I apologize for that. Dorchester, Ontario.

Joan writes, I would urge everyone to take pause and contemplate this. I quote from Nuclear War, a scenario by Annie Jacobson. There's only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours. And that's nuclear war. And one of the triggers for that war would be a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States. Or outbound from the United States.

I added that. It's time for all of us to lay down our swords and reflect on how we all contribute to the hatred and separation that has the potential to destroy us all. We are perilously close to that precipice. Jared Gertzen from Sherwood Park, Alberta. This past weekend, I sat down and watched the four-part documentary series on Amazon Prime titled The Tragically Hip. No dress rehearsal. It was wonderfully put together. Not only does it tell the story of the band from start to finish,

but more importantly, it goes in-depth to tell the story of the five band members. I certainly recommend people watch it. I'm writing to you today, though, not attempting to be a film critic, but to let you know that as I progressed towards the final episode, I was reminded of the final interview that you did, Peter, with Gord Downie

and how impactful that interview was on me. I was pleased to see the clips of that interview made it into the final episode. When I first watched your interview with Gord, I was struck with a wave of emotion. To see this pillar of our Canadian culture

be forced to deal with the fragility of life caused me to realize that I needed not only to love those around me more, but to ensure that I don't assume that they know that I love them, but to actually tell them and show them that love. You know, I haven't watched this series yet, and one of the reasons I haven't watched it is it's so hard for me to watch that interview over again. We're coming up on, what, the seventh anniversary

of Gord's passing, and it's hard to think back to those days, and it's certainly hard to think back to that interview. He was amazing and it was an emotional experience for both of us and for everybody else in the room. The producer, the camera operator, sound technician, Gord's buddies who were there. It was his rehearsal hall we did it in. Yeah, that was tough. Joshua Winters

in Surrey, British Columbia. What's on my mind this week is the provincial election, particularly the endless sea of lawn signs. Walking around my neighborhood today, I noticed a number of NDP signs that had been ripped up and thrown into a construction site, and just a street over, I saw a conservative sign that had been lit on fire. Regardless of who's to blame for these acts, it has me thinking, are all these election signs really necessary?

I'd like to see us return to the way my grandparents treated politics as a private matter where opinions were largely formed on one's own. Virtue signaling with lawn signs and discussing hot-button issues like politics outside the home or with company was considered rude. Personally, I don't want people to know or care what my politics are. It should be a last thought, not a first consideration. My rationale is that if someone is really basing their vote on what I or the people in the neighborhood are doing, then have they actually made an informed decision?

Percy Phillips, Portage-le-Prairie, Manitoba. Canada needs a rethink on policy. Oh, excuse me. Canada needs a rethink on policing from top to bottom. Each province should have its own provincial police force, as Ontario and Quebec do. And the RCMP should become much like the FBI in the United States, dealing with money laundering, people smuggling,

and crime that is what I consider national rather than provincial and local. The RCMP should have the personnel, resources, training, and capacity to address the domestic and international criminal activity in criminal organizations that are growing in Canada, even in rural areas, something that is largely absent today. Canada should stop being a safe place for organized international crime and growing domestic crime. The RCMP should be our effective line of defense across the country with the capability, capacity, and the collective political will to make it happen. The laws should be in place and they should get to it.

Never should we hear, we do not have the laws to address international crime syndicates and activity operating in Canada, from the RCMP or from politicians. A couple more. Mike Berenik in Belleville, Ontario. I was really upset to hear the CTV story about altering a Pierre Polyev interview. I was upset because this allows the Conservatives to continue the narrative that the media is against them.

I've never believed this. My question is, who will be left to question the Polyev government when he becomes PM, especially if he decides all traditional media, except for the National Post and Sun Media, can't be trusted? Good question. Listen, there are two sides. Well, how am I going to say this properly? There's something we should not forget about this story.

And that is we cannot accept sloppiness, laziness, or error-filled journalism. We can't accept that. Just like we can't accept politicians who, you know, lie or abuse the system for their own good. We can't accept that. And we shouldn't accept journalism that isn't up to par. Because that will only hurt us all in the long run. Okay, here's the last letter this week.

We had a shortened week, remember, so I'm not showed in the number of letters that came in. Ben Duggan in Conception Bay South in Newfoundland, Labrador. As the month of October starts, I cannot resist viewing the beauty of the autumn colors. Nature has the ability to dissociate us from our stressors, even if it's for a second. Don't believe me? Try it. The sounds and views you'll get on a hike in the Rockies or on the East Coast Trail

will give you a positive perspective on life. That's true, Ben, and it's a nice thought to close out the letter section this week. I mean, we're entering, you know, in many parts of Canada, a particularly special time of the year. You know, the fall colors, the fall days, the sometimes gorgeous fall days can re-inspire you and give you new energy.

So I hope you have the opportunity to do that. Okay, a little earlier than usual, we're going to bring the random rancher in because his topic is timely too. So let's get to it right now. And then I'll have some comments after that. And then we've got some end bits that I think you're going to find truly interesting. Of course,

all the end bits are truly interesting, right? But first of all, here he is your man, the random renter. I watched the vice presidential debate the other night, and my big takeaway was right at the beginning when J.D. Vance quickly talked about himself. The first thing out of his mouth wasn't that he was a millionaire venture capitalist, it wasn't that he was a successful author,

and it wasn't that he served as a Marine in Iraq. No, J.D. led with the fact that his mother was a drug addict. I mean, good for him for overcoming that. But the fact that he was highlighting that as an attempt to bond with everyday Americans? Well, I'm not sure what that says about America, but it's nothing good. As for the actual debate? Well, in books, JD won it hands down. The guy was slick and under control the whole time. He was everything the MAGA movement isn't. And as much as the media hypes these things up like they're Wrestlemania, the debate was pretty tame, even thoughtful, full of policy and devoid of spectacle. Both candidates were even respectful, and at times even cordial. Walls was a bit nervous, but somehow managed to come off sincere,

even though he was clearly struggling at times to remember his lines. And J.D. Vance? Well, to the ear, he was the epitome of reasonableness. And that's what frightened me, really, his ability to make anything, no matter how abhorrent, sound reasonable. But that's the kind of guy JD is. He's a total shapeshifter. He can be anything. And he's been many things. I mean, once upon a time, he was James Donald Bowman. When he served as a Marine, he was James David Hamill. And then finally, he became the J.D. Vance we know today. So three names, four if you count the middle name change. Seems like a lot to me, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt on the names and look at his core beliefs. Vance

himself has written that he was once a devoted convert of a conservative Pentecostal church who rejected the concept of evolution and believed that the world would end in 2007. I guess 2007 happening was a lot for him, because after that, again in his words, he became an angry atheist, until finally in 2019 when he converted to Catholicism. Now I find this odd, not only because changing your religious beliefs three times in just over a decade seems like a lot, but also because I've known a lot of atheists, and I've yet to meet a truly angry one. Cynical? Absolutely, but not one who I'd describe as angry. But I guess that's a rant for another day, because back to JD and his

ever-shifting identity. It's not just his names and religions that have changed, it's also his political beliefs. As the Democrats love to point out, not too long ago, JD was a never-Trumper, to the extent that he even compared Trump to Hitler. Now, for all I know, he may be still doing that, only I'm guessing he might be meaning it as a compliment now, because JD is capable of everything and anything. I mean, take his reasonableness during the debate and contrast it with the mayhem he's causing for legal Haitian immigrants in his own home state. Take the fact that his wife is born of Indian immigrants and that his children are of mixed race, and then contrast that with his willingness to rub shoulders with white supremacists. Now, I'm no psychologist, but I've never let not being something stop me

from having an opinion. And in my opinion, J.D. Vance is a sociopath, or at the very least, somewhere on the spectrum. If you give him the benefit of the doubt, you could say a guy with three or four name changes and a propensity for swapping out their core beliefs is just searching for himself. Or you could say he's someone without a moral compass, willing to be whoever or whatever he needs to be at any given time, which explains to me exactly why Trump has chosen him to be his running mate. Well, there you go. The random ranter enters the U.S. vice presidential race with his comments on J.D. Vance. Here's what I find interesting.

I love the ranter. I love him, even when I 100% disagree with him. I love him because he's original, he's thoughtful, he's innovative. He's all those things that we like to try to bring to the floor, or to the fore, on the bridge. And he's also from the prairies, where they dig deep, think deep, and they say what they mean.

Here's what I found interesting about the rant, though. Because I've listened to a number of people talk about that debate and talk about J.D. Vance and it usually goes like this if you're a male you look to that debate and I don't want to overgeneralize, but certainly most of the males I've heard talking about this since Tuesday night,

if you watch the debate, you say, you know, I don't like J.D. Vance, but he won that debate. You know, you're on debating points. He won the debate. Didn't agree you're on debating points. He won the debate. Didn't agree with him. Don't like him, but he won. However, if you're a female, if you're a woman who watched that debate,

most, if not all the women I've heard since Tuesday night, other than the, you know, the partisans who were paid to say certain things, I've heard the opposite. They didn't think J.D. Vance won. They never thought he won. They didn't think he could possibly win because of his on-the-record comments about women. Their place in the home, their place in society, the issue on abortion, all of that.

They said he lost the debate simply by turning up, he lost the debate. So a real gender difference on this issue of who kind of technically won the debate. Now, it's obvious that the ranter is no fan of J.D. Vance. So whether he thought he won the debate on style points or not, it's kind of irrelevant. But I did think it was interesting that there's a different mindset going in depending on whether you're a man or a woman. Or most of the ones, certainly the ones that I've heard since Tuesday night.

Anyway, there we go. We're going to take a break. When we come back, I've got some end bits. And that will start right after this. And welcome back. Peter Mansbridge here. You're listening to The Bridge on Sirius XM, Channel 167, Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast platform.

It's our Thursday episode. We've been through the Your Turn section, your letters and comments on what you're thinking this week, and we've heard from the Random Ranter. So what we haven't heard in the last few weeks, actually, almost ever since we came back on the air in the fall, after the summer break, we have not heard many end bits. And for those of you who are new to the bridge, end bits are simply just little stories that I might see somewhere on my scanning of papers around the country, around the continent, around the world,

that may be of some interest. And I always have fun with them. So why don't we have a peek in the NBID file and see what we've got here. A number of them deal with health issues. Here's the headline from a fairly recent New York Times article. How healthy are apples? Well, I think no matter what age we are We all remember the phrase An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Right? I certainly used to have that jumped into me when I was a kid It still rings there in my head And I eat a fair number of apples I don't have an apple a day But after reading this article, maybe I should. Especially at this time of year, because there's some fantastic apples out there, right?

So, Isabel Whitcomb wrote this piece for the New York Times. I'm going to read a bit of it. I'm going to share a bit of it with you. An apple a day might seem like overkill, but America's most popular fruit, currently weighing down branches and orchards everywhere, is packed with health benefits. Here's what nutrition experts have to say about apples.

They're good for your gut. Apples are rich in dietary fiber, a type of complex carbohydrate that our body isn't capable of digesting on its own. That fiber acts as food for many of the bacteria species that reside in our guts. These bacteria have a powerful impact on our health, affecting everything from cancer risk to weight to mood. A diet high in fruits and vegetables, including apples, has been shown to increase the number of beneficial bacteria and decrease the number of harmful bacteria in people's guts. In addition, apples themselves contain a host of beneficial bacteria. While this is true for all fruits and vegetables, one study found that apples have a greater variety of bacteria than most.

When you eat an apple, some of those bacteria may become part of your microbiome. Never heard that word before. The apple is acting like a probiotic in addition to acting like a prebiotic. Okay, that's only part of the story. They're also heart healthy. Apples have high amounts of pectin, a dietary fiber that can help you maintain healthy cholesterol levels. In a 2012 study, 160 postmenopausal women ate either 75 grams of dried apples, equal to about two medium-sized apples, or prunes every day for one year. After six months, the women who consumed apples experienced a 13% drop in their total cholesterol and a 24% drop in bad cholesterol, while the women who ate prunes experienced a

three and a half percent drop in total cholesterol and an eight percent drop in bad cholesterol. You know, it's funny, I've, you know, it may have been the headlines on this article, but I, I've been recently eating apples more often than I usually did. And, and, I've had some dry prunes on occasion in the last few weeks. And I feel better all around for both of them.

Anything more on apples here? They also have a whole bunch of ways to enjoy apples. Like, apples are most nutritious. What? When are they most nutritious? When you leave the skin on. After all, it's the skin that contains those powerful things like fiber. She added that you should wash apples thoroughly

before eating them to avoid pesticide exposure. And that's no joke. In general, a darker color apple will have a richer variety of what you need. But more important than selecting the deepest red apple you can find is eating different apple varieties, so you can absorb as many different of those good issues as possible. Apples are a perfect food all on their own, of course, but these recipes from the New York Times cooking section will help.

And you can find those if you subscribe to the New York Times cooking section will help. And you can find those if you subscribe to the New York Times. Just go to the article, How Healthy Are Apples? by Isabel Whitcomb. It was in, what's the date on this? September 23rd. And you'll find all kinds of recipes for apples. Speaking of eating, here's an article from dnyuz.com. It's an online place that I see a lot of stuff. The headline is this. This also came from near a lot of stuff. The headline is this.

This also came from near the end of September. Restaurant portions are about to get smaller. Are Americans ready? Now, you know you can go to some restaurants where the portions are very small because that's kind of their thing. Or you can go to restaurants where the portions are big. Well, according to this piece, for a lot of different reasons around the cost of delivering food

in a restaurant or through Uber, the cost is getting quite high, and they're looking for ways to cut back. You know, as some of you know, I'm a partner in a restaurant in Ottawa. And it's funny, you know, I had some friends at the restaurant the last few weeks and they wrote, said it was fantastic great food it was really terrific um but wow the portions are so big i you know i'm not used to such big portions so hey we'll cut back we won't charge we won't charge anything different but we'll cut back uh just kidding we love our customers and we love hearing from them

anyway here's the deal in this piece piece in dnyuz.com. Portion sizes in American restaurants shot up in the 1980s and never came down. The average serving of spaghetti and meatballs doubled. Bagels ballooned into six-inch wide monstrosities. Burritos started to weigh more than a Harry Potter hardcover. Nutritionists and policy makers haven't had much success fighting portion creep. But today, a combination plate of economics, demographics, and climate science may accomplish what years of official hand-wringing could not, loosening the grip that supersized restaurant portions have on national diet.

Americans are not likely to break up with endless pasta bowls and half-pound burgers overnight, but the relationship has shifted significantly. More than 75% of customers say they want smaller portions for less money, according to the 2024 National Restaurant Association report on the industry. That's interesting. It's starting to happen. They talk about some restaurants have already taken action.

January Subway introduced a snack-focused menu that includes smaller bites like $3 hot wraps. Burger King's largest franchises shrank their 10-piece chicken nugget order to 8. Panera Bread's You Pick Two sandwich of half a salad is among its most popular menu items. Chip Wade, who in 2022 left a career running Red Lobster's North America operations to become chief executive of the Union Square hospitality group, predicts that the restaurant industry will eventually reconsider oversized

portions. We're getting ready to get ready, he said. Here's a shocking stat. Food costs aren't the only pressure on serving sizes. As much as 40% of food served at restaurants never gets eaten, according to a 2020 study on food waste. In an effort to slow climate change, states including California and Massachusetts have restricted how much food can end up in landfills, and millions of people taking certain drugs are eating much less than they once did. You know,

the drugs we're talking about there. Um, okay. How are we doing on time? Okay. This will, this will probably be our last one. Um, and this is interesting.

It's interesting because I've been thinking about this lately. As some of you know or have heard, I'm in Scotland right now. Here for a couple more weeks. Working on a number of things and then back. But it's not affecting the podcast. Love doing it.

Love doing it from here just like I love doing it from Stratford or Toronto. Here's the story. Here in Scotland, we have like a converted old barn. And in one of the areas, there's a staircase that we had to put in as part of the conversion. I was always, you know, when you're this age, you always are concerned about your stability. You don't want to fall, in other words, right?

So these stairs, well, you know, they were new stairs, but they were kind of slippery. And I was always focused going up and down those stairs, holding onto the handrail, making sure that I didn't slip, making sure I was wearing the right kind of footwear. And then finally I said, you know what? I want to put a rug down on those stairs. They'll be much easier to walk up and down on. I'll be much more stable.

So that's what I did. But in doing that, I also realized how important stair climbing and stair descending, for that matter, are not just for ensuring you're stable, but they are important for health reasons. It's a good exercise. So I like seeing this. Where is this from?

It's AP News, Associated Press. The headline is this. Want to burn calories? Associated Press. The headline is this. Want to burn calories? Climbing stairs might be the most effective exercise for you. If you're trying to lose weight and want a new way to do it, stair climbing as a regular exercise or just adding a few flights a day might be for you. It's accessible, and research shows it's more effective than walking on level ground.

Overall, it is a fact that stair climbing gets you fit faster and consumes more calories, said Lori Van Houten, vice president of the International Sky Running Federation, which oversees a wide range of disciplines that involve vertical climbing. This includes disciplines like mountain running above 2,000 meters or events like the stair climbing world championships. These competitions are for the very fit, but we're talking here about adding a few minutes of stair climbing as a daily routine and raising awareness about its effectiveness for all ages.

How many calories will I burn is the question everyone wants to know, Van Houten said. Here's the good news. The overall energy expenditure of the exercise depends on your weight. Therefore, the more you weigh, the more you burn. Research shows you burn about 20 times more calories going upstairs than walking on flat ground. Even going downstairs, you burn roughly five times more, the muscles being worked to slow the body's descent. That may be all you need to know if you're trying to lose weight. Dr. Alberto Minetti,

a physiologist and biochemist at the University of Milan, has done extensive research of human locomotion, including stair climbing. It's an exercise everybody can do, Minetti told the Associated Press. You always have stairs nearby. You're free of charge compared to a gym.

Trained as a physician, Minetti has spent his career in research rather than treating parents, the patients. He suggested watching your speed for the not-so-young and beginners. He does his own stair climbing at his third-floor residence in Milan. He said he often takes a few deep breaths before ascending, which makes him feel fresher at the top. He also makes the point that using the arms in stair climbing adds extra power. Handrails offer safety too. Absolutely. Okay.

Some people take this very seriously. And as our last thought on the bridge today, we're going to meet one of them. If stair climbing was an Olympic sport, Susie Walsham would own a handful of gold medals. She's won 10 races up New York's Empire State Building. That's officially 1,576 stairs. She's claimed titles in more than 100 international stair races and was once regarded

as the number one woman in that discipline. Five times the Australian as one climbs up the Eiffel Tower. This was all too easy apparently. When she was living in Singapore, Walsham climbed up her 29 story building 37 consecutive times It took over 4 hours riding the elevator down each time after reaching the top with short breaks for coffee or water She covered a vertical distance of 3200 meters I'm tired just reading that But let's get grounded.

What are the advantages of stair climbing as a regular exercise routine for the rest of us? Here's what Walsham told the AP. You get a lot of bang for your buck. Many people struggle to run as they age. The impact of running gets harder on the joints, but stair training is a great alternative. Stairs are everywhere. One flight, two flights at home, inside skyscrapers, in stadiums and arenas, at work, in shopping malls, in the subway. One giant advantage of stair climbing is it doesn't take much time.

It's easy to build up, adding a few flights of stairs every day or week, and it improves balance. On the downside, it's not very scenic, particularly in the stairways of towering skyscrapers. I don't know. Sounds like the pros outweigh that con. So happy stair climbing out there.

I know I'll be doing a bit today. I walked 14,000 steps two days ago. Some of those were upstairs. Anyway, that's it for this day. That's it for this Thursday. That's it for this Thursday. Thanks for your letters. Always enjoy them. We'll have a question for next week.

We'll unveil it on Monday morning on the Janice Stein Show, on the Monday edition of The Bridge. Tomorrow, it's good talk. Bruce and Chantel will be here. And as always, we'll definitely find things to talk about. I'm Peter Mansbridge. So much thank yous. Or how about thank you so much for listening today.

It's been a treat, as always. And we'll talk to you again in just under 24 hours.