The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Your Turn -- Ask Me Anything, Plus The Random Ranter

Episode Date: February 26, 2026

It's the last week of the month and this is the week we have "Ask Me Anything" as our topic on Your Turn. And you do just that with letters about journalism, sourcing, bias, books, history and a lot more.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You're just moments away from the latest episode of the bridge. It's Thursday. It's your turn. It's Ask Me Anything. And the random ranter, both coming right up. And hello there. Peter Mansbridge here.

Yes, it is Thursday's your turn. And this week, last week of every month, we're going to do this now. And it asks me anything program. So your questions have been coming in all weekend. Some of them are here from, you know, a month. ago. We had so many a month ago that we've saved some of them and we're going to get at them today. But we'll get through as many as we can. What we have discovered with Ask Me Anything programs, they take a little longer to do them than just the regular question of the week program.

But we love it. And of course, because it's Thursday, the random ranger is here as well. So let's get right to it so we can get as many of these in. possible. I can't guarantee that I can answer some of these questions, but I'll try. Scott Caldwell from Bucerius, Mexico, and that's just north of Puerto Vallata, and it's been a little rough there lately, as we know. So, Scott, I hope you're okay. Scott writes, given the current situation of the auto industry in Canada, why are we not hearing about euro manufacturers? Our euro partners should be our best buddies these days.

There are some great autos made there, some of which used to be made here 50 years ago. Pugio, Renault, Citroian. We have plants available. Where's the dialogue? Well, I'm not sure what the actual dialogue is, but there have been hints of late in the many discussions going on

with our different European partners, as Scott calls them, about a variety of different things. planes, submarines, you name it. But also autos. Because you're right, we do seem to have some plants available or close to being available. And one assumes that some of the European auto manufacturers,

some of the Korean manufacturers, some of the Chinese manufacturers may be interested in those plants. So let's see what happens there, Scott. I wish I'd give you more definitive answer, but I think that's where we are. Marsha Baddeley in Fonthill, Ontario, that's south of St. Catharines. I find myself considering bizarre, absurd ideas that seem way out there. I guess it's motivated by trying to find hope in our current context. For example, would Canada ever consider becoming a part of the EU, the European Union?

Is this even possible? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Well, Marsha, the Treaty on the European Union was signed in 1992, and the criteria for membership starts with these words. Any European country may apply for membership. So that would seem to eliminate Canada. But in a world where we've seen people talk about Canada as part of the United States, Greenland as part of the United States,

Maybe it isn't preposterous to think of Canada as a part of Europe. There's no doubt that the liberal government of Mark Carney is certainly interested in better deals between Canada and more extensive deals between Canada and Europe, so we'll see which way that goes. Darrell Payne in St. John's, can you share one Canadian politician whose honest, straightforward, thoughtful, intelligent, logical, or caring responses

were far more than you expected during an interview session. Alternatively, has there ever been someone whom you've held in high regard but lost a major amount of respect for after interviewing them? Well, that's an interesting question. You know, most of the, certainly in my later years, as the chief correspondent, the politicians I'd sit down with to talk, to were of a certain level, you know, usually prime minister or a major cabinet minister, like finance minister.

You know, the first part, you know, straightforward, thoughtful, intelligent, logical, or caring, and you're asking for a lot here from anybody, no matter who they are, or what profession they have. But, you know, I'll be honest, I'll tell you, I think, Paul Martin was that way. whenever I interviewed him, I first met him in 1988. I think it was 88, when he ran for office as a MP, ended up in the cabinet in 93, a successful run as finance minister,

and a not-so-successful run as prime minister. But I always found him straightforward, thoughtful, intelligence, certainly more intelligent than me, which isn't hard. So I'd probably say Paul Martin, but I've got to tell you, I met a lot of politicians over the years. You know, I have a different feeling about politicians than many other people who look at them, you know, with a critical eye.

I mean, I always, you know, looked at them with a critical eye in the sense of the, you know, hopefully the questions that I was asking them. But not in terms of their profession. I think we owe politicians a lot. Most of the ones I've met over my many years covering stories and covering issues that confront the country are people who care about what they're doing. And, you know, they're... thoughtful and honest and

and they try their best. Sometimes they get disillusioned with the process. But listen, most of them are there because they believe they could make our lives better. Sometimes that changes during the time they're in Ottawa or in a provincial capital and they get frustrated by the process. But I think that way.

The opposite end of it, you know, there were lots of times. I did interviews with different people. And I thought, you know what? They're not giving me the answers. So I would lose a degree of respect for them. I'm not going to name them because there were more than a few over time. Leslie Chester in Toronto, when you analyze your podcast performance,

who do you consider your top three biggest competitors would be for the years of your most frequent listeners? not thinking ratings but impact. If your podcast was no longer available, what else would you re-listen to for a perspective on our world? Well, you know with the bridge we try to actually cover it the world. We do a lot of politics.

Good Talk is the top-rated show. And I think for the most part, the top-rated Canadian political podcasts. It's always in the top five, and often in the – it's number one. It's been number one most of this week of the Canadian political podcast. But who are the competitors? I don't see them as competitors. I see them as equal voices in the space.

You know, Vasheh Kapelos's program gets lots of airtime as it should. Front burner on CBC is probably my favorite. And it covers everything, not just, you know, politics, but world events. David Cochran's show on CBC. And they turn that into a podcast each day. It's not bad. There, you know, there's some good programs. Two blocks in the White House is the new CBC,

podcast out of out of Washington and it's pretty good so the thing is there are lots out there there's lots of good talk out there

if my podcast is no longer available what else would we listen to for a perspective on our world there's lots to listen to and there's lots to listen to but I appreciate the nice comments Deb Greening in the District of Lakeland, Saskatchewan, you've always appeared to be very poised and confident

in all of the interviews we've watched. Has anyone ever rattled you? I don't know whether rattled us the right word, but I always get up for every interview. I try to think about it. You know, I like that kind of nervous tension that goes with any program that you do when you sit in front of a microphone.

But I enjoy it more than anything. thing. So rattled is not a word I would use. John Hainthorne in Lakehurst, Ontario, that's the Quartha Lakes region, near Peterborough. As someone who spent a career covering historical events across Canada and around the world, what is one event that at the time you were covering it seemed like it would be a minor story, or something that would not end up being very significant? However, looking back from a current perspective, however, looking back from a current perspective, However, looking back from a current perspective

was a story that had an outsized impact on Canada or the world. We thought about that, and Mark Bulgich, who helps me to put this together on Thursdays, you know, he sent me a note, he said, maybe the hardest stories to see will have lasting impact are cultural stories. The first residential school stories didn't change things instantly, but now we see how those stories changed our fundamental understanding,

of how indigenous people suffered because they had been treated so poorly. The first stories on how gay people were being treated by the police, I'm sure there are others like that as well. So that's probably a good answer for what you're saying. I do remember when I was in Berlin in 1989 that initially we weren't sure how big that was going to be. We knew it was big when the wall started coming down, but we didn't realize it was going to topple the whole, you know, system of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union falling apart.

I can remember that night when we did our first show from Berlin with the wall coming down in the background, talking about, well, you know, this may be just the East and West Germany getting back together. Maybe it's no more than that. well within days we realize it was a lot more than that and okay Jeremy Gerardi in Windsor Ontario I noticed NPR and PBS in the United States

spends programming hours fundraising has the CBC ever considered that idea well you know I don't know I'm sure up at the upper levels they may have considered everything over the years at one time or another but I'm not aware of any serious consideration of pledge breaks on radio or TV. I mean, let's not forget, the CBC gets, what is it, a billion and a half dollars a year from the federal government, from the Parliament of Canada.

So that's not a bad start. Then it becomes how do you spend it in a way that's consistent with the mandate that's expected by the people of Canada. And that's where the arguments take place. Scott Burke in Halifax. Love the random ranter. Where did you find him? That's a secret.

Well, you know we found him on the prairies. Actually, I knew him before he started doing this. And I knew he's just a guy. He's just a nornery guy. He doesn't belong to any party. He doesn't, you know, do any of the political stuff. He has a hardworking job. where he's his own boss.

He travels a lot. He hears from a lot of different people about various issues. And he studies and learns. And he always had an opinion on stuff. So I called him up one day and I said, how would you like to do something like this? And I had to convince him that he was capable. And he certainly is that.

And now he's been doing it for a couple of years. And it's great. Love it. he'll be on another 10 minutes or so. Mark Nordham in Listerwell, Ontario. That's not far from here in Stratford. Since you've traveled a lot during your career and personal life, what are the top three countries everyone should visit?

I know you'll include Scotland, so the top four. Yes, Scotland would be in the group. You know, like I always say, start with your own country. Start with Canada. We have so much to see. I've been lucky, mainly because of my job. I've been to every province, every territory. I've seen the country from small towns and big,

and it is spectacular. And you could never go wrong just visiting places in Canada. However, if you have the opportunity to get outside of the country, my top three, and this is based on places I've been, right, and there's places I'd still like to go. But the places I've been, Scotland, obviously, Italy, huge fan of Italy, Hong Kong and China, who would be in that grouping.

And this will sound odd, but the Middle East, you know, I love going to the Middle East, even when it's a difficult time to go there. It's spectacular. It's beautiful, and it's historic, all things that interest me. And whenever I'm there, all I can say is if they could just figure out a way to get along, this would be a tourism bonanza. Ken Pellowshock in Newstad, Ontario, I spoke with folks who were on the CBC in the 1950s.

Their film is digitized and archive, yet they've never seen it. Are there any moments over your career you'd like to pull out of the archives and watch again? There's some moments in my career I'd like to pull out of the archives and destroy. Listen, I'm lucky. I've pretty well got access to any of that kind of stuff. And when I've written some of my books that have touched on elements of my broadcast pass, I don't have any trouble finding them and looking at them. I'm like a lot of people in this business.

I don't like looking at myself after the fact in interviews or live shows I always go wow, why don't I do this or that differently. Gonzalo Herrera in

Vancouver I wanted to get some details on how you manage sources as a journalist. Some insights on the process around validating their info prior to publishing it. Well, that's critical. That's key. you know, first you judge the identity of the source.

Has he or she been straight with you before? Is he or she in a position to actually know what they're talking about? Do they have a reason to mislead you? Like wanting a certain spin out there? Or their boss to look good? The other side to look bad. Or maybe it's a trial balloon, putting something out there to see if the public likes it or

hates it. Then you look for a second source, a source who knows the information firsthand and didn't hear it from someone else like your first source. And sometimes, depending on the weight of the story, you look for a third source. Some of these stories that you're breaking and you're protecting sources are incredibly important. So you've got to go through that process. That's the basic process you've got to go through. You've got to determine whether you can actually trust this person. And then you go out looking for a second sourcing. Julie Smith-Allen in Luthbridge, Alberta.

My family calls it church choir laughing when a horribly funny thing happens in a serious, often solemn situation and laughing is the last thing you should do, but you can't help it. Sometimes it's an involuntary guffaw, entirely inappropriate but impossible to stop. Then that is enough to start you laughing uncontrollably. Has this ever happened to you in an interview or at some somber or formal event

where a serious demeanor was essential? You know, I went to Bulgutche again on this one. He actually remembered something that I'd forgotten, but as soon as he started mentioning it, I remembered it. Here's what he wrote. I remember the night Tennessee Ernie Ford died. We did five editions of the National night for some reason, and in the script we noticed the Tennessee Ernie Ford.

had a nickname, the old peepicker. By the third time you had to say that, we all found it hysterically funny. These are the people who are sitting outside of the studio in the newsroom, watching the program going to air live in the studio next door. We all had the giggles, and you had to deliver it straight that third time, then the fourth, and then the fifth.

So here you were delivering news of the death of a great entertainer, but inside howling. But you did it. Yeah, I did. I remember the old peeperker. And it's not just them laughing outside the studio. It's the guys behind the cameras in the studio. Back then we still, we had camera operators behind the cameras.

Sometimes now it's all, It's all remote, you know, without people. Doris Dreher in Calgary. I've noticed that the bridge rarely touches on indigenous issues. That's not fair. Your latest book features a First Nations man on the cover, yet the podcast hasn't explored First Nation related topics in months. That is fair.

I'm genuinely curious. Is that an intentional choice? It is not an intentional choice. and I'm actually heard that you'd even suggest that. However, you're quite correct. We haven't done much on Indigenous matters in the last, well, mostly in the last year. Why is that? We have been absolutely focused on, for the most part, the whole Trump-U.S. Canada relationship.

There's a lot at stake, including indigenous issues as a result of that. However, I hear what you're saying, and I'll definitely keep it in mind. Derek Dillow in Ottawa. My question is about Pierre Trudeau. I don't recall you ever doing a sit-down interview with him, but nevertheless, I would like to know your general opinion of him, not just as a politician and PM, but as a person. Many found him quite fascinating and impressive,

including your colleague Craig Oliver. Craig was a friend of Trudeau's. others not so much. How about you? Well, first of all, I interviewed Trudeau, probably pure Trudel, probably half a dozen times and sit down interviews. I was very young in those days. I was still in my 20s the first time I interviewed Trudeau,

and I had just arrived two years before from Saskatchewan where, you know, I was covered. Weedfields, not politics. So I can remember I was, you know, I was nervous that first time I interviewed Trudeau. There's no doubt about that. And he was a tough interview because he usually, you know, was miles ahead of whoever was interviewing him. And as a result, some of those interviews are not ones you'd want to be looking at in the archives. He was, obviously, he was a smart guy, very smart guy.

He was intellectual. It wasn't great on the economy, but he certainly was the man on the Constitution. Didn't necessarily agree with him on, though. But he knew what he was talking about, so you have to be ready for those kind of interviews. But beyond that, my relationship was strictly journalist-politician. Craig and some other people used to go canoeing with Trudeau

in the Arctic in the summers. Michael Pash in Victoria, BC. How do you deal with the psychological impact of constant exposure to the world and its troubles? Like many in your audience, I'm finding it difficult to balance the insanity in the world and being informed against my own mental health.

Any advice? Actually, you know, this is a perennial question to those of us who deal with an often grim world night after night. Many of us, you know, become very good at compartmentalizing. We focus on the work and get it done. But to do it right, we have to keep in mind that the people in our reports are people. They're not numbers or stats.

If we fall into that trap, our stories will lack humanity. So it's a struggle to relate to the story, but at the same time, not let it overwhelm you. And when the program's over, maybe take a little moment. to appreciate that though we have been flooded with awful news and terrible images all day, we have the privilege of walking away at some point and going home to families and friends. Okay, last one before the break. Todd Burns in Montreal. My question is around the at-issue panel from your national days.

How did that come to be and who have been some of the past contributors? Well, there have been lots before we settled on Chattel and Andrew, and then eventually Althea, all of whom started on the out-issue panel during my day. We started out-issue issue somewhere in the late 90s, and it was kind of different every week, different people. Stephen Harper, when he was out of politics for a while in the 90s,

I don't think he's ever been out of politics, but he was out of sitting in House of Commons. And he was on the panel. And it was pretty good, too. But then in the early 2000s, you know, we settled on, well, first of all, Chantal, and then Andrew, Alan Gregg was with us for a while,

Bruce Anderson was with us for a while. And then I'd met Althea when she was a student at McGill, the town hall we did there. She took part in it and she was great. And I encouraged her to go into covering politics. And she was an intern, parliamentary intern, in Ottawa for a while. And then she caught on with a number of different newspapers and one thing led to another,

and now she's a major political columnist for the Toronto Star, and she does that issue, and, of course, she also does Raj Russo with me. So we've got Althea's here at the bridge, and so is Chantal. Okay, let's take our break. And then we'll come back. back with the random ranter. But as I said, first up, we'll take this break. And welcome back.

You're listening to The Bridge on this Thursday. I'm Peter Mansbridge. You're listening at Sirius XM, Channel 167, Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast platform. What are we got for you? Well, if I can, you know, I should actually film this someday and show you what I have to go through as well as talk, read, interview people. I also have to do all the technical stuff. So there, we have queued up, the random ranter. He wants to talk about Kuzma. That's the Canadian-U.S. Mexico trade agreement, right?

Comes up for renewal this year. Should we? Well, that's the topic for our man, the ranter. Here he is. Call me a skeptic, but I have zero faith that any new Kuzma deal will solve our problems in regards to U.S. trade relations. I just don't. A new Kuzma at any cost is a slippery slope we can't afford to go down, even if the alternative is guaranteed to be acrimonious and painful. I mean, deal or no deal, acrimony and pain seem to be about the only thing we can count. on from Trump's America.

Trump believes in winners and losers, and in his world, to win, loss must be inflicted. I'm a firm believer that in a deal with the devil, there are no win-win scenarios. So if we end up cutting some kind of deal on a new Kuzma, we have to be tough about it. We can't negotiate from a point of weakness. We have to be willing to get up from the table and walk away, no matter how damaging that could be. So here's just some of my thoughts. I know the dairy industry is high on the American hit list, but as far as I'm concerned, we can't afford to compromise it for a couple of reasons.

First off, it's an integral part of our food supply, and what are we if we can't feed ourselves? Our dairy industry is small and dispersed across the country. That makes it resistant to disease outbreaks, and the industry itself is held to high standards by the Canadian, Food inspection agency. Contrast that with the American dairy, where the state of Wisconsin produces a third more dairy than all of Canada combined.

That's a lot of dairy. Enough to flood our market to be sure. But it's not an apples-to-apples product. U.S. dairy is produced to a lower standard when it comes to hormones, antibiotics, and safety. And that was even before Trump. Now, while things have only gotten worse, as the FDA and the USDA have been gutted, food safety initiatives like testing for foodborne pathogens have been suspended, and quality testing has been cancelled.

And look, it's not just dairy. The same can be said for both the chicken and the egg. Remember the $12 a dozen egg crisis in the states? That was due to avian flu hitting factory farms. Our producers weathered the same flu just fine, but that's what happens when you have a lot of farms with 25,000 hens versus a handful of American farms with upwards of 1.5 million hens. Now, if I was a Canadian negotiator,

I also wouldn't bow to the whims of American tech companies. In fact, I'd double down and go on the offensive. I think we should follow Australia's lead and ban children under 16 from accessing social media platforms. And while we're at it, we should reintroduce the Digital Services Act. American tech captures 92% of the Canadian digital ad market. I mean, find me a Canadian company with any kind of advertising budget that doesn't use Google. We scrapped the act as a concession to Trump.

But what did we get for it? Nothing. So let's bring it back. Or better yet, let's come up with something new. Like maybe we could change the tax laws and make advertising on foreign platforms only partially claimable as a business expense. That way we're not taxing the tech platforms directly. We'd just be encouraging Canadian businesses to advertise on Canadian platforms.

I know Trump says he needs nothing from us, but we all know, like most things he says, it's just not true. Canadian raw materials fuel U.S. production. Canadian manufacturing forms an integral part of the U.S. supply chain. Canadian power supplies their homes and industries. Our oil supplies their refineries. Our potash fertilizes their fields and our gas heats their homes. They need our steel, they need our aluminum, and they need our uranium.

We need them, but they need us too. So there's no point rushing into things. It's not like a new deal will end the chaos. And besides, the midterms are coming. And while I'm highly skeptical that they will even happen, it would be foolish not to draw things out in order to wait and see. There you go, the random ranter for this week. I know a lot of you listen to the random ranter.

I think all of you like the random ranter. not all of you agree with the random render. And that's all good because for no other reason he's got you thinking. And we love that. All right, back to as many letters as we can get in the second half of the program.

So I told you, right? This takes a little longer than the regular your turn. Josh Winters in Surrey, BC, in your view, what makes a good journalist? If it's not having a degree, Is it something in someone's personality? Is it someone slightly cynical or a quality that can't fully be defined?

Well, it's certainly not being cynical. Maybe skeptical, but not cynical. I don't think that's a healthy starting point. A good journalist starts with believing in the value of journalism. It's corny as it sounds. A journalist should believe that journalism is a cornerstone of democracy. I believe that the town or city or the province or country, the world will be a better place if good journalists examine things.

That doesn't mean they're always uncovering corruption or lawbreaking. It means they're looking at how things are done. What results are being achieved in both government and private spheres, pointing out inadequate, unequal, unfair situations, or even where extraordinary good things are happening so that success can be replicated. That's the very short answer. There are also qualities like temperament, stamina, fair-mindedness, ability to think critically, breadth of experience, and on and on it goes.

Ron Stevens in Whitby, Ontario, after seeing Mr. Trump's terrible State of the Union address, and in particular the display of the USA men's hockey team and a freedom medal to their goalie, I believe our PM should bring all Canada's medal winners to our parliament and acknowledge them publicly. Canada got a kick in the pants on Sunday and our morale needs a boost, particularly with more bad news coming from Trump on attacking our great country. Well, actually, you know,

there usually is some kind of reception in the House of Commons to acknowledge Canadian Olympians. I haven't heard about any plans yet this year. Sometimes takes a while, and this could be one of those years, because the NHL season is resumed, PWHL season as well,

and he got together with Olympians that includes the hockey players, probably won't happen for a while, if at all. Marie Elliott in Woodstock, Ontario. Do you watch the national? That's a good question. I get asked that a lot. Hey, I don't watch it as much as I used to when I was doing it.

And that's not surprising. I found out that you can actually do other things in the evening rather than just watch the news, which I did for 50 years. but I do still watch the national when I have the opportunity, and especially when I know there's something big going on. Patrick Chung in Toronto, has CBC News approached you to collaborate on your podcast?

I find your podcast is much more interesting than recycling news during the afternoon slots. The nation needs to hear your broadcast or your podcast. Well, thank you, Patrick. Actually, when I started this, I offered it to the CBC for nothing. And they said no, they wanted a staff and offices and people to produce and do this, that, and the other. And I thought, this is not what I want to do. I did that for 50 years. I just want to do my thing.

And so that's what happened. And that's where I am. I don't know whether they regret it. Probably not. But it is right up there as one of the most listened to podcasts in the country on the political side. Jamie Clark in Toronto. With Stephen Harper, we got unfair comparisons to George Bush and a critical media. With Justin Trudeau, we got a swooning, sycophantic press and a mini Trudeau-Mania.

We are seeing a similar dynamic play out with Mark Carney and Pierre Palliyev, where allowance is given to Carney, but Pollyev is demonized as being pro-Trump. Do you agree or disagree that there is a pro-Liberal Party bias in Canadian media? I do not agree with that theory, that there is a bias. Here, let me explain it. First of all, the Canadian media is really a term that leaves the wrong impression. The media is not a monolith. It's not big one thing.

People operate differently. Companies operate differently. They have different standards, different policies they follow in terms of the way they conduct their journalism. Jamie, you live in Toronto. So I'd ask you, if the Toronto's son, is the Toronto Sun pro-liberal? Is the National Post pro-liberal? They are owned by the same company,

and that same company is the biggest owner of media in the country. It owns almost every major newspaper in the country. There are talk radio stations across the country that are anything but pro-liberal. I think CBC tries to play it straight, even though Pollyev threatens their existence. CTV and the Globe and Mail seem fair to me. A lot of bias is in the eye of the beholder. Now, I doubt that anything I say here will persuade you that your premise is wrong,

but I think it is. And I've explained why I feel that way. Ryan Coombs in Hamilton. whether it being the time away or the conditions you had to live in or the situation you were going to cover. I'm sorry, I don't know what the question is there. May have misprinted that if I did, sorry, Ryan. Suzanne Shear in Arrilla, Ontario.

If you could interview Mark Carney, what's the one big question you would love to ask him? Well, you know what? I'd love to interview Mark Carney. So I'm not going to tell you the one big question. now, let's wait until we actually have them sitting on the other side of the microphone. Rosemary Benvi in Los Angeles, California. What are the best lessons you learned from watching Nolton Nash during his time as anchor on the national?

Did you adapt any of his best news anchor traits when you took over in 1988? Well, you want to be your own person. You don't want to just copy somebody else. Knowlton didn't copy anybody else. but Nolton's, the traits Nolton had were trust, calmness. And anyone who gets into this business wants to try and have those as part of their makeup. Bruce Gardner in Montreal, it's another Nolton question. When you decided to turn down the CBS offer in 1988,

I saw a report in which Nolton Nash said, he invited you to his home for sandwiches and made you the offer to vacate the anchor's chair at the National to give you a compelling reason to stay at the CBC. I really appreciated Nolton as an anchor, but I found it to be a very private person. Tell us about Nolm. Yeah, he was a pretty private person. But that story is true.

You miss one key element, because there wasn't just sandwiches. Lorraine Thompson, Norton's wife, made hot chocolate for us. This was late at night, 11.30 at night. we weren't sipping scotch, we were sipping hot chocolate. No, he was a fabulous guy. His nickname was Uncle Nolte, right? And he was to so many of us.

David Oliver in Victoria. Why is it that most podcasters in the media generally are reluctant to get into the details of policy or legislation? For example, on today's Raj Russo podcast, You twice expressed your reluctance to get into the weeds of legislation. Yet the most interesting part was exactly that. My favorite podcasts are those which take the trouble to give explainers. I don't know about your other listeners, but I'm perfectly happy for you to get into the weeds. Okay, a couple of things.

For a lot of journalists, they don't have the time to get into the weeds, and they want to break it down into the most important parts. and I'm thinking, you know, your minute and a half, two-minute news items, short columns. But longer newspaper and print pieces and documentaries definitely get into the weeds to a degree. What I was reminding both Althea and Robb is not necessarily a time issue, but more about some of the weeds of legislation

are so bizarre in the sense of trying to explain. that all you do is lose the audience, and I know that for a fact. So I was trying to get them to keep it to a limit, which they did. And it kind of proves your point that by staying out of the weeds, we got to the most interesting part,

which you seem to like. So that would be my answer to that. We don't want to skim over stuff, but we also don't want to lose people. Jill Keenlyside in Elmer, Quebec. Did you have any idea when the Glebe High School yearbook wrote beside your grade 13 picture, his plans for the future are vague,

but he claims he will retire from Glebe at age 65? Did I have any idea that I wouldn't retire from Glebe at age 65? Well, the part that yearbook missed, of course, was that I never graduated grade 13. I didn't get through it. So I was on my way out the door before I could take another run at it. But that's great. You know, somebody sent me, a teacher at Glebe sent me a yearbook.

Some time ago, it's great to see some of the pictures in there. Callum Arnold in Guelph, Ontario. Got to watch the clock. here. Callum writes, are you an avid reader of literary or genre fiction? If so, which works you found most enjoyable, would you recommend? I'm a nonfiction guy and mainly history. Stories about past wars, stories about the sea. I love that stuff. So that's what I read. and I read a lot of it. Jeff Fisher in Riverview, New Brunswick,

what is your view of or option on Canada's election system? Are you a supporter of first past the post? Or should your focus be put on electoral reform and a change to proportional representation? You know what? Because I cover these and they are, you know, they come up every election. right and I go back and forth based on the strength of the arguments that are put forward

and of our times the closer we get to which it seems to be the direction we're heading but the closer we get to a two-party system plus the BQ it would seem to be that you're just you're into the first past the post. Anyway, as I said, I've got an open mind on that. Marilyn Wallace, Fannie Maebay, British Columbia, we're exposed to so much disinformation in our world today, a term that is really a euphemism for outright lies.

If you were a young journalist now, interviewing a prominent politician, spouting obvious disinformation, how would you respond? Well, you respond saying, what are the facts to back up the statement you just made? please, you know, share them with us because many people would argue what you just said is disinformation or misinformation. So how do you prove what you're saying? Something along those lines.

In other words, you challenge. Constance Menzies in Arroyd, Manitoba. Apart from your journalistic integrity of fairness and neutrality, how would you describe your political worldview? Are you maintaining this fairness, or are you more forthright at the stage of your work? Do you vote now or ever? I vote. And I think I've voted at different times for all of the three major parties, the three conventional major parties in Canada.

You know, doing the podcast allows me freedoms I didn't have doing the newscast, which I didn't mind. I mean, for 50 years, I did not have an opinion. Or I had opinions, but I never shared them. And I challenge anyone to say, I know you felt this way based on the way you covered this story. I challenge people to say that. However, today it's different. I am not shy about how I feel about Donald Trump at all.

Now, if I was still anchoring the national news, I wouldn't get away with doing that. But this is my podcast. I'm sitting in my house. I'm reading your letters. and I'm not shy about what I say. Brandon Roberts in Somerville, Alabama, grew up in Sioux-St. Marie, Ontario. What can government and public institutions do or do more of to deepen appreciation for Canadian military history? You know, it's a great question.

And I know Mark feels, Bulgut feels this way too. Provincial territorial governments could make more Canadian history courses mandatory. More importantly, it has to be made clear that teaching military history is not the same as glorifying war. I think many people think that they're the same thing. They're not. Teach that Canada has never been an aggressor in a war and teach why the country entered a war and about the sacrifices in that war, not just military strategies and heroics, though some of that as well. I've got a couple of minutes.

Let's see what we can get to here. What's your favorite Canadian TV show? Mine is Heartland, writes Janet Linkletter in Ottawa. Heartland is filmed in beautiful Alberta. It certainly is. Oh, I like a little comedy. 22 minutes is still my favorite. Critch is a friend.

Love his stuff. Jordan Regoan in the Ottawa Valley. I've been watching the podcast on the YouTube channel. I've got to ask a burning question, though. In discussion during the podcast, is Chantelle drawing or sketching some beautiful works of art? If so, does she care to share them? Or she's just scribbling some notes for a discussion? You know, I don't know the answer to that question.

I think she's just scribbling notes. But maybe she's, you know, maybe she's doing a little drawing as well. she keeps active. She's always ready to pounce, as you well know, by watching her. Okay, I think, have I got another one here? What do you think of the impacts of forced regime change? Venezuela, Iran, Cuba will be on Canada.

You know when? There hasn't been regime change in any of those. Venezuela, all they did was take out the top guy and replace him with his number two. It's the same regime. Okay? Iran.

Things haven't happened there yet. Cuba, things haven't happened there yet. They may not in either Iran or Cuba. We don't know. So if there is regime change, we'll have to think about that question. Okay, what have I got? I don't have time.

But we got them all but one in. Jason Burke in South Paulo, Brazil, do you feel that the baby boom generation is less capable of understanding the world as it exists today? A quick answer on that? Yes, probably they are not as capable as those who are living it

in real time through their generations. I remember, you know, when we were growing up in the 60s, we used to think our parents didn't have a clue what was going on. And in some cases, they didn't. and I assume that that is kind of similar to today.

Now, I know that's a real condensed version of Jason's letter, and it's a condensed version of an answer, but we're out of time. But we did get them all in. We got every letter in, I believe, that we had chosen for this week. Next week it'll be back to the normal, your turn. I'll have a subject matter,

and we'll let you know what it is on Monday morning. Tomorrow it's good talk. Chantelle-A-Bear, Bruce Anderson, both with us. And we'll hear what they have to say on the topics of the day. Thanks for listening today, and thanks for writing today. Really appreciate it. Talk to you again in less than 24 hours.