The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Your Turn -- Four Days To Go

Episode Date: September 16, 2021

From across the country and across the continent your thoughts and comments and questions about the final days of the campaign.  With four days to go the comments are like the polls, close and still deciding.  

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. It's election week. This is Thursday. That means your turn. Coming up. Tim Horton's Smile Cookie Week is back, starting September 13th. For one week, the iconic chocolate chunk cookies topped with a pink and blue smile will be available at Tim Horton's restaurants across Canada. 100% of the proceeds from each Smile Cookie will be donated to local charities and community groups in each restaurant's neighborhood. Celebrating its 25th anniversary,

the Smile Cookie campaign has raised more than $60 million for charities, hospitals, and community programs across the country. Grab your Smile Cookie from September 13th to 19th only at Tim Hortons. And hello there. That's right. Thursday of election week, only four days to go.

Monday's election day. If you haven't already made your choice through the mail-in ballot option or the advanced polling days last weekend, well, it's crunch time and it's a big decision. Today's your turn. That means your letters, your thoughts, your comments, your questions in some cases that have come in over the last seven days. Quick reminder, I read all these that come in. They don't all make it onto the program. Some of them are similar. Some of them go on just a bit too long. So I take excerpts from many of these emails that arrive

at themansbridgepodcastcast at gmail.com. themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com. So I thank you for all of them. And I think I can tell from there's a kind of general trend in most of these letters this week, and it's the dilemma that many of you are having making a choice. You feel strongly about the issues, you feel strongly about the parties, and you feel strongly about the leaders. But you're having difficulty in making a decision because you see too many situations where you're

not seeing the leaders answer the questions that they're being asked, that involve issues that you care about, or they're kind of spinning their answers, or there's no theme through their answers that hits one line. In other words, they're kind of all over the map. And I think all the leaders have faced that kind of criticism during this campaign, so I get it. I understand why you're having problems.

Now, I hope you're able to resolve those issues over the next four days because it's much, in my view, it's much better that you vote than you don't vote. We've had this discussion throughout the campaign. Some people feel it's your right not to vote if you don't feel it's an option for you. And of course, it is your right. I just feel that it's one of those few times that we get our say in our democracy. And if we believe in democracy, then part of believing in democracy is participating, and part of participating is voting. Anyway, Neil Rankin sent me a reminder of how we've done

on the old turnout table over all the elections this century, since November of 2000. And, you know, listen, it's not very impressive, really, when you consider that we watch other countries, not all of them, not our southern neighbor, but many of our other neighbors in our world where turnout rates are considerably higher than they are here. And, you know, I'm not in the prediction game on turnout. I do worry when I read your letters that so many of you are having trouble

making a decision, whether that means that in the end you won't vote at all. That would be sad because I know it's not like you're ignoring the issues. It's not like you don't care. You care. You're just puzzled. Anyway, Neil Rankin, who describes himself as a full-time RVer, recreational vehicle guy, who's currently in Campbell River, Vancouver Island. Not a bad place to be. Anyway, you look at these numbers of the, what, how there have been seven elections since November of 2000.

The lowest was 58.8%. The highest was 2015, 68.3%. Last time around in 2019, it was 67%. Two out of three Canadians who were eligible to vote voted. Will it be higher or lower this time? As I said, I'm not going to predict, but I'll look forward to seeing what that number is. Burke Penny from Midland, Ontario. Burke's issue is mailed-in ballots, mailed-in votes.

I'd be interested in your and Bruce's take on the over half a million already mailed-in votes. Do you think there's an advantage for one party? Given the closeness of the election, it seems likely that we won't know the results until the next day when those million or so votes are tabulated. I saw one report that there are about 5,000 mail-in ballots for a riding that was won by less than 200 votes last time, so obviously they could be significant. Absolutely they could be. I don't know how it breaks down in terms of favoring one party or another. We will know that after the fact because they calculate these things.

I don't know whether there's a general pattern in mailed-in ballots favoring one party or another. You know, we're often warned beforehand these things could take a few days before we get a final result. It always turns out we get a final result on the night of. Will this be as tradition? I don't know. There were a lot of advance ballots cast and there were, as you say, Burke, there were a lot of mailed-in ballots. So it might have an impact. But clearly, millions of votes have already been cast. So anything that's been happening this week has like zero impact on those votes.

They are done and dusted. Daryl Kopka. I think I'm pronouncing that right, Daryl? Daryl is somewhere out in British Columbia as well. He's an entrepreneur and an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at UBC North Vancouver Riding. You would think as that I would lean on the side of the Conservative Party, but as a socially left Canadian, I feel that O'Toole's and the party's flip-flopping on LGBTQ plus issues, climate change, gun control,

automatically disqualify them. As the Green Party has no cohesive plan outside of fighting climate change, they are also not a consideration for me, nor are the fringe parties like the CPP, People's Party. That leaves the Liberals and the NDP. The NDP's inability to provide real costing makes them a dubious choice. There's little math supporting the ambitious social infrastructure. On the Liberals, Daryl goes on a bit of a rant on the SNC-Lavalin situation, the allegations of bribery, you know, the latest book by former Cabinet Minister Wilson Raybould. Given this quandary, I look to my local riding to make my selection. My main local concerns are environmental,

and the Liberal and NDP candidates are ticking the most boxes. Hence my indecision. Do I choose corruption or dubious math that could be a detriment to my work? So there's Daryl Kopka's dilemma, shared by, as I said, a lot of people who wrote in this week. Not necessarily ending up with the two choices that Daryl did, but ending up with choices that they can't make up their mind.

Because there are so many contradictions in this campaign and in terms of what's coming out of the mouths of leaders. Wendy Holmes from London, Ontario. Here's what she has to say. I'm wondering about your thoughts on how local candidates can affect the national race. I know this is anecdotal, but I'm surprised at how many times this year I've heard from friends and family about how the local candidate running is affecting their ability to vote for the party or the leader they would like to support.

This is in both incumbents and in a writing where the incumbent has retired. The reason in all cases seems to be the candidate's lack of responsiveness to letters or calls to them in their role as either an MP or in their role in other levels of government prior to running. The stories are often of people that have carefully crafted a letter related to an issue of concern and did not receive any acknowledgement from the candidate or their staff. You know, I've known a lot of MPs over the years, and they all seem to say that if you don't do your homework on your writing level,

you're not going to do very well the next time an election comes around. So I don't know what the situation or which particular riding that is, Wendy, that you're talking about. But people expect answers from their local MP who they have sent to Ottawa. And when they ask them questions, as I said, they expect an answer. And things like that will have an impact on voting day. As I said, all those MPs I've talked to over the last 50 years,

we tend to think, oh, they get so much time off, they're not always sitting in Parliament. No, they're not. Often they're back in their home ridings dealing with issues like this. Even on weeks when they are sitting, they are expected to go back to their ridings on the weekends. Well, that's easy for MPs who live in nearby Ottawa. Not so much if you're in BC or Newfoundland

or wherever you may be in the country that you've got to get back and forth on the weekend. That's no fun. Patricia Sutherland. Patricia writes a long letter from Ottawa. I'm just going to read one of her comments. Many of the columnists in our national papers are representative of a certain demographic,

middle-aged, white, male, and relatively affluent. Well, fortunately, I don't fit in there. Sure, I may be white, male, and relatively affluent, but I'm not middle-aged anymore. Wish I was, but I'm not. Okay, you're correct in your preamble here. What impact does this have on which topics are centered or dismissed? What impact would giving this platform to a diversity of voices have on the public conversation? It would be good.

And I think all news organizations are moving in that direction. And you can see it on television. It's very evident. And you should be seeing it in whatever form of print journalism you follow or depend on. I think we've moved on from the description you have of the national papers, but the move has been slow in all areas.

But it is happening. So it's a good point. Dwight Powell from Wasaga Beach in Ontario. I've always voted ideologically and not by personality of the candidates or even current policies or platforms. The basic philosophy of a party drives my vote, which is why my vote will always go to the Liberal Party. Let's face it, no matter how they disguise it, the Conservative Party will always be for those who favor the I'm-all-right-Jack approach to life and governing. The responsibility to each other and the environment is not genuinely there. When the Progressive Conservative Party existed, it presented a more valid choice to the likes of me. But beyond all, I value a democracy

with multiple parties and views. And I think that's the most important line in Dwight's letter. I don't think anybody should lock in for life on any one party. I think you should always be on the lookout for ideas that are coming from any directions and see whether they match your ideas or your desires. So when Dwight says, beyond all, I value a democracy with multiple parties and views. Hear, hear. Good point.

Tony McKinnon from Hamilton, home of the Tiger Cats, says Tony. Just listened to the insiders for today. Was wondering if there would be any discussion of the impact of Jody Wilson-Raybould's book, the excerpt published in last Saturday's Globe and the fallout about ongoing RCMP investigations. Maybe it's less of a big deal than it seems to me. Anyhow, I'll listen with interest this week to see if it comes up. Depending on time, I may bring this up tomorrow on Good Talk with Chantel and Bruce. Listen, she's selling a book, okay? And, hey, I know what that's like.

I try to sell my book, and so any coverage you can get is a plus. My book, by the way, goes on sale on October 5th. So anyway, she's had great publicity surrounding her book. I mean, I've read the stories around it. I'm not quite sure what exactly is new in the story she's telling, as opposed to the one she spent a considerable amount of time telling just a couple of years ago. But for some people, it clearly is an issue. You heard a letter just a couple of moments ago

where this came up as well. The book was originally planned to come out after the election, but the publisher moved it up. Hey, smart. That's what publishers do. They want to cash in at the right time. But as I said, I didn't see anything tremendously new in that, although she keeps hammering away at the integrity of the former leader of her party,

or her former leader when she was in the Liberal Party. Peter Penlington of Bancroft, Ontario. I'm sad to admit I've learned more on Canadian history in the past 18 months, especially more in the past nine months. A large part of that is thanks to your podcast and your guests. Thank you. From Black Lives Matter, residential schools, Afghanistan issues recently, but also you spoke of your interview years back with a Taliban leader.

That was insightful. Your Arctic trip and climate change was excellent. You have been very careful during the election to remain neutral, or at least on your podcast. You didn't mention the pandemic. We've had some great shows on the pandemic, and placing it within the historical context as well in the last year. But, Peter, I appreciate all your comments there. Preston Lewis.

Where's Preston writing from? Preston's writing from Little Rock, Arkansas. He's an American who comes up to Canada during the final stages of an election campaign to help with canvassing and getting people to the polls. That's not unusual. We have the same kind of thing that happens with Canadians going into the States. Nothing illegal about that. There's issues surrounding contributions, financial contributions to parties from outside sources, outside the country, but not on the description the press is giving.

So let me just read two lines from his comments. I'm concerned the trend of visceral populism is permeating the border into Canada. While both our countries have a history of free and open democracy, there are responsibilities and principles of human decency that provide foundation to our constitutional rights. In my country, many have abandoned those principles in the face of social media algorithms, huckster journalism, and narcissistic politicians. It's my hope that Canada rejects the worst instincts of populism before it establishes

a lasting foothold. I've seen what it has done in my country and it's a long, dark alley. Good and decent people avoid public office rather than subject themselves and their families to obscene protests and potential violence. What type of message does it send children when we see an angry mob hurling rocks at our leaders? We owe it to ourselves and future generations to cherish the principles of peaceful democracy and human decency. I'm looking forward to celebrating those principles with my Canadian neighbors. Glenn Prince from Richmond, Indiana, is another American who enjoys the podcast and enjoys watching Canadian politics. As election day nears, what's the biggest misconception

that Americans have about Canadian politics? Wow, you're probably in a better position, Glenn, than I am to answer that question. I would guess it's a similar, well, one of the misconceptions is similar to what some Canadians have when they're comparing the two. I mean, listen, it's a very different system in the States than it is in Canada. We're a parliamentary democracy. They elect presidents, heads of state. Their head of state is also their head of government.

We have a head of government elected as prime minister. Our head of state is the queen, represented by the Governor General. And the system flows down from that in terms of how the governments run. And we have minority governments, like we have had four of the last six governments have been minority, and there's every indication to believe that we're heading towards another one right now.

Love the interest from the states. Ian Strom from Lethbridge, Alberta. Is there a reason that we don't have an official debate run by Elections Canada? It would be nice to see one based on issues rather than ratings. Also wonder why the bloc has a place in the English debates. Hey, you're not alone on that one. The basic argument is they have a lot of seats, have more seats than the NDP, so they have an impact on what happens in Parliament. And therefore, Canadians from coast to coast to coast may want to hear what they're saying.

As for Elections Canada running the debates, I don't know. Nothing seems to have worked so far. Maybe Elections Canada might be the answer. Rene Labelle writes, or is it? Sorry, it's not Rene, it's Rene. Rene writes,

I'd like to share with you my reaction to last week's English debate, which seems to be very different from what I hear in the English media, and I hope that it may shed some light on the impact this debate has had on the average Quebecois. I live on the south shore of Montreal. I'm fluently bilingual and do not have an accent when I speak either language enough that you would know if I'm French or English. I watched the three debates, TVA, Raja Canada, CBC. I watched the CBC debate hoping to obtain more information from the English-speaking leaders since they would debate in their first language. But instead, I found myself

appalled by the comments thrown at the leader of the Bloc Québécois, and it ignited the French Quebecer in me. René, we've heard that quite a bit in the last week, and clearly there seems to be an indication that it's had an impact on the way Quebecers are thinking in terms of how they're going to vote next week. I think it falls once again into this area of should we be taking a different look at exactly how the debates are run. And I think we should.

I'm not sure who should do that. But, man, we need something to happen on that front. I'm going to take a quick break here. We've still got a lot of letters to go here, but we better take our break now or I'll end up forgetting it. And you know what? That wouldn't be good. Back in a moment.

Starting September 13th, Tim Hortons Smile Cookie Week is back. From September 13th to 19th at Tim Hortons, 100% of the proceeds from all Smile Cookies purchased will be donated to local charities and community groups across Canada. In the last 25 years, you have helped us raise over $60 million. And in 2020 alone, Smile Cookie Week brought in $10.6 million while helping over 500 community organizations. You can participate by grabbing your own Smile Cookie at Tim Hortons restaurants across Canada from September 13th to 19th. This is The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge in, well, I'm in Toronto today.

Went to the Blue Jays game yesterday. It's my first time I went into a, you know, a major crowd. Now, the Blue Jays stadium holds 50,000. There were only, the Blue Jay Stadium holds 50,000. It's capped at 15,000 at the moment. But it still felt, you know, I haven't been in a crowd like that for two years. So it felt odd. I mean, you needed to be vaccinated. You had to show proof of vaccination going in.

I would have preferred if they'd looked a little longer at all the proof that different people were bringing in. You had to wear a mask. Although once you were in your seat, a lot of people took their masks off. It's an open stadium like the Dome was open. It was a great baseball game. If you could take your mind away from the pandemic and that you were surrounded by thousands of people and just focus on the baseball game, it was great. This team is for real at this point in the year. I'm not going to say anything more than that

because you heard me blabbering away about how great the Leafs were. But it was an enjoyable day. Anyway, I'm in Toronto for this day, back in Stratford tomorrow. This is your turn on the bridge. Four days to go. And hearing lots of thoughts from those of you from across the country and across the continent about the kind of dilemma you're faced with in making a decision for Monday.

Ben Corkola is in Victoria, B.C. I think that analysts calling the debate a disaster, there are a fair number of letters on the debate. I think that analysts calling the debate a disaster might discourage people who missed the broadcast and only heard the analysis afterwards from watching the debate recording on YouTube or news websites and making up their own minds about the content.

I'm wondering if you think there's any truth to that idea or what you think about it. I'm a big fan of the podcast. I listen on Apple Podcasts. Thank you for making it available there. Keep up the good work. Thanks, Ben. Listen, I agree to a point.

I think everybody should, if they didn't see the debate, should try to judge it yourself by looking it up on YouTube or I think it's still sitting on CBC Jam and elsewhere. You may just watch 10 minutes and say, I can't watch this. And if you don't, well, at least you tried, right? But we exist in the podcast world or the traditional news world for good reason there are people who just don't have the time and they trust the analysis they get but this is a big decision that we're all making next week and you should make it on as much hard evidence as you can not on other people's words. Andre Odette, or O'Day, from Moncton, New Brunswick.

Last night's debate was frustrating to watch, definitely useless to me as an undecided voter. It felt like the moderator was confused throughout the night, although I don't think she's entirely to blame because she had a difficult format to work with. Why do debate organizers feel the need to be creative all the time? It feels like the format of the debate changes every time we have an election. We've seen great debates in the past. Why not just pick the debate format that worked best? Stick with that formula. Hear, hear, Andre. It's the English problem more than the French problem. The French language debates are fairly consistent in their format,

and they seem to work a lot better. Chris Wilson writes from Ottawa. Once again, I'm just reading excerpts from some of these. I thought the topics from last night were well thought out and reflect what were on people's minds. The fact that the moderator had to play such a large role in the debate is an indication of candidates' inability to be civil and less about the moderator's self-righteousness. Brendan Newgard writes from Houston, B.C.

Let me read what he calls the subject of his email, a question to a legend from a logger. I've lived here my whole life, so has my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. This town is my home its people are my family i just want to start off by saying how much i look forward to your segment on xm radio sirius xm channel 167 canada talks when i'm wondering 12 when i'm working 12 to 16 hour days and I hear the bridge come on at 9 a.m.,

that's what time it comes on in BC, right? 12 noon here. It perks me back up and gets me focused again, so thank you for that little daily treat. I have two questions. Why can't you be on longer? Hey, that's the question I want to hear as opposed to, why can't you be on less?

So we'll keep, this will be longer than most bridges because of the, you know, there's a lot of letters to go here. But I'll show that to my bosses, okay? Even just read random stuff around the house like a cereal box, and I'll listen. Second question is about the $10 a day childcare. I assume and hope it only applies to single mothers, fathers, grandparents, who, due to circumstance, were forced into raising another generation,

people with a need. In this individual's opinion, no couple with children should be paid for their kids. I believe strongly if you cannot afford kids, why have them? This is across the board. If you're married or in a long-term relationship and have kids you cannot afford to feed or clothe, why should I pay for that? The question here is why? Why is this something so focused on when it shouldn't even be a thing? That money could go to much better things, such as more sustainable energies, ways to grow more produce with less space, like the Netherlands. This planet is dying fast.

Save the planet now. Don't have kids if it's beyond your means. Again, single parents are extenuating circumstances, no doubt. Here, have some money. I'll work seven days a week, 16 hours a day, if I knew my money was helping someone who needs it, not someone who just feels entitled to it. Thanks for your time.

Thanks for your segment on XM. Have a great day. Brendan. Brendan. A question to a legend from a logger. Love it. Mike Rico. Mike is in, where's Mike? Cambridge, Ontario.

Once again, just going to read one. This is a long letter, but I'll read a little bit of it. I appreciate there will be coverage of what the parties are announcing and maybe some info around the announcement that was made, but the questions pushed at the candidates seem to be, again, supportive of the liberals. For example, gun control is not really a big issue in Canada to anyone that understands the laws here. Gun crime is the issue, but the media either don't understand the difference or are just blatantly pressing the point to help Trudeau. Trudeau didn't bring up gun control. Aaron O'Toole brought up gun control and showed his vulnerability on that issue.

I had to blame that one on Trudeau. Has Trudeau taken advantage of it since? Yeah, just the same way O'Toole would do and does when Trudeau stumbles. On the other side of that, going back to the letter, there are important issues like Afghanistan that get little coverage. I don't think Afghanistan got little coverage. At the height of that story, it was the number one story going for days on end. Over the last 20 years, it's had a significant amount of play, but there have been long gaps in that coverage. When Canada cut and run from its military role in Afghanistan,

the media did as well, myself included. And that story went basically uncovered for years. There are many other issues for Trudeau as he is the incumbent. Two glaring ones for me, why should people trust him when he lies, as he did in front of the cameras on the SNC-Lavalin scandal? And he brings up Jody Wilson-Raybould again on her claims. We seem to have lost the media that reports the news in unbiased and unwarranted fashion. Maybe we need a business model change to get this fixed,

but something needs to be done. I don't know whether it's a business model. It might be a lot of, you know, in spite of what you say, Mike, a lot of the media organizations in this country are owned by conservative elements. And most of the columnists in this country are on the right side of the, right meaning conservative side of the ideological spectrum. How they can be biased towards the liberals is a little puzzling to me.

Marty Zylstra writes from Maple Ridge, BC. You know, a lot of letters from BC, and BC is, you know, we talk about how critical Quebec is and Ontario is in terms of the dynamic on Monday night. BC, I know we say this often because it's true, could very well end up deciding what the makeup of this parliament will be. Minority, majority, who's minority, how strong a minority, all of that is going to come down in BC. And people are puzzled.

Jeez, I better get reading here. The Green Party is not running a candidate in my riding, therefore, as a Green supporter, I'm stuck between Liberals and NDP. I've chosen NDP, and I'll sadly have to hold my nose to do so, as they say. She talks about the issues and the areas in which Jagmeet Singh has not been able to answer questions in terms of how exactly he would do certain things that he's promising. She talks about the Liberals and issues like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that she just thinks the Liberals have not done enough, and also on climate change.

So she's left with this dilemma. Do you think the left could unite after this election, the Green Democratic Party? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Listen, if this one ends up in another minority, which it certainly seems like it will, you're going to hear all these discussions about coalitions in the days and weeks afterwards,

and what may or may not be possible. You hear it after every minority, but when you've had as many as we've had, if this one turns out to be a minority, what, five out of the last seven, those discussions may be a little more serious. Anyway, I read Marty's letter because I love the ending. Go Leafs Go.

That's my Marty from Maple Ridge, BC. We had a challenge, a challenge to one of our fun facts the other day. And it came from, where did it come from? Francis Prescott, who argued that when we said Charles Tupper, as a former premier, was the only former premier who became prime minister. Or sorry, was a premier, a former premier who became prime minister, not the only one. There were a couple of others, or at least one other, that he shouldn't have counted because he was a premier before Confederation.

Okay. We think you're correct, but I think we were correct as well. So we'll cancel each other out. But then you said how many of the 40 other former premiers who became MPs were post-Confederation? In other words, checking on us on that. The answer was all of them were post-Confederation. And though only two became prime ministers, some did become party leaders.

Edward Blake in Ontario became the liberal leader. And until Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff, Edward Blake was the only liberal leader not to become prime minister. John Bracken in Manitoba became the first progressive conservative leader. Tommy Douglas became the first leader of the NDP. George Drew became PC leader in 48, beating Diefenbaker. Robert Stanfield became PC leader after Dief was dumped. Those are all former premiers. And named the former premier who became governor general.

Hands on your buzzers. Three, two, one. That's right. Ed Schreier from Manitoba. All right., one. That's right. Ed Schreier from Manitoba. All right. Another one. Another question. Remember we talked about bellwether ridings, a riding that normally votes the candidate in their riding

who represents the party that ends up winning the election. And Peterborough was the one riding that is often used as the classic bellwether in Canada. So one of our listeners, Natalie Gosselin from Windsor, said, okay, what about an anti-bellwether? Well, there actually is one. In other words, one that rarely ever votes with the government or votes a candidate in representing the party that forms the government.

In other words, it's always in opposition. It's actually one area because over time it's changed the number of ridings, you know, the riding borders have changed. Man, I'm having trouble talking here, but currently in this election, the areas South Okanon, West Kootenay, Central Okanon, Similkameem, Nicola, and Kootenay, Columbia. The last time it had a government MP was from 84 to 88, when progressive conservative Bob Briscoe represented Kootenay West in Parliament.

Prior to that, you have to go back to 1930 to 35 when conservative Billy Essling served the riding, while R.B. Bennett was Prime Minister. And 1912 to 21 when Robert Greene was an MP in the unionist governments of Robert Borden and Arthur Meehan. So the ridings have been in opposition for 83 at the last 100 years including a president's streak of 33 years and counting have to see what happens um where are we doing on time okay i'm to wrap this up here. I'm afraid I'm going to have to drop a couple.

Irem Alley from Ajax, Ontario. Regarding the coverage and treatment of the People's Party of Canada, I wish they had the opportunity to defend their positions. I don't know if this was your subtle point during today's Smoke, Mirrors and the Truth, yesterday's broadcast, that they are campaigning largely unchecked. But that is my position point I was trying to make yesterday. Brent Harris writes, It's true that the People's Party are doing better than the Greens in the polls currently, but when compared to the history of a party like the Green Party,

which has links to Green parties all over the world, a long history of activity in Canada, and had three MPs as of March 2021, the PPC failed to compare. The Greens are struggling now to be sure, but the media ought to give due attention to a party that has steadily increased its seat count and vote percentage over the last 20 years.

We've given lots of coverage to the Green Party. They were in the debates. They've been on all the major television shows in terms of feature interviews with leaders. They're getting lots of coverage. I wasn't saying they should get less coverage. What I was saying was if they're getting that coverage, why isn't the People's Party made accountable on similar programming for the

things they're saying and promising or are alleged to have said? Amanda Jordan. Okay, we're down to the last two letters. Amanda Jordan has a very long letter here, which is similar in vein to a lot of the other letters we've had. Amanda's in Winnipeg. In the dilemma people are confronted with in trying to make a decision based on some of the issues that matter to them. But I love her P.S., which has got nothing to do with the election. It's a shameless plug on my part.

Thanks for doing an audio book on your next book. It's perfect for people like me who don't get a moment to themselves to actually read a book. October 5th, off the record, my latest book comes out. You can find out all about it on thepetermansbridge.com. It's all there, including a little contest to get a signed copy. It comes out October 5th, but you can pre-order right now. That's what the contest is all about. Last letter, Susan Ong. I'm going to read most of this one.

I usually find it a bit self-indulgent to write about myself, but when I've listened to the podcast, you seem to like it when people give you a bit of background. So I'm writing to you from Ottawa. I'm an Australian who has lived here in North America, D.C. and in Ottawa, for seven years and came by way of Canberra. I'm unfortunately not able to vote yet in this election because I'm not yet a

citizen. But given that I've lived in all these capital cities and I'm a lifelong public servant, I'm a pretty politically engaged person. When I came to Canada, I came to learn that you are a Canadian political journalism royalty. Well, hardly. Watching you and now listening to you through your podcast would be the best way for me to learn about Canadian politics. There are lots of good ways, and I appreciate the fact that you think we're one of them. I want to know whether you are worried about the rhetoric and vitriol that's happening in Western political discourse. I am, but I'm often chided by older people for being overly catastrophizing. I'm constantly told that people have always disagreed with one another

and that the issue of nuclear power, Reaganism, etc., etc., and all the other things that have occurred in the post-war era were also polarizing. However, it does seem to me that we're at a particular inflection point. The rise of Trumpism in the United States, the anger and hatred that has been spewed in this election campaign, and the fact that the PPC is polling higher than the Greens is very alarming to me. I'm also increasingly concerned that this polarization in politics

will cause a tectonic shift and will ultimately divide society permanently. As I see it, this is not good for democracy at all. In your vast political experience, are you as worried about the future of Canadian democracy and Western democracy writ large as I am? Thank you for taking the time to read my note, best Susan. Great note, Susan. Yeah, I am worried. I'm worried like you are. But I also have great faith in the people. And the people have their voice in four days' time.

And they can say no to this kind of politicking. They can make their voice heard. And they shouldn't stop just there. There are lots of different ways to make your voice heard. Voting is one of them. Running is one of them. For your school board, for your local council, for your provincial government.

There are any number of different ways that you can participate. John Turner, the former prime minister, that was his key line phrase. If you want a democracy, you have to participate at some level. And there are lots of different ways to participate. If you care about the world you live in If you care about the world you live in, you care about the city you live in, you care about the society you live in, make your voice heard.

The next way you can do that is four days from now. If you haven't already voted, Monday is your chance. The people are always right. So let's see what the people will say this time around. All right, tomorrow is good talk, Chantelle Hebert and Bruce Anderson. As we head into the last weekend before the big vote. I'm Peter Mansbridge.

Thanks so much for listening. And we'll talk to you again tomorrow in just 24 hours. Thank you.