The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Your Turn -- From Forest Fires to Ukraine to The Johnston Dilemma

Episode Date: June 1, 2023

Lots of issues from your letters this week starting with an important warning from my trucker friend in the Maritimes.  The forest fire problem in that region could get a lot worse before it gets better.  Also thoughts about our guests this week and one very much in particular.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. It's Thursday. It's June 1st. What a better way to start off a new month than with a Your Turn. That's coming right up. And welcome to June. Feels great. New month. On the edge of summer, as we like to say. Thursdays is your turn and the Random Renter, and your turn means your turn. So we'll get a chance to hear what you have to say on any number of different topics. Today, it's kind of a potpourri day, if you will. So let's get right at it.

I'm going to start with, usually I start with the bulk of letters on the main topic of the week, and we have that. But I'm going to start with one letter that comes from one of my favorite writers. Derek Carroll Marcoux. Derek's in the East Coast. He's from Oromocto, New Brunswick, and he's a truck driver. And he works the highways. He sees all kinds of things, and every once in a while, he drops us a line. I don't read all his letters on the air, but I read a fair number of them.

And Derek has a really important point to make here this week, read all his letters on the air, but I read a fair number of them. And Derek has a really important point to make here this week, and so I wanted to get right at it. Peter, about the forest fires in Nova Scotia. I don't think people here on the East Coast, and definitely not the rest of Canada,

realize the state of the forest in coastal southern New Brunswick and south and central Nova Scotia. Hurricane Fiona leveled a great deal of timber in those forests. It kind of looks like matchsticks laying all over the place. I know that the lumber harvesting industry has been going full bore trying to recover as much usable timber as possible but they are woefully behind due to the constraints of the availability of equipment and workers in the region. The forest and deadfall in the forest had all last fall and all this spring to dry

with very little rain so far this spring. Now we're heading into June, which is usually dry. Unfortunately, Nova Scotia is going to have a tough summer. I say this because if they think they have problems now, it's going to be dwarf when the fire starts in Pictou County, near New Glasgow, Antigonish. It's only a matter of time. I hope it doesn't happen, but I was astonished at how much timber,

and I mean big timber, was knocked over when Fiona came through. If fire gets into that area, they are going to have some very, very serious problems if they don't get it contained immediately. All right, Derek, you've warned us. And we wish the best of luck to those who are trying to deal with this situation in the Maritimes, because clearly, as Derek says, this is a big problem. Moving on, we got a lot of mail this week

based on our interview the other day on Tuesday with a fellow by the name of Brandon Mitchell. Brandon's a Canadian. He's from Miramachine, New Brunswick. But Brandon has made a bit of a name for himself by the work he's been doing in Ukraine. He's a Canadian medic working with the Ukrainian side on trying to deal with the countless numbers of injured, wounded,

the products of a war that has dragged on and on and on. We had a fascinating interview with Brandon on the bridge on Tuesday. If you didn't hear it, please go back and listen to it because he's quite a remarkable young man. Talks about why he went to Ukraine, what he's doing there. He's on a short break, a little R&R before he goes back in, I think next month or later this month. One of the many letters we got, Steve Coughlin from Roseau, Ontario. My God, how proud to be a Canadian to listen to Brandon Mitchell. His words are thoughtful and enlightening.

What a servant to mankind. This makes me feel so grateful to have such a person representing Canada. So sick of the politicians' virtual signaling. Brandon McCullough from Saanich, B.C. As a listener from the very beginning of the podcast. I have to say the Brandon Mitchell interview was the best. I was moved by his passion and his honesty. Thank you, Peter. Well, thank you, Brendan, for writing.

Megan Pratt, Konowalczyk. Are you able to provide Brandon Mitchell's information for how we follow him on social media? I looked, but they all look shady. Amazing podcast today. Thank you so much. My husband is Ukrainian through and through and he follows everything.

Listening to Brandon was excellent and humbling and sad and everything. Thank you for having him. Actually, Megan, it's very easy. Just Google Brandon. You had it spelled Brandon. It's Brandon, like the Manitoba City. Mitchell, Brandon Mitchell. If you just Google Brandon Mitchell,

you're going to come up on a lot of information regarding Brandon, including how to follow him on Twitter and elsewhere. And it's all straight up, no problem. Melanie Koch from Stetler, Alberta. Wow. Today's interview with Brandon Mitchell was brilliant. His descriptions were frank, ernst, raw, and humble. I could feel his struggles, both internal and external.

He was compelling and captivating. Brandon's commitment to service is clearly inspired. Sure is. Derek Dillabo from Ottawa. It's hard to put into words how profound the interview was that you had with Brandon Mitchell yesterday. The courage and humility of that man was deeply moving. As stark, shocking, and heartbreaking that his story is, it's compounded knowing that stories like this are happening by the thousands in Ukraine and other places throughout the world. Canadians are tremendously fortunate to live in a peaceful and secure country. But that relative security should never be taken for granted.

And our gratitude for people like Brandon and all other men and women who have willingly risked their lives to give us the peace and grace of this country should never be forgotten, and they should have our everlasting support. Well, that's certainly true. Brandon Mitchell. If you haven't heard that interview, please go back into the episodes of The Bridge. It was on Tuesday. And it's a half hour you won't soon forget.

Moving on, on Monday this week we had a great interview with Stephanie Carvin, who's a professor at Carleton University in Ottawa. She's a security and intelligence expert. She used to work in that field. Now she teaches in that field. And it's a really good, it's not about the politics of the Johnston report. It's about the issue and what we know now that we didn't know before.

And, you know, there's some interesting moments where, you know, I try to get Stephanie to walk us through, actually, how does a classified secret document work its way up the chain to eventually the prime minister, if that's where it's headed. How many people touch that document as it moves up the line? Celia McConville from Stratford, where I am today. Great interview with Stephanie Carvin. My vote, David Johnston should stay and finish his work. There's too much easy tearing down of people these days. The man has integrity.

What she liked about the interview was that, you know, Stephanie said she thought there could be as many as four to six leakers inside the security service. And Celia writes, one leaker can be characterized as a whistleblower. Four to six leakers, well, that's a pipe band. Terry Hinch writes, and his headline is, politics suck.

Wondering if you have any idea what an inquiry costs. Millions? After a good and honest man, a former conservative, investigated the situation and deemed an inquiry was not warranted, he's cast as a Trudeau drinking buddy, dishonest, and God only knows what else. Being a former conservative, supporter in the past, I have absolutely no interest in a party that has not brought one solution to the forum and is only interested in name-calling.

I also see that it's starting to rub off to the NDP. Maybe the House should reconsider wearing a mask. Percy Phillips. In my opinion, being the Governor-General should be the last office any Canadian has. When you're done with being GG, you should be done done with public life in Canada. Take the pension, go to the college, fish or something else, but stay out of public life. His interim report provides little more than a fig leaf for the Liberal government. It blames CSIS and the civil service for both the leaks and or the shortcomings of the communication to government.

That's from Percy Phillips, and he's in another old hometown of mine, Portage-le-Prairie, Manitoba. Patsy Minnis from West Vancouver Here's why I feel I should write my two cents. I don't know, but I feel two things very strongly. I loathe to see a Canadian public servant, David Johnston, and his family, I might add,

subjected to such disrespect for political gain. What have we become? Is this really the example we should try to follow? I don't think so. Secondly, as a progressive conservative for more years than I want to think about, I hope Mr. Polyev keeps it up. He's becoming more belligerent as the days go on, thus showing Canadians what he is really all about, and which will ensure he never becomes Prime Minister. Hopefully then we'll be rid of him. Common sense and civility may just return. A couple of letters on the Alberta election.

It was held earlier this week and and as you know, the UCP won. Daniel Guillaume from Calgary writes, it feels like Rachel Notley's NDP rolled out the same simple strategy which lost them the election against Jason Kenney four years ago. I was disappointed and expected so much more. I did not vote for the UCP, but Danielle Smith and her party won fair and square, and they earned a majority. You don't hear that often, right?

My side lost. I'm upset about that. But the other side won, and they won fair and square. Kevin Torgrimson from Calgary. Janet Brown, she's the pollster in Calgary, was nearly bang on with her prediction. On the CBC, she stated that her firm uses good old-fashioned telephone interviews, calling landline and cell phones.

They will call a number five times a day if needed. She stated that typically harder-to-reach voters tend to be conservative. Hence, her polling was more accurate. Should other pollsters take notice? Well, I'm sure they am. The polling community is a strange one. They're very reluctant to criticize each other or to praise each other, for that matter.

But, you know, elections like this, where there were clearly in the last couple of weeks, polls that differed, in some cases, significantly, they'll all be looking at what they were doing and how they were doing it, I'm sure. Just remember two things. As John Diefenbaker said, polls are only good for dogs. But also, polling is a reflection of the attitudes of voters on the day the poll was taken.

You've got to be really careful using them as a predictive mechanism. Paul Gauci writes from Toronto. At the end of the day of voting, we count the votes, ballots, and place each marked ballot in the corresponding envelope with the candidate's name on it for whom the vote was cast. There are other envelopes marked spoiled ballots and declined ballots. Spoiled ballots are those with more than one person marked or blank ballots. However, declined ballots are seen as something different,

and they work like this. You go up to the clerk and they give you a ballot. Instead of going behind the screen and marking a vote, you hand it right back to the clerk saying, I would like to decline my ballot. It is then placed in a separate envelope from the rest, marked declined ballots. Declined ballots are seen as none of the people running deserve my vote. A protest vote saying your candidates have to do better. I'm not sure if this is an option in every region of Canada or just in Ontario. However, I would encourage everyone in Canada who wants to vote and is not happy with the current choices to do the research and see if they have this option. Maybe with enough people saying you need to do better, things actually might.

Thank you. Have a great day. You know, Paul, I did not know that. I don't know anything about that, what you just stated there. And it's an interesting situation to check that out um david timlack here's what david has to say david's in ingersoll ontario i think the random ranter speaks for most Canadians when he wishes we had two leaders who were more grounded and less extreme. We did have the chance at a sensible alternative.

I'm referring to Jean Charest. As a member of Chantal Nation, I'll tell you that Trudeau would have opted for his walk in the snow and we would be just a little bit more sane if there was an adult in the room. Yes, Polyev did muster the support of hundreds of thousands through his extremist delusions, but this is a mere sliver of the electorate. If moderate Canadians were less politically lazy and had registered to vote for Charest, it would certainly have been a different story.

We do have somewhat of a second chance, though. I hope listeners will take time to look into or even get involved with the Centre Ice Canadians who are considering becoming a full-fledged party. I think the Centre Ice Canadians have potential to shake politics up if folks care enough to support them. Well, let's see if they actually do something in terms of running anywhere or putting their proposals before the public in general. All right, plug for the random rancher, which gives us the opportunity to pull the random ranchter out of his closet,

put him in front of a microphone, and let him rant away for this week. Here he comes, the random ranter, with his take on the issue that's on his mind this week. We all like consistency in our lives, and I have to say, there's nothing more consistent than McDonald's. Those fries are the same no matter if you're in St. John's or Nanaimo.

So are the Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, and everything else on the menu. Exactly the same. And that's due largely in part to the fact that it's not real food it's ultra high processed it's a manufactured product that resembles food and that you can eat it it tastes great and it sure looks the part but the reality is that meal at mcdonald's it's like a movie based on a true story some liberties have taken, and those liberties are called chemical

compounds. And it's not just Mickey D's, because ultra-processed foods are everywhere. There's no escaping them, and we have no idea of the effects they're having on our bodies, on our hormones, on our development. I mean, all the chemicals are a little scary. You know, I understand that the widespread use of preservatives started out as a safety measure during the Industrial Revolution. I get that up until that point, we were eating a lot of mystery gruels, tainted meats, and some highly questionable dairy. So at that point, adding chemical compounds like sodium nitrate,

potassium sorbate, and sorbic acid did make our food safer. But then things started getting really crazy, and pretty soon we made it all the way down the chemical rabbit hole to Cheeto land. And with a texture that defies description and a color that defies nature, nothing says chemicals for breakfast quite like Cheetos. But even if they don't look it, most of our foods are stuffed with chemicals. Chemicals to improve the looks, the texture, the shelf life, the taste, you name it. There's a chemical process for it. And when you're in the grocery aisle, there's no getting

around it because virtually everything is ultra processed. What about organic, you say? Well, buyer beware, surely something in there is organic, but read the label and you'll probably find something like MSG, food coloring, high fructose corn syrup, or a bevy of other chemicals. But our food problem doesn't just stop at the grocery aisle, it extends right into the produce section too, because even our fruits and vegetables have been tainted by industrialization. And I'm not just talking about all the genetically modified produce out there. I'm talking everything, because the biodiversity of our food has been capitalized. That's right, natural selection has been replaced by the needs and wants of capitalism.

Taste and nutritional value have been supplanted by appearance, shelf life, and cost. How do you like them apples? Well, apparently you like them the same way you like Big Macs, and that's the same every time. As a result, of the quarter of a million plant varieties available for agriculture, less than 3% are in use today. 75% of the food on earth currently comes from only 12 plants and animals. We've gone all in on industrial monoculture and nothing is a better example of that than the banana because 99% of the bananas out there are of the same variety, Cavendish. But before you go blaming out of Green Gables, take a deep breath and look in a mirror

because we've only got ourselves to blame. I know I've never asked any questions about Mandarin oranges in July. I just buy them. I'll eat a purple tomato, but I'll probably get the red one first. I expect my carrots to be orange. But you know, when I start thinking about it, when I start reading the labels, I start wondering about what I'm missing out on. What

could food taste like? Would I feel different if I wasn't ingesting all those chemicals? But then my mind wanders to chicken nuggets and I start to salivate as I realize just how stacked the system is against us. Food for thought. Funny, eh? There he is, the random ranter with his take this week. What did you think of it? I'm sure you just might hear from some of you on that one. Thanks to old Double R. We love the Random Ranter. He's looking forward to the summer too. He's been going full bore since, well, last September

when we trotted him out for a trial run. And here he is all these months later still going strong. Loving the random ranter. Let's take a quick break, shall we? And we'll be back right after this. And welcome back. You're listening to The Bridge, the Thursday episode, which is your turn and the random ranter. You're listening on Sirius XM, Channel 167, Canada Talks,

or on your favorite podcast platform. However you're listening, we're glad to have you with us. Okay, back to a few more letters on what, well, this may be a shorter edition than usual of the bridge, but let's see. Got some interesting letters to close out with. This one comes from, where does it come from? It comes from Jamie Rothenberger in Calgary. Here's what Jamie has to say.

Several months ago, you were very kindly obliged to my request, and apparently that of other podcast listeners, to ask Brian Stewart for his top book recommendation regarding the topic of war. Having now read the remarkable book he suggested, Guns of August by Barbara Tuckman, I'm ready for the next selection by Mr. Stewart's book club. It took me weeks to get a copy from the Calgary Public Library, I suspect this was in part due to a surge of demand brought on by this suggestion. It certainly was an amazing book to read, with many parallels to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The amount of movement in the first part of World War I,

and how many times luck, chance, and missed opportunities occurred were the key points I took away from the reading. It would be wonderful if you could ask for another history of war book recommendation. Love the podcast. Please keep up the great work. Which gives me an opportunity to tell you about next Tuesday's session with Brian because there are all kinds of books out there on the topic we're going to be discussing. Next Tuesday, June 6th, is the 79th anniversary of D-Day. And you're going to hear a lot leading up to the 80th anniversary next year. But we thought, Brian and I, seeing as we've been over those beaches

in Normandy many times in our time, we thought we'd use next week's program on the day of the anniversary to talk about D-Day. Because we both have stories that we love to tell about D-Day. So we'll do that next Tuesday. And interestingly enough, on the morning of D-Day, next week, June 6th, I'm going to be flying over that very area in the channel where they were, the troops, including Canadian troops, went across the channel, the English channel, that morning in June 1944

to invade and break through the Atlantic Wall that the Germans had set up in Fortress Europe. I'm heading over there again next week. And on that morning, we'll be breaking dawn by flying over that area. Anyway, so that's next Tuesday's program. That'll be a keeper. Denise. Let me get Denise's name right because she gave me the proper way to say it. Denise VL4 in Winnipeg.

The loss of statesmanship and hate-filled rhetoric is what worries me most. I think of my very young grandsons and I think if they were to serve in political life, I would hope that the environment would be more respectful and less ruthless, as well as be conducive and productive. There is sparring, but then this is over the, excuse me, let me just cough one more time. It's the beauty of microphones. You can just lower them. There is sparring, but then this is over the top.

I find it more and more difficult to watch hateful spewing of comments where nothing is attained except increasing anger in an already polarized country. Three or four years ago, when my husband and I were driving somewhere and would see a vehicle with a Canadian flag, we would automatically think about a proud Canadian driving it. Now, every time we see one, we automatically think,

oh, not another. I'm sad that we now relate the flag to someone who is undoubtedly angry about our country. Your opening line there, Denise, the loss of statesmanship. We're going to talk about that on the final More Butts conversation. It's number nine that we're going to run next Monday. And we're going to wonder about this issue of statesmanship and whether or not it still means what it used to mean to a significant part of the population.

It's an interesting topic. I will delve into it a lot more seriously. population. It's an interesting topic. I will delve into it a lot more seriously when Jerry Butts and James Moore join us for Monday's More Butts Conversation number nine. Gene McCarthy. Gene writes from Lethbridge, Alberta. Love this letter. Peter, I had to laugh when I heard you read a letter from a listener who paints, because I was also painting as I listened to that episode. I'm sure there are many of us across Canada doing the same thing.

I immediately hit record on my camera so you could see a time-lapse of the work unfolding alongside your podcast. And she includes a picture of, I guess, one of her paintings I'm in Lethbridge and from the window next to my easel I can see the distant mountains of Crow's Nest Pass where the listener whose letter you read was also painting and listening it's a small world

but we need voices like yours to remind us of our unseen connections. In gratitude, Gene McCarthy in Lethbridge, Alberta. Great painting, Gene. And great thought as well. Well, we're going to close out the letters portion of today's Your Turn that way. But as a result, we've got a couple of moments left. And I've been unable this week to give you any end bits,

so I wanted to save a little time for a few end bits. There's a couple of good ones this week. Now, this habit started during the pandemic. Remember the pandemic? Technically, the pandemic is over. But as you're going to find out in a couple of minutes, it's not over in terms of the suffering. But this story is different.

Remember when the pandemic started and some restaurants were allowed to stay open one of the ways they dealt with this issue of god we can't kind of like pass menus around that people can you know spread germs on menus so what did they do? They put little stickers on the tables with a QR code. And so you could pull out your phone, snap a pic of the QR code, and up would pop a menu, and that's how you'd order. Now, I don't know how you felt about that. I never liked that. It just seemed like, seemed so tacky. There's something about being able to sit in a restaurant and actually look at a menu.

Then there's the whole etiquette thing, right? You're not supposed to use a phone in a restaurant. But here they were telling you you can use your phone to do this, to get the QR code. Anyways, a piece in the New York Times the other day, and the headline is, The QR Code Menu is Being Shown the Door. People, it wasn't just me.

I thought I was alone here. I thought I was the old guy, you know, resisting change. Didn't like the QR code sticker on the table. Apparently, not many people like the QR code as the menu provider. And so restaurants are peeling those stickers off, and they're getting rid of them, and they're going back to menus. And one of the reasons is that etiquette thing. People are told

you don't use your phone, don't pull out a phone in a restaurant. They don't want to pull out a phone in a restaurant. According to the New York Times, another drawback to the coded menu is its feel as the pandemic ebbs restaurants are trying to coax people to eat out and the seduction of a dining room is part of the get dusky candlelight and uninterrupted eye-to-eye conversation. A QR code can kill the mood. Phones up, blue lights on, conviviality off. The bottom line is the QR code is the antithesis to romance, says the owner of Dutch Kills Bar in Long Island City, Queens. It hinders communication and it hinders intimacy.

Okay. Now, this is a hard turn back to the pandemic, back to the COVID story. Because Fortune Well Magazine, just part of fortune.com, in their health section, they have a story currently on COVID. This is not going to make you feel that much more comfortable. COVID still kills one person every four minutes,

despite the global emergency being officially over. One person every four minutes somewhere in the world is dying of covid even in the u.s it's still the third biggest killer just behind heart disease and cancer so when i get those letters saying, Peter, quit saying the pandemic's over, technically the pandemic is over, but the threat is still there. So all the things that applied, you know, three years ago still apply in terms of your common sense and the way you operate.

You know, the washing of hands, the, you know, the washing of hands, the, you know, be careful where you're going to be, the number of people surrounding you in crowded areas. Just be smart. Here's the final story for today. And this one, I mean, I don't want to leave you with depressing thoughts. That's depressing, the COVID story. This isn't depressing as much as it is a reflection of the world in which we live.

You know, five years ago, one in 20 cars sold in North America was an electric vehicle. One in 20. Now it's one in five. And you can tell when you're outdoors, when you're walking on the street, or when you're driving out there somewhere and you look at what's passing you by. There's, you know, used to be just Teslas, right? Now there's all kinds of electric vehicles, EVs, lots of them.

So what's that done to the automobile market? Well, if you're wondering, then take a look at some of the articles that are being written now from West Africa, from a variety of African nations, Benin, Kenya, Uganda. There are huge parking lots full of non-electric vehicles. And where are these cars coming from? They're coming from North America.

And they're selling in Africa. Because, well, they're not exactly the focal point of the market for e-vehicles, which is very much North America and Europe and, I guess guess to some degree Asia. But in Africa, they've become this dumping ground for thousands, tens of thousands of conventional vehicles. So they have these huge parking lot areas where the vehicles are driven off ships, cargo ships, and parked and sold for relatively little prices, but these are old cars with hundreds of thousands of miles on them.

And what are they doing? They're polluting. There's no help here for the third world, if that's what we call it. So we're moving our stuff that's out of date here and being passed over by vehicles which are better performing in the world we want to live in. And where we're moving them to, we're moving them off to Africa. Let's see, if you're looking for more information on a story like this, you can find it on the CNN website. There's a fairly lengthy piece. Most of the pieces on CNN can be rather short, so kind of just like the headlines. But this is a lengthier piece with a lot of detail in it. And it's headlined, As the West Surges Towards Electric Cars,

Here's Where the Unwanted Gas Guzzlers Go. And it's written by Nimi Princeville and Ellen Nilsson of CNN. And it just came out in the last week. And it's, well, it's a fascinating story. Okay, we're going to wrap it up for this week on your turn. We'll wrap it up with a couple of plugs tomorrow will be good talk of course bruce and chantelle will be here a number of things to talk about and we'll get at it uh tomorrow with both of them um a reminder as we head towards the summer break

which will come around near the end of June, just before the end of June. We'll be taking our break for a couple of months. There'll still be a few special editions of Good Talk during the summer. Plus, we'll have some major encore editions of some of the best shows of the last year. But we've got some good stuff to go before then. Monday, as I mentioned a little bit earlier, the Mooer Butts conversation number nine is going to focus on the use of keywords and what used to be a way for parties to attract support, which may be turning around to the point where keywords that used to attract support,

in fact, don't attract support anymore. So we're going to have that discussion. It's an interesting one, and as you know, the more butts conversation, the whole idea behind it is to be non-partisan, to use the incredible political experience that both those gentlemen have from different sides of the aisle, and talk about the impact of current issues and trends. That's Monday.

Tuesday is the special program that I mentioned a moment ago with Brian Stewart. We're going to look back at D-Day, 1944, 79 years ago, next Tuesday, and reflect upon D-Day, the importance of it, the impact of it, how it unfolded, the role of Canada in it, all of that. That's next Tuesday. So I look forward to having you with us on that.

That's it for today. Thanks so much for listening. Tomorrow, once again, good talk. You can get it on SiriusXM, you can get it on our podcast, or you can get it on our YouTube channel. I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks so much for listening. Talk to you again in 24 hours.