The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Your Turn on Election '21

Episode Date: September 2, 2021

You've been writing a lot to [e-mail] in the last two weeks about the election campaign, and about my Arctic travels.  Today is your turn and as long-time listeners to The Bridge know, I love reading your mail.  So enjoy.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You're just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. It's The Election Bridge, and today is your turn. And hello there, Peter Mansbridge in Stratford, Ontario. It's Thursday and it's your turn. It's your chance to have your say on, well, whatever's been on your mind as a result of listening to the bridge over the last few weeks. So there's really kind of two areas that we've dealt with. There was the Arctic tour. I so enjoyed it. Five days of programming from different parts of the high north inside the Arctic Circle.

And, you know, there's been, I gotta say, some of you were really into that idea. And we got a lot of mail here at the Mansbridge podcast at gmail.com. But top of line is being the election. There's no question about it. You're totally interested in what's going on. Some of you are quite worked up about it. But there's a lot of mail on both fronts. I don't read all the letters.

I take a selection of the letters that we get, and I rarely read the whole letter on the broadcast. I read it all, you know, when it comes in, but I just usually find if we're going to get a wide selection, then I pretty much got to edit them down and go to certain key areas of your letters. So let's get into it. They're in no particular order,

just kind of the way they came off with the printer in some cases. And I do that because it's a little, you know, I understand the paper issue, but I print both sides and I use paper a lot after it's been, after printed materials on it,

I also use it for taking notes. Okay. Spencer Stinson. Spencer didn't say where he was writing from, I don't think. I always like you to include those, the location of where you're coming from, because I think it gives a nice kind of national flavor and sometimes an international flavor to the comments we're picking up. Okay, Spencer writes,

Great to have you and the team back for the election. I really enjoyed your Northern coverage as well. Your book recommendation by Larry Audlelouk was a great last-minute birthday gift for my wife. Well, good for you. It is a great book about the history of Gris Fjord, Canada's most northern community, and how the government in Ottawa basically did a forced move for people to move into Gris Fjord on the whole issue around Arctic sovereignty.

That was back in the early 1950s. Anyway, thank you for saying that. I know you've probably heard, this is back to Spencer's thing, I know you've probably heard enough about polls, but I was wondering if you and Bruce can comment on how the method of polling factors in the waiting for a poll, if at all. When reviewing poll trackers, I've noticed that some old school methods, such as telephone or recorded voice questions tend to tend more to conservatives favor while internet polls tend to sway more back to the center left. Is there any way to factor this in or is this just something

to be mindful of overall when reviewing polls? I think you got to be very careful. You know, you may have heard Bruce yesterday saying, you know, be careful about aggregating poles, but, you know, it's kind of throwing them all together because there is different methodology, different standards that are met by different pollsters. And it's a whole apples and oranges thing. You got to be careful mixing those numbers. Now he did say, you know, take a kind of helicopter look at these things. And, you know, when it's relatively close within the margin of error of, you know, three or four points, keep that in mind. You know, the differences between parties, keep that in mind, what a margin of error really does mean. And he says the truth will, you know, come out when you sort of take that big view.

I'm not quite as generous on that. I have never been in favor of aggregating polls. I just think the differences in some of these polling methodologies are just too much. You point out one potential one. But, you know, there are others as well about how they deal with the data that they collect. And I think you've got to be very, very careful. And you've always got to recognize that polls are a reflection, even if they're accurate, polls are a reflection of the moment they were taken.

They're not predictors. They're not going to tell you who's going to win. They're going to tell you what likely would have happened on the day the poll was taken or on the couple of days the poll was taken. All right? That's the best I can give you on that one. Carol Edwards.

Carol also doesn't tell you where she's writing from. Love your podcast. That's important. So refreshing to listen to true journalism in action. Everywhere else feels like it. The journalists are spokespeople for one side or another and are not presenting an unbiased report. I mean, I think that's an overgeneralization. There's a lot of good journalism out there,

and there's some questionable journalism of that, there is no doubt. Just wanted to check on something. Did you say there would be two French language debates and only one English? Did I hear that correctly? And if so, why would that be? You did hear that correctly. This year, there are two French-language debates. The first one's tonight, the next one's next week, and there's one English-language debate next week. Over the last few election campaigns, there have been differences in the number of debates

that were conducted and the number that were English, the number that were French, the number were French. Here's the reasoning on this year's. The debate tonight in Quebec is the TVI debate. That's one of the networks. It's not just one of the networks. It's the most popular network in Quebec in the French language business. And TVI decided some years ago that they did not want to be in the so-called consortium of all the networks that put together a debate.

I won't get into the reasons why, but they just decided they wouldn't, and they would have their own debate. Now, why do the leaders, or at least the four who were on the stage tonight, why did they go ahead with that? Well, because TVA is the most popular network in Quebec, and Quebec plays an incredibly important role in terms of what may happen on election night. So no surprise they pony up to the bar at TVA and say, I'm in.

So that's why there's the one debate tonight, and then there's another debate next week in the French language because it's the consortium debate. On the English side, everybody's all in from the beginning on the consortium, so there's just one. Now, there have been attempts by other groups to have debates, but the leaders haven't gone for those. So it's all in on one, one undone on terms of the debates next week.

But tonight, tonight's important, not just for the language, but for the body language and for how these different leaders do up against each other. And it's a different equation this time than last time because of Aaron O'Toole, the new conservative leader, running either first or second in what polls we've seen so far. So he's a player. And how he does in tonight's debate could be really critical. The Tories aren't big players in Quebec, but they do have a number of seats. They don't want to lose them.

They'd love to, you know, build on them. But if they start losing seats in Quebec, they've got to gain them elsewhere and more. So it'll be interesting to watch how that plays out. So that's your answer, Carol. Michael Patton from Edmonton. Thank you, Michael. The abusive and threatening protesters at political events are unacceptable. I don't know the law, but if legal action can be taken against the offending individuals, I'm all for it.

Having said that, do some of the candidates need to rethink the language they use? I've heard them call each other frauds and liars and worse. I suppose it's a Rorschach test, but I think I've heard many candidates use language that goes far beyond rigorous political discourse. And the implication there from Mike is, you know, you get what you sow. And if that's the way you're going to talk about each other, don't be surprised if some of the crowds do the same thing. And Mike may have a point there. Sonia Froberg.

I don't see her telling us where she is. Let's remember that, folks. The focus on the need to balance the budget seems to run through every election campaign, with this being the ballot issue for many voters. I'm not an economist, but my understanding is that many economists do not suggest there is, in fact, a need for a balanced budget. Government and personal finances are not the same and should not be looked at the same way. Countries do not have finite lifetimes and their earning potential does not expire like average people. Carrying high debt

loads does not come with the same consequences for countries as it does for individuals. Japan has successfully been growing their economy and creating wealth under massive deficits for decades now as a matter of policy. Quality of investments matters much more than the size of the loan. You know, I think that's generally agreed. Conservatives like to talk about a balanced budget. They always have.

It's kind of in their DNA. But that doesn't mean they make balanced budgets when they get into power. Different things happen. Sometimes they even campaign on not having a balanced budget. The current conservatives under O'Toole say they will have a balanced budget within 10 years. You know, you can promise anything for 10

years. The moon will not be in the sky in 10 years. Okay. Sure. Well, in 10 years and it's still in the sky, we'll say, you didn't deliver on that promise. Kind of the same with budgets.

I mean, you go back in the last 50, 60 years, there have been very few times where there's been a balanced budget. I think Creighton and Martin had one. For that, you've got to almost go back to Turner. When he was finance minister in the early 1970s, when the deficit first started and we were horrified, oh, wow, we've got a deficit of, you know, whatever it was, a billion dollars. Now we have a deficit of, what was the last one, 350 billion?

Now, we did have a pandemic to deal with. But promises are made, you're quite right, Sonia, around this issue, and it's the conservatives who usually talk about a balanced budget, and that's fine. You know, that is part of their kind of platform. But do they deliver? Look at the history books. The liberals have been off and on.

They've talked at times about balanced budget, when there is a real theme out there among the people that they want balanced budgets. But I think you're quite right in the sense that some people see, you know, a deficit as a good thing because it can stimulate the economy to a degree. And you've even had campaigns. You had a conservative campaign in 79 that campaigned on a stimulative deficit. Mark Hale from York, Ontario.

In your lifetime, which prime minister's actions have had the most impact to make Canada better at that point in time? Which attributes of the prime minister do you see in any of the party leaders today? Which attributes of that prime minister do you see? I don't know. I'm not going to get into this, sort of picking a prime minister. I see one of the big policy magazines, Policy Options, I think it is, has picked the best prime minister in terms of Canada-U.S. relations in the last whatever, well, in the history of the country.

And they talk about Mulroney and that relationship that he had with the United States and different things that happened under his term like free trade. So Mulroney would definitely be up there. Harper would be up there. You know, Trudeau the elder would be up there on some levels. You know, a leader must be a leader. You know, you've got to make decisions,

and that's what you look for in a prime minister. Can this person lead? Can this person lead in a time of crisis? You know, we've had a time of crisis. We're still living in one. You can make judgments, and people are doing that exactly right now as to the kind of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been during this time of crisis,

and whether there's anything to learn for other potential leaders in our country about the attributes that he has shown, positive and negative. Jared Smith, or Smythe, writes from Melbourne, Australia. Just an observation I've thought of looking at the political dynamics from afar. Trudeau perhaps somewhat benefited from having an incumbent U.S. president in Donald Trump to compare and contrast with. Does not having Donald Trump as incumbent U.S. president hurt Trudeau as perhaps Trudeau could not as easily cover over certain flaws in policy and personality

when Trump and his controversies were so big and brash to perhaps mute these observations? I note this as I believe both Canadians and Australians share some level of superiority complex when we compare ourselves to the United States. Yeah, that's possible. Keep in mind there are Trump supporters, not many of them, but there are Trump supporters in Canada, and they'll make that comparison on a whole different level.

But I think generally most Canadians didn't like Donald Trump, still don't like Donald Trump, and you put anybody up on the podium against him in this country, and that person is probably going to do well. But I think you may have something there, Jared. I think Trudeau benefited in some ways because of Trump. Bill Archibald writes from Peterborough. Remember the other day we were talking about the riding of Peterborough and how it's the classic bellwether riding in Canada?

Sort of goes whichever way it goes. That party's likely the party that's going to win the election i think in the last 50 or 60 years only been once when that didn't happen that was 1980 anyway um bill writes i listen most days on sirius peterborough has been a long time consumer test market to gauge the popularity of new products. And I guess he's, you know, equating that with the bellwether issue. This, as a result of the facts you mentioned Tuesday, is a mix of people in all facets of everyday life. I believe Brandon, Manitoba, and Sherbrooke, Quebec

were same testing markets in past times. Used to live in Brandon. and Sherbrooke, Quebec were same testing markets in past times. Used to live in Brandon. Wasn't for long, just a couple of weeks, but I lived there when I was working for Transair, the little airline in Manitoba. Bob Chaffron from Encino california suburb of l.a as a native californian who lived and worked in montreal in the mid-1970s i'm envious of your political system while it might be messy it's really democratic and it works ours is no longer democratic either at the federal or state

level just look what's happening with the completely undemocratic recall election currently happening in California. That's a heck of a race. Being a progressive Californian, I would always prefer a left-of-center Canadian government to help influence this world. But I am confident that whoever Canadians choose to be their next Prime Minister will be a good partner to the U.S. and the world. I can't say that about either California or the U.S.

Thanks, Bob. Interesting view. Glenn Pupor. Now, he wrote a really long letter. I'm just going to read a little bit of it. I'm a Canadian and a Quebecois who was raised bilingually in Gatineau by my French-Canadian mother and English-speaking father. My family and I have been living in the United States for the past eight years where I'm a professor at a state university in Minnesota. I want to thank you for your helpful and politically neutral podcast which helps me stay

in touch with canadian affairs and politics on today's podcast i was earlier this week with the insiders you were thinking out loud and you stated that you could not understand why there's so much hatred for justin trudeau that's felt by about 20 of the canadian population i'm not sure the figure is that high, but it's not insignificant, is I think the term I used. A very deep hate, as you explained, or something along those lines. Before I continue, I should declare that I identify as a progressive. After observing and continuing to observe the phenomenon of Trump

and Republican-inspired hatred here in the U.S., it's not surprising to me at all that it's transferred to Canada. It's just so sad for me to see this happening in Canada now, and it really does scare me. I just feel like humanity in general is going in the wrong direction, and in many ways it is depressing, but that is a whole other discussion. Now, he goes on with some possible reasons he sees, but I think he's making the point.

He sees it happening here like he's witnessed in the U.S., and he worries about it. He's scared by it. And I think anybody who saw that scene last week, no matter how they may feel in terms of which way they're voting, was disgusted by it. Ian Hebblethwaite in Moncton, New Brunswick writes, You have lots of interesting insight into the election, but I'm concerned, disappointed actually, that nobody is talking about the direct COVID impact. That is many more than in the past will be voting early,

and if someone waits until election day, they will miss many voters. It may be that there are still three weeks till the 20th, but this may be the last few days to reach a large number of voters. Well, a lot of voters are going to be reached in the next seven or eight days because of the three big debates. And if you actually are interested in the election and you want content rather than rumor, you'll watch these debates because they will tell you something. Not only about the people who want to lead us but

the parties that want to form government and uh you know covid i think especially next week is going to play a big role as school is fully back across the country. Families, parents, kids, they're anxious. In some cases, they're mad. Scott Irvin in Ottawa. The Conservatives recently jumped ahead in the polls, and when I think of them, all I hear is cut slash burn, and it has me afraid of what

they will do with social programs like federal unemployment insurance I work in the auto industry and my hours have been cut back because of the global microchip shortage and being dependent on UI I'm nervous about whether a conservative government would either just decimate it or change the eligibility criteria so I get less or none. Do you have any thoughts on whether they will go there? You know what? This is your opportunity. You know how we talk about how the world is being changed by videos,

by people's cameras, their phones, witnessing certain things? When there's a knock at your door by a candidate doing door-to-door campaigning, say, just a second, hold on a minute, get your phone, turn on the camera, and say, okay, I have a question, and this is how I'm going to determine how I'm going to vote, and then ask that question. Get the answer on tape, on record, and tell them that's why you're doing it. You don't want to fudge.

You want the answer. You could do that door-to-door. You could go out and find candidates who are going door-to-door. You could go to a town hall and all candidates meeting. Get them on the record on the issues that most concern you. Now I know everybody doesn't have the time to do that, but you might want to consider it because we all know the stories of people saying one thing in a campaign and not delivering. All right.

Another one, another couple on the election what are we doing on time wow we're eating up time um dave kellett from lakefield ontario on the election your podcast a few weeks ago when you were reviewing the results of elections held in September historically. I believe it was the 1920s or 30s you pointed out that in that election there were nine official parties and this sparked a thought. Why is it we have so little choice now? If you think of it like this, liberal on the left, conservative on the right, so then other parties come in and go farther from the center, NDP further to the left, and now the People's Party further to the right. Obviously, I know the Green Party and the Bloc are also involved, but not major players. Why is there not a more centrist approach?

I feel closer to the middle. As an example on a few key issues, I'm very much pro-immigration, but know that we need housing and infrastructure to support population growth. Climate change is a huge problem that needs attention, but we can't make driving and owning a car out of reach in a country that is so spread out, and we can't make heating a home in our climate out of reach. Another recurring issue is gun laws. I enjoy hunting and shooting sports, but I'm completely opposed to gun violence and feel attention needs to be given to reduce violence as a whole. So listen, there are a lot of issues and they cross, in some cases, political spectrums.

You're looking for more in the middle. You know, most parties move back and forth to their middle, right? Depending on the times, depending on the issues that confront the country. Do we not have, do we, you want it? You really want election nights with nine parties? I don't know. Do you want to be Italy? You want to just like these sort of endless coalition governments?

Do you want to be Israel? Same kind of thing? I don't know. But I hear what you're saying. I think you've got to be quite firm on the way you look at the parties and their position on issues that matter to you and determine whether they're close enough to the center and which ones are close to the center on certain issues

and which ones aren't. Hey, listen, nobody ever said voting is easy. It's a big responsibility. We all share it. But you got to do your homework. You can't go by, gee, I like the suit that guy's wearing. Or I like the way she, you know,

gave that promotion during her commercial about her party. You've got to dig a little deeper than that. You've got to do exactly what Dave Kellett is saying and really look at the issues. Where are we here? Owen from Ottawa. I voted liberal in 2015, partially because I was excited at the promise that Justin Trudeau had made

about that campaign being the last election that would be run under the first past the post system. Mr. Trudeau reneged on that promise. And because of that, I didn't vote liberal two years ago. I was wondering if you could share your opinion on this broken promise

and some possible replacement systems like ranked balloting. He does a PS. I grew up just a few blocks away from one of your first jobs, the Esso gas station on the corner of Island Park Drive and Wellington Street West.

They're building a massive luxury boutique condominium just across the road from the gas station now. Yeah, that was my first job. Well, I just got out of the Navy, and it was my first job back in Ottawa where I'd spent most of my childhood. And I worked for Roy Rump. Great guy. Roy Rump. Great guy.

Roy Rump's ESO. ESSO. Every second Saturday off. That was our motto. I enjoyed working at the gas station. It got me that opportunity to actually talk to people. There was a real relationship between people and the gas station. I worked the pumps, between the pumps and the customer.

And man, you used to try to sell them everything, right? You need gas, absolutely. Oh, by the way, while I'm pumping the gas, why don't I check your air filter? Why don't I check your wiper blades? Man, that tire looks a little run down. That's where you make money in a gas station, or you used to. Big markup on things like that. Good commission, too, for the young kid.

All right, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, a couple of your thoughts on the arctic you're listening to the bridge with peter mansbridge And welcome back. Peter Mansbridge here on The Bridge. It's the Your Turn segment of a busy election week. And we've just had a lot of your thoughts on the election campaign and some of the issues that are on your mind and you'd like to see asked. As most of you know, this week marked my return from the Arctic.

Man's Bridge of the Arctic. Man, I loved that trip. You know, it wasn't my first trip. I've been to the Arctic many times, but I love going there. I love the people. I love the scenery. I love the challenges that are confronted by the people who live in our high north. And so it was an opportunity once again to revisit some great communities and to hear some great stories and see some spectacular scenery.

And from what I can tell, you really liked it. There were a lot of letters about the Arctic. I'm not going to read them all. But I'll just read a couple. Bale Building from Halifax. It's under the codename Bailmans. As a person who grew up while watching your career unfold and evolve to your bridge podcast,

I'm eagerly looking forward to your podcast from the HMCS Harry DeWolf. He wrote this just before I went away. And why did he write it? Because I also just happened to be one of the proud shipbuilders in Halifax that helped to build HMCS Harry DeWolf. Well, let me tell you, he did a great job. I love that ship. It's not a big warship, but it is a warship.

And it is a ship. Carries about 80 men and women from the Royal Canadian Navy. Terrific people. Thoroughly enjoyed our time on there. We're shooting a documentary for the CBC, which will air early next year. That deals with both climate change and Arctic sovereignty. But this was an opportunity, as I said,

for me to get back to my roots, certainly my broadcasting roots. Tish Whitfield of Barry's Bay, Ontario. Mike and I, I guess Mike is Tish's spouse. I would like to thank you for taking us with you on your Arctic trip. We enjoyed your observations and the interviews. My favorite interview was the interview with Chief Petty Officer Jeannette Sagan. Her description of the many jobs she had before she found the right fit was really interesting. I admired her determination and the fact that she did not settle for a job

that she was not passionate about. Well, she's certainly passionate about her job as the senior enlisted person on board, and she does a great job. They love her, but they respect her. She's tough. Kevin Chan from Mississauga. I'm curious, as an average Canadian, other than the expenses consideration,

is there a way to actually visit these places so that we can chat with local residents, experience the local living, have a snapshot of how life is like in Arctic, in the Arctic? You know, it's difficult. It is really expensive to travel in canada's arctic you know i've been lucky almost every time not every time but almost every time i've been to the arctic

i've been doing it as a result of my job and therefore whoever i've been working for has been handling the freight on that one and it's exorbitant like it is very expensive but you know we live in a world of great technology you want to set up something with one of these communities say greece fjord you want to talk to um you know larry uh larry uh out of luke you know buy his book send him an email and see whether you can just chat, whether you can do a kind of mini town hall where you can connect you and your friends to Larry and his friends

and exchange ideas about what it's like to live there. But you can do that with any community, right? Because unless you've got some hard cash to throw around, it's a little challenging. Karen Bosche, we've heard from her before. She's a retired teacher in Edmonton. People in our generation miss the opportunity to learn about many important truths in our Canadian history.

We're now all needing to learn more about the realities of changes in our environment. Both will have an imminent effect on our future lives. And Karen felt that we delivered on some of that during this Arctic trip. Our good friend David Oliver from Oak Bay, Ontario. Oak Bay, Ontario. He'll love that. Oak Bay, Vancouver Island. I enjoyed your Arctic adventure very much the history and geography and the way they intersect is fascinating to me your interview with cpo sagan was great

i laughed out loud when she said i learned to express myself in a more productive way good to know that the armed forces can provide an environment in which people can succeed in overcoming their challenges, which she was quite frank about, and achieve the top rank, which she has. Thanks, David. Ron Fisher. I just want to let you know how much I appreciate your Arctic trip and the insights it has brought. I live in Barrie, but I have lived in Toronto, Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, served in the Canadian forces, in the Navy,

consider myself well-informed, and I'm still being floored by the stories of how badly the Aboriginal people, the Indigenous people of Canada, were treated. I knew that historically this was the case, but I had no idea that so much of this went up into the 90s, and to some extent still goes on today. Thanks for the insight into the Inuit people and the connection to Canada's north. Louis Deschain from Denver, Colorado. I'm a young Canadian engineer, McGill, 2020, currently working in Denver.

I've been listening to the bridge since COVID began and your recent Arctic expedition has been the first time I felt compelled to let you know how fantastic following your voyage has been. The conversations with members of the Canadian Navy and the Inuit people have been engaging and inspiring. I hope one day to also visit the Arctic and experience what it has to offer in terms of natural beauty and Canadian perspectives. Well, Louis, I can tell you, you won't be disappointed if you get that opportunity. Sorry, just taking a quick sip of my coffee. Seneva Taylor, I'm listening to your podcast these last few days about the Arctic

I feel so fortunate to have been there with you I am currently reading the book by Larry Audlelook It is moving, heartbreaking and makes me so disappointed in the government processes of the day Thank you for bringing his story to us Thank you for bringing his story to us. Thank you, Soneva. Jeffrey Oliver, that's David's son. He works on a merchant ship crossing the Atlantic all the time. He writes to us

often from mid-Atlantic. He just wanted to make one quick point. There was one point where I was talking about throwing garbage in the sea, and I left the impression, because of what I said, that you could throw anything you want into the sea in the North Atlantic. You can't throw anything into the sea in our Arctic Ocean by universal international agreement. But it was that issue about throwing anything you want into the sea in the North Atlantic.

And Jeffrey says, no, you actually can't do that. There's a strict guideline for what can be dumped at sea and where certain items can be dumped. And he adds a link. Of course, we live in the world of the link um and there are all kinds of different places and spots where you can dump certain things uh anyway he just wanted me to know that he couldn't sort of go off willy-nilly anywhere as you cross the atlantic and toss stuff into the ocean and he says canada is very good about that, especially our forces. They don't. I don't think they

throw anything in the sea anywhere. They incinerate everything. Patricia Provo in Saint-Bazile-le-Grand, Quebec. Excuse me. Holy moly, Peter. The visuals I got of your team having to climb down a rope ladder is fodder for nightmares. I'm a disabled senior having lost my left side mobility

from a massive stroke. I can barely access my balcony without assistance. I'm only a few years younger than you, but I am so happy for your successful descent from the ship as well as the return climb back to safety. Listen, that was a thrilling moment. And I'll be honest, every time I tell that story now, the descent and the climb back up is a little longer than it actually was. You know, gosh knows how big a drop it's going to be when I'm telling the story 10 years from now.

But I'll tell you, it was a thrill, and I was more than a little bit nervous. Daniel Rao, he also really enjoyed the interview with Larry Audlelouk. And Daniel's in Calgary. This question is for Larry, and I hope we can relay it to him. What is something that ordinary Canadians could do to help remote northern communities? Well, you know, I think this is what Larry would say. Learn.

Educate yourself in terms of the story of the people of the North. It's a fascinating story. It's had its challenges, cruelty, but it's had innovation and bravery and inspiration. And there are lots and lots of books out there that you can read to learn from. Katie Hurst in Sarnia, Ontario. All the different stories and the diversity of guests

really sparked an interest in me. If I could ever be so lucky as to explore the North the way you have, it would be a dream. Thank you for doing the shows from there. Well, thank you, Katie. I hope you get that opportunity. You can get it, you know, from some of the programs. You'll get it when this documentary runs on the CBC.

I wish I could give you a date. I will by the time they nail a date down, but it's probably going to be somewhere in February or March. There's a long editing process. It's an hour long. By the way, I have a documentary next week, a week tomorrow, the night before the 20th anniversary of 9-11. It's called Unfinished Business.

And I think you'll find it. If you're a student of 9-11 on any fashion and you're still asking the question why, you're going to want to watch this. So that's a week from tomorrow, Friday the 10th of September, I believe it's at 8 o'clock, 8.30 in Newfoundland,

on the CBC. All right? There's going to be a lot of different 9-11 programming for the next week on all channels. I think this one's important. I'll say more about it next week. Renee Kilo. I love your podcast. I've especially been enjoying your trip to the Arctic.

My dad was in the Rangers and would spend his summers in Vernon, BC at the cadet camp being a leader. I loved your interview with Titus. The world needs more people like him. It would be a much nicer place. He's a true Canadian gem. Enjoy your trip. Titus was a ranger based in Pond Inlet in Nunavut,

who we spent some time with. Okay, a couple of the last ones here. Lise Brooks. She's in Ottawa. How fortunate we are to have this podcast. All through the COVID months, you accompanied me on my daily walks in my neighborhood of Kanata, just outside of Ottawa. I look forward to hearing from the various doctors you had on to guide me through the developments of the pandemic. With the start of the pandemic, I found myself out of work and for the first time in my life with a lot of free time on my hands.

Wanting to understand more of our history, I enrolled in a couple of online courses from the University of Alberta on Indigenous history. How timely were the recent discovery of graves, mostly dear residential schools, and the ensuing talks on the TRC report. I very much enjoyed your talk with Murray Sinclair. And now with your podcast from the Canadian Arctic, I'm very grateful that I've subscribed to your podcast.

And I thank you for the history lessons of the last couple of podcasts from the Harry DeWolf. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Elise Brooks in Ottawa. Last one. And it's from our good friend from St. Catharines, Ontario,

Dr. Jane Rusnak, who's watched us through the COVID story and watching us through all the different stories that we've tried to cover over the last year or two. Long letter. She always writes long letters. I'm going cover over the last year or two. Long letter. She always writes long letters. I'm going to read the last paragraph. A year ago, we never imagined that we'd still be here, stuck in the vortex of COVID-19.

And yet here we are. If we don't change the path we're on, many more lives will be lost, more businesses will close, and too many people will struggle needlessly. And a year from now, we will still be stuck in the vortex, talking about how we didn't imagine we'd still be in the same place. Well, imagine it.

Either way, we'll still be in the vortex a year from now. What people decide to do right now, over the next month or two, will decide how much closer we are to getting out of this vortex in a year from now. The time is now. We cannot afford to wait any longer for people to do the right thing. Thank you, Jane. You're right. Jane Rusnak in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Dr. Jane. All right, folks. That wraps her up for this day. But tonight, Thursday night of week three, there's a French language debate in Quebec. You may not watch it. You may not have access to it. But it's going to be important for the whole country.

So tomorrow, good talk, Chantal Hébert, Bruce Anderson. We'll talk about it, and we'll talk about where we are in the campaign. Thanks so much for listening. This has been The Bridge. Your turn. I'm Peter Mansbridge. listening this has been the bridge your turn i'm peter mansbridge we'll talk to you again in 24 hours