The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Your Turn -- Parliament's Debacle

Episode Date: September 28, 2023

A wide variety of opinions from across the country about recent events in Parliament, especially the debacle that led to the resignation of the Speaker.  Listeners are upset and they're spreading the blame all around.  And something different from the Ranter -- he has predictions. 

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. It's Thursday, your turn, and you've got lots to say about the speaker debacle in the House of Commons. That's coming right up. And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here in Toronto today. I love Thursdays. I know I say this often on Thursdays, but I love them, and here's why I love them. I love them because it's your turn. You get to rant. You get to say what you think about the various issues and topics of the day. And the beauty of your emails has always been the fact that you've clearly listened to the podcast and then you've decided to weigh in, in support, in opposition to what you may have heard.

But the beauty of it is, to me, is it's always constructive and it reflects kind of the nation at large because your letters come from all across the country. So I look forward to Thursdays. I look forward to going through your mail at the Mansbridge podcast at gmail.com. Not everything makes it on the air, and usually it's a snippet from different emails that are sent in. I also try to ensure that the same people don't get on every week

because a lot of you write every week, and I enjoy reading them, but I also like to ensure that we sort of get a different selection of writers as much as possible every week. So having said that, let's move on. I do appreciate it if you give your full name and where you're writing from. Sometimes some of you forget, and I understand that. Some of you sometimes have a reason which you spell out as to why you just want part of your name read, but those are made on an individual basis. Those judgments are made that way.

Well, the dominant story this week, as we all know, has been what happened in the House of Commons. It actually happened last Friday, and then the fallout started over the weekend, and then demands for resignations, and the fallout, the cut and thrust that happens in Parliament every day between the different parties as to who's to blame. So, many of you had things to say, but once again, you had things to say based on what you heard on the podcast,

not what you thought you assumed was going to be said on the podcast, but what you actually heard. And that's why I like your letters. That's why I don't spend a lot of time on some social media channels, which seem to invite those who have no idea what was said in any particular podcast. So let's go. No particular order once again.

Patsy Minnes. If there was any leadership or example to be set, Mr. Roda should have resigned on the spot. Mr. Trudeau should have been in the House on Monday and Tuesday to account internationally, publicly, for the transgressions. And Mr. Poliev should have tried to be a statesman, difficult for him to show concern for the damage done. Why these politicians think that scoring points is the way to run a country,

I'll never know. We the citizens and taxpayers are the losers. Cindy Kelly from Mission BC. I've been wondering why no one is asking about the Ukrainian man and his son and what they expected from the visit to the House of Commons. In particular, did the son, who apparently approached the speaker to allow his father to attend the event, not know his dad had fought for the Nazis? Did the man himself not mention this to anyone? I'd love to know more about their side of the story.

And I think there are attempts to try to get their side of the story. But in the community of North Bay, where the family lives, it's not been a secret because the father has spoken before about the Second World War and what was happening in Ukraine and what he was doing in Ukraine. Michael Pash, Michael wrote, as some of you did this week, a very long letter. Once again, I'm going to just read a part of it. Michael is from Victoria, B.C. Here's what he has to say.

If there had been any doubt, the speaker's debacle proves it. People don't know their history. But to be honest, the penny didn't drop for me, or as you admitted, you either, right away. Or for anyone else, it seems. The scenario was pretty simple, I suspect. The son gets in touch with his MP's office, explains how thrilled his 98-year-old dad would be to see the president of Ukraine.

He might have said he's a vet, fought against the Russians. What a great opportunity to recognize a veteran, the staffer thinks. Up the food chain it goes. Speaker's office doesn't imagine a 98-year-old guy is a threat. The security check is nominal. Nothing's flagged. Great opportunity to recognize a patriot and reinforce Canada's connection to Ukraine. World War II ended 78 years ago. To ordinary people, the details are long gone. Nobody clued in. Now, I don't know if that's the way the process worked,

but you're certainly right in your conclusion. Nobody clued in. Mindy Bullion from Ottawa. Just a quick question regarding the deplorable incident in the House of Commons. Has there been any reporting about Zelensky's reaction to this incident? He, above everyone else, should have immediately contacted, or excuse me, connected the dots to realize who this Ukrainian had been fighting for. I don't understand why we've heard nothing. Well, we have heard nothing. You're quite correct on that.

The Prime Minister said yesterday that there has been written apologies to the Ukrainian government, to President Zelensky, but no sense of what reaction, if any, there has been to that, at least at the time of this recording. We haven't heard of any. John Dunn from Cowley, Alberta. While you are famously a pillar of restraint and decorum, your incredulity yesterday on Parliament's ignorance

of the most basic elements of World War II history was well justified. In fact, you gave the random ranter a run for his money. But what then was Chrystia Freeland's excuse for standing and cheering? You know, Canada's Deputy PM and celebrated Ukrainian and Russian history scholar. I guess that's a good question to be asking. Penny Stone in Edmonton. I listened with interest to your short comment about the debacle in the House of Commons.

I came across a quote attributed to Voltaire. History is just the portrayal of crimes and misfortunes. Appropriate, I thought, as I listened to you. Penny Stone in Edmonton. Dave Yursik in London, Ontario. I'm deeply saddened and embarrassed by the debacle and deeply sorry to President Zelensky and all the brave people of Ukraine for this humiliating debacle.

We shall move on from this, but it's a stain not easily removed and should never be forgotten. That's just part of Dave's letter. Ken Peleshock from Listowel, Ontario. As one of many Canadians of Ukrainian ancestry, my heart aches for the ugly footnote that will forever be attached to what should have been a proud moment in Canada's history. Since February of 2022, I've spent considerable time trying to

convince others, other fellow Canadians, that Russia's talking point of Ukrainians being Nazis is unfounded. Of course, I knew my history, and I know it's gray and messy, particularly on the World War II Eastern Front, so I momentarily raised an eyebrow when a World War II Ukrainian freedom fighter was announced. However, I was confident that my competent professional G7 government had vetted this guy and I'm sure had been in Parliament. Had I been in Parliament, I'd be enthusiastically clapping for this guy too. So I don't blame those who naively applauded. I don't entirely blame Anthony Rota because I don't buy for a second he was the only one who knew, and even if he was,

a competent professional G7 government would have procedures in place to prevent such a thing. You know, this issue that everybody assumed, well, you know, assuming things can get you in trouble. Clearly, that's what happened to a degree this week. It's like, you know, yesterday the Prime Minister apologized on behalf of Parliament. He was criticized for doing that and not apologizing on behalf of himself and accepting all the blame.

Now, you can argue about how much blame the Prime Minister's office should take for this, but I have no problem, none, for whatever it's worth, about my opinion on this, but I have no problem on the Prime Minister apologizing on behalf of Parliament. They all stood there, they all stood there, they can assume whatever they want to assume, but they all stood there, standing, cheering, clapping, smiling, pointing at the guy in the gallery. All of them. That's Parliament. So they all need a degree of apology,

and apologizing on behalf of Parliament I don't think is such a bad thing. Not surprising this has been international reaction towards this. It's been attracted to people around the world in terms of a story to listen to. Robert Welch from St. Johnsbury, Vermont writes, Inasmuch as the moment of the former Nazi soldier getting a standing ovation in the House of Commons is as distressing and disturbing as it should be, I'm left with another thought. I can sure understand if Canadians are wondering how he was allowed into Canada in the first place, even if it was decades ago.

My jaw is on the floor about this, and I'm obviously not the only one. Once again, this is part of our history, as it is a part of your history in the United States. There was supposed to be a vetting carried on for all those who were coming in from Europe, and especially Eastern Europe, at the end of the war, about what they'd done, where they'd been during the 39 to 45 period, if they'd been in a service, which service, which regiment, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

And a lot of this did happen. And a lot of commissions were set up to look at specific areas, including the Woffin SS. So some of this was known. And decisions were made about who was allowed in and who wasn't allowed in. Robert Bjarnason. Robert writes from Carberry, Manitoba. You'd have to think that our Five Eyes partners would be a little uneasy

as they watch our country fumble the simplest of vetting. It seems these folks would need instructions on how to boil water. Five Eyes are the partnership of five countries on intelligence issues. Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Back to Robert's letter. On the flip side, the incessant focus on hot topic issues and every political leader trying to score political points is exhausting. This seems to bring along with it all the hallmarks of grandstanding,

exaggerated outrage, virtue signaling, and screams for resignation. Sure does. Joe Henschel from Calgary. I just finished reading Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder. I don't know that book. But Joe writes, To say the period in the Ukraine between 1933 and 1945 was hellish would be a gross understatement. To say volunteering to fight for the Nazis was abhorrent

would, however, need to be contextualized by only three other likely alternatives. One, die. Two, fight with the Soviets. Three, fight as a partisan. According to Snyder, volunteering to fight for one side did not mean you necessarily that you believed in their cause.

Far from it, actually. Without knowing what occurred with this particular man, it would be far too easy to say this man deserves to be denounced, even condemned. I feel bad for this 98-year-old man's family, horrible that he was so wrongly fetid. People do, however, need to realize the Soviets were so vile that Joseph Stalin was such a mass murderer himself that people in the Ukraine 1930 and 1940s had almost no choice. You always have a choice.

Kellyanne Purdy. Kellyanne, I'm just checking here. I think Kellyanne forgot to tell us where she was writing from. Anyway, she has a family with a distinguished military background. My great-uncle was killed in action, drowned actually, during the battle with the Calgary tanks after his tank went off in deep water during the Dieppe Raid.

And my grandpa served with the South Alberta Regiment and thankfully made it home, continuing on after his Jeep came under attack in Italy and after being part of the liberation of the Netherlands. Wow. Talk about three markers that that family was involved in, the Dieppe disaster in August of 1942, where so many of the Canadians were either killed or captured

and went into prison camps. But Kellyanne's great uncle killed when he was on board one of those tanks that was unloaded and sank right away, and he drowned. I don't know whether you've been to Dieppe, but if you've been, you look at that beach, it's all stones and rocky, and you wonder, like, how the hell did they ever decide to land there? That was a failure of intelligence. Anyway, to get to Kellyanne's point here.

As a relative of those who fought as Canadians in World War II, who continue to remember their service, sacrifice, and is passionately anti-Nazi, I can, however, see how this was all a big accident. Is it possible to forgive? I think I can. I think there needs to be more scrutiny over who gets applause in the House of Commons. World War II veterans are quite scarce because of how old they are. I feel bad for everyone who really thought they were applauding a hero,

and I completely get it. They were propaganda pawns. Kellyanne wrote a lot more in her letter, but to me those are definitely points worth sharing with you. Steve Carlton from Abbotsford, British Columbia. As egregious as the blunder by the speaker, Anthony Rota was, and as terrible an embarrassment as it has become for Canada on the world stage, it was, after all, an oversight by an otherwise trusted individual and not an act of malicious intent. A really, really bad oversight, mind you. It took Mr. Rota four days to come to his senses and to step down. It's taken Mr. Trudeau even longer to adequately address the matter with Canadians, let alone the

world stage. But it took no time at all for Mr. Poliev to pounce on the PMO and lay blame squarely on the Prime Minister. Always the opportunist, Mr. Polyev has demanded that the PMO should be vetting the Speaker's guests. Really? More gatekeepers? Let's get this straight. Mr. Polyev knows full well that the Speaker serves Parliament as an impartial officer. He does not report to the Prime Minister. Despite this, Mr. Poliev pins the mess on the PM, who did not cause it, but who will surely be charged with cleaning it up.

Please be honest with us, Mr. Poliev, and don't try to mislead the Canadian public for political gain. All right, Steve, thank you for that. Yeah, it did look a little odd yesterday with Polyev demanding that the government, whoever the government of the day is, should do a full vetting on everybody who's allowed into the House of Commons to watch a guest speech. Any guess?

I would like to think, I would like to wonder what would happen if that in fact was the case. If this hadn't happened and in walked the security people into Mr. Polyev's office and say, we want a full detail on each one of your guests, and we're going to, you know, grill them on their background. I don't know. Maybe he would have loved that.

Maybe he wouldn't have had a problem with that. Apparently that's what he's saying should happen now. Erwin Correbo from Winnipeg. You correctly noted that members of the Prime Minister's Cabinet and caucus were ahead of the PM on calling for the Speaker's resignation. I'm a big believer that Trudeau will be resigning before the next election and these recent events will ensure that he does so sooner rather than later. I'd be quite surprised if he did not get a strong message from his caucus that he needs to let the party choose a new leader.

At this point, he is hurting the Liberal Party brand. Katerina Summers in Kingston, Ontario. And this is our last letter on this point. Once again, we got a lot of letters on this issue. Lots of them. And these are kind of the highlights in terms of what I read. Katerina Summers in Kingston writes, When Speaker Rota praised Yaroslav Honka for having fought against Russia during World War II,

it should have been a signal that this would have involved collaborating with Nazi Germany. It appears former Speaker Rota apparently failed to connect the dots. Deputy Minister Freeland, though, has a strong Ukrainian heritage she would have known immediately. Yet the Deputy Prime Minister enthusiastically joined in the standing ovation. For that matter, President Zelensky and his wife did as well. That is baffling. I feel they should not be given a free pass, but instead should be held accountable as well. So as I said before I started reading the letters, there's a wide range of opinion on this subject. Will it blow over quickly? As I said yesterday, for those who actually listen to the podcast,

these are the kind of things that are not forgotten quickly. It may blow over as an issue as they move on to other things and whatever the scandal for next week might be, and for whichever party it's directed in. But hanging in the background will always be this issue. It'll always kind of sit there. And for those who want to milk it, they will continue to milk it. For those who feel badly about it, they will continue to milk it.

For those who feel badly about it, they will continue to feel badly about it. And for those who are going to try to find a way to ensure it never happens again, that too, I hope, will remain until they find that way. So there we are with the first rather lengthy segment for the Your Turn section. The Your Turn episode of The Bridge this week. All right, moving on. We've got a couple of letters about the Random ranter. He's been back from his summer off too,

and he's hit on housing. He's hit on grocery prices. And we got this letter from Gary Burchett, who lives in the Ottawa Valley in Ontario. It's very short. This is like, I asked for short letters, this is short. Gary wrote after the grocery pricing rant from last week.

Nailed it. He's right on calling these conglomerates oligarchs. That's it. That's it from Gary. Now, Heather Sims. Is it Sims or Sirs? My eyes are failing me. I think it's Heather Sirs.

She's in Richmond Hill. She, too, wanted to talk about the rant two weeks ago on housing. I can totally relate as my family of five also lived in a small footprint house until we kids launched as young adults. Today we have generally smaller families, smaller lots, and much bigger houses, as the renter observed. But I don't hear anyone yet talking about what I call the HGTV effect. Everyone wants or expects high-end finishes, en suite baths, high ceilings, 10 feet now,

great rooms, etc., etc. You get the drift, I'm sure. So it's no wonder that homes are more and more expensive. On top of that, there's all the become a real estate mogul seminars and shows which have driven demand to own investment property and land banking. Those are all good points. You know, my go-to get out of the daily grind channel is HGTV. I watch a lot. I get fascinated watching.

Wow, what are they going to do to this place? And what crises are they going to make when they get there? I always get a kick. Which is the one I like, love it or list it, Vancouver. You know, there's the guy who's the agent who's out looking for a house for this family, and there's the designer lady

who is trying to make their existing home more presentable. And I always have to laugh because every time that the designer person takes on the deal to try and fix a house under a certain budget, every time they find something that, oh my God, look at this, There are rats coming out of the ceiling. Or there's a leak in the floor. Or there's this or there's that.

Never saw it coming. Oh, my God, what's it going to do to the budget? Where are we going to find it? Well, we're not going to be able to build that extra bathroom on the second floor. And the poor contractor, he gets beaten up every week meanwhile the guy who's out like prancing around the city looking for new homes he's got it easy but i you know i have could there just be once where the designer lady finds a house that needs nothing to do extra, that is just exactly what she planned to do,

and when they start pulling down walls, they don't find raccoons coming out of the walls? But no, they do. Anyway, sorry, I digress. But I do love that channel, and I do love that show. Some of them are getting a little bizarre, like The Ugliest House in America. Like, really?

Somebody actually came up with that idea for a show and sold it to a network? Go figure. All right. Well, hey, listen. That was my rant. Let's bring in the real ranter. Right?

This is different for him this week. I think he was stretching. He was stretching for a topic. So, let's find it here gotta queue it up here we go here we go here's the random ranter for this week instead of random ranting today i'm going to try my hand at some random predicting. Now, I'm no great Karnak, but here goes, starting with an easy one. In the world of sports, the Toronto Blue Jays will make the playoffs and lose in two straight games to Tampa Bay. I love baseball and I love the Jays,

but anything can happen is what you tell yourself when you buy a lottery ticket, not root for a sports team with an actual chance. That said, I still really hope I'm wrong, and they go all the way because, like I said, I love the Jays. I'm just not sure I like them this year. Second prediction, and this one involves creative math. Daniel Smith's plan to hijack the CPP will fail as soon as people realize the consulting firm she hired to do the math are all on crack. I mean, 10% of the population wanting more than 50% of the fund, all because Albertans work hard and get paid a lot, by that

calculation, Ontario would be owed 128% of the fund, and that's just the GTA. Of course, I'm just making that number up, but then so is Daniel Smith. Next up on my prediction carousel, politics. I predict that Pierre Polyev's full moon fever in the polls will be short-lived. Two years to the next election is tooau, because I predict there's zero chance he leads the Liberals into the next election. He's gone beyond being a polarized figure, and he's morphed into a rallying cry for every grievance in the land. When will the Liberals realize he's a dead man walking? I think it'll be about the same time as we fall into our next recession, which is going to happen any day now. I know that prediction sucks, but they say it takes 18 months for interest rates to fully work their way through the economy. And well,

it's been 18 months and the signs are everywhere. Consumer confidence is down. The affordability of everything from housing to groceries is reaching a breaking point. And talk to a trucker and they'll tell you that freight levels have dropped considerably. It's going to hurt. So if you're listening, Bank of Canada, the last thing we need right now is another rate hike. In other predictions, on the prairie front, I'm thinking it's going to be a very cold winter, especially for Heather Stephenson and the PC party, because I predict that Manitobans will reject her dog whistle politics and the NDP will form their next government.

Let's hope all the premiers out there learn from Heather's election night resignation and stop trying to foment culture wars for their benefit. Finally, and this is my favorite one, the Toronto Maple Leafs. They will not disappoint this year. That's right. They won't disappoint the rest of Canada, and they'll go out in the first round like gentlemen. Sorry, Leafs fans, but what can I say? I'm a Prairie boy. Oh, it's so easy to bash the Leafs, you know. Bet you won't hear that from me. This is the year. This is the year we've been waiting for. No doubt about it.

Okay, time for our break. Take a quick break. We'll be right back with more of Your Turn. And welcome back. You're listening to Your Turn on the Bridge for this Thursday. I'm Peter Mansbridge in Toronto. You're listening on Sirius XM, Channel 167, Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast platform.

No matter where you're listening, we're glad you're with us. Okay, back to a few letters before we sign off for this day. Sarah BM from Victoria, BC writes, I think I can offer some insight into the issue of grocery prices because I've worked in a smaller grocery chain for over a decade. First, some of the increases are suppliers. They can and do increase the prices of the product stores order. That said, chains also negotiate prices with said suppliers and can and do discontinue selling products they feel they are too expensive to make their margins. There were considerable supply chain issues throughout the pandemic that contributed to

costs, although this isn't nearly so bad now. Wage costs are higher now as well. You have to pay more if you want staff that will work for you long term. There's also the constant competition between stores. If store A sees that store B is getting $3 more for the same brand of coffee, you can bet that store B, or excuse me, store A,

is raising their prices. Thanks, Sarah. James Duffy from Nanaimo, B.C. Your guest, Janice Stein, I was Monday on What Are We Missing, really was very informative, and I'm looking forward to hearing more from her. You both questioned whether the recent leak from security agencies, some of their employees, could be considered treason. I would ask if the same could be said of politicians in high office

that put their goals and party objectives before Canada. I am referring to the Chinese political interference story. Florence DeGrucci from Stellerton, Nova Scotia. the Chinese political interference story. Florence DeGrucci from Stellerton, Nova Scotia. For 30 years, I watched you on the CBC and thought of you and The National as most trusted news source. Now, as a regular listener to your podcast, I'd simply like to thank you and your guests

for sharing your thoughts and knowledge on so many pertinent topics of our day. What a nice letter. Thank you, Florence. That's very kind of you. And we too really appreciate the role our guests play on the bridge, the regular ones and the occasional ones. We appreciate them all. Todd Harwood is the principal of the Deerwood School in Manitoba. Manitoba election is about to take place here. The rant you're talking about.

With Wab Kanu on the brink of being the next premier of Manitoba, never take things for granted. You never know. Elections are funny. Anyway, without assumption, I'm becoming more curious about media personalities who make the move to politics. That's because Wobb used to work for the CBC. In Manitoba, I think of folks like Mr. Canoe, Sheila North, and Aaron Selby.

Federally, Marcy Ian, Seamus O'Regan. I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking of immediately. I know there's not one-size-fits-all answer to this, Marcy Ian, Seamus O'Regan. I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking of immediately. I know there's not one-size-fits-all answer to this, but do you think these people go into the media to increase their profile, knowing they intend to eventually run for political office? Or is it more organic, in that they become more connected with issues they cover while in the media and then decide they want to make the move? From my experience, knowing some of these people,

I think it's more the latter than the former. I don't think they go into the media thinking, I've got to bump up my profile and then I can run for politics. They become aware of the issues and realize that they have something to say on them. Now, listen, it doesn't work out for all of them. I could sit here and name you as many who get defeated at the polls as get elected at the polls, and going back a long time to some pretty high-profile names.

So it's not a new trend. It has been out there for a while. Sean Aiken from Whitby, Ontario. It seems hard-working professional journalists combined with strong public activism has caused the Ford government to retreat. Doug Ford fought to suppress a public audit, and property developers themselves fought hard to remain silent. Please say thank you to the journalists from me for so tenaciously uncovering the truth.

As for the media and journalism, your podcast regularly debates its future. Here's proof of its necessity. Couldn't agree with you more, Sean. Although I would say, and I'm somewhat biased on this because I did some work for her, the Auditor General of Ontario should get full credit for the exposure of the Greenbelt story in terms of what's happened in the past couple of months. It was her report that led to some terrific journalism on the part of a number of different journalists. And especially the Toronto Star.

Give them definite credit on that. Penny Robertson writes from Napanee, Ontario. Napanee is right along the 401 just west of Kingston. Okay. On the way to Toronto. Just passed through

there a couple of days ago as a matter of fact. Penny writes, Bruce has made several comments both on your podcast and on X, the social media channel formerly known as Twitter, about how some Canadian media outlets seem to be biased in their reporting about the federal liberals. Those comments have caused me to think about the role the media has played in Polyev's rise in the polls. I have to agree with Mark Miller's assessment that Polyev is a serial BS-er. I've seen Polyev twist the truth,

cherry-pick facts, and outright lie many times in pressers, videos, and tweets, and yet I rarely see anyone in the media question his statements. I don't think that's true. I think there's been a lot of questioning. The questioning, though, hasn't led to answers. I've been a news political junkie for decades, having watched the National Nightly since the days of Nolten Nash, the great Nolten Nash. I regularly watch political programs, listen to several political podcasts, and read articles online as well. In other words, I could not be called anti-media. However, I have never been so disappointed with media coverage of our national political scene as I am right now.

All right, Penny, you're not alone on that. I mean, there is what has been a growing distrust of the media as there has been a growing distrust of a lot of institutions in our world. It's not good. It's not good. It's not good for democracy. It's clearly not good for the media and the media has to recognize that. John Torres from Welland, Ontario. I understand that the Ukraine war is an important story that everyone needs to

say on top of. My question is, with how quickly stories come and go, why has the Ukraine war stayed in the news for as long as it has? I enjoyed this Monday's What Are We Missing? and something that maybe should be done every other week in replacement of the Ukraine updates. Just my opinion, continue with the great work. What are we missing is kind of a monthly with Janice Stein. If we did it every week, we wouldn't be missing anything, right?

But Ukraine, this is a huge war that's affecting all our lives because of the money being spent, the arms that are distributed, the movement of Canadian troops to different places in Europe as a result, in some cases, directly because of Ukraine. This is a really important story. It could lead to World War III, and that's why we'll keep covering it every week. And there's a huge demand for it.

The audiences for the Tuesday show with Brian Stewart, for his commentary each week, are very big. And boy, when he was off for a chunk of the summer, people wrote in saying, get Brian back. Anyway, thanks, John. Kimberly Stewart in Calgary. Thank you for sharing your fond memories of frying up chicken livers.

I caramelized onions and had a splash of cognac and some fresh black pepper, then enjoyed this beautiful mess with a crusty baguette and a glass of red wine. Simply divine. I recall my sisters and I fighting over the neck, gizzard, liver, and heart when we had a Sunday roast chicken. Modern grocery store chickens sadly do not gift us these treats any longer. With rising food prices, abundant food waste, and more people needing food bank assistance, I think we should look back at how our grandparents fed large families with limited resources. No fad diets, carbs were more than acceptable. And haggis is

actually delicious. You're darn right it is. I like haggis. It's got a bad name, but it's got a great taste. Evan Smithanic from Prince Rupert, B.C. Thank you for choosing not to swear on your podcast. I often listen to the program with my children in the room, aged 8 and 11. I want them to hear what a good, smart, and articulate conversation in today's media sounds like. I hope you will not change your approach when it comes to tone and word choice.

On a side note, I do not classify the discussion of Minister Miller's recent comments about Pierre Polyev as swearing. Okay, Evan. We will try to adhere to your desire on that front. We have two more. Bill Chichard. I know Bill. He's from Grand Bend, Ontario.

It's been a few months since Bill rode in, but I always get his name wrong, even though he's told me how to say it. A play was performed this summer at the Huron County Playhouse in Grand Bend. It was entitled The New Canadian Curling Club. It was excellent. It's a depiction of a group of immigrants to Canada who join a Monday night learn-to-curl program at a typical Canadian four-sheet curling facility. I can say that with some authority, as in my position as a national coach with Curling Canada, I visited most of them. The instructor is the club's ice technician and custodian, who's a racist and doesn't hesitate to display it. But the four immigrants from Syria, Jamaica, India, and China not only learned to curl but changed the instructor to be more inclusive. The Indian is the father of male triplets, one of whom was named Peter.

Why? His family learned much of its English from watching television, notably the CBC's nightly news presentation, The National, with a certain Peter Mansbridge. Whatever happened to him? Is he still around? By the way, the playwright is Mark Crawford, and he lives in Stratford.

Thanks, Bill. You know, I am still stopped by people in wherever it may be, in airports, on the street, shopping in Toronto, Quebec City where I was just last week. Still stopped by people, new Canadians who say, I learned to speak English watching you on the news. What greater compliment can one get? And then they always back it up by saying, I learned because you speak slowly, which I do.

And that helped them. Okay, here's the last letter for today. And it's timely. Valerie Guilbeault. the last letter for today. And it's timely. Valerie Guilbeault. Valerie lives in Waterloo, Ontario. Her son lives in Ladysmith, BC, but neither one of them are there right

now. I thought you'd be interested in my son's journey across Canada on rollerblades. As of today, he's on the ferry to Port-au-Basque, Newfoundland. His finish will actually be there in Port-au-Basque, Newfoundland. His finish will actually be there in Port-au-Basque today after having bladed 6,400 kilometers across this beautiful, majestic country of ours in five months.

Needless to say, the trip has taken a bit of a toll on him, both mentally and physically. However, he has not for one moment deviated from his goal of finishing in Newfoundland and Labrador. He has some wonderful stories of people he's met along the way, all of whom have been gracious, friendly, and helpful. So many have given him in-kind donations of a variety of things, free nights, free van service, free food and cash. I'm obviously extremely proud of his superhuman feat to actually finish this journey. Congratulations to Christopher.

And congratulations to Mom. Valerie Guilbeault. Great story. Enjoy the day. And enjoy the day to you as well. This has been your turn on the bridge for this Thursday. Tomorrow, it's good talk with Chantel and Bruce. Gee, I wonder what we'll talk about tomorrow.

Until then, I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks so much for listening. Talk to you again, 24 hours.