The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Your Turn -- So You Want To Be Prime Minister Eh?

Episode Date: September 12, 2024

The question of the week was this: "If you ran for prime minister what would your first promise be in hopes of gaining support?"  Well, you had lots to say on that one and we'll get as many of your answers in as we can on today's episode. Also, the Random Ranter has his take on Donald Trump's debate performance; let's just say he, the Ranter, was not impressed!

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. So, you want to be Prime Minister, eh? It's your turn for this Thursday. Coming right up. That's right, Peter Mansbridge here on a Thursday, which means, as you well know, your turn. And we got a lot of responses this week. The question was rather simple. At a time when we're dealing with a lot of politics, obviously, and we're watching all the excitement south of the border, but

there's lots of excitement suddenly here in Canada as well. As we approach the final year of the Trudeau government, and the NDP pulling the plug on their deal, the Conservatives going crazy because they have a huge lead in the polls, actually a little slimmer lead this week than has been the case in previous weeks, but still a double-digit lead, which is more than a little bit significant. Anyway, so the question we wanted to ask this week, or we did ask this week, was if you were running for prime minister, what is the, you know, what's the first promise that you'd make, that you'd act on?

The first promise you'd make to try and convince Canadians that you were the person who could lead the country for the next four years. So I wondered, well, you know, are people going to respond to that? And you did. Now, in a lot of cases, the answers are, I guess, based on the fact you think there's an unlimited pot of money there to spend on fulfilling promises. And, of course, there isn't.

But that still takes part of the fun away. What would you actually say? What would you promise that you'd do for Canadians? So we have your answers. We'll get to them in a second. Also today, of course, being Thursday, the random ranter's on. The ranter got all worked up watching that U.S. debate the other night, and especially about Donald Trump. So that's his take coming up a little later on. It's pretty good. But let's get to your letters. Catherine Comer from Ottawa. It's a really simple answer for me. it's pretty good but let's get to your letters uh katherine comer from ottawa it's a really simple answer for me i would promise to end the toxic language used to discuss

colleagues from other parties we need politicians who will work together to achieve the best outcomes for canadians which can only occur when elected officials of opposing beliefs and ideas can speak to and about one another with respect or at least in a collegial way. You know, it's a good point, and it's one that many of you have made over, especially over the last couple of years, because things have always had a certain heat to them in Ottawa, but there's no doubt that the temperature is raised on that heating element over the last few years. Kate Winslow in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

If I was running for Prime Minister, I would commit to 2.5% of GDP to defence, meeting and surpassing our NATO commitment by 2027, the number one priority to defend our borders and NATO allies. We cannot continue to lean on the US and push against volatile countries like Russia, both of which are our neighbors. Gary Gould in Brantford, Ontario. I promise to create good-paying jobs.

All other issues will pale once the job situation is addressed. Yeah, I guess so, but you need a plan gary to to create those good paying jobs but nevertheless there we go josette sasson in toronto as prime minister of canada i vow to eradicate the dangerous anti-semitism that exists among our Canadian citizens. This vile hatred has no place in our country. No Canadian should ever face fear and abuse because of their identity. Remember that we are proud Canadians. Martin Partridge in Peterborough County, Ontario. My government will build 600,000 housing units within three years. A project of this impact was undertaken after World War II.

I grew up in one of those newly created residences in a tract called Roxburgh Park in Hamilton, Ontario. It was fabulous. Martin, you know, we have talked about this idea before. In fact, it kind of started with the random ranter who did a whole take on this almost a year ago, that this was the answer to the housing crisis. And, you know, it looks like some of those in the housing area, including the minister, Sean Fraser, have been thinking about this and see some value in this as well. But nevertheless, there's your promise, 600,000 units within three years.

Bill Flowers from Amherst, Nova Scotia. I would work out a cooperative cost-sharing arrangement with the provinces and territories to make tuition free to every post-secondary student in the country. Well, that would certainly make a difference in the number of post-secondary students there were because it's so expensive now. And for many families, they just can't deal with it.

They can't handle it. They can't afford to send their kids to post-secondary institutions. And, you know, I'm obviously aware of student loans, etc., but those carry a burden as well. You know, every once in a while you'll hear a politician promise that, Bill, and then it doesn't seem to happen. But that's what Bill would do if he was running for Prime Minister. He'd promise.

Percy Phillips in Portage to Prairie, Manitoba. I would promise a value government. A value government means that Canadians should expect and will get from their national government value for their tax dollars, something that is now a distant memory. That sounds good. I'm not quite sure how that would work and who would monitor that and who would determine whether the value for money spent is there.

Lisa Spallack in Penticton, B.C. As Prime Minister, I would promise to work diligently with the provinces to deliver proper health care to Canadians. There are more than a few of you who are talking about health care in this promise. But we hear you, Lisa, that health care is still, for most Canadians, cost of living is right up there, but health care is the consistent, over time, number one issue for Canadians.

A similar sentiment from Anastasia Lewis in Shiloh, Manitoba. Shiloh is about, what, about a half hour out of Brandon? Anastasia says, if I was elected to be our next prime minister, the promise I would make and keep is to greatly improve health care across Canada. I would compile a team to approach the issue from diverse areas. Good health is the foundation of a nation's success. Kim Horn from Victoria, British Columbia. If I were running for Prime Minister, my number one priority would be to bring down the cost of food for Canadian families, especially healthy

food such as fresh fruits and vegetables. It would be helpful not only to put more money back into the pocketbooks of Canadians, but also to incentivize healthier eating habits for children and young people, which has positive effects for downstream improving overall health and well-being and rebuilding, I guess, the health care system in terms of the costs involved. Robert Mazey in Toronto. My one policy offering would be to eliminate all corporate subsidies,

tax breaks, and corporate welfare policies and programs to inject free market enterprise into our economy. This would include supply management in agriculture, eliminate all regional development corporations, no more tax breaks for industry, including labor investment funds and EV plants, no more subsidies for the media, arts and film, no more tax breaks for resource investment. This will be tough in the short term, but it frees up our economy. You know, that it would do, but how much of the economy would shut down as a result of those lacks of incentives, and that would be the argument. But that's Robert's promise, and he's willing to push it forward. Joanne Bamford in Wayne Fleet, Ontario. That's in the southern Niagara region, I think. I would promise to fix the housing situation here in Canada.

It breaks my heart that many people are struggling to have adequate housing. We need to fix this. People are entitled to housing. I feel it's a human right. Gone will be the day people just buy up homes for financial gain. People need those homes to live in. The finalization of housing must end. Excuse me, the financialization of housing must end.

And if I was prime minister, I would do everything I could to end this practice in this country. Megan Donovan in Truro, Nova Scotia. If I was running to be the next Prime Minister, my most important election promise would be to be tougher on crime. We need to enact bail reform and bring back mandatory minimums. There are far too many repeat offenders committing crimes with few repercussions. Trevor Johnson in London, Ontario.

I'm a recent grandparent, or an OPA as our family calls me. Because of that, I've been thinking about future generations and what kind of planet are we leaving them? Let me tell you, I am worried. Climate change is having significant impacts already. I can't even think about what the world will be like when my grandkids are my age. So my election promise would be, I'm sorry, I got a problem with my laptop and some of the reading, and especially the way it comes across on a printer. Anyway, we get the message here from Trevor, that he's working on a promise around climate change to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gases

and make us a better, not only a better country, but a better planet. Joshua Winters in Surrey, B.C. If I were running to be Prime Minister, I would promise to keep carbon pricing. Now, before the many listeners laughing skip over me, I would hope they would consider why it's so important. Despite being unpopular, after much research, it has proven to be the cheapest way to reduce emissions and change consumer habits. I'm not some wealthy liberal with lots of money living in a carbon neutral home with a fancy new EV in the driveway. But I do believe it is incumbent upon government to make the tough calls and the hard decisions that benefit the greater good.

Cole Christie in Calgary. My election promise would be to create a new branch of the Canadian Armed Forces dedicated entirely to aerial firefighting for forest fires. We could call it the Royal Canadian Fire Corps. We would create a mixed fleet of firefighting aircraft, fixed wing, helicopter and support and divisions of troops and support staff specially trained in wildland fire,

which could deploy at a moment's notice anywhere in the country, wherever the summer fires overwhelm provincial and civilian contractor fleets. Hopefully this could go towards our defense spending targets and provide much-needed domestic firefighting resources. Additionally, during our winter, we could send servicemen, servicewomen, and aircraft to allied countries to help during their fire seasons. You know, Cole, I think that's a really interesting idea,

and it's innovating, and I haven't heard it ever before from anyone else, but I like that. That's a good one. France Fournier in Oakville, Ontario. If elected, I promise to remove the cameras during question period so Parliament can go back to meaningful debate and leave the one-liners for stand-up comedians. Well, you'd probably get a lot of agreement on that.

Jeff Stover in Thamesford, Ontario. If elected Prime Minister, I promise to maintain this country like a V8 engine. All moving parts will run in sync for the purpose of moving Canada forward. No holding back. All decisions will take into account what is good for the engine. Okay. That's a different one. Dallas McDougall in brisbane australia if i were running for pm and could promise one thing i'd allow no more than eight weeks of

blaming or referring to the last bunch of things or for for thing let me get this right because this is good i would allow no more than eight weeks of blaming or referring to the last for things not going well, regardless of political stripe. After that, I promise it is my problem, and the buck stops with me. It is so tiring to hear the blame shift for both old and new governments. You got elected. Deal with the issues.

We all understand someone was there before you. I love that, Dallas. You're right. It's so typical, right? So typical. New government comes in and says, Oh, God, the books are so much worse than I ever thought they were going to be. Oh, we have no money. We have this. We have that.

And it's going to take forever. As Dallas says, hey, buddy, you stood for election. Now fix the problem. Quit whining about the last bunch. Yeah, some of them do that for a while, and that's not just eight weeks. Darren Neal of Oshawa, Ontario. I'm tired of listening to party leaders pontificate about how bad everything is, how bad all their opponents are, and repeated non-factual rhetoric during campaigns.

So I'd promise to restore Canadian trust in government through electoral reform. This includes eliminating private and corporate campaign funding, establishing clear communication rules, and mandating standardized media releases. This reform will level the playing field for all political candidates, allowing voters to choose based on merit, non-media savvy, financial power, miscommunication, disinformation, mudslinging, and bullying. James Carr in Vernon, B.C. wins the award for shortest entry. Here it is. Three words.

Abolish the Senate. Leo Bourdon. Leo didn't mention where he's writing from. Open up the north to tourism. I still don't understand why I can take a cruise to Alaska, go relatively cheaply to Iceland, and tour the northern parts of Scandinavia, but visiting my own Canadian north costs an arm and a leg.

You don't need me to make me prime minister, just minister of tourism with a budget. It would make other Canadians know about our north, and I'm sure it could be financially sound if we care enough to make a proper plan. Hear, hear, Leo. Anybody who's listened to this podcast over the last five years knows that I'm a huge fan of Canada's Arctic. I've been lucky. I get to travel. I've been to the Arctic many times through work. And that's a luxury, right?

So somebody else is paying. In some cases, you're paying for me to go north. But I get to go north, and it's spectacular. And Leo's point is right. If all these other countries can do it, why can't we do it? We've got resources in the Arctic. They'll blow your mind when you see them. Whether it's the people, whether it's the scenery, whether it's the resources.

And, you know, we should have the opportunity. It shouldn't be just CBC journalists that get to go. Mitchell Lechner in Montreal. If I were running for PM, my most important election promise would be to take very meaningful action on climate change, but not only to reduce Canadian emissions, rather also in ways that influence the rest of the world and help speed up the clean transition.

Not doing everything in our power to stop the chaos we are imposing on people and animals around the world now and in the future is morally reprehensible. Christine MacDonald in LaSalle, Ontario. As life can change in a nanosecond, what I promised last week may not be possible

next week. For example, COVID changed everything. But I do need to be transparent and fully explain why the promise could not be kept. So Christine's point is an interesting one, right? Her promise is to promise that she'll explain if she can't keep a promise,

and she'll explain why, and she'll be upfront about it and transparent. James Lucas from Ottawa. That's in Ontario. james lucas from ottawa that's in ontario my election promise would be to balance the budget within the four-year term so that we can start paying down the over one trillion dollars in national debt in the 2023-24 fiscal year it's estimated estimated Canada will have paid $46.5 billion per year in debt servicing payments. This money could eventually be redirected into defense spending and tax cuts for the middle class. I guess the question is, how are you going to do that balancing?

What are you going to cut? You've either got to cut or you've got to come in with new taxes to pay down that debt. So how are you going to do it? Alex Sigis from Fraser Heights, Surrey, B.C. Here's the promise. Remove 90% of red tape to promote drilling for more oil and gas for forestry and for mining for critical minerals for the green transition.

Canada is rapidly becoming a service-providing welfare state, much like many European countries. The only way we will be able to provide health care funding for our aging population is by selling something that the world needs. That's oil and gas in the short and medium term, batteries and rare minerals in the long term for green transition. That's a great one to debate, Alex, as you can imagine. Andrew Zettel from Waterloo, Ontario.

If I were running for Prime Minister, here's the big idea I'd have in my campaign platform. Create a youth national service program. Imagine young adults working to support the Armed Forces or the Red Cross, Parks Canada, perhaps even seniors residences and nursing homes, all while exploring a new part of Canada for the first time. We could cap it off with a National Community Service holiday. You know what this kind of sounds similar to for some of us older types. Somewhere in the 60s, I think it was 1966,

the government of the day established the Company of Young Canadians. It's kind of similar to this idea. It ran for, I don't know, 10, 12 years, something like that. And the people who were involved in it, like those who were involved in the Peace Corps, a little different, but the same sense of getting young people involved in the U.S., swear by it, say the best days of their lives.

So, Andrew, your idea is worth pursuing. Robert Ong in Toronto has a similar idea. My one big promise is to institute mandatory national service for all young Canadians between the ages of 18 to 25 for one year, doing one of four tasks. Military service, serve in the RCMP, work in the federal public service, do volunteer work in either Canada or abroad.

I strongly believe that this will create a strong sense of national unity that transcends ethnicity, religion, region, and language. Okay. It's time for our break. Actually, it's time for our break. Actually, it's time for our break. It's also time for the ranter. We've got more letters to come, lots more letters to come. But it's kind of the halfway mark.

So why don't we take our break first of all, and then when we come back, we'll have our take with the random ranter so we'll be right back after this and welcome back you're listening to The Bridge, the Thursday episode. That's your turn in the random ranter right here on Sirius XM. Channel 167 Canada Talks are on your favorite podcast platform. An opportunity to remind you of two things. One, good talk coming up tomorrow with Chantelle Hebert and Bruce Anderson. Also, The Buzz.

If you haven't already subscribed to The Buzz, it's my weekly newsletter. It comes out on Saturday mornings, delivers straight to your email inbox. There's no charge. And it's just kind of my reflections a little bit on the week in terms of some of the articles

that you may not have seen that I think are worth reading. Give you a sense of what's happening in the week. You can subscribe to The Buzz at nationalnewswatch.com. Very simple. It's basically just entering your email address. Once again, no charge for this. It's a freebie, and we have thousands of subscribers already, and that's great to know. All right. I promised that we'd listen to the Random Ranter. The Ranter,

like many of you, I mean, I don't know how many people in Canada watched the debate on Tuesday night between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. In the States, there was a huge number, I think 65, 67, somewhere around that million. It keeps getting a little higher as they bring in the different various platforms where the opportunity existed to watch or listen to the debate. I'm over in Scotland this weekend. I watched, I was up all night, watched every minute of it. And, well, you've seen what the numbers are like.

It seems to be a huge win for Kamala Harris and more bizarre actions from Donald Trump. Now, what impact that has overall on the election race, who knows? Given up trying to predict this stuff, although I'm on the record predicting that Trump's going to lose and he's going to lose big. Now, I've been saying that for the last year.

The polls sure don't show that, but what do I know? Anyway, the ranter was watching. And you know the ranter. He doesn't hold back with his opinion. So let's hear what he has to say about what happened the other night in the debate for the U.S. presidency. Here we go. Look, I'm not interested in trashing Donald Trump. He does a good enough job trashing himself every time he opens his mouth. As far as I'm concerned,

he is what he is. A con man with a real knack for, I know you are, but what am I, politics. He's a bully. And deep down, bullies are nothing more than just overcompensating cowards. But sadly and inexplicably to me, a lot of people don't feel the same way. And that's who I want to talk about, his supporters. We need to stop making excuses for them. And I say this knowing that one of the things that turned Trump's first election in his favor was Hillary referring to his supporters as deplorables. But you know what? She was right. Normally I'd start this sentence with, I'm sorry but, but I'm not sorry. Not in the least. If you can stomach listening to what Donald Trump has to say

and support him after, then there's something wrong with you. I mean, if his talk of immigrants eating your pets doesn't set alarm bells off in your head, then I'm thinking you might just be racist. If the fact that he's been found liable for rape or that he openly bragged on tape about grabbing women by their private parts didn't bother you, you're most likely a misogynist. And if you listen to him talking about aborting newborns and you believe it, well then you're straight up delusional. As far as I'm concerned, there's no

making excuses for any of it. If you like some of the things he proposes, well I'm sorry, but that shouldn't be enough to get past his craziness, his illegal behavior, his lack of morals, or his out-of-control ego. And if you are so concerned about someone eating your pets, then I think you need to worry less about migrants and more about Team Trump. I mean, he's got RFK on his side, and there are photos of him eating an actual dog. And never mind that, he has openly talked about eating roadkill. Roadkill. That sure makes his mystery brain worm a lot less mysterious. But the threat to your pets doesn't stop there, because also on Trump's team, Governor of South Dakota and self-professed dog murderer Kristi Noem. And of course, let's not forget the scourge of cat ladies everywhere,

Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance. Now, I know I'm talking about American politics, and this is Canada, but the craziness doesn't stop at the border. There are lots of Canadians that support Trump, and there's no denying that his combative, name-calling, conspiracy-driven approach has changed political discourse on this side of the border. Our politics are suffering the same conspiracy theory creep that they have south of the border. Our politics are suffering the same conspiracy theory creep that they have south of the border. We haven't reached the Pizzagate levels yet,

and I don't think anyone is trying to eat our dogs, but there is plenty of misinformation out there being treated as fact all the same. And like the states, it's often driven by bigotry and hatred. There you go. The random ranter for this week, his take on the Trump-Harris debate the other night.

I'm assuming, by the way, that we'll probably have room to squeeze in a few thoughts on that debate tomorrow on Good Talk with Bruce and Chantel. The main body of discussion, of course, though, will be Canadian politics on a week where the Liberals have been meeting in caucus in British Columbia. And I guess coming up with what their promises are going to be. Let's see whether they can be innovative and original like many of yours have been.

All right, let's get back, in fact, to your letters and your thoughts on this question, the question of the week. What would be the one promise you would make if you were running for prime minister? Heather McPherson in Newmarket, Ontario. Reduce immigration numbers. I would do this to curb the brewing public discontent and to stabilize housing and the health care system. Well, it seems that that is in some form underway right now.

But there are different ways of going about reducing immigration numbers, and the different parties are talking about that. Kelly Seward in Carmen, Manitoba. What do you know about Carmen, Manitoba? Well, Kelly says it's the center of North America, like the geographical center. Now, just kind of check that out. Now, whenever you look for that,

like punch into one of your search engines, you know, where's the geographical center of North America? It's actually difficult to pinpoint, but most geographers put it in North Dakota. In fact, I think there's, I kilometers southwest of Carmen. But I'm not going to argue with Kelly. Kelly wants to believe that Carmen is the geographical center of North America, then we'll stand by that. Here's her promise.

My one promise as PM candidate would be to use deep-seated Canadian values in decisions. We are a mosaic people who honor inclusivity, fairness, dignity, humility, and strength. That's who I think we are. Valerie Little, she's an expat Canadian living south of Seattle. Well, you know, that's almost Canada, right? If I was running for Prime Minister, my one campaign promise would be to always speak with honor and integrity. Hopefully with that as a guiding principle, everything else would fall into place. Let's hope so.

Linda Petch in just north of Seattle in Victoria. As James Carville, Bill Clinton's political advisor, famously said to campaign workers in 1992, it's the economy, stupid. Unless we focus on the economy and building Canada's productivity, we cannot hope to fix the many problems facing our country. Our old friend Robert Lockhart in Selwyn Township, that's north of Peterborough, Ontario. Although health care, housing and the high cost of living are top of mind for many Canadians, my top priority in the next federal election would be to place much more emphasis on addressing climate change.

If we don't do a lot more and quickly to tackle climate change, nothing else will matter. And from just a financial perspective, it'll cost a lot more to address the impacts of climate change in the near and long-term future than to invest in greater action now. Later is not an option. Don Mitchell forgot to remind us of where he's from. I think he's from Calgary. Don's promise is intercity rail,

not just the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor, but also between the Maritimes in Quebec and a Winnipeg-Regina-Calgary-Edmonton-Saskatoon-Winnipeg loop. Return of rail, electric rail, would reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of cars and aircraft you know they often talk about how the railway built this country certainly connected it and I often think that there's, you know, governments talk about, you know, if we only had just like one big thing we could talk about

and put forward as a job creation program, it's something that would be value-add for Canadians. I still think of the railway as one of those possibilities. So much connects the country in terms of rail, so much freight and resources moved by rail, and most of them go right through the downtown core of cities, which is dangerous, which is noisy, which is a lot of different things. So here's the idea. I think I mentioned this before, but the idea is to start a massive, huge program that

would create thousands of jobs and input all kinds of money into the economy. And that would be to bypass the cities by rail, build a loop around cities so they don't go through the middle of cities, go north of Winnipeg, north of Regina, north of Calgary or south. But just go around the cities and get rid of all the rail through the downtown

cores. That's my idea. Is that my promise? I don't know. Rhonda Mulligan in Sturgeon County, Alberta. It's north of Edmonton. My most important election promise would be to get spending under control by reducing the number of federal civil servants by 10%, raising the GST by 2% – oh, you're going for the popularity voter – and cutting government pensions to a reasonable level. This would be a tough pill for Canadians to swallow,

and the plan would have to demonstrate why this was necessary pain. The 2% increase in the GST would immediately go towards paying down the existing debt as soon as the budget was balanced. I mean, here's what I'll say to Rhonda. Rhonda's saying, okay, there are things I want to do, but we've got to deal with the financial situation, first of all, in terms of how we're paying for this. So she's telling you how she'd pay for it. Bill Williams in the Calabrese, in the north, in Nunavut. I write to

you as I listen to your podcast, Flying Back from Resolute Bay in the High Arctic. If I could make one election promise to Canadians, it would be to meet its 2% NATO spending target by investing in much-needed, multi-use Arctic infrastructure, such as paved runways, airport terminals, deep-sea ports, accommodations and recreation facilities, water and wastewater treatment facilities. Similar to how the Alaska Highway and Iqaluit Airport were built for defense but continue to benefit local communities, by directing some or all of the $4

to $8 billion shortfall in NATO spending a year over the next 10 to 20 years into multipurpose infrastructure, we can both strengthen northern communities and support national defense. I like that. And Bill, you and I share those desires about improving situations in the Arctic. You know, we talk about defending the Arctic and most of our, you know, specially equipped aircraft for doing that,

jet fighters, et cetera, et cetera, they can't land in most northern airports because they're not paved. Ken Brownlee, Kanata, Ontario, 25 minutes west of Parliament Hill. It's a long 25 minutes if you're going to watch the Senators. My election promise to Canadians. I will run my government, driving the most effective policies that are best for Canadians, which will focus on increasing productivity and in turn increase the income of working Canadians.

I'll not make policy choices based on polling popularity or buy votes through increased government spending. Glenn Muir in Mississauga. If I were running for Prime Minister, my tagline would be nation building. My promise would be to greatly increase and strengthen our manufacturing base. Whenever I speak to people about growing our manufacturing capacity, their eyes light up. I've met entrepreneurs who are bringing new products to market that are innovative.

The joy and passion they show is energizing for me. Canadians are proud and willing to be a nation that adds value to our products, both domestic and exported. Jason Elliott Benda in Champaign, Illinois. Jason writes, I'm not Canadian, but I wanted to answer this anyway. Okay. My most important promise would be federal electoral reform,

switching to an instant runoff system in federal ridings. It would probably not keep me in power for the election after that, but it would ensure each ridings MP is not distasteful to a majority of its voters, unlike the current system that can elect an MP with only 30% support in a tight four-way race, say, in Quebec. Yep, that is the current system. Kay Crawford in Cambridge, Ontario. The most important issue for me in the next election

is our environment and climate change. I want to see the next government put a plan forward to increase investment in alternative energy, expedite the infrastructure for EVs, ensure the big oil companies pay for cleanups from all their extraction activities, and save more of our wild places in perpetuity. Most importantly, to educate all Canadians about the science and truth about what they can do to help. I've only got a few left here. Michael Payne in Port Williams, Nova Scotia.

If I was Prime Minister, I'd reduce personal income taxes and small business tax, leaving more of the money we earn in the pockets of those who earn it. We'll spend it and on occasion invest some, and that would grow the economy. Okay. Okay. Ernest Warnelius.

Ernest hasn't told us where he's writing from. But he has said, as Prime Minister of Canada, I would commit 3% of GDP to defense spending and reaffirm a commitment to Ukrainian victory in their struggle against autocracy. 3% is a lot of money. You're going to have to cut it from somewhere else. That's not to say you couldn't do that, but you'd have to.

We can't get to 2% right now. Chad Mader in Lakehurst, Ontario. I hope I'm not too late for the your turn question this week, but I'll keep it short. That's the guy. That's our man. Keep it short. If I were running to be the next PM,

I would promise to reform the pension and salary structure for MPs. I would make their pension proportional to years of service, like most pensions, rather than maxing out after six years of service. I would also implement a wage freeze. Current base salary is nearly $200,000, at least until the country's financial situation improves. Is it that high, $200,000, at least until the country's financial situation improves. Is it that high, $200,000? I think you've got to stack on all kinds of various commitments, whether it's cabinet or committee chairs or what have you,

to get up to that number. Although I could be wrong. You may be right. We should have a discussion or debate on this. You know, you get a full pension after six years because, you know, there are arguments on that. You know, people who give up life in the private sector, give up jobs to go into public service.

Apart from their families, there's all kinds of different things as arguments for. But I can see the arguments against, too. Maybe we should have a discussion on that. Anyway, thanks, Chad. Those letters came in late, so I was able to check on the salary situation. Here's our last letter. It comes from Jessica Peterson in Williams Lake, British Columbia.

If I were running for Prime Minister, my most important promise to the Canadian people would be to be honest, transparent, and continuously strive to be honest, transparent, and continuously strive to be an excellent communicator. When I hear politicians answer difficult questions, it is so agitating to hear them dance around the actual question. I wish they would just say it. For example, that might not have been the best decision,

but I made it with the information I had available at the time. I think that as a country, we just want them to be real with us. Even if they have to admit they made a mistake, I would probably make a poor politician because I'd be too honest. Oh my God. That anyone would have to say that is a reflection on what we think of our state of politics. I'd make a poor politician because I'd be too honest.

Thanks, Jessica, for making us think about that on that level. And thank you all for writing. You know, it is a treat for me on Thursdays to get your mail, to hear from around the country. As we did today, we heard from the East coast, West coast,

and all of central Canada and the Arctic. And we've heard from Canadians who are living abroad. I love it. And thanks for all the nice things that many of you had to say after some of us had the opportunity to take the summer off. And this is for some of you listeners is kind of like a warm spot to listen to the bridge and connect back with Canada. If you're away or to connect to Canada,

if you're here and the things we talk about and the guests we have, it's fun to do and I'm enjoying it. And as you know, this is year five. We'll see how long we can, we can make this happen. Thank you for this tomorrow. Of course, good talk. Chantel and Bruce will be here. And as always, there's always lots to talk about. I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks so much for listening on this day.

I will see you again in about 24 hours.