The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Your Turn -- Truckers, Truckers, Truckers

Episode Date: February 17, 2022

More letters than ever sent in this week and today's Bridge highlights some of them.  Also lots of comments on our Gerry Butts/James Moore Tuesday episode -- seems like you loved it.  Plus some thoughts from you on the latest COVID situation. 

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. It's Thursday, your turn, and man, have we got lots of comments from you this week. Quick comment before we get to your letters. Paul Henderson. How many of you remember that name? Of course, I'm old enough to have watched it. Paul's 79 years old now. But back in 1972, he was Canada's hockey hero. He was Canada's hero.

Scored the winning goal in the last three games against the Soviets. Back in the great 72 Canada-Soviet series. Never be forgotten for that. He was Canada's hero. The clutch player who got the big goal just in time. Each one of those games that gave eventually Canada the series. Well, we'll never forget Paul, nor

should we. But Canada's got a new clutch player. How many of you stayed up well into the night last night to watch Canadian women win another gold medal? And who was the hero? Who was the clutch player? Captain Clutch, they call her. Brie-Philippe Poulin. She delivered at the Olympics again.

She scored twice, including her third gold medal clinching goal. Canada reclaimed the title that it had lost last time round in the last Olympics. With a 3-2 win over their arch rivals, the only team, the only really the only two teams in women's hockey that compete at the highest level, Canada and the United States.

And Renee Debian was the Canadian goalie. She stopped 38 shots. Sarah Nurse from the great Nurse family. She had a goal and an assist. Ended the tournament with 18 points. It's for Canada, which I think eclipses Hayley Wickenhier's record, Olympic record of 17 points in an Olympics.

Anyway, congratulations to Canadian women. This has been a tough Olympics to get really keen on, and it's very weird watching these events with nobody in the stands or very few people on the stands. But that was a highlight during the night, watching the Canadian women win that gold. There's something about hockey and gold medals and Canada that connects us all, and it sure did last night.

So good for them. Congratulations all around. All right. I've had a ton of letters. Ton, ton, ton of letters this week. Mostly about the protests. Not just those. Some about the pandemic.

I'm going to, you know, most of you wrote really long letters this week. You're not going to hear them, but you will hear snippets from many of them. As usual, it's not room to get everybody's letter on here, but certainly have some really fascinating comments. So let's get right at it. Dave Kellett from Lakefield, Ontario. I can appreciate that a few bad actors can muddy the water for everyone. However, the reports of people harassing those wearing masks is hypocritical, to say the least.

How is it they can fight for freedom of choice, but if someone makes a different choice, they are harassed? Why is it that because they feel oppressed, they become oppressors? Which goes further with the border blockades, because their income was threatened. They hold countless Canadians' ability to work. But as upset as I am with that, with the actions of the Prime Minister, excuse me, but as upset as I am with that that the actions of the prime minister could have been better i realize he disagrees but the idea of polarizing the population because you don't agree is pretty self-defeating he's the prime minister of the entire country not just his fans rob bjarnason from carberry manitoba

as i watch the repetitive pictures of the loud and harmful blockade crew, I have a sense of sadness. Canadian flags used as props for an illegal blockade flying alongside F. Trudeau flags, American flags, and Trump flags. I guess you could call this either the end of the innocence or inevitable, given the rise of populism around the world. I've got to say that, you know, the whole flag thing, you know, I sometimes get, I sometimes get

concerned when the, concerned when the flag is too dominant in certain events that we're, you know, celebrating. You know, the old patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. But I also got, I got upset the way the flag was co-opted and desecrated throughout this protest and still am. I'm not sure what you can do about that, but it

looked ugly and I'm sad that it became that. Dennis Heathcote from Markham, Ontario. My wife and I listen to your podcast all the time on our drive to and from work we loved hearing from you on your trip to the canadian arctic last august by the way the the documentary i was shooting for that goes on in mid-april on the cbc and it's going to be good it's called arctic blue look forward it's on prime time on a monday night i think april 18th. And I look forward to sharing it with you then. We are very concerned about the direction our Conservative Party of Canada is heading.

Are they going to support their far right side of the party and lose the middle of Canada? I think it would be a huge mistake if they start acting anything along the lines of US Republicans. While we have generally been conservative-leaning in our voting for much of our adult lives, I would say we are much more independent over the past decade and definitely voting more liberal lately.

Ili Stoiku. Hi, Peter. If you remember, I was a trucker who was in full support of the Freedom Convoy. I've certainly changed my mind, changed my tune, after spending hours and hours in a lineup with the Sarnia Border. Let's just say I'm not a fan anymore. I've heard from a number of truckers feeling that way, as well as other truckers who are still adamant on their position. But it's interesting when you lose some of your internal support because of recognizing the impact you're having on jobs and the economy.

Bale Belding in Halifax. This group is saying they want freedom. They're using objects of a larger physical size that end up becoming immovable objects to become a pain in the A-double-S. That's the way Bale writes it. In turn, municipalities, provinces, states, and so on are changing laws by taking the ability to park or occupy wherever away.

This will apply to all unless these laws are immediately reversed when this group goes away. By changing the laws as to where any group can or cannot occupy space to exercise their right to voice their displeasure, are the respective lawmakers not shooting themselves in the foot and giving this group more ammunition to break off about their freedoms and rights? Beak off, not break off. Stephen Bartlett from Ottawa. Freedom is compelling for someone who is struggling. You will likely recall witnessing,

I don't want to and you can't make me tantrum at some point in your childhood. Phrased differently, the collective tantrum playing out in our capital is a shout of, I have the right to be free from having to deal with this COVID pandemic. It should be understood that no Canadian is free to put the health of another Canadian at risk. That is from Stephen Bartlett in Ottawa. Kelly Pratt writes from Guelph, Ontario. Really, really good podcast yesterday with Jerry and James.

That was the Tuesday podcast. If you haven't listened to it yet, you know, Jerry Butts, former principal secretary to Justin Trudeau, James Moore, former cabinet minister for Stephen Harper. I got them together. I said, listen, I want a non-partisan discussion about the state of political leadership. So put the knives away. Let's have a real constructive discussion. And they did. And both those two guys can be heavily partisan as many of you will know but they had a great discussion and i have been swamped swamped with letters uh from you about that discussion and

hoping that we'll somehow you know get them to chat every once in a while maybe monthly about whatever the issues of the day are in that vein. I don't know how long they can stay that way, nonpartisan, but I'll tell you, it's really worth it. If you go back to Tuesday's episode of The Bridge, you will, hopefully you'll enjoy it too. Mark Harris from, hey, from right here in Stratford, Ontario. I enjoyed listening to today's podcast.

Was pleasantly surprised to find your guests being non-partisan despite their party affiliations. In particular, I found Mr. Moore's complimentary attitude towards BC's NDP Premier and his provincial officer of health. James Moore may never vote NDP, but he has the mental capacity to know a good thing when he sees it. Imagine having two contradictory ideas in your mind at the same time and still being able to walk upright. okay um dean kutu drayton valley alberta i miss those days when the parties worked together instead of always criticizing or attacking i voted liberal conservative and ndp and passed depending on platforms i don't like the politics excuse me i don't like the politics, theatrics, and

comments and discourse we see now from Pierre, Candice, and recently from Aaron, and even Justin. What happened to parties working together for the best they can give Canadians by working on bills, by amending them instead of outright blasting them. It almost makes me not want to vote for anyone

as I watch the childish antics in question period. However, I will always vote. Let's get back to doing what is best for Canadians. I find it interesting to say, you know, I miss those days when the parties worked together. When were those days exactly? Gary Westall from Picton, Ontario. What a great segment you hosted on Tuesday's show with Butts and Moore.

Thanks for directing them to examine the high-level view of the state of Canadian politics. It was refreshing to stay out of the weeds and away from partisanship of current day phrase, but instead view the big picture. Their insights regarding political leadership and strategies were rich. Their candor was helpful in understanding our country's political needs. They helped explain where we are now regarding political crises and divides how we got here and provided some clues how to best go forward well done very interesting thank you sherry hertz from toronto i'm embarrassed for our country when i see the disruption caused by protesters opposed to COVID safety measures.

Here's my message to those that are working very hard to discredit our society. My Canada embraces diversity in race, background, and political opinion. My Canada allows people to walk down the street without fear or fear of harassment. If you notice me stumbling lately, I need a new pair of glasses, reading glasses, prescription reading glasses, and I'm having trouble getting them. Man, the lineup at the eye store is not good. Anyway, the ones I've got are like three years old,

so things change in your eyes, but also the ability of the glasses. There's a kind of film on them that's started to wear off. Anyway, you get the message. My Canada is run by duly elected citizens who agree to disagree when needed. My Canada looks to find solutions where problems exist. My Canada does not safe and welcoming place. What do you want your Canada to be?

Sherry Hertz in Toronto. Steve Quackenbush in Peterborough, Ontario. I do not support the trucker occupation, but I do support their right to choose. When did Canada decide that exercising your right to choose was un-Canadian? Our government leaders have made concerted efforts to cancel these people's democratic right to be heard. They have called them un-Canadian. They are fringe, and now they are going after their ability to function as a regular citizen via their bank accounts. Nikki Meyer, Lethbridge, Alberta. My question is regarding the border protest and the impact

it's having on our economy. It's hard to imagine goods not being able to flow in and out of the country freely and that it isn't having an impact. But I don't seem to hear anything about it. Well, actually, Nicky, you know, there was quite a bit of coverage on that, on the economic impact. Just at the Windsor Bridge, the Ambassador Bridge, which is the main thoroughfare for trade between U.S. and Canada.

It was estimated it was costing the Canadian economy $350 million a day. That's a lot of bucks. And I imagine the, I don't know what the U.S. border crossing at Cootes, Alberta was having, or the one at Sarnia, Ontario, or the one in B.C., but they all had an impact of some sort. None as great as the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, but nevertheless. Steve Steve Magoggy. I had a thought about two weeks ago. Stephen's in Trenton, Ontario. I had a thought about two weeks ago.

Could some of those protesters have been arrested for desecrating the flag? We mentioned that earlier. I don't know the answer to that. I'll try and find out. It certainly made me uncomfortable. Without taking anything away from their right to protest, did they have to do it on the flag? Grant Carlson. Outlook Saskatchewan.

I often, maybe always, think that the media has held off on hard criticism of our current Prime Minister. Tomorrow, maybe for a minute or two, think how Harper might have been judged by the media if such a thing as the Ottawa protests had happened on his watch. I believe the criticism would have been extremely harsh from all sides, from all networks, starting as the convoy was just starting to roll, becoming deafening by now. This brings some pretty heavy-duty criticism of all the political leaders on this story, certainly on the main two, the liberals and the conservatives,

and on many of the premiers, conservatives and non-conservatives. So I don't think there's been a kind of holding back. And, you know, if you just listen to last week's Good Talk, it was a pretty rock and sock on Justin Trudeau. And can't wait for tomorrow. Got Chantel and Bruce warming up in the bullpen. And, you know, you never know. Chantel may decide she's going to target somebody other than just me.

She beat me up pretty bad last week. Or she tried to. I got my shots in. But she's Chantelle Hébert. What can I say? Anyway, good question, Grant. William Morrissey writes from Newmarket, Ontario. I'm very concerned about the future effects of the lawlessness of the various demonstrations in Ottawa and around the country that have been allowed to continue by police and

government and witnessed by so many Canadians. Repeated examples of law breaking with no consequences for the perpetrators. How can this not cause people to say, well, if they did it and got away with it, I guess I can too. Jesse Wright from McKenzie, British Columbia. I've been thinking a lot about polls over the course of the convoy. I'm wondering if they are a good metric for saying how offside or onside the protesters are with society at large. I keep hearing in different media reports, Canada's 90%, 80%, 70% in agreement with mandates and other such COVID restrictions, demonstrating that the protesters represent a minority view. Well, on the vaccine question, I don't think there's any question.

There's no doubt that they represent a minority view. How much? Depends on which poll you read. I'm not a huge fan of polls, never have been, but I think they occasionally give a snapshot of opinion at a certain point, that point being when the poll was taken. They've been much closer in terms of support. It can be against the protesters' cause, but with the protesters' right to demonstrate

in a peaceful and non-violent way. It's when it starts to get out of hand that they've lost a lot of support. But polls are always a point of good discussion. Heather McIntyre in Victoria. I agreed with almost everything that the two panelists said. This is Jerry and James. And it reminded me that political discourse with folks on the other side of the aisle is really important. I spend lots of time debating with folks of all parties over issues. Elections are our Super Bowl.

I think the goal is to debate, learn the other side's point of view, walk away with information you didn't already have, and better understanding of that other side. As your panelists so aptly explained, that is a big part of what is missing in today's political realm. Heather did wish, she's an NDPer, she's on Team Orange, as she says. She wishes that I had somebody from the NDP as part of that panel. I'll keep that in mind. I was looking for government experience at the federal level, and that's why I picked those two.

Bill Morrissey of New Market Ontario. Just a quick note to say that I think yesterday's edition of The Bridge was the best since I've been tuning in. This is once again on the Jerry and James one. Your guests were exceptional. I only wish it was longer. I'm hoping that you can reassemble them as soon as possible to address the obvious follow-ups on this story. And as I said,

you know, I'd love to do that. And I will be talking to both of them about not only the reaction they got, but whether they're game to do it again. Paul Moist from Winnipeg. I particularly appreciated your question to Jerry and James regarding a leadership address to the nation. You asked if this was old-fashioned, if not passé, in today's world. I think not, and suspect many others would agree my take is that the general population is tired of the partisan predictability of all party leaders today.

I had another thought, perhaps it's too old-fashioned. What if the Conservatives, given the truckers' occupation, had shelved for even a few weeks their desire to get rid of Aaron O'Toole to, if you will, defer to the national crisis? And what if, given the minority parliament early on in the crisis, the Prime Minister called the other party leaders together for talks on putting the country first, a kind of wartime cabinet approach where all parties contribute to a plan, in this instance, to end the trucker's occupation.

Perhaps a media conference with all leaders outlining their plan and displaying their unity. Interesting idea. Hasn't happened often in Canadian politics. First World War, there was a coalition cabinet and an extended term. They went five or six years. They had an extension before an election.

So, you know, I'm not sure of any other examples of that during our history. I'm sure somebody will send me a letter and say, oh yeah, there was this and that and what have you. There have been kind of unofficial coalitions, but that one during the First World War was very much on the books and known. Here's the last one on the truckers situation. It comes from Frida Jesse jesse in leduc alberta

do you know if the percentage of support for the freedom convoy that's uh frida's description of what the convoy is it's a calling it the freedom convoy i really don't that. It really had nothing to do with freedom for a lot of people. Anyway, is the percentage of support for the convoy higher in the West as opposed to the East? Or which province has the highest percentage of supporters?

I haven't seen it broken down by provinces, but I don't think there's any doubt there was more support in the West than there was anywhere else in the country. And one would guess Alberta and Saskatchewan, but I'm not sure of that. Okay, as I said, that's just a sprinkling of the letters I got on the truckers. We're going to take a break, come back with a few letters on the latest

on the pandemic. So don't go away. And hello once again, Peter Mansbridge in Stratford, Ontario. You're listening to The Bridge on Sirius XM, Channel 167, Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast platform. Okay, some letters on COVID. Wade Hall from Toronto. Regarding COVID hesitancy, it seems to me the core issue is trust. In my view, why would I conclude

I know better than an epidemiologist or a health official, even if their advice changes over time? Or they make mistakes. Equally, I assume that I know more about my work than experts in health. So most who doubt authorities on this subject really have distrust as a backing for their viewpoint. If they are prepared to concede that point, a backing for their viewpoint. If they're prepared to concede that point, I can respect their viewpoint. If they are not, I have little patience for the parade of alternative theories or experts that they somehow view themselves as having the expertise to evaluate. Mindy Bullion from Ottawa. With pandemic restrictions easing in many countries and China still considering

itself a COVID-free nation, what do you think will happen once the virus eventually becomes rampant there? Their population has no natural immunity and my understanding is that their vaccination has limited efficacy against the Omicron variant. Factories will be forced to shut down again, supply chains will be further curtailed, and hospitals will be overrun. It may become far worse than previously. Any thoughts? Well, the main thought is, let's hope that doesn't happen. You are dealing with the Chinese. You never really know for sure the accuracy of the information we've already had as we know back to the wuhan experience um but all we can hope for i mean they are really and you just witnessed it through the

olympics i should listen to that podcast by the way last week with um anthony germain one of the CBC commentators from the Olympics. We had him on the podcast. He was terrific explaining what it's been like as a journalist trying to cover that story. But they are harsh is not too harsh a word to use in terms of how the Chinese have been trying to monitor and restrict movements of those who may be in contact with COVID. Okay, what do we got here?

As I said, many of the letters this week were really long, like two, three pages long. So I'm just taking a snapshot from each of them. This one comes from Donald Shepard in Brampton, Ontario. And these were his thoughts on vaccinations. I've heard arguments that because it only took a year to develop a COVID vaccine, it can't be any good. Some speakers compare the COVID vaccines with the polio vaccine that took many years to develop. Here's the newsflash. Science has progressed since the polio vaccine was developed. I did my undergraduate work in physics, 67 to 72, and I can't remember one of my professors being amazed at a handheld, and I can remember one of my professors being amazed at a handheld

calculator that did the four basic functions. Today we have cell phones with more computer power than what was in the computers that took men to the moon. Thank heaven for the advancement of science. Is that true? There's more computer power in a cell phone? I don't know. He's a physics grad.

He must know. He certainly knows better than me. Todd Burns from LaSalle. That's, you know, Montreal, basically, Quebec. I love Todd's P.S. Before we get to his letter, his P.S. is go Habs go. That's okay, Todd. Better look at the standings, though.

I'm not sure which way they're going. As of Wednesday in Quebec, the government is starting to reverse course on the VAX passports. First off, the list is big box stores, SAQ, and the weed stores. Not sure. Oh, I guess weed, like cannabis? I don't know. That will be followed by everywhere as March 14th. I wonder how come this tool is no longer required. It will definitely make me think twice before I go to the pub to have a pint or sit down in a restaurant for a meal.

I don't think anti-vaxxers are plague carriers, but I do question their judgment, and I'm not ready to be in an enclosed room, seated close to them. I would much prefer to do away with masks and allow us to mingle openly to see the effect on the numbers before elimination of the passports. Curious to hear what others feel. Mika Melnick in Ottawa.

Reflecting on provinces announcing lifting vaccine mandates, possibly too fast, here are my thoughts. They concern the plight of the immunocompromised and that it's being forgotten. In particular, those that have received solid organ transplant recipients, myself included, along with thousands of Canadians, take drugs to suppress our immune systems and many other diseases also lead to suppressed immune systems. This makes us much more vulnerable to COVID, with organ transplant recipients having a death rate from COVID infection in the 1 in 10 range.

1 in 10. Let that sink in. Contrary to perception, we are not old. I'm 40. We don't live in long-term care facilities, and we are your neighbors, your co-workers, and your friends that just haven't shared this part of their life with you. Removal of mandates puts us at much greater risk of COVID, and some of us will die as a result. Vaughan Stewart from St. Catharines, Ontario. How are we doing on time? Okay. I would like to relate a personal story regarding the covid19 restrictions that i find puzzling at best and more likely silly or even unconstitutional

yesterday i returned from visiting family in australia as required i obtained a negative pcr test within 72 hours of returning home all passengers on the plane would have had to do the same thing. Upon landing after our 14-hour flight, some, including me, were randomly flagged to be tested again. We had to register with Life Labs, were given a take PCR home test kit, and under threat of legal action, told we had to quarantine until we tested ourselves, sent the test by FedEx back to Vancouver, and obtained a negative result. To randomly select people for quarantine after they had already been tested within the previous 72 hours is my definition of the overabundance of caution that was discussed on Monday with Dr. Bogoch. If not unconstitutional, the randomness of restricting the freedom of some people from the plane

seems without justification on health grounds. And of course, the fact that the entire group of passengers had been fully vaccinated, tested prior to boarding, and masked the entire flight, seems to me to be much more for show than to actually contribute to a safer Canada. You know, listen, you can use the argument that 14 hours is a long time. You could have got on by testing negative, but you could have been positive by the end

simply by the period in which you may have been not in contact on the plane, but prior to getting on the plane, but it hadn't kicked in yet. You know, I suppose you can make that argument. Whatever argument you make, they're now changing the rules. And that PCR test before departure is not going to be needed anymore. We've been through, listen, we've been through a particularly harrowing experience because of COVID and because of travel.

And it seems like we're slowly coming out of it and all we can hope for is that we don't suddenly go backwards on this. Okay. A couple more quick ones. First of all, I received a number of letters

last week. You know, I sometimes pull quotes out of the back of my head because they suddenly come upon me in the middle of a broadcast, but I talked about a Churchill quote, and I didn't get it word for word.

I said he said, talk, talk is better than war, war. Well, that's not exactly what he said. It's kind of what he said, but it's not exactly what he said. It was David Oliver who takes great pleasure, and he was just one of a number, who takes, David takes great pleasure in saying, oh no, Peter, you got it wrong.

I believe jaw-jaw is better than war-war, not talk-talk. He's wrongly attributed to Churchill. Martin Gilbert, who, not talk, talk, is wrongly attributed to Churchill. Martin Gilbert, who I'd met, great author, who had been embraced by the Churchill family to write a lot of the books that you'll find on Churchill.

Martin Gilbert said Harold MacMillan said it in Australia in 1958, echoing what Churchill actually said four years before. Meeting jaw to jaw is better than war, is what Macmillan claims was the original quote. David Oliver in Oak Bay, B.C. Big fan from Labrador. I'm a young mom. Jennifer Humby.

I'm a young mom with small kids, and for years I didn't do much for myself. However, I'm starting to take some time now and have been, since the pandemic started, getting out for a bike ride, a walk, or a run. It's my me time i'm quite technologically inept but i discovered podcasts a couple of years ago and now i'm hooked i've listened to a bunch but every single night give or take i have to get out for my walk to listen to the bridge right on jennifer Right on, Jennifer. And I'm talking with my Canada goose on and my trusty reflective vest in what could be minus 35 degrees with the wind kind of nights.

I have to know what you, Chantel, Bruce, and others have to say. Welcome aboard the bridge train in Labrador. Okay, here's the last one for today. I must say that the podcast format is one of the great saviors that came out of the COVID pandemic. This is from Lee Barker. Where's Lee writing from?

Walnut Grove Langley BC as someone like many that discovered walking podcasts have been informative and transformative for helping many get through this challenging time thank you for the information

and variety that you provide daily for us fans I'm glad you're enjoying it. I mean, podcasts were around before COVID, that's for sure. But there's no question they've taken off during this period. And it basically was the reason why the bridge took off and became very popular. And now I think I mentioned it earlier this week.

It's been number one in Canada's political podcasts for the last couple of weeks. And it's been in the, you know, top five for the last, well, since the election last summer. And so we're proud of that fact. Anyway, that's it for this day. Glad you've been with us. Tomorrow is good talk with Chantel and Bruce,

and you know that'll be good, and you know that'll be fun. These are interesting times, to say the least. We'll see what's on top of the discussion points tomorrow. Celebrate Canadian women and their victory in hockey last night. I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks so much for listening. We'll talk to you again in 24 hours.