The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Your Turn - Your thoughts from COVID to Air Travel and Everything In Between.

Episode Date: November 18, 2021

Lots of mail to [e-mail] about everything on your mind.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. It's Thursday. It's your turn. It's the mailbag day. There's lots of it. We'll get right at it after this. Our podcast is brought to you by Questrade, Canada's fastest growing and award-winning online broker. Tired of getting dinged with fees every time you buy or sell U.S. stocks? Well, good news. With Questrade, you don't have to. You can hold U.S. dollars in your trading account and avoid expensive, forced conversion fees every time you trade U.S. stocks.

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This week we're doing your turn this Thursday. The mailbag edition. I've been kind of delinquent on that in the last little while. There's been lots of mail coming in on lots of different topics. There's also been lots of news, as we saw yesterday, and we dealt with the BC story to a degree. What an incredible story. Still mind-boggling when you look at what's happening in BC and the various attempts by

different organizations and different governments, state of emergency now in BC, to try and deal with the crisis that continues to unfold there. All right, in terms of the mailbag today, the Your Turn edition of The Bridge, as I said, lots of things. And as usual, I'm picking little bits and pieces out of a lot of these emails that have come in over the last little while I do want you to know that I read each and every email that comes in but when we get around to the program I just deal with excerpts and once again they're

in no particular order I try and bunch subjects together, but they're not in any particular order. It's helpful if you include not only your name, but your location. And I keep reminding you of that because it gives a flavor to the kind of concerns that are being expressed when you get a sense from what part of the country they're coming from. And many of you do that. Not all of you do. You forget.

That's okay. Stephen Haynes begins the letters this week. From St. Brue, Saskatchewan. You know, there is, I used to live in Saskatchewan. It was only for one year in 1975-76. But there is a Francophone element to Saskatchewan, a number of different communities that were originally populated by French Canadians.

And I assume that Saint-Bru, although Stephen doesn't mention it, must have some, clearly some French in its background. Anyway, a couple of comments from Stephen. I really like when you have Dr. Bogoch on. He does a great job of cutting through the rhetoric and provides great timely insight and context on COVID.

That's right, Stephen. That's why we have him on, because he does all those things. And if you didn't hear him this week, those of you who didn't hear him, it was Monday. We did a special broadcast with him, and it was terrific, as he always is. But you can go back and pick that up through the podcast service on the bridge and it's uh it's a really a good program steven though makes another comment as well do you have a canadian news podcast you can recommend by someone you would consider to be an unbiased journalist? I've been searching but have had no luck, so thought I'd ask you, who I appreciate watching and listening to.

Well, you know, podcasts by their very nature are basically, in many cases anyway, not in all cases, but in many cases are basically rants by whoever puts on the podcast. And so they're opinion-laced in many cases, as opposed to a traditional newscast. But if you're looking for something that will give you great context on the issues of the day, and a daily podcast of that, you know, the bridge is daily. Not all podcasts are.

Many of them are weekly or a couple of times a week. But here's the one I'd suggest for you. You know, not surprisingly, given my background with the CBC, I'm a big proponent of many things the CBC does. Not everything. I have my issues with the CBC does. Not everything. I have my issues with the CBC as well, always have had. But here's one I don't have an issue with. And I know many of you have heard of it and listened to it.

It's called Front Burner. Jamie Poisson puts it out every day. She's the host and the producer of Front Burner, and it's terrific. And that will give you, I mean, it's not like a traditional newscast, but it is what you're looking for. It's context on the big issues of the day. So that's the one I'd recommend for you. Alan Adams writes, just listening to your podcast on COVID,

I paid $411 for a test at the end of the Tokyo Games. Kept receipt for taxes. Good for you. I hadn't thought of that, but I will go bring up my receipt for coming back from the United Kingdom a couple of weeks ago. It was 170 pounds, so it's, you know, 300 bucks for the PVR test that was needed to get on the plane to fly back to Canada. This has become a real issue, especially for quick visits in and out in less than 72 hours,

and the expectation now is is after the government announced yesterday that it will probably be rescinding that. But for longer visits overseas, there's still going to be the need for a test before you come back. George Isserhoff from Port Hope, Ontario. I was listening to your podcast where you were discussing how safe you feel going to an NHL game. I guess, yeah, it's true.

I said I felt comfortable. I'm not sure you ever feel actually safe, totally safe. I mean, I'm double vaccinated. I'm getting my booster next week, my third shot, because I'm eligible. But still, you know, you're in an arena with, you know, 20,000 other people, and they're all supposedly double vaccinated, and they've been checked going in.

So, in a sense, you feel safe. But still, we're in a pandemic. Just because you're vaccinated doesn't mean you're COVID-free. So I've been to a couple of games now, Leaf games, and I never take my mask off. I keep it on the whole time. And I'd say at least half the people there were the same. My wife and I were discussing this after watching the Buffalo-Toronto game

the other night and noticed hardly any fans in the building. That's true. The game was in Buffalo. Most fans that attend the Sabres games are Canadians. And since we require a PCR test, there are fewer fans attending Sabres games as they do not want to pay for the PCR test. That's correct, and I'm sure that was the reason I watched that game as well on television.

And it looked like 75% empty. Now, if they're going to change that rule on the PCR test for the quick visits, which those Sabre games are, a lot of Canadians go down to watch Sabre games because it's a heck of a lot cheaper than it is to go to a game in Toronto, but not if you have to pay for a PCR test for a visit into the States

of a few hours. So that may change in the coming days. Robin Burgess from Victoria writes, i listen regularly to the bridge particularly enjoy good talk on fridays with you chantelle and bruce last friday's good talk podcast was no exception however i was surprised and disappointed that in discussing the premiers who have backed away from introducing covet 19 vaccine mandates for health care, you fail to mention the one premier who has not backed away from making that tough decision, Premier John Horgan of BC. As you may know, as of October 26, all health care workers in BC are required to be immunized against COVID-19.

Those who remain unvaccinated have been placed on unpaid leave and must receive a first dose by November 15th if they want to keep their jobs. It's a policy that seems to be working. I understand that almost 96% of BC health care workers are now fully vaccinated. I'm bringing this up because unfortunately it appears to be part of a pattern on the bridge of giving short shrift to Canada's westernmost province. So just a gentle reminder that Canada doesn't end at the Rocky Mountains. That aside, I also wanted to say how much I appreciate your always fascinating discussions, debates, and analysis on the bridge. Thanks for that, Robin. You know, of course, yesterday we spent the first 10, 12 minutes on B.C.,

not surprisingly, given the incredible story that's unfolding there. But, you know, we have not ignored B.C., but could we be doing more? More mention of B.C.? Absolutely. And we'll work towards that. Steve Cooper from Ottawa. see absolutely and we'll work towards that steve cooper from ottawa you said that you went to a hockey game you felt safe because everybody's vaccine passports were being checked very carefully this would indeed be the case if these certificates were being checked using the free app provided by the ontario government scan the QR codes. These QR codes are virtually impossible to fake.

The same cannot be said for the names and birthdates printed on these certificates. There's no watermark, so any enterprising individual with decent photo editing software could very easily alter the name and the birthdate. Friends of mine in Quebec have told me that staff at restaurants and bars use their devices to scan QR codes to ensure that they're genuine. Not so in Ontario. Actually, Steve, you may have been right a week ago, but I don't think you're right anymore. At least not in Toronto, where in the last few days I've been in restaurants, I've been in the hockey rink. And in each case, you've got to produce your QR code from the new Ontario app,

and they scan it with their own machinery going in. So that element is true. You also have to produce a photo ID. And if you're saying those can be faked, they can be. I'm telling you, that's going to a lot of trouble to get into a restaurant and risking some backlash if you're caught. But the main thing on the QR codes, I think that has been resolved. It took a little while to get organized on that front,

but it seems at least the places I went to, including the hockey game, they are all scanning the QR codes. Scott Creaser from Huntsville, Ontario. It was great to hear Dr. Bogoch on Monday. I appreciate his thoughts for two reasons. One, I received spin-free facts about how we're doing pandemic-wise and how we need to protect ourselves going forward. And two, the big picture he offers gives me some hope we are working our way toward normalization. And on a completely different subject, Scott, you're right about Dr. Bogart. You don't need to convince me. I'm a huge fan.

And I tell you, for the last couple of years, he has never said no to me, no matter how busy he is. When I want to get him on the bridge, he's always found time to do it. On a second subject, Scott writes, I appreciate the reminder about the older electronic devices we have stored because I also have a small collection. In Huntsville, we're very fortunate to have entire electronic recycling. Their slogan is anything with a cord to remind people that non-electronic appliances,

like toasters, can also be recycled. Yeah, we had that story the other day about how there's more electronic waste out there. It weighs more than the Great Wall of China weighs. That's a lot of electronic waste. So good for you in Huntsville for having a recycling operation that's helping out. Karen McLean writes, First and foremost, I have a confession. The first time I saw you as the new anchor of the National,

man, that was a long time ago. It was, you know, 1980s. I was one displeased teenager. I recognized that it meant the end of a joke I'd created as an 11-year-old, live from Mount St. Helens. It's the National with Molten Ash. That's very good. But you grew on me. I'm a little older now, 51, going on 15, and I listen to the podcast each evening before I go to sleep. It helps a lot of people go to sleep apparently. Throughout COVID, as it did during the attack on Parliament Hill, your calm

demeanor, critical thinking and steady hand on the tiller has served me my sanity. Well, you and Ben and Jerry's. After these past two surreal years, a lot of things have become clear. My traveling feet are getting very itchy. Like you, I love to fly. There are so many places I want to go but have never been. I think it's time to figure out how to change that. Anyway, just wanted to touch base, say hi, and thank you for helping keeping me going. Your book is on my Christmas list.

Hey. Thank you. Which gives me an opportunity to say something because there have been a lot of requests on this front too. If you recall last year, the bestseller that Mark Bulgich and I wrote called Extraordinary Canadians, I offered podcast listeners, I can't get out and sign your book because we're not doing book touring. And a lot of the authors are in the same position. But what I offered last year was, you know, if you write me with proof of purchase at the Mansbridge podcast at gmail.com, the Mansbridge podcast at gmail.com. If you write to me, I'll sign a book plate for you, which I'll send back to you by mail and you can stick it on the inside of the book. And literally thousands of people wrote in

for that. So it kind of kept me going. Now, this year, I did mention a month ago that I wasn't going to be able to do that this year because I'm traveling too much, working on documentaries, being overseas. I couldn't handle it. There have been a lot of requests for me to reconsider that position. And as a result, if you send me an email with some kind of visual proof of purchase, I will arrange to get you a book plate. But you're going to have to do it in the next couple of weeks.

So you might want to do that if you're so inclined. But as I said, you've got to do that if you're so inclined. But as I said, you got to do it soon. And I would suggest, as I suggested a few days ago, no matter what books you're buying this year, I wouldn't wait too long if you're thinking of books for Christmas gifts, because there are big supply issues out there. And I think you want to be careful on that front. So if you see a book that you're interested in, especially if it's called Off the Record with my smiling face on it, grab it now.

And as I said, I will get you a book plate if you show me a proof of purchase. Okay, moving on. Mark Nicholson writes i'm a little behind the times and was catching up with an older episode of the bridge during your conversation with rob carrick globe and mail when it was mentioned about the salvation army having a tap option to donate. I realize you were out of the country, presumably for the whole poppy campaign this year. I saw a Royal Canadian Legion set up in St. John, New Brunswick that had tap as an option. What a world. I'll say.

What a world is right, a tap option on a poppy. Michael Streeter from Sarnia. While listening to last week's good talk i was surprised to hear bruce's statistics about canadians knowledge of our political system i was disheartened when bruce and chantelle agreed that this was due to problems with the education system i can't speak to every province but having taught in alberta and having my own children attend schools in newfoundland and Ontario, I know for sure that the most of the questions that Bruce discussed are found in all three of those

provinces' curricula. The average grade nine, where there is particular focus on Canadian government, students would be able to answer those questions with relative ease. I think the point that Bruce and Chantal and myself were making was that it has not always been the case, which has led to, you know, on a number of issues that are talk about Canadian history and Canadian public life, there has been a lack of knowledge on a number of generations. If things are better now, that's terrific. But I think that was the point they were making.

Dana O'Neill from Jasper, Ontario. I always thought there was only one Jasper. I thought the Jasper in Alberta was the only one, but there's a Jasper in Ontario. It's near Smith Falls. I had to look it up on the map. Hi, Mr. Mansbridge. I just got done listening to Friday's show. It is astonishing the numbers of completely clueless people when it comes to Canadian politics and how government works. That is why I've always been and will always be vehemently opposed to mandatory voting and the

NDP's notion of having 16 year olds vote. Nobody should be able to vote until they pay taxes. I'm 50 years old now and in my 20s I voted and got my news from the headlines, never read the article, just looked at the headline. It wasn't until my 30th that I started listening to talk radio, but I actually started making informed decisions. Okay, I wouldn't say that talk radio is the best way to position yourself for informed decisions. Some, yeah, but not all. There are some strange views and comments on talk radio as well. Michael Schultz, as a grad of Trent, I appreciate your question of what is a Canadian.

Being exposed to the Canadian Studies program in the early 1970s, we constantly asked that question and concluded that it was all about a certain affinity with the North, and particularly wilderness. We read Fry's The Bush Garden, Atwood's Survival. She even visited for one of our seminars at Champlain College. Margaret Lawrence was writer-in-residence, and we organized a great writers' conference with the likes of W.O. Mitchell, Al Purdy, and a bunch of others, and we pursued a very interdisciplinary syllabus. It was wonderful. Trent was one of the first schools to have native studies.

Now, as an instructor online with the Queen's Faculty of Education, our curriculum even has indigenous content embedded in it. Thanks for that, Michael. Carolyn Black writes, Hi, Peter. Thank you for sharing your experiences about traveling. We're on an international flight in December and hearing your experiences helps to put my worries somewhat at ease. One of the things that still worries me is testing positive before we get home and not being able to get back into Canada. It's crazy to think that we potentially couldn't come home. Well, you'll be able to come home.

You just might have to wait a couple of weeks. I know I'm not alone in feeling anxious doing things that I used to do without thinking, but generally after I've done them for the first time, that anxiety disappears, and the joy of feeling a degree of normality is awesome. I have to take a break in a minute. Why don't we take it right now, and then we'll come back, because we've got a ton more letters to read. So yeah, we'll be right back after this.

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That's one word, THEBRIDGE, to get 50% off your first two boxes. Back again, Peter Mansbridge. This is The Bridge, the Yerv Turn, the mailbag edition for this Thursday. You're listening to The Bridge either on Sirius XM, Channel 167, Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast platform. And wherever you're listening, it's great to have you with us. Back to your letters, your thoughts, your comments, your ideas that you've been sending in over the last little while. Marty Zilstraw from Maple Ridge, B.C.

After the crazy floods and catastrophe this week in B.C., my mind immediately went to climate change. I'm sending this quote from a friend living and working in the Arctic, which appears to be a similar observation to your experience a couple of months ago when I was in the Arctic. Quote, Many houses in Tuktoyaktuk are being moved out of town to a nearby area because they're sinking into the melting permafrost.

Even their cemetery is at risk of sinking into the Arctic Ocean. Belugas are coming right into the bay. Hunting, fur trade is no longer sustainable. It's shocking and sad to see firsthand. Their entire way of life is slowly being erased by climate change, as will ours soon enough. It's happening incredibly rapidly. All right, you know, I can't vouch for all those facts, but I can tell you that it is similar to everything that I was hearing when I was in the high Arctic. Now, some things that were common in the past and have been a mainstay for economic activity

are being replaced by other things. So as more than a few people told me in the high Arctic, climate change is bad, but some things about climate change offer hope. And you've got to deal with the reality of what's happening around you. Anyway, as Marty says, this picture is grim but feels critical to share. On a happier note, the Leafs are 9-1 in their last 10 games. That's true.

They're playing tonight against the Rangers. So putting that record on the line. William Gavin. Long-time fan, just thought I would drop you a line about some things that I've noticed about your podcast lately. I'm not sure if I'm listening to a liberal love-in or just a conservative party bashing session. Bruce Anderson is plainly a member of both.

You know, it's just so crazy. Bruce has worked for both the two mainline parties, the conservatives and the liberals, over time, when I say worked, I mean an advisor to conservative prime ministers and liberal prime ministers, conservative premiers and liberal premiers. He's not a journalist. He's a consultant, a researcher, a pollster. And he has strong views about a number of various public policy issues. So I dismiss that part of it, and I'm glad he's with us, and so are the majority of you from what I can tell in the mail I hear,

and the fact that the sessions with Bruce and Chantel are the most listened to parts of our podcast each week. But the criticism doesn't stop there. I suppose my biggest beef is the Anita Anand interview. That was like months ago, and I'm proud of it. You never asked her any of the tough questions. I'm sorry, that's not true. And she never gave any hard facts and figures,

especially what the vaccination program cost. Actually, you know what? Are you trying to tell me if you think the cost was too much, we should have said, forget it, we're not buying those vaccines. We'll just let Canadians go without vaccines. This was a seller's market on vaccines, continues to be today. Canada ponied up to the bar and bought vaccines in numbers so large that we are leading the world in vaccinations.

Leading the world in vaccinations. Leading the world in vaccinations. And Anita Anand was the Minister for Procurement. She didn't do all this herself. She wasn't out there working the phones every night. But she was the minister responsible for it. And she has received credit and praise from around the political sphere. But Will Gavin has a friend, was head of procurement for a very large IT company,

and he says that she simply got outflanked by many teams of negotiators from countries that were smaller than Canada. Really? Can we see the numbers, please, where she got outflanked by these other countries who aren't doing as well as we are on vaccines? He says, if you don't come away from the table with hard commitments from your supplier at the beginning, you're behind the eight ball to start. Canada was three or four months behind receiving vaccines compared to many other countries. Actually, it wasn't anything like three or four months. It was a couple of weeks. And that was while we were negotiating, which apparently we did very well, or we wouldn't be leading the world. Anyway, this friend, unnamed friend of William Gavin, gives her a C-.

Well, that's a passing grade. Even as they, you know, trying to stick the knife in with a C-, C- is a passing grade. I'd have been more than happy with a C- in high school. He gives her a C- and says, in private industry, she never would have kept her job. Really? Isn't that amazing? She never would have kept her job.

Well, before her political career started in 2019, she was a professor at the University of Toronto, ranked the 18th best university in the world. She was a professor at the Faculty of Law, specializing in corporate governance and the regulation of capital markets. Oh, really? I could go on with the list of accomplishments she has. Well, now she's the Minister of Defense and will weigh her success or failure in that portfolio based on what she does in it and it's not like she

doesn't have a a pile of crap on the table in front of her to have to deal with so let's see how she does on that and maybe will can phone his friend who used to be somebody at something but is unnamed um who doesn't think very much of anita an either. So we'll see what he has to say based on his experience about how she does on that. All right, Robin Ward. Changing subjects. I loved the interview with Andrew and Arthur. Edmonton's downtown Stanley Milner Library. Andrew and Arthur were the two profs at St. Andrew's University in Scotland when we did our special on Remembrance

Day about libraries. Edmonton's downtown Stanley Milner Library recently reopened after being closed for three years for a complete overhaul. It's wonderful. More of the meeting space than a library. All kinds of resources, including a makerspace. I'm too old to know what that really means, but my way savvier than me partners says it's a very good thing, which itself includes a 3D printer. the library has become more of a public meeting space and place to complete projects whether as an individual or as a group it is so vibrant i love it my way to quite a few letters on libraries it's really interesting um marge Bushell. Perhaps you've seen the Carnegie Library in Goderich, a unique turreted library with the librarian caretaker's living quarters on the upper level, very convenient when the furnace needed to be stoked with coal for the night. The town was granted $10,000

from Andrew Carnegie in 1903, resulting in an impressive Victorian Romanesque public library, which opened on March the 3rd, 1905, just a little over budget. The reading room, located in the round turret with its large round oak table surrounded by big windows, still makes a welcome impression. The library basement was used to roll bandages during the war, and in 1947, a children's library was added. It continued to be a well-used center for meetings, programs, cultural events, and maintained its strong position during hard economic times, and even a recent tornado. Well, Marge sure seems to know a lot about that library, not surprisingly.

Because for 35 years, she was supervisor at the Goderich Library. And even since retiring several years ago, she continues to enjoy using the library, but from the other side of the desk. Michael Brisson, your library show today touched upon issues that were current back in 1985 when Ontario sponsored a competition for architecture schools about the future of libraries in the face of the huge growth of digital tech back then. Computers, how would they change it all in the future?

In 1985, we were asking. We all dreamed of a lot more cords being involved than it's turned out. Karen Bosche, Edmonton, retired teacher, thoroughly enjoyed your public library podcast. An interesting journey was told of history and evolution in society. Many people take this valuable resource and service for granted. I'd like to add to the conversation, don't forget about the importance of school libraries. Within schools around the world, you will also find libraries, a gathering place that is the heart of a school, usually at the center of the building. Multipurpose now in nature, these libraries play a vital role

in children's literacy development, especially in the elementary schools. This welcoming place gives children access to books and that can foster a love of reading and learning that will have lifelong positive consequences, especially concerning academic success and achievement. One of the programs I'm most proud of, having done this now for a couple of years,

was what we did on the Monday of Remembrance Week when I told a story about something I'd stumbled upon in Scotland. There was a church with a number of gravestones in it of Canadians, members of the Royal Canadian Air Force who died in a training accident in August of 1944. You should really go back and listen to that if you're at least a bit interested and haven't heard it before. I think it was the Monday of Remembrance Day week, so that'll be, I think, November 8th. Mark Nguyen from Kelowna writes, simply put, well done. My wife and I enjoyed your story of

our veterans and your visit to the church and cemetery. My dad is a 98-year-old vet, ground support for the Typhoon Fighter Bombers, 438 Squadron, RCAF. I will be playing your story to him in the very near future. Thanks, Mark. I hope your dad is moved by that story like a lot of people were. Ian Ricketts-Moncour, Ancaster, Ontario. What a surprise and pleasure it was to hear your podcast on Monday. I've visited the cemetery at the old Roskeen Parish Church a number of times. My mother and her parents are buried there,

and the ancestral Monroe family on my mother's side at a mausoleum erected in the 17th century is there. With respect to the Canadian war graves, I wasn't surprised that they were there, but I was always curious about why several of them had the same date of death. Now I know. Thank you. Dana O'Neill, I listened to your podcast yesterday about how the church you visited in Scotland and the row of RCAF graves that you found. I really enjoyed listening to that. Yeah, you know, it's part of our history, right?

That's Canada in that little cemetery. There were 15 guys killed on that plane. 12 of them were Canadian. And they were from almost every province in the country. They were on the same crew together. They all died together. Tony McKinnon from Hamilton. Just a brief note to say thank you for enlightening us with the little-known

story of the 1944 Sunderland plane crash near Lothbeg that took the lives of all 15 on board, including the significant number of Canadians from across the land whose names you have memorialized. This was a very moving tribute to young men who were sons, brothers, some were husbands, as you pointed out, who were loved, who died in service of their country, and whose memory and honor live on because of efforts and tributes like yours. Thank you, Tony. And I think it's important for all of us that we ensure their memories live on. Dave Burrell writes from Nanton, Alberta.

We in the small town of Nanton, 40 minutes south of Calgary, have built and operate the Bomber Command Museum of Canada. Our Lancaster doesn't fly. There are only two in the world that still fly. One of them is in Canada, based in Hamilton. I've been on it. How many times now? Three times. Incredible. My dad flew in Lancaster during the war for

the RAF. Our Lancaster doesn't fly, but it is a taxiable as are three other of our aircraft. We have an extensive online archives at bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca. Your story of finding the RCAF headstones in rural Scotland and how they led you to the story you told this morning reminds me of a similar story of how a person in Holland found a name in the sand, which inspired a story involving our town that we tell as part of our museum.

It's one of hundreds in our online archives. It's the story of Thomas Featherston, who was born and raised in our small town, Nanton, Alberta, and how his long-lost RCAF bracelet and other memorabilia returned to our town and our museum, enabling us to tell the story. I think you'll enjoy A Name in the Sand, and you can find that at the website bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca. Okay, here's the last letter for today. And it comes from Wanda Soder.

Wanda Soder, Monholland. And she's in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. So we started, our first letter today was from Saskatchewan, and our last letter today is from Saskatchewan, and our last letter today is from Saskatchewan. And it's of a similar nature in terms of remembering. So let me read Wanda's story. I've been meaning to write, and was spurred to write this today after listening to the story of you and Willie, that's my son, attending the Toronto Maple Leafs game and the introduction of Edward Stafford, 101 years old,

World War II veteran. When I have thought to write to you, it is because I wanted to tell you about my dad, Edward Leroy Soder, World War II veteran of the Royal New Westminster Regiment. He would have turned 101 this past January 27th, 2021. He died March 14th, 1995. He was invited to go to Holland that year for the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Holland. I was there for that. Amazing. And I think he was looking forward to that trip. My dad did not speak much about this time in the war, and we've pieced together his story from the little he and fellow soldiers shared. My dad and his brother Bernie joined up against

my grandfather's wishes, and I think it caused a chasm in their relationship. I did not know my grandparents on my dad's side because they died before I was born. They were farm boys from Elkhorn, Manitoba, and I'm not sure how they landed up in the New Westminster Regiment. My dad and his brother were tall, large men of Norwegian descent. I tell you this because my dad signed up to be a tank driver, and shortly after they landed in North Africa, he switched to the artillery division because he did not like being confined in the tank. As I said, I've pieced together that he was in Italy, where he spent time as a bike messenger. And then he was in Holland at the end of the war.

This guy had an amazing service. He starts in North Africa. He then goes to Italy. North Africa was kind of the first place the Allies tried to learn how to invade. So they start in North Africa. Then he goes to Italy. And then eventually he's in Europe, going through that path through France and Belgium.

He's in the Netherlands. He shared that on those last days of the war that his Canadian regiment picked up the very young German soldiers who were very scared and of course did not understand what was going to happen because of the language barrier. My dad said it was sad to see the fear in these very young men's eyes. My dad and his brother were separated during the war and of course correspondence from home was blacked out so he found out through a fellow soldier from home that Bernie had been injured and sent home. We have the letters that were blacked out. Some of the blacked out parts were

that his mother was ill and that his dog had passed. We discovered through a little black and white photo of a little girl that our dad lived in the back of a pub in London for six months waiting for a ship to come home to Canada. He married my mom in 1960. She was 13 years younger than him and me, and me, their first child was born when he was 40 years old, and my two sisters followed in the next six years. He was an electrician, grain buyer for the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, and an employee at the Saskatchewan Liquor Board until his retirement. One other story that I always share is that my dad was not very religious and was not a member

of the Catholic Church as my mom was. When I was a teenager, I remember a conversation about racism, residential schools, the Catholic Church, and his comment to myself and my sisters was that when you were in a foxhole fighting for your life, religion and race do not matter, and we should remember to treat everyone as we would like to be treated ourselves. Thank you for sharing that with us, Wanda. Wanda's letter is much longer and it's got a lot of stuff in it. But that part of it kind of signs off for me this year's recollections about remembrance that we always have at this time of year surrounding either side of and including on the day of remembrance on November 11th.

I always like to hear from you. I like to hear from your, you know, like me, we've watched a generation of what Tom Brokaw called the greatest generation. So many of them have passed. There are very few left. But their stories were special, impacted all our lives, and we tell them to each other, and we tell them to our kids, and they'll tell them to their kids,

and it will be passed on through the generations as it should, and with the lessons that were learned. Not all good lessons, but like in Wanda's letter, some pretty good ones too. All right, that's going to wrap it up for this day. For this Thursday, the bridge is your turn episode. I love hearing from you don't be shy drop me a note the man's bridge podcast at gmail.com the man's bridge podcast

at gmail.com good or bad you know i'll react as i did like today some things i i hear what you're saying and i'll keep them in mind. Other things, I'm sorry, I've got to fight back on. And the one thing about the book, if you're out there buying a book and you want it signed, at least with a book plate, drop me a line with proof of purchase and I'll deal with it. All right, this has been The Bridge, the Your Turn edition. I'm Peter Mansbridge.

Thanks so much for listening. We'll talk to you again with Good Talk. Chantel and Bruce are here tomorrow. I'm sure they've got lots to talk about. We'll see you in 24 hours. Thank you.