Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You're just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. It's Thursday. That's your turn. And this week, last week of May, it's an Ask Me Anything week. Lots of questions.
Chapter 2: What questions are being asked during this Ask Me Anything episode?
Answers coming right up. Hello there as we roll to the end of another week. Thursday, your turn. Ask me anything week. And we got lots of questions. We'll never get through all of these. But we do save them. We got a few from last month. Starting with the first one from David Dunham in Fort St. John, British Columbia.
David writes, do you think that Caroline Leavitt, you know who she is, she's the Donald Trump press secretary, actually believes the stuff that she says at press conferences? Good question, David. I guess there are two possibilities here. And this goes for all of Trump's, you know, men and women who work for him.
One, Caroline Leavitt has been drinking the Kool-Aid and she actually does believe the stuff she says. Or two, she's too smart to believe it and she lies because she has no conscience or shame, just like her boss. I actually think it's option one.
She's simply a true believer who has no doubt that she's working for a brilliant savior of the United States and that blinds her to every one of his weaknesses and lies. You can look at Michael Cohen, who used to lie and cheat for Trump because he believed in him and only turned on him when he realized Trump wouldn't hesitate to dump him the minute he didn't need him. So that's what I think.
But maybe she knows Trump is a crooked phony but doesn't care because she has a nice job. Marilyn Wallace from Fannie Bay, British Columbia. Springtime brings the Canadian force of snowbirds to the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island for training.
Under a bright blue sky, I recently spent a glorious hour watching their practice runs, marveling at the incredible precision and daring maneuvers at such fast speeds. As an aviation buff and enthusiast, are you also a supporter of air shows? You know, it's a good question, Marilyn.
It's funny, listening to you tell us about looking up and watching the practice runs reminded me of, and this goes way back, 1967, centennial year. The snowbirds were then called the centenaires, right? And they were based at Portage La Prairie in Manitoba that year. And so was I. I was in the Navy. Sounds funny. I was in the Navy, and I was based at Portage La Prairie.
But the centenaires would practice every day in the spring of 1967 for the big year ahead. And they were the same jets, the same Tudor jets, as you're watching today in the Comox Valley. It won't be for too much longer. As we know, they've already announced they're going to replace the Tudors.
They've had a great life, and they've performed air shows from coast to coast to coast and beyond for thrilling crowds in many parts of North America. But your question is, you know, they used to practice every day at lunch hour. And it got so routine that we didn't even look up to see them every day. But it was like a private air show every day for us. But... How do I feel about air shows?
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Chapter 3: What insights does Peter Mansbridge share about Donald Trump's press secretary?
You know, those wild air shows with people standing on the wings back in the 20s, 30s. You know, they thrilled crowds. And I can imagine Marilyn sitting there watching hers in the Comox Valley, looking up and obviously gaining the excitement that she gains. Kate Wilson in Toronto, approximately how many publication subscriptions do you have? What top three to five do you recommend and why?
I think it's a real personal choice. People have to make their decisions on what they want to subscribe to. You know, because of the nature of my job, I subscribe to a lot of different things, all online. I don't get any home deliveries anymore. I think cottage life is the only one I get that still comes to my home.
But the ones that I rely on, I rely on the Globe and Mail, the New York Times, and a number of different papers in the UK. The Times, the Telegraph, the Guardian, But I go into a lot of different newspapers where you can still get access. You don't have to subscribe. You just go. But that's what I, those are the main ones. Washington Post as well. Pat Wharton in Vernon, BC.
I wonder what you think of the huge amount of opinion pieces and podcasts that have cropped up. Do you think people realize they are not factual reporting, just that person's opinion? Well, we try to remind people on this program all the time, you know, this is not a newscast. It's a podcast.
And it usually becomes basically the opinions of the people who are on this podcast, whether it's me or whether it's Chantel and Bruce on Fridays, whether it's Dr. Stein on Mondays. You know the routine here. But, Pat, I think most people can tell the difference between factual straight news and what appears on podcasts and other platforms. But not everyone does.
Reputable newspapers have been very deliberate about labeling in recent times. The word opinion is at the top of the page or at the beginning of a column. But not so reputable podcasts have not made it clear. And sometimes they just out and out lie because they make more money that way. Infowars in the United States, for example.
A lot of people who follow these hustlers must assume they're getting the straight goods, which is a travesty. Elaine Braun in Brandon, Manitoba. I'm really concerned about provinces separating from Canada. What would that look like for our country? Does the entire province separate, or would there be negotiations over land?
Wouldn't it be bizarre to enter another country to travel to either end of Canada by car? What would happen to our national parks, crown land, indigenous land, and UNESCO sites? This would be heartbreaking. All right, here's my read on it. First, nothing would happen the day after a province voted in a referendum to separate from the rest of Canada.
Presuming there was a clear question and a clear majority, and that part is not defined, but it presumably means more than 50% plus one vote. In fact, the Prime Minister said that just the other day. Then a negotiating process would begin. And what would no doubt happen take a long time. All the things you list and more would have to be settled.
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Chapter 4: How does Peter view the role of the Senate in Canadian politics?
But most nights on election nights, we're not surprised by what the result comes. Because of polling, because of the models that we look at, because of the rehearsals we do. For the three or four days before an election, we test out all our facilities. All the networks do this. They test out all our facilities. They test their computers.
They test their reaction time on the part of their journalists to react to certain things. And over those days, you have a number of rehearsals, and you program ā your computers to punch out a possible scenario, a likely scenario for that day. So you might have, you know, a liberal majority, or you might have a conservative majority, or you might have a minority of one of the parties.
That's just to sort of get you ready. But you go through all the possibilities. So when the actual real voting takes place and the real results come through your computer, you're ready for almost anything. So there's no real surprise. You know, there are surprises on individual ridings. But the big picture, not so much. Carl Wiebe in Winnipeg. This question is inspired by James Moore.
In the course of your career, which politicians have you noticed raising above partisan politics, who has put their party aside to work for Canada, above their political party? Well, James is a good example, isn't he? And so is Jerry Butts.
in the Moribud's conversations, the whole idea of that program, which has lasted a couple of years now, is to go beyond partisan politics and try and use their expertise and experience to explain what it's really like, you know, in the corridors of power. It's hard to get others to do that.
It really is because they always kind of slide into the partisan nature of politics and they can't resist taking shots. Every once in a while, you'll get lucky and get someone who's in politics. Usually it's somebody who's now outside of politics and who will use their experiences to help you try to understand what the system is like. Those two, though, I think are great examples.
James Lischkoff in Tofino, B.C. Beautiful Tofino, B.C. Has reconciliation gone too far? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. My guilt has now been confronted with the Cowichan decision in B.C. Okay, so briefly, the Cowichan case took 11 years, including 513 days of hearings to work itself through the courts. Ultimately, the Supreme Court of B.C.
ruled the Cowichan tribes had never surrendered their territory and therefore still have aboriginal title to it. That's a great deal of Richmond, B.C. The tribes have said over and over again that private property owners are not going to lose title to their land and homes, but some people are still worried about it.
The courts have reaffirmed that Canadian governments must face their constitutional obligations to Indigenous peoples through negotiations in good faith to reconcile Aboriginal title with existing fee-simple title. Those negotiations must balance the rights of both the Aboriginal title holder and these landowners.
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Chapter 5: How does Peter feel about air shows and their safety?
I imagine a 24-hour delay between posting on these platforms and our traditional media could help. What do you think? Do you see any other solutions? Well, Gaetan, you do point out an interesting phenomenon, but if you're asking me how to stop it, how to get politicians not to use platforms they sometimes rail against...
and use platforms supported by tax dollars, I guess the answer is public pressure. I can't see a law to stop them, but I can imagine a party promising not to do it. Man, we're more than halfway through. See, this is the thing about ask-me-anythings. It takes a long time to go through this because you're asking me something I've got to answer, right? Or try to answer it.
Okay, let's take our break. We'll come back. It's the Random Ranter. We've got the Random Ranter, of course. It's Thursday, so we'll do that, and then we'll get back to some of your letters. We'll be back right after this. And welcome back. You're listening to The Bridge for this Thursday.
It's a Your Turn day, and today's, being the last week of May, it's an Ask Me Anything day, and with lots of your questions. You're listening on SiriusXM, Channel 167, Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast platform. Glad to have you with us. Thursdays also mean the Random Ranter, and it is time for his rant for this day. What's it about? It's about artificial intelligence.
Get ready for the ranter. Here he comes.
There's no sitting on the sidelines with AI. You can early adapt with it, you can let it tell you bedtime stories, or you can go to sleep at night clutching your wooden shoes, dreaming of throwing them into the virtual machinery. AI is impacting all of us, whether we like it or not, or whether we even use it or not. Now, admittedly, I'm not a fan of AI.
I think it's great for some things, but I chafe at any thought of using it to write for me or worse, think for me. And I have no interest in interacting with it like it's a person of any sort. Now, if you talk to your chatbot, I'm not judging you. I'm just sad for you. And if AI is your financial consultant or your psychologist, then I wish you very good luck.
Because as far as I'm concerned, artificial intelligence is nothing more than the illusion of intelligence. It's an insidious version of a chatty Cathy doll where once you start pulling its strings, it starts learning how to pull yours. At its very core, it's a product that generates profit for its Silicon Valley masters by charming you into interacting with it and to keep interacting with it.
It's not objective or empathetic in any real way. It's a synthetic sycophant that gets you to plug another quarter into it by mirroring you, validating you and making you feel good. Whether the information it provides you is right or wrong is besides the point, because either way, it'll deliver it with the over-brimming confidence of a teenage boy. But you know, the world is a lonely place.
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Chapter 6: What are the most recommended publications for journalists?
I mean, we live in a country with 20% of the world's fresh water, and even we have issues with depleting our rivers and aquifers. The last thing we need is a bunch of mega data centers putting more pressure on our supplies just so some ultra-rich tech bros can level up to being uber-rich.
Now, I know I'm painting a bit of a dark picture of AI here, but I've actually got some hope for the future because I feel like people are starting to wake up to the downsides of it, the same way they came out of the EV ether from a few years ago. Remember how those early EV adapters seized the narrative and prophesied an impending all-electric future?
But once the general public gained some experience with that future, the pendulum quickly swung back. I think the same thing is starting to happen with AI. People are starting to see the limitations, measure the costs, and recognize the threats. And look, I'm a big believer in young people.
So when I see the news coverage of their negative reactions to AI boosters at their commencement ceremonies, I feel unheartened. They're our future, not some technology. So if anyone sees AI for what it really is, it's them. And they're booing.
There you are, the random ranter with his view, his current view on AI. We'll see whether that changes over time. But he usually catches a wave or starts one. Back to your letters here on Ask Me Anything. Wade Hall from Toronto says, Wade writes, Trump changed US politics in a way only he could. Carney changed Canadian politics in a way only he could.
When Carney was running for Liberal leader, he promised substance. The pundits said voters don't pay attention to substance. Carney has stuck to his policy first strategy. So far, Canadians are paying sufficient attention to conclude he's doing a good job. Is Carney reinventing Canadian politics by reasserting the value of policy? Hmm.
I guess what you're really trying to get at is whether voters might be paying more attention to policies than they pay to charisma. I'd be reluctant to leap to that conclusion, but I'd be willing to go halfway there. I think it's very difficult to be elected if voters just don't like you.
Mark Carney may have been elected because Canadians decided they liked his policies better than what the other guys were offering, but I think most people also find him personable. He seems like an okay guy. So he had the entire package. Policies voters liked and a personality voters liked. I think that's what it takes in modern politics. Now, it's only year one.
Let's see where we are a year from now. on those feelings. Austin Ziegler in Toronto. We've heard your favorite film, Casablanca. What's your favorite NFB film? Long one and a short one. Well, I'll tell you my favorite short one. It was a 1958 film by the National Film Board called A Visit to the Parliament Buildings. Guess who the stars were? My sister and I, I was 10.
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Chapter 7: How does Peter Mansbridge differentiate between news and opinion in media?
Not an official one like the ones at the Legion. Now, those were usually for people who were there longer than a couple of years, which is, you know, I was there not quite three years in Churchill. Loved every day I was there. But I never had a mug hug. But those were popular evenings. Ken Malegas in Regina said,
I believe more so than in the past that politicians or party or government spokespersons either make unfactual statements or outright lie. Have you ever called someone out on either an unfactual statement or a lie? Is it a responsibility for reporters to do so? Absolutely. It's important for reporters...
to challenge assumptions that are being made by politicians making statements, and whether that assumption involves facts that are incorrect, or something that appears to be a lie, then journalists find ways to ask that question. It can get messy, and it can get ugly, and it can get tense, but that's part of the job. You may want to ignore this one.
is the advice from my good friend Mark Bulgach. Kathy Dodge in Smith, Kathy Dodge Smith in Oakville, Ontario. I think this is going to sound very rude, and I do not expect to hear it on one of your podcasts while you're hearing it now. I love your program, listen to it regularly, but I am intrigued by your habit of dropping your INGs in favor of words like going, coming, gonna, thinking.
I know you did not speak this way when you were the news anchor on CBC, and as far as I can tell, none of your guests do so. So I'm very curious to know why you are choosing to speak this way. I didn't know I was. I didn't know I was dropping. I'll have to work on that. You know, I'm getting older. This is a podcast. It's not a newscast.
It's not the precision wording that you find in a newscast. It's casual conversation. But I'll keep that in mind. Jeff Fisher in Riverview, New Brunswick. Thinking back over your broadcasting career and your time since departing the National, which world or Canadian event has had the most impact on you or still resonates with you in a significant way? There are lots. You know, there's...
You know, we mentioned 9-11, obviously that had a huge impact on all of our careers. The Berlin Wall coming down. You know, Mark and I got there, I don't know, a day or two days after it really started to appear that Europe was changing, that communism was fading, that Germany was about to be reunited. That had a huge impact. Covering natural disasters like the tsunami.
Those things have a huge impact. Nice stories, happy stories. You know, I was standing outside Buckingham Palace the day Charles and Diana got married. I was standing outside Buckingham Palace the day Diana was buried. Covering those stories had an impact. Lots of different stories. Here's a couple of questions that, well, let's, you know, maybe we can answer these together. Let's see.
Man, we're already running out of time. Terry Wasilinka in Regina writes, we see leaders dance around questions from the press all the time. This must be incredibly frustrating for reporters. I'm curious if there's a single question you ask someone that that your frustration with the response really stood out?
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Chapter 8: What implications could provincial separation have for Canada?
Man, would he be rolling over in his grave watching CBS now. Edward R. Murrow died in April of 1965. I was 16 then, so I was still in high school. So no, I never had a conversation with Edward R. Murrow. I wish I had. I wish I could today. Because I would love to know what he thinks. about how they bend their knee. Uh, let's get a, try and get a couple more in here.
Michael Williamson in Burlington, Ontario. You have an interest in competitive sports. So I was wondering outside of coverage of the Olympics, have you ever considered or been offered a role in media covering sports in hindsight? Do you wish you had, um, after this week, after upsetting some of the Oilers fans with our comment the other day, uh, about the Stanley cup finals, um, uh,
It's probably a good thing I haven't gone into sports. I have nothing but admiration for my friends in sports. I did a lot of work with Brian Williams, with Ron McLean. These guys are like consummate professionals. They are amazing. And they know their stuff. And so I was lucky enough to work with them, but from the news background, not the sports background, and enjoyed every minute of it.
Francois Duplessis in Calgary. Have you considered a subscription approach to monetizing the podcast as opposed to running ads? I'd be more than happy to kick a few dollars your way on a monthly basis to not hear those annoying ads. Okay, I don't decide on ads, but, you know, this program is the property of SiriusXM, the satellite radio service.
And they determine what ads are placed on the program and where they're placed. And in some cases, they're very different in different parts of the country. So, and the continent, you know, because the bridge, this program is heard right across North America. And we like having a continent-wide audience. Megan Caney in Sims Settlement, Nova Scotia.
I've never heard of Sims Settlement, but apparently it's about an hour west of Halifax. What's making you laugh right now? A TV show, movie, or podcast? Maybe some stand-up? Who's making you giggle all of the above? You know, there's a lot of comedy out there. Some of it's kind of rough. A lot of it's very edgy. A lot of it's political comedy.
And we need to have the ability to laugh at ourselves and to others in a constructive way. So I'm not going to mention one thing in particular because I love to laugh. I laugh at myself and I laugh at others. Henry Wall in Listerwell, Ontario. That's just north of Stratford. And when I'm in Canada, that's where we are, in Stratford.
Do you hold the same religious beliefs that your parents taught you growing up? If not, how did you make the decision to change your beliefs? Um... My parents were Anglican, and so I classify myself as Anglican, but we're not practicing. They didn't. My father used to go to church a lot before the Second World War, where he was in the Royal Air Force. We were in Britain.
We were all born in Britain. My dad was in the RAF. He flew a lot of missions, and he was decorated by the king for... His bravery. And he told me once that he had a hard time believing in God as a result of the things he saw. And that's always held with me. Didn't say he didn't believe in God. Said he had a hard time believing in God. And I understand that.
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