The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge

After much pre-event discussion, the opening round of the Justin versus Pierre match took place and Chantal and Bruce have their scorecards ready.  All this at the same time there's chatter about a new civility around Parliament.  Any chance of that?  All that and a lot more this week.

Lots of comments and opinions from all parts of the country today as you weigh in on the issues of the day.  Plus the Random Ranter, (with new music!), has his say too.  Enjoy.

More than ninety percent of Canadians have had a COVID vaccine in the past 18 months, but will they take another shot?  An organized social media campaign and Russian bots seem to be having an impact. Bruce Anderson has thoughts on that and many other SMT issues from polling to Donald Trump and whether Merrick Galand has tipped his hand about an indictment.

He's got his back up against the wall in Ukraine and he's losing some support at home.  What options does Vladimir Putin have and will he use them, including nuclear weapons?  Brian Stewart is by with his thoughts. Also more on linear versus digital television, and a new study on life "out there"!

The long goodbye for Queen Elizabeth is over with her body now on its way to its final resting place at Windsor Castle.  The end of an historic ten-day period since her passing.  Today the Bridge deals with that with Andrew MacDougall joining us from London.  But today's program also deals with issues surrounding journalism and its coverage of politicians. Andrew, a former Director of Communications for Prime Minister Stephen Harper helps us on that too.

A new IPSOS survey says 60 percent of Canadians want a referendum on whether to keep the monarchy.  Really?  Good grist for a start to this week's Good Talk.  Chantal and Bruce discuss that plus Pierre Poilievre's first week and why is the Quebec election getting so little interest outside the province.

Last week was the debut of the Random Ranter, an anonymous contributor from western Canada.  It was extremely popular in his first offering so he's back with some thoughts that are bound to receive a mixed response. But being Your Turn, most of the show today is all you -- your thoughts on everything from the death of the Queen to the election of Pierre Poilievre as leader of the CPC.

Pierre Poilievre's first meeting with the media didn't go that well for either Poilievre or the media.  What should be taken from the encounter?  And can anyone win the political long game by attacking the media?And what would an SMT be without a little Donald Trump?

The Ukraine story this past few days has been intriguing.  Have we reached a turning point?  Brian Stewart is back with his insight and research on what's really happening in the war with Russia.Plus, will doing thousands of steps a day help counter dementia? A new study says "yes".

A few comments about the Poilievre win, the royal weekend of mourning, the Ukraine developments, and then a special feature interview.  Thomas Sadowski is a face you'll recognize because of his work on television, movies and theatre.  But the work he may be proudest of is his humanitarian work and today he has a stark warning about an impending disaster facing certain countries as a result of food shortages.