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The AIH Transcript for March 17, 2020

Hosts: Carol Off and Ali Hassan

Prologue

CAROL OFF: Hello. I'm Carol Off.

ALI HASSAN: Good evening. I'm Ali Hassan, sitting in for Chris Howden. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

AH: Tonight:

CO: Critically impaired care. At the nursing home in British Columbia, where six people have died because of coronavirus, the crisis continues. We hear from a woman whose 81-year-old father remains in the home despite a serious staffing shortage. She says everyone is suffering.

AH: Not going the distance. A Canadian stuck in Peru, who is HIV positive, is running out of his medication. But today, the prime minister says he can't guarantee anyone's swift return.

CO: People first. An economist warns that if Ottawa wants the economy to bounce back from the COVID-19 crash, job number one: is to make sure vulnerable workers can afford to stay home and avoid the virus.

AH: Cycle killer, qu'est-ce que c'est. A Montreal bike shop manager argues his work is a kind of essential service. So he's figured out a plan to stay open safely and keep his clients ride ready.

CO: Built to last. After his colleagues found pieces of Lego washed up by the tide, our guest decided to study just how long the children's toy survives in the ocean. Turns out it's not very easy to let go of Lego.

AH: And St. Patrick's Day pandemic style. Newfoundland band Shanneyganock has played their rollicking tunes to frolicking fans every St. Patrick's Day for 26 years, and they'll do it again with some crucial adjustments. As It Happens. The Tuesday Edition. Radio that says, Don't kiss me, I'm Irish.

[Music: Theme]

Part 1: B.C. care home deaths

B.C. care home deaths

Guest: Kelly Shellard

AH: The numbers keep rising. More than 500 people have been infected with COVID-19 in Canada. And today, Health Minister Patty Hajdu had some advice for Canadians as the government tries to get a handle on this pandemic.

[sc]

PATTY HAJDU: Stay home, especially when you're sick. And avoid large gatherings, even if you're healthy. Anything over 50 people now is too big. It is St. Patrick's Day today, but we have to practice social distancing even on days that we normally would be celebrating with one another. Don't shake hands. Keep a two metre distance from each other. Acting together now will also protect all of our frontline workers, the health care providers, the border service agents, our police officers across our country, public health officials who are working so hard to protect us. And I want to thank all of those workers for their extraordinary efforts under such difficult circumstances. But I also want to thank all of the other workers who are keeping our grocery stores stocked and the lights on. Thank you so much. We see you. We appreciate you. And we are so grateful as Canadians that you continue to serve your fellow citizens. I'm very impressed to see Canadians coming together this way in a crisis, but I'm not surprised. We see what needs to be done together and we are doing it with care and respect. This pandemic is no exception. We will get through this hard time together. So my last appeal is make sure that you're kind to one another. Check in with vulnerable people by phone. Think of ways you can help to ensure that we get through this together. There are scared people, there are lonely people, there are frightened people, and it doesn't take a lot to reach out to them and say that you're there with them, even in spirit to ask what they might need.

[/sc]

AH: That was Health Minister Patty Hajdu speaking earlier today in Ottawa. Eight people have died from COVID-19 in Canada. Six of them were elderly residents at the same British Columbia care home, the Lynn Valley Care Centre. Residents are on lockdown in the home, and family members and staff are struggling to care for them. Kelly Shellard is among them. Her 81-year-old father has dementia and cancer and lives at the Lynn Valley Care Centre. But now she can't see him because she herself is in self-isolation. We reached Ms. Shellard in North Vancouver.

CO: Kelly, first of all. How is your father doing?

KELLY SHELLARD: This morning was not a good morning, Carol, to tell you the truth. But my dad is still COVID free. And that, I think, is the most important thing. He didn't get the care that he needed last night. So when my sister got there, he was in pretty rough shape.

CO: When your sister reports that he's not doing well, what did she report to you as far as his state?

KS: Today, his state was that he was soaking wet. And my dad has a urine bag that is at the bottom of his leg. And it was completely full all the way up to the top and there was no more room for urine. So unfortunately, it had to come out somewhere. So he was soaking wet this morning when she found him. He was also wandering through the hall trying to get somebody to help him to empty his urine bag.

CO: I'm sorry to have asked you such a personal question about your dad. It's just that we're trying to understand what kind of care the people are getting at Lynn Valley Care Centre right now. And it sounds like it's not very good.

KS: It's not very good, Carol, because they don't have enough people to care for the residents that are in the home. Last night they had one nurse on and two care aides, I believe. And there are three floors with 45 people on each floor.

CO: And you are not visiting him because you are self-isolated. Is that right?

KS: That's right. When my sister arrived, I went in to say self-isolation. So I'm on day six of self-isolation.

CO: And you're doing that for what reason?

KS: I'm a teacher and I want to be able to go back to school after spring break. And I knew that I could expose my students and colleagues and family to what I had been exposed to -- and know that I would keep them safe.

CO: And you felt for sure, well, you've been exposed because you had been in the care centre where there have been these deaths and illnesses.

KS: So I was in the centre when the outbreak occurred. And I was in the centre for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, where I was in for hours at a time. And I was actually one of the people handing out food because they didn't have enough people showing up for work to hand out food, to bring people drinks, to talk to people. I helped one lady clean up her floor because she'd spilt stuff all over the floor. Everything that they needed in order just to stay in their rooms as much as possible and just get a little bit of care.

CO: Staying in their rooms because there isn't anyone to help them otherwise. And so how long has your dad been in his room?

KS: My dad has been in his room a week and three days.

CO: The poor guy.

KS: And imagine how long he's going to be in his room because he won't be able to come out until this COVID outbreak is gone.

CO: And do you have any idea how many people have been tested positive for COVID-19 within that facility?

KS: The one side that my dad is on, I can tell you that my sister told me that there are signs outside of, I believe, four of the rooms. So, you know, if it's the same all the way around, you can only imagine how many people have tested positive.

CO: What can you do? Is it possible to take your father out of that centre?

KS: No, because there is nowhere that would take my father. And unfortunately, my father's care needs are so great that my sister and I are both not capable of caring for him in all of the ways that he needs care.

CO: But full care, that's certainly not what the centre is able to -- it sounds like -- not able to provide given how short staffed it is.

KS: Absolutely. You are right.

CO: Okay. So if the facility itself can't provide this care, what do you want the government to do? Who should be stepping in to take care of people like your dad?

KS: Vancouver Coastal Health should be stepping in and sending people in who can care for my dad. Finding retired people to go in or finding people who need jobs to go in, who they can train and get people in quickly because they need them in there now. And I do want to say that the people who are in there are working so hard and they are truly angels. But some of them are staying from the first shift to the second shift because people aren't showing up for the second shift. And you can only imagine how long will they be able to keep that up for.

CO: We know that British Columbia's Health Officer, Bonnie Henry, she announced yesterday that B.C. is going to restrict visits in long term care to essential visits only. So does that mean that the care that your sister is attempting to give to compensate for the shortfalls -- will she be able to continue that?

KS: Well, I can tell you today, Carol, that my sister went in and I have another friend who is in there and her mother is at end of life and she is in there as well. My sister is calling her service essential, which I think it is for my dad.

CO: So how worried are you for the other people who don't have family members to look after them?

KS: That's what I'm most worried about, Carol. [Chokes up] I'm most worried about all of those people who have nobody. They probably get their temperature checked and they get somebody delivering them food and maybe the basic care that they need in the morning to get them dressed. And that's about it. They need way way way more than that. Their isolation is going to really start to affect them. And they are already sad and they already need help and they're not getting it.

CO: Kelly, I really admire that you have the capacity for everybody in that centre, given that you're so worried about your dad. And maybe talking about it is helping. The word's getting out.

KS: And I hope so, Carol. And I've been in there with my dad almost every day over the last year. And you get to know a lot of people when you do that. So I have a lot of people in there that I really love and care about. And I need them to get the care that they need [crying] because I can't be in there to help them anymore.

CO: Kelly, you need to take care yourself. And that's the important thing right now for you. So I appreciate you speaking with us.

KS: I appreciate you speaking to me too, Carol. I really hope everybody hears what I'm saying.

CO: Thanks to you the word is out. So thank you.

KS: Thank you Carol.

CO: Bye.

KS: Bye.

AH: Kelly Shellard's father is a resident at the Linn Valley Care Centre, where six residents have died since the COVID-19 outbreak. We reached her in North Vancouver.

[Music]

Canadian economy

Guest: Armine Yalnizyan

AH: The Trudeau government is promising an announcement tomorrow about its plans to shore up the Canadian economy. The pandemic is cutting off business after business from both customers and suppliers. That has the financial experts warning that we're plummeting into recession. And it has workers being let go from their jobs as we speak. But economist Armine Yalnizyan says that if governments want to save the economy, they're going to have to begin by saving lives. Ms. Yalnizyan is the Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers. We reached her in Ottawa.

CO: Ms. Yalnizyan, if you had the ear of the finance minister tonight what piece of advice would you give him?

ARMINE YALNIZYAN: I think it's very important for the finance minister to do everything that he can do to help Canadians from coast to coast to coast, stay at home. And I think he knows that. So I don't think he needs that advice. I'm really interested to see what he's going to do, knowing what he has to do tomorrow.

CO: Okay. I know lots of people who are staying home because they have jobs and they can work from home. People who can afford to stay home. Who are you most worried about?

AY: I'm worried about the 15 percent of the workforce that is self-employed, particularly the almost over 1 in 10 workers who works on their own but doesn't have any employees. So those are probably very tight shifts that they have to run. And I'm worried about the 12 percent-13 percent of employees who are working temporarily. And I'm worried about the 80 percent of people who are low income earners -- that's under $15 an hour who have no sick pay. So there's a lot of people across the country. There are the people that we want to keep at home. But they're going to have the toughest time doing exactly that. So they need support and they need it right away.

CO: Okay. There have been hints as to what they're going to do. So what would you like to see that would support those people?

AY: Well, I expect that they will loosen the rules on EI immediately. I don't know how they'll do that, but the people that are not currently EI-eligible more will be eligible to access sick pay. But of course, that's just for sick pay. It's unclear how quickly the mass layoffs are going to kick in and the waiting time to get a jobless benefit cheque is only for people getting sick pay. So they're going to need to do something more than just that because they've already announced that they're going to do that. And I expect to see something like that. I also expect them to do something for the people that are not EI eligible. I don't know what that looks like. It could be in the form of what they call "helicopter money" -- you just mail out the cheques now to everybody and you collect them later from people that didn't need it through the tax system. Or you actually target people that, you know are already low income through things like the GST tax credit, through the child benefit, through the guaranteed income supplement for seniors. There's already cheques that go out to low income people and you could issue an extra cheque. That is a very targeted way of doing it. But somehow they're going to have to get money into the hands of the people that are most vulnerable.

CO: And there's no other layer of our society except the federal government that can actually pull this off, right?

AY: Well, not at the scale we need, which is immediate. And the most immediate ways we do things is through the tax system and through existing transfer systems that the feds issue cheques with. We can't wait for every province to catch up. We need a national strategy that goes coast to coast to coast as fast as possible. So, yes, the federal level of government is the most appropriate. It can also help businesses through the tax system, again, to support businesses that are offering paid sick days or expanding them, offering tax credits for those that do that, for the people that fall sick or actually helping them keep credit lines open. And that would be not just for for-profit businesses, but for not-for-profit businesses, which render unbelievably critical services at times of crisis.

CO: I just interviewed a woman in British Columbia. She's trying to return to her teaching job while she and her sister are trying to care for their aging father who is in a care home in the midst of this pandemic. And the home facility where people are actually dying. Caregivers are getting sick and not able to come to work. The woman and her sister have tried to volunteer to keep the people they're cared for. So there's just so many circles of this. I'm just wondering what this pandemic is going to teach us about how much of the economy actually relies on the invisible work of volunteers and families and loved ones.

AY: Absolutely correct. And we're going to need actually, as the population ages, the remaining workforce, which is going to be a smaller share of the population than in any time since the 1960s. But this is going to go on for decades rather than just about five or six years. We're going to need every one of those working age people that are going to have to support those who are too young, too old to work and too sick to work to have all the support they need. So we're going to have this remarkable transformation of the economy that combines the need for more unpaid work, more need for paid care work. And we're have to make some really tough decisions about how we're going to be paying for that care work, because everybody's going to be income strapped. So it's going to be a real interesting move forward. You know, we will have a recession. It will be very deep. And this recession is going to be much more service driven than the past one. It's going to be a reduction in our demands for, you know, meals out and anything that's public and communal in the community. All these places are being shut down. The service economy accounts for three quarters of GDP and jobs, roughly speaking. And that's the group that's going to be hit hard. And interestingly enough, women dominate the service economy. And there's a lot more low paid jobs in the service economy than in the goods producing economy. So we know the type of challenges we've got. We're just getting a bit of a snapshot now of the challenges we got going forward.

CO: Okay. If nothing else going to reveal the fault lines of our labour force, what happens if the government does not rally, doesn't do what you're suggesting?

AY: I think the government understands that its job number one is to contain the speed with which the virus expands. And I can't believe that they wouldn't do the things they need to do to keep more people at home. But the next shoe is going to fall is when the health crisis turns into an economic crisis. And it will do so. And I would assume that the government will have our backs the next step too. But part of it is this conversation that has opened up, which is more adult than anything I've seen for decades between levels of government and between people and their governments on what we need right now. And thankfully at this stage, Canada has been showing great leadership. We'll see this time tomorrow what it does with that information.

CO: All right. We're going to find out too. Ms. Yalnizyan I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

AY: It's a pleasure. Thank you, Carol.

AH: Armine Yalnizyan is an economist and the Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers. We reached her in Ottawa.

[Music]

St. Patrick's Day Newfoundland band

Guest: Chris Andrews

AH: For many people, St. Patrick's Day has usually meant celebrating in big groups, listening to live music, and of course, drinking green beer. But these are not usual times. Celebrations all over have been cancelled or postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. For years, the Newfoundland band Shanneyganock has performed on St. Patrick's Day. And they will again tonight. But the setup will be different. Chris Andrews is in the band. We reached him in Logy Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador.

CO: Chris, first of all, Happy St. Patrick's Day, I guess.

CHRIS ANDREWS: Yeah, same to you, Carol. It is a little different this year, but it's still a day to celebrate your heritage and culture.

CO: Okay, so now you've been celebrating as in front of people -- performing for them with Shanneyganock for how many years now?

CA: This would be 26 years this year.

CO: And is this the first time you've had to do it this way?

CA: This is the first time we've ever had to do it this way. And it's definitely a change. But, you know, hopefully it will go off well and people will be able to stay home and still enjoy themselves. And we'll still be able to do something good for our community.

CO: Have their green beer at home.

CA: That's right. [Chuckles]

CO: Where are you actually going to be performing tonight?

CA: We'll be performing tonight in Logy Bay, Newfoundland, which is on the northeast coast in Newfoundland just outside of St. John's. And we'll be doing it from my home studio in my basement.

CO: [Chuckles] So you'll be in your basement. Just describe the scene that you're going to have to put this gig on.

CA: It's been interesting because we're trying to follow all the rules and make sure we don't put each other in harm. And it's actually going to be on television also here in Newfoundland and Labrador tonight. We were approached by one of the local television stations and they asked us and we're fine with it because it is just us here and this one is just for people to be able to view it and stay home. And plus, like I said, make awareness and hopefully some donations for the food association. But there's been a TV crew in and then the Internet crew came in and now the sound. They all left because they're going to do it remotely. And now the sound guys are coming in to set up and then they will all leave. And then tonight will just be the band and one cameraman. And we've made it so there's no sharing of mics, no sharing of instruments. And, you know, it is not really a party here. People have asked -- a lot of people have messaged me saying, "Can we come to the concert?" [Chuckles] I'm like, "No, no, no."

CO: [Laughs] That's the point!

CA: [Laughs] You're missing it yeah. There will only literally be seven people here this evening. And, you know, we'll play the concert and then we'll go home to our families.

CO: Wash your hands and not touch your face.

CA: Exactly. Yeah.

CO: So what's it normally like? Describe what St. Patty's Day is normally like for your gig.

CA: Oh, well, for us usually looking at -- I don't know -- a lot of people. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. And, you know, fun. And everybody has a great time. And, you know, lots of singing and dancing. And "Kiss me I'm Irish." This year, you know, we're going to encourage people to enjoy the show. But, you know, be very responsible also.

CO: And, of course, you have other reasons why you're doing this, not just to keep people entertained on St. Patty's Day, but you're raising money, right?

CA: Yes, we are. The community food sharing association here in Newfoundland and Labrador is in need of help. A lot of people probably know we had another state of emergency here just a month and a half ago, and they were just getting over that. They were so stretched from that. And people were hurt. And, you know, they have depleted stocks. So tonight, we're hoping to raise some funds. The band is doing this for totally free. 100 percent of the donations go to the food bank. And we just really want to help those people in our community that was so good to us over the last 26 years.

CO: I was thinking about that -- the snowstorm that hit your community, hit the coast in January. I mean, people were really needing a good party, weren't they at this point?

CA: They were. And I think they had one and it was amazing to watch Newfoundland and Labradorians. And I know this happens in other places, but we got a certain way about it. We can have a bit of a sense of humor, but yet take this seriously and how we're always there for our neighbours or our families or one another. If we band together and we do things correctly here in Newfoundland and Labrador, we can do this and hopefully get through it as easy as possible. We will survive. We always do. And as long as we're responsible and we protect ourselves and each other, we ride this out. And I think eventually we will get back to somewhat of a normal world.

CO: Well, do you think there'll be a big blow out when that happens?

CA: I would think when we officially get the all clear here, it's going to be amazing. [Laughs] We're known for celebrating everything. But, you know, now is not that time. And even tonight, you know, we're certainly going to stress to people that this is, you know, to keep you home and still, you know, be responsible even at home. And, you know, enjoy yourself yet remember that we're in on the most serious positions we've been in our history.

CO: One of the things that Ashley McIsaac said to us last night in the interview that music, the connection with the public -- just to be in an environment where you're playing music for people and the spirit is going both ways, that that's key. He sees this is as a tonic for what's going on right now. Do you see it the same way?

CA: I agree with him a thousand percent. Yeah. Art in general, you know, it relieves people. It takes away stress. It gives them a small little break from reality. And whether it's playing music yourself or listening to guys like us or Ashley, you know, it's soothing. It can take your mind off some serious things and, you know, it's also a way to help people. So music will always survive. It might be different, but it will survive.

CO: After you and I finish speaking we're definitely to play some of your music for people. But before I let you go, are you thinking about next to St. Patty's Day and just projecting forward to a time when you can be back in front of all those people?

CA: I certainly hope so. We've just finished our 15th recording and we're getting ready to go out and tour that. So we're going to hold on to that. We still plan on going back out and given our music to the people. You know what we do and what Ashley does and stuff, it's also regionally based because when we travel, we bring part of where we're from to the people from here that don't live here anymore. That's never going to change. And hopefully when everything gets straightened away we'll get back to doing that and spreading our music and culture and get back to the happy world we had.

CO: Well, let's give your music to the people. Chris it's great to talk to you. Thank you.

CA: Thank you, Carol.

AH: Chris Andrews is a member of the band Shanneyganock. We reached him in Logy Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador.

[Music]

Part 2: Canadian trapped in Peru amid COVID-19 lockdown worried about his HIV medications

Canadians in Peru

Guest: Chris Tooriram

AH: Canadians abroad are desperately trying to heed the prime minister's advice and get home. But with strict lockdowns and closed borders, it's not that simple. At a news conference today, the CBC's Olivia Stefanovic tried to get some clarification with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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OLIVIA STEFANOVICH: Prime Minister, you told our colleagues at Radio Canada earlier that there are Canadians who just won't get home. Can you give us a sense of how many Canadians will be stranded? What kind of options are available to these Canadians, such as repatriation flights, for example, and how do you justify leaving them there?

JUSTIN TRUDEAU: Now, we are looking at every possible way of bringing Canadians home. There are three million Canadians at any given moment around the world living and working. And I think it is just realistic to know that there are some of them who will not be coming home in the coming weeks. But we will make measures available through Global Affairs Canada -- loans and supports. We're working with airlines to try and make sure that as many Canadians as possible, as many Canadians as want to, can come home. This is something that all Canadians are expecting of their government and we're going to be doing it.

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AH: Chris Tooriram lives in Ottawa. But he's now stuck in a Peru hotel room with five friends. Besides the issue of getting home, he has health concerns. He's HIV positive. And he says he's going to run out of medication soon. We reached Mr. Tooriram in Cusco, Peru.

CO: Chris, you just heard the prime minister -- what he had to say about those Canadians abroad. What does that mean to you? How do you feel when you hear that?

CHRIS TOORIRAM: I feel good. However, the prime minister was referring to countries where you're allowed to leave. Unfortunately, in Peru, one of the few countries that we are not allowed to leave for the next 14 days-15 days. But today we're on day two. So in that sense, I feel trapped and uncertain of what will happen because we cannot leave.

CO: You are in Cusco, Peru, and you want to come home. What happened? How did you get to Cusco and why are you stuck there?

CT: We planned this trip since December. And on the 11th we left Canada and came to Lima. And then to Cusco because from Cusco is where your starting point is to get to Machu Picchu. That was our intent to go to Machu Picchu. So on Saturday, we had a tour booked and we went all the way there to that city. Our trip was from Monday for Machu Picchu. But on Sunday we found out that all the borders will be closing. So instead of staying there, which is another eight hours by car, we had to rent a taxi and drive back to Cusco, trying to get back to Lima. And that taxi alone cost us 500 U.S. dollars.

CO: You wanted to get back to Lima because you want to get out.

CT: We wanted to get out because we knew the prime minister was making an announcement the next day. And it was very evident that he was saying all Canadians, please get home.

CO: The announcement you heard from the president of Peru. What does he said about movement of people?

CT: Well, we didn't hear it directly because it was on Spanish TV. But another tour guide -- because we had another tour on the white whitewater rafting -- and he called us because he had information to tell us, what the gist was. You had 24 hours to get out. By midnight, you have to be out otherwise, the borders are closed by land, by sea, by air, and no one can get out or get in. So we rushed right away to start getting to Lima, but it was like a nightmare just to get to Cusco because there were roadblocks all along. It was just incredible. So we just had to stay in Cusco and hope to find out that maybe the Canadian government can somehow get us out. Our intent was to get the Lima because that's where all the international flights are from.

CO: You can't get out with a flight. But we're hearing from the prime minister of Canada -- as he said, we're looking at every possible way of bringing Canadians home. But there are three million Canadians at any time out in the world, and some of them might not get back. And so do you feel that if you even could get to Lima that you would not be able to get a flight?

CT: I feel if I get to Lima I will not be able to get a flight because the first flights would be around April 2nd. And we have not booked any flights yet. We are slated to leave next Monday on the 23rd, I think. But we cannot change it - it is Air Canada Rouge. We're just in limbo and uncertain of what did happen. And also the Peruvian government had said, there's a high chance that there'll be an extra 15 days of quarantine.

CO: So the Peruvian government may not let you leave.

CT: It will not let you leave.

CO: Okay. You arrived in Peru on 11th of March but left after we knew that this virus -- this COVID-19 -- was spreading pretty rapidly. Why did you take the risk to go?

CT: I don't think it was a risk because we all discussed, the six of us that, you know, in Peru there was only like 25 cases. So we didn't think it was a country that would shut down. And even now, I feel they have overreacted, maybe or maybe not, because they still have only around 71 cases and it's all in Lima, but they shut down the whole country. Because in our mind, we figured it's not like we're going to Italy or Iran or South Korea. Of course, we would not have gone to those. Even the U.S. I would not have gone. But when we found out that oh there are hardly any cases there. But we didn't expect that Peruvian government would act so drastically.

CO: Now you have other concerns, right? Some health concerns that are complicating things.

CT: Yeah. That's my major concern because I'm on some antiretroviral medication. And of course, when I travel, I bring a little bit extra because I never plan to be here 15 or 20 or 30 days more usually. Oh you missed a flight, you are there for a couple of days. So I have enough for like 22 days from yesterday really. So 21 days left now. So I have enough if the quarante is just 15 days and we get a flight like in the next maximum five days after that. But if that doesn't happen, I'm kind of screwed.

CO: If you run out of your medication, what risks do you think you face?

CT: Well, right now I'm undetectable. So if I run out of medication and I'm not taking my medication, my viral load will start to be detected. And when you're detected, a slew of other opportunistic infections you are susceptible to and coronavirus happens to be one of them.

CO: In any event, if you did display any symptoms of coughing or flu or virus, the word we have is that they won't let you...

CA: They will not let you in. Yes. But also there's a long term effect of not taking your medication. Like I would open up to a whole slew of other opportunistic infections.

CO: So Peru possibly won't let you leave. Canada possibly won't let you in. You're stopped at every gate, aren't you?

CT: It is the most depressing thing that I think about. I mean, I'm just laying there and thinking of all these different outcomes, and none of them seem to make me want to smile. Every outcome, possible outcome from this crisis seems not in my favour.

CO: And you're with your friends in this hotel. If everything's locked down in Peru, can you get food? Can you get services of any kind?

CT: You're only allowed to leave your hotel to go to the nearest grocery place -- supermarket. It's running solo already because everyone, even Peruvians, are stranded here because I was speaking to someone who's from Lima and he came on holidays and he's stranded here and he went and got food. But he said it's not enough for 15 days. It's not a unique situation to us, it's to everyone.

CO: Well, this was not the holiday you were planning, was it?

CT: I was 50 percent on the fence for just cancelling the whole thing myself knowing my medical situation. But I looked it up and all my friends said, oh no -- it's not an issue in Peru. I think at that time it was only 35 cases. And they're all in Lima. We're not even going to be in Lima. So in retrospect and looking back, I wish I had not come. I really wish.

CO: We're following this closely, trying to get information. What we're hearing is positive from our government. So I hope that works in your favour.

CT: Yes. It is reassuring that the message from the government is positive.

CO: Chris, take care.

CT: Thank you so much.

CO: Thank you.

AH: Chris Tooriram is from Ottawa. He's currently stuck in a hotel in Cusco, Peru. And that is where we reached him. For more on this story, go to our website: cbc.ca/aih.

[Music]

Montreal Bike Service

AH: Essential bike services. Like nearly every other business in town, Montreal bike shop Boutique TOUT Terrain has locked its door. But nevertheless, the store does remain open for business by appointment only. Manager and mechanic Phil Le Maistre spoke with CBC Montreal this morning. And he explained why he sees his work as a kind of essential service. Though he admits this is new terrain.

[sc]

PHIL LE MAISTRE: Obviously, in springtime people are itching to get on their bikes in a regular spring time. This year, I think it's going to be more important if people aren't taking public transport and if the gyms are closed. So the way we're going to run it is if someone can call us or email us either before they come or from the front door -- someone will be in the store and we'll have the door locked. We'll be able to receive their bikes simply by the client leaving their bike in front of the store, we will open the front door and wheel it in. We'll disinfect the bike and then we'll do an evaluation and an estimate as to how much the service will cost and get back to our customer via email or telephone.

MIKE FINNERTY: So a lot of thought has been put into this.

PHIL LE MAISTRE: Oh, yeah, definitely. I have two young kids myself, so we've been following the news very very closely. And we made certain decisions over the last 48 hours to ensure that the business can still operate and that our customers are still well-served and that their bikes are ready for the spring.

MIKE FINNERTY: And you said it -- but I think it's worth underlining that bicycles are good public health.

PHIL LE MAISTRE: They are. And it's probably the best and safest way to get around if you don't own a car right now. Also, you know, I've seen a lot of stuff pop up on my social media feeds in the last 48 hours about the gyms being closed and people want to stay healthy. So we'll also be serving clients that want new bikes as well. That will be a little bit more difficult. So test rides are going to be more complicated. But this is our high season. This is when we turn over the most business -- it is this time of year. And in previous years, we've had some really bad luck in terms of spring being late or very bad weather in the springtime. So it puts a big ding in our bottom line when the weather's bad. And this is just another thing that, you know, is an obstacle that we need to overcome. But we think that with the measures we put in place, we'll be able to continue to operate and we'll also be able to help people that need to get out on their bikes.

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AH: Montreal bike shop manager Phil Le Maistre talking with CBC's Mike Finnerty in Montreal this morning.

[Music]

Ocean Lego study

Guest: Andrew Turner

AH: Lego is durable. Kids can chew on the pieces or throw them at walls and they'll fall, bounce, and look pretty much the same afterwards. But that's a problem if those colourful bricks end up in oceans because according to new research, Lego could survive in that salty brine for more than 1000 years. Andrew Turner is an associate professor in environmental sciences at the University of Plymouth. He's the lead author of this study. And we reached him in Plymouth, England.

CO: Professor Turner, first of all, just how much Lego ends up in our oceans and our beaches?

ANDREW TURNER: I would say not a great deal, if you take the whole amount of plastic and divide it up into different sorts and different types. We did have a big spillage in this part of the world 20 years ago. But if you take general loss of Lego, it's not that great amount.

CO: So why did you want to examine what actually happens to Lego when it hits the salty sea?

AT: Well, I think the thing is with Lego is it's very distinctive. Everyone can identify with it. It's well known for being quite durable. And people pass it down through generations. So it's a sort of iconic piece of plastic. When we found sort of classic Lego bricks on some of the beaches around here, we thought it'd be an interesting idea to see if we could match them up with blocks that haven't been weathered, similar blocks of the same sort of age which have been in, say, people's collections and try and analyze what actually happens to it when it's been at sea for decades.

CO: And well, first of all, if the classic Lego bricks, they look the same from decades to decades, so how do you know you got all ones or new ones?

AT: To anybody looking at Lego bricks -- let's say a red one, they would look identical over the sort of 30-40 year period. But if you analyze it by something called X-ray fluorescence, it tells you more about the precise pigments that we use to make the colours. You can sort of provide a window of dating based on what chemicals were used in that particular area. So some pigments may have been found on health grounds, some of them may be introduced because they're technically more superior, perhaps others fell out of favour because of costs. By looking at the chemicals in the weathered ones, we could then sort of identify them or pair them up with Lego bricks that haven't been served.

CO: Okay, so you figured out how old the bricks were, but you also determined how long you think they can last in the ocean. What was your determination?

AT: Well, for that, we would pair up blocks of Lego. So we'd have one which has been weathered at sea and one which is, as far as we know, identical or that hasn't been weathered. And we look at things like the change in mass. If we knew that they'd been there for say, I don't know, 40 years by the amount of material they lost -- we could extrapolate that to see how long it would take for the whole brick to disappear. So that's where we came up with the estimate that we have.

CO: And the estimates are?

AT: The low end, we've got 100 years. At the high end, we've got 1300. So it's quite a range. But it reflects a number of factors when the Lego bricks encounter when they're at sea.

CO: But how do you know they can last that long given that we haven't had plastic for more than decades -- and so how can you project that far into the future with the Lego?

AT: Well, it's based on a number of assumptions. But let's say in 40 years we lose 3 percent of the mass. Then if you extrapolate that up, you lose 100 percent of the mass in let's say 1300 years or so. So it is using that, assuming that the mass that you've lost in a short period of time, you can extrapolate that up to a much longer period of time for the whole block to disappear.

CO: But what does that tell you about Lego that it lasts that long?

AT: I guess it tells us it is quite a durable material. It's made out of something called ABS which is a styrene based plastic, which is typically quite strong. But I think it may be quite representative of the consumer plastics.

CO: And how does its durability compare with plastics, single-use plastics you'd find in a water bottle or a plastic bag?

AT: Well, things are thinner, tend to last a little bit less. I think the only other study we're aware of, which is something like this looks of plastic water bottles in, these sort of squatty ones or thinner ones. I think scientists looked at the used-by date on those bottles that they took out from the seabed, and they came up with an estimate of about a 100 years. So it fits into line. If it's 100 years for fairly thin plastic, then it's up to maybe 1000 or beyond that for thicker plastic, more rigid plastic.

CO: Well, I guess with the Lego we should bear in mind how long it lasts and keep passing it on generation to generation.

AT: Yeah, that's what we tend to do. Although there's a caveat that before the 1980s they were using some chemicals which are now restricted. So you could argue that on a health basis this is not always the best thing to do.

CO: All right. So if you've got old Lego, don't chew on it.

AT: Don't chew on it. Especially if you have young children, not to chew on them. It's difficult I know because if you're trying to pry bricks apart, you tend to bite them I guess.

CO: Were you a Lego kid?

AT: I was. Yes. Yes. So fortunately, I didn't lose any Lego.

CO: So you don't think that any of the Lego you found the beach might be yours?

AT: No, no. I think I was too protective of it. But yeah, it's quite surprising how it does end up in the environment from -- I think the main article we found was Lego being flushed down the toilet by children in anger or curiosity.

CO: I guess you can only imagine how Lego ends up on a beach or in the ocean. Lot of reasons why -- kids left them behind somewhere on a beach, picnic, or whatever, right?

AT: Yeah, that's possible. I mean, I think with many things, especially plastics, if you lose them or discard them in many places, they will end up in the sea because they will end in a water course. And then just washed out. So, you know, it happens with a lot of waste of course.

CO: We will leave it there. Professor Turner thank you.

AT: Okay.

CO: Bye.

AT: Bye.

AH: Andrew Turner is an associate professor in environmental sciences at the University of Plymouth in England. We reached him in Plymouth.

[Music]

WWE

AH: It's like Shakespeare gone wrong. Or a college improv club where the audience is not impressed with the show. But in fact, it is wrestling without fans. As more cases of COVID-19 are confirmed, companies are being forced to change the way they do business to keep people safe, including professional wrestlers. The WWE has begun broadcasting its matches without a crowd. Which means when the wrestlers are giving their big dramatic monologues, there's no cheering, there's no hissing or booing. Take, for example, what was supposed to be this epic showdown between John Cena and Bray "The Fiend" Wyatt. It is our Sound of the Day.

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JOHN CENA: Michael Cole, this ain't gonna be a WrestleMania match to steal the show, it's gonna be physical, it is going to be gruesome, and it is going to be uncomfortable to watch. [Silence] But this WrestleMania match is going to accomplish what should have happened six years ago: Ending the existence of the most overhyped, overvalued, overprivileged WWE superstar in existence.

BRAY WYATT: [Laughter] Holy cow John, that is some seriously riveting stuff man. I mean you had my attention. [Silence] Six years ago at WrestleMania, you took something from me. I thought about it a lot. And then something magical happened. One day I stopped fighting the voices, and I started listening to them. [Laughs] And they took my crooked little world and they turned it into a majestic funhouse.

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AH: That was a clip from a WWE wrestling match without a crowd. And it was our Sound of the Day.

[Music]

AIH Update

AH: On the show last night, we explained how, just like people all over Canada, we are doing our part to stop the spread of COVID-19. That means about half our staff is working from home. Social distancing, check. So the show may sound a little different, but we are committed to keeping you up to date and to not touch our faces. And you jumped in with encouragement. One listener tweeted that he would listen even if you broadcast the show via string and can. And on Facebook, Karen Kellerman reminded us that sometimes a little levity is needed. She wrote, "Be well and producers have the odd non-coronavirus story to lift our spirits. Please and thank you." Thank you all. We'll continue to bring you what you need to know to stay informed and to have a much needed giggle.

[Music]

Part 3: U.K.'s COVID-19 response called 'inadequate, incomplete and really somewhat depressing'

U.K. non-preps

Guest: John Ashton

AH: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says his government will do whatever it takes to face the COVID-19 challenge. And that stand is a reversal from just a few days ago when Britain's response seemed drastically out of step with other countries. But questions remain about the government's willingness to mandate social distancing. And schools remained opened in the country today. John Ashton is a former regional director of public health for Northwest England. He is critical of the government's response. And we reached him in Yorkshire, Dales, north of Manchester.

CO: Dr. Ashton, in a word or phrase, how would you characterize your country's government response to this pandemic so far?

JOHN ASHTON: Well, it was very slow to start and didn't have the commitment and energy to it that was needed to get on top of this at the outset. So we're now running to catch up.

CO: Okay. Now just explain to us what the strategy seemed to have been. It's called a mitigation strategy. Other places are talking about a suppression strategy. What exactly was the United Kingdom attempting to do?

JA: Well, I'm a bit puzzled by that myself. I mean, you know, we started off with containment, which is perfectly reasonable. That's what you should be doing with lots of testing, screening, and isolating, and quarantining. We were slow to get that started. The prime minister did not take charge at the beginning of February when this really started to enter the country. And so they hadn't done a lot of the planning. They hadn't looked at the capacity for testing, I don't believe. And they became overreliance on a statistical model by a statistical level, which was trying to predict the course of the epidemic, the curve of the epidemic. And I believe what's happened is because they didn't have adequate data going in from adequate testing, they got it wrong. So, you know, quite recently they were saying that we were maybe a month behind Italy. And then what happened just at the end of last week and the weekend, was that it began to be clear that we're really now on a sharp upward curve.

CO: I want to ask you about this idea that the United Kingdom officials were floating, that there was a kind of herd immunity, as they call it, implying that it might actually be beneficial for some people to become infected and the way to immunize parts of the population. Is there merit to that idea?

JA: Well, the origin of this notion that they began to float in the middle of last week about letting it rip or, you know, just let's see what happened with people being infected, getting over it, and achieving a herd immunity -- they were closing a figure of 60 percent, which was strange to me because we tend to aim for over 90 percent for herd immunity with other infections. But this seems very strange where this would come from. And I think what was going on here was that they were concocting a story to make it seem as though what had happened in not getting on top of it in those early weeks was part of the plan. This suggestion that it was okay to let people get the infection and accepting an excess death rate as a result of that was totally hammered over the weekend in the media. So they backtracked off that yesterday, on Monday. And so that was the so-called mitigation strategy that they had called that. And now they've gone completely against that. Now they're calling it suppression. My own hope here was that, you know, by spelling out early on what needed to be done to contain and reduce the outbreak, they might not have had to do such extreme things as may now be possible. But the public had been bemused. The communications from government have been very poor and there's a lack of trust in what's going on now as we face a future of steadily increasing numbers of cases and deaths, if it keeps doubling at this rate, then we would be looking at a, you know, a thousand or more deaths by the end of next week.

CO: I just want to ask you about those deaths. Because in this scenario, this mitigation scenario that's now been discredited, the Imperial College team in your country is predicting as many as 250,000 deaths in Britain. But we also heard Boris Johnson say that he had to level with the British public. He said many more families who went to lose loved ones before their time. Was there a sense that this idea that these deaths were inevitable and there was nothing they could do to stop it?

JA: I think they were putting this across as a sense of an inevitability about a large number of deaths last week. I mean, the reality is that we are looking at a large number of cases over the next week and weeks ahead. And it's now been estimated that we would need something like seven or eight times as many critical care beds as we've actually got if the epidemic curve continues on its upward track. And for me, this has always meant that we needed to look at this from the other end of the telescope. That, you know, this epidemic, as it evolves, it would be impossible for even really quite sick people to be admitted to hospital. And many many people will have to be nursed at home. So engaging with the public, building capacity, supporting community organizations through the churches, through the women's groups, through community groups and so on, would have been a good thing to get into at an earlier stage. It's happening now spontaneously over the last three or four days all over the country. Groups are beginning to form up in their own neighbourhoods, coming together, using social media and identifying how they can help to look after the elderly, keep the elderly isolated in their own homes because they are the most vulnerable. And we have to remind ourselves all the time here that, it's the over 60s who are becoming the issue. We really have to protect the elderly.

CO: I want to ask you about some of the strategies, because as you know, the UK government is encouraging people not to go to bars and restaurants. But it stopped short of closing schools, which puts the UK alongside only Belarus in all of Europe to have their schools open today. So what are we to make of that?

JA: Well, it's difficult to know what to make of that. I think the schools will be closing tomorrow or on Thursday. I think that's going to be happening. They're already closing by default. Parents are keeping their children off, staff are taking sickness absence or they're isolating themselves at home. So it's falling apart. That particular approach. And the model that the Imperial people came up with its estimate that, you know, there is a contribution to spread from the kids being in school. I think it's strange to me. What we have here is historically the Conservative Party and Conservative government has set its face against what it calls the nanny state. And, you know, it's great defender of libertarian values and libertarian democracy and so on -- and doesn't like to be seen to be doing anything to take away personal freedoms. I mean, I think we all would identify with that to an extent. To quite a great extent. But at a time like this, it's a war. It's a war against the virus and it requires firm and drastic measures to be taken to get on top of it. And the government has a responsibility to do whatever it takes to get on top of this. It really needs to do that by taking the public with it, which is why the failure of their communications strategy, the confusion, and the mixed message, have really led to a loss of trust with the public. And that's what now is a problem to be retrieved. The fact that the prime minister is now started to hold daily press briefings is very much to be welcomed, but he really should have been doing that before. And, you know, he's going to have to build on that. It looks as though he's now positioning himself to be Churchill, saving the country after Dunkirk. And we'll see how he gets on with that strategy.

CO: All right. We're going to leave it there. Dr. Ashton I appreciate speaking with you.

JA: Thank you. You're very welcome.

AH: John Ashton is a former public health official in the UK. We reached him today in Yorkshire, Dales.

[Music]

Ouray Crowfoot

AH: Precautionary measures. More people are coming to the conclusion that it's not if, but when relating to the coronavirus arriving in their communities, including the Siksika First Nation, an hour's drive from Calgary. As Alberta's confirmed cases grow, the community's leaders have declared a state of emergency in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 before it starts. But more likely, they say, to help prepare for the seemingly inevitable. Chief Ouray Crowfoot addressed the nearly 8000 residents by video shortly after the decision was made.

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OURAY CROWFOOT: Okay Siksika, Chief Crowfoot here with the latest update of the COVID-19 virus. Given the rise in the number of cases in Alberta and the presence of community transmission, there is now a medium risk of infection to Nation members. Now, remember that there still are zero cases of the COVID virus or confirmed cases at Siksika Nation. Chief and council and all service areas are working closely together with health authorities coordinated response. We are a resilient people here in Siksika. We've had to overcome a lot through the years. And like I said, this is a rapidly changing virus and information is changing constantly as well. So as we get new information in, we will share that same information with you. So stay tuned to our webpage and to the information on YouTube. Again, stay safe. Be prepared. Use precautions. And till next time Siksika.

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AH: Chief Ouray Crowfoot of the Siksika First Nation in Alberta on his decision to preemptively declare a state of emergency because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has not yet hit his community.

[Music]

Joe O’Brien

AH: Three years ago, a bomb went off at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. That blast killed 22 people, left hundreds of people with long term psychological trauma. Today, the brother of the suicide bomber was found guilty of murdering those people and for helping to plan the deadly attack. A few

days after that attack in 2017, Carol spoke with nurse Joe O'Brien about that night and about one of the victims that she treated. From our archives, here is part of their conversation.

[sc]

CO: Can you just take us back to Monday night, and I know you had just worked a full day shift at the hospital and you were at home, and you heard the news on the radio, is that right?

JO: Yeah I have the radio on when I go to bed. I think it was the 12 o'clock news. My son is a student and he lives in the centre of Manchester. So I just shot out of bed literally and ran downstairs, my husband was downstairs and said “There's an incident in Manchester. We need to call Declan. We need to know Declan’s OK.”

CO: This is your son, Declan.

JO: My son, yeah. So we rang Declan and established that he was OK. So I immediately rang in work and asked if they knew what was happening and I was needed at that point.

CO: What time did you get into work?

JO: 1:30.

CO: In the morning. And can you describe, because the kinds of injuries that would come from this kind of a bomb, which is full of shrapnel, what kind of injuries did you see?

JO: Oh absolutely awful really. I’ve worked in theatres for 28 years and these are the worst injuries that I've ever personally seen. The pieces of shrapnel with large nuts and bolts, about an inch across maybe. So you know they’re traveling at high speeds. So they go into a limb and out the other side and just cause trauma obviously all the way through. Certainly, the lady I was with in theatre had injuries like that, so large pieces of metal like completely go through the legs, some pieces still in her legs. But the magnitude of it was quite shocking. And I suppose even more so because she knew that this was a deliberate action.

CO: Can I ask you about the woman you were with and you’re treating. What, was she conscious, were you able to talk to her?

JO: Yes she was conscious. She was obviously you know going through a major life event. She was an absolutely inspirational person to me because she kept smiling. And I remember thinking “Gosh, how can you smile? You must be frightened or confused.” But when she was going off to sleep she just said “Thank you.” And to be able to do that… And I looked after the lady when she woke up after her surgery as well and she still managed to smile and we’d brought her husband in to see her and I think she was wanting to show him that she was OK and it must have taken great strength from her. And I'll always remember that’s the sort of positive thing that I think comes out of an event like this. There's no explanation for what happened and you can’t even begin to comprehend that. When you meet people like that, it’s really affirming because you know, I'm not special in any way, I was just a little part of a big team that helped that lady. But I’ve got absolutely no doubt that somebody like that wouldn't even think twice about helping me.

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AH: From our archives, that was Carol speaking with Nurse Joe O'Brien about one of the people who was injured during the bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in 2017. Today, the brother of the bomber who killed himself during the attack was found guilty of murdering 22 people.

[Music]

Netherlands longest bridge

Guest: Fleur Graper

AH: It will be an unabridged bridge. The new bridge in the Netherlands will cross over a lake, a canal, a highway, and a nature reserve. And at 800 metres, it will be the longest cycling bridge in Europe. Construction has begun on the Blauwe Loper or Blue Carpet Bridge. Fleur Graper is the regional minister for Infrastructure and Mobility in Groningen -- the province where the bridge is being built. We reached her in the city of the same name, Groningen.

CO: Minister Graper, why is your province building this very long bridge?

FLEUR GRAPER: The reason we're building this bridge is because we really invest in all kinds of bike connections between the different cities and different villages in our province. And recently the reason this bridge basically is as long as it is is because it has to cross not only one of the highway routes, but also one of the canals as well as a nature reserve where we cannot build it on the ground because of all the wildlife is inhabited there. So we need to build it on legs, so to say. And that's one of the reasons why the bridge is as large as it is or as long as it is.

CO: And it's going to be an 800 metre long bridge, but it will be possibly as long as a kilometre when the whole thing's built. Is that right?

FG: Yeah, that's right. Because when you build a bridge, of course you need to go up height to make sure that you get there. And we try to make it as great as possible, because, of course, when you ride your bike, you don't want to have a too steep way up to the bridge. So it's going to be a little bit more than a kilometre.

CO: You just mentioned it is for a cyclist, this is not a bridge for cars, is it?

FG: No, no, it's just for cyclists. But you can walk on it as well. So it's a pedestrian crossing as well. I can imagine that it feels a little bit awkward coming from your side of the ocean. But for us, it's quite common to have separate bike roads and separate bike bridges for just using our bikes.

CO: Well, we have to say that the Netherlands is highly respected among people who would like to see far more cycling capacity in our cities. So, yes, that we don't have it, but we do admire it. Now, but it is not just for cyclists and for pedestrians, and this is what caught our attention, it's designed as well for bats. Why is that and how is that?

FG: We see all over the country is that bats use infrastructure as a guiding point for going from one site to another site. And what we have seen, particularly on this spot, is that the colonies of bats are travelling up and down. And therefore, we really designed to bridge as well to make it as pet friendly as possible. So we're using a special coloured lightning on the bridge as well as that we used special items on the bridge to make sure that these corridor for bats is as friendly as possible.

CO: Now I thought that bats could send things through echolocation. How is it that they could see the painted green or the L.E.D. lights?

FG: Now what happens is they use their echo-system to navigate, but then they are very light sensitive as well. So of course, they're really a night animal. And by having bright lights around them, they get confused and they get disoriented. So by using special lights, lighting of a little bit a different colour or different settings or different reflections on the bridge, it helps them to have the feeling that this night indeed. And in the same time having a lightning for bicycle riders to see and navigate as well. So it's really sinking into where you can have a combination of what's good for the people who want to ride the bridge by bike as well as the bats in the evening.

CO: Now, the other thing that you probably wouldn't find in Canada that obviously is I guess necessary for this, this bridge is going to cost nearly $10 million dollars Canadian. And it's for cyclists, for pedestrians and for bats. What's been the reaction in your region, your province to that price tag?

FG: Yeah, people say it's quite a lot of money, but as soon as you have a crossing somewhere, it's always more expensive. So the fact that you to really need to do the crossing with the canal and the highway, that is why it's quite expensive. But having this kind of investment is still a lot less than the investments you need to do for car travelling. So by investing in all these different bike paths and bike bridges, we see that more and more people are using their bikes for work or for recreation purposes. So, yes, it is quite a lot of money, but it's still a lot cheaper than when everyone would be driving around.

CO: And so who do you expect is going to use -- what you're calling -- Blauwe Loper, the Blue Carpet bridge. It's not just for recreation. What commuting could be done on this bridge?

FG: Yeah, on one side of the highway we're now building a new suburb of the city of Winschoten. And we see that a lot of people who start living there go to the city of Winschoten for their groceries or for their jobs. And they can only go by car at this moment. They can do so by bike, but it's not the very bike friendly route. So by building this bridge, we really connect the city of Winschoten with this new suburb on the other side of the highway. But also for the people from Winschoten it's a good way to go to this new suburb because this suburb built along a new lake. It's very recreational as well as a nature reserve. So it's a really nice place to visit. So it has a dual purpose.

CO: And it's to be the longest cycling bridge in Europe. Not the longest in the world which apparently is in China. And that one is seven and a half kilometres small. Quite extraordinary. So you expect that tourists will come and say, I'm going to ride on the longest cycling bridge in Europe?

FG: Probably. It's going to be a very nice bridge. We really looked into all kinds of environmental ways to make it environment friendly as well. So it's going to be a wooden bridge. So I can imagine that it is very interesting for a lot of tourists to come over as well and see it. But our main purposes is really just as a traffic purpose for people who are living there.

CO: Extraordinary. Minister Graper I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

FG: You're welcome.

AH: Fleur Graper is the regional minister for Infrastructure and Mobility. We reached her in Groningen. And you can find out more on this story on our webpage: cbc.ca/aih.

[Music]

Hardhat Journey

AH: This story's got everything. A sorrowful separation. An incredible journey. And finally, a reunion with the one who lost you in the first place. Truly heartwarming. Well, head-warming. Well, head-protecting in any case. Someone's definitely buying the movie rights to the tale of the lost hardhat. But I'm pretty sure they won't use the real name of the guy who lost it in 2015, because for a hat story, Matthew Bonnette is just too on the nose. Nevertheless, it is true that in 2015, a guy with that name was working in Louisiana when his hardhat fell into the Mississippi River. It was custom painted in the colours of Louisiana State University. And there was a sticker from Mr. Bonnette's union on it. As the years passed, Matthew Bonnette learned to deal with the loss. Although sometimes he still pictured himself wearing it in montages while a ballad by Ed Sheeran was playing. Or at least that's what will happen in the movie. What probably really happened was Mr. Bonnette totally forgot about his hat until someone told him it had been found in Ireland. Yes. This month, a beachcomber named Liam McNamara came across it washed up on the rocks in the village of Fanore, County Clare, Ireland. Six thousand nine hundred and twenty kilometres or forty three hundred miles from where it had fallen into the Mississippi five years earlier. Mr. McNamara put a post on social media where someone noticed the union sticker. Contacted the union. And there you have it. Now, Mr. McNamara is going to return it to Mr. Bonnette. What adventures did the hat have? Was it attacked by sharks? Did it befriend a goofy but lovable pelican? I guess we'll see next year when the Disney movie comes out. It'll be the feel good hat of the year.

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March 17, 2020 episode transcript

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