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The AIH Transcript for January 5, 2021

Hosts: Carol Off and Chris Howden

Prologue

CAROL OFF: Hello. I'm Carol Off.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Good evening. I'm Chris Howden. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

CH: Tonight:

CO: Every vote really counts. Today's runoff elections in Georgia will determine who controls the U.S. Senate, which is why the co-founder of a group called Black Voters Matter is making sure people get to the polls.

CH: An effort at fairness becomes fairly controversial. The state of Oregon earmarks a portion of its COVID relief funds for the Black community and is promptly sued by non-Black business owners.

CO: Prisoner's dilemma. Inmates in Saskatchewan are refusing to eat because they say the provincial government is refusing to protect them from COVID-19.

CH: Lighthouse, camera, action. Scandinavia's hottest film festival will be chillier this year for at least one cinephile who will get to screen all 60 premiers alone on a remote island.

CO: Guess who's coming to diners. With COVID case numbers down, Nova Scotians have no reservations about going out to eat because restaurants in that province will be reopening a week ahead of schedule.

CH: And they didn't succeed -- but nice try, pod. People are standing up against the martian from War of the Worlds that's standing on a new British coin dedicated to H.G. Wells because it has four legs instead of the precisely specified three. As It Happens. The Tuesday Edition. Radio that guesses they went out on too many limbs.

[Music: Theme]

Part 1: Film festival seeks fan to spend a week alone watching movies in a remote lighthouse

Georgia elections

Guest: LaTosha Brown

CH: A closely watched nail biter of an election is taking place in the United States again. Today, voters have been heading to the polls in Georgia, where a pair of Senate seats are up for grabs. The results in the runoff races will determine whether the Democrats or the Republicans have control of the upper chamber of Congress during Joe Biden's presidency. LaTosha Brown is the co-founder of Black Voters Matter. She's travelling around the Atlanta area today, and that's where we reached her earlier.

CO: Ms. Brown, can you describe what you and your team have been up to today in Georgia?

LATOSHA BROWN: So we started out early. Our partners, our team was fanned all across the state of Georgia. We're actively working in 50 counties in Georgia, throughout the Georgia Black Belt and in metro Atlanta. And so Cliff and I, who is the other co-founder, we've been focussing on working in the metro Atlanta area with a team to help what we call 'flesh out the vote.' We've been going to areas that we know have a high Black population. We start out by really being able to do some visible, heightened visibility on the street corners where we got vote today signs. So asking people honk their horns and create some energy and it works. You know, many people have been coming out and they stop. We left from there and we'll go to the polling sites to see how many voters have voted. And if we find out, if we realise that that area, that the turnout is low -- our next step, which we call it, is like flushing community, we actually send a flush team of volunteers where we go through the neighbourhood with our big obnoxiously beautifully black bus and we go outside and we literally are going door to door, COVID distance, door to door, really having music to really remind people to get the vote out.

CO: So you're really going after people, getting them out of their houses, flushing them out. What are they saying to you about their feelings about this election?

LB: You know, it's been really wonderful. This is the election I would say that has been the least negative. [Chuckles] What is so funny is that has been so negative coming from Trump and Republicans on the opposite side. As we've been talking to voters, they've been very excited and welcoming and affirming. And so as we've been talking to voters, they have been very very open about they voted already. People can't wait -- we are walking up to them, they can't wait to show us their stickers. I mean, we've had people just to walk up and say, I just voted, want to see my sticker? And then they dig in their bag or go back to their car to show us their stickers. So there's something around the energy of people really wanting to recognise that they want to be a part of something bigger. And I think when we're talking to folks, they know how critical this election is. And so even in the general election, what we saw in the general election, people knew that we had a lot at stake. I think, in the runoff election there are more people engaging. Part of the reason is because it's not as decentralised -- really the focal point is on Georgia. And a lot of people have really been educated around how this race is really important for the people of Georgia, right. And there's a certain kind of momentum, I think, that came from the November win of what is possible when we work together.

CO: And you say that they say the stakes are high for people in Georgia. Of course, as you know, your entire country is very focussed on this election because it will determine the Senate and it will determine what Joe Biden can do as president. When you talk to people, is there a high awareness of what the stakes are nationally in this campaign?

LB: I think absolutely. People certainly know the national implications of the campaign. What we want is to make sure is really to have a balance because that doesn't necessarily move people. While they know that the national impact matters -- you know, this is also a state that in the last 27 years, we've not really had representation other than Republican representation from the state, although I believe the majority of folks who live in the state are, I really do believe that the growth has been with Democratic voters. The challenge, I think, has been really being able to have that balance where, one, people know how important this race is for the nation, but also what is going to drive and motivate people is when they can see how it is going to impact their own lives or their family and the lives of their community. That's what it seems like that resonates more with them.

CO: We interviewed a Republican in Georgia yesterday who said that if you had asked him a month ago with the runoff whether it was possible that Democrats could win those seats, he would have laughed. He said that Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock didn't have a chance. Yesterday, he said that he thinks they have a very good chance of winning. Are you sensing that? Would you have said a month ago that it was possible to be in the place that you are now -- the possibility that these two Senate seats or at least one of them might go to Democrats?

LATOSHA BROWN: So let me answer it two ways. The first thing is, I would not have had the same way -- I would not have had the same response as him because my perspective is not the same. You know, part of what I've always said this in the last 10 years of my life, that the potential was here. I am convinced that the Republicans have literally been dominating the political process, one, through voter suppression and other means. So I've always thought that the numbers and the possibility, the potential of here. A month ago, I still had faith that it was possible, which is why we did the work. I just knew we need to do the work. What I do think and a line that's very similar to what he said I think has changed is I think that what you're seeing, I never would have thought that the Republican Party would literally have the level of infighting and would be this far removed from any semblance of a party that at the very least says that it believes in the Constitution, at the very least says that it believes in democracy. So what's really shocking to me is how the Republican Party has been complicit in the behaviour, the bad behaviour of Trump, what is shocking to me is how the Republicans how we're seeing this play itself out where you've got a sitting president who is literally throwing a sitting Republican governor and secretary of state under the bus, we're seeing a sitting president asked for elected officials to cheat in the election. What is shocking and is that normal is to see the level of how far the Republican Party has fallen from whatever semblance of a party that we've seen in this country, that they're no longer almost recognisable in some ways. And so that's what's really strange. And I think that's different. And I certainly think that that's had an impact. And where I do agree with him, as I do certainly believe that the chances based on those dynamics, I think that there has been a shift in the political landscape. And so I certainly think that the chances of the two Democrats to win both seats, you know, I do think that that is far far more possible how I see it now than I would have seen it a month ago.

CO: Ms. Brown I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

LB: Thank you for having me.

CH: LaTosha Brown is the co-founder of Black Voters Matter. We reached her in the metro Atlanta area of Georgia earlier today.

[Music]

Saskatchewan COVID jails

Guest: Sherri Maier

CH: Inmates in Saskatchewan say the provincial government isn't doing enough to protect them from COVID-19. Today, about 90 people inside two jails started a hunger strike. They're demanding the resignation of Corrections and Policing Minister, Christine Tell. Those inside the provincial jails have been hit hard by the pandemic. There are 78 inmates and 15 corrections staff sick with COVID-19. Most of those are incarcerated at the Regina Correctional Centre. Sherri Maier is an inmate's rights advocate who's been talking with inmates who are refusing to eat. We reached her in Melville, Saskatchewan.

CO: Ms. Maier we know that the inmates in Saskatchewan have been concerned about COVID for months. They have been issuing statements about that. What caused them to feel that a hunger strike was now their only option?

SHERRI MAIER: I think this is just their first step. Nobody wants to see a riot. They want it to be peaceful.

CO: There's one particular inmate, Corey Cardinal, who has been leading this strike. What happened to him since he stopped eating yesterday?

SM: Okay, so he actually got taken off his strike yesterday at 11:30. The strikes started at noon yesterday and at 11:30 they hauled him off the unit, put him in segregation for starting a hunger strike. But the guys on his unit and a couple other units in Saskatoon have still continue to not eat. Corey is still continuing to not eat from segregation, along with another 30 men also who have joined in.

CO: And so you believe and he believes that he was put in segregation as punishment for leading this hunger strike?

SM: Yes, he knew it was going to happen. He didn't think it was going to happen that fast, when he had a hunger strike, was it about a month ago, he was put in segregation for the same reason too when he had that hunger strike going.

CO: Can you give us an idea of how life has changed in Saskatchewan facilities since the COVID lockdown started?

SM: In the federal system, they're still going on a 23 and a half hour day lockdown. So that's something new because the majority of them are not used to being locked down that long. It's harder for, you know, all inmates to contact, you know, family. They don't get visits. Video visits were kind of the norm in the federal system for quite a while now with this outbreak in [inaudible] -- those have been eliminated. And being the fact that, you know, it happened just before Christmas, that's very hard for a lot of family and inmates. The provincial system has not had visits since beginning of spring, not even video visits. They've actually stated that they might be starting video visits here in the coming New Year. No programming. You know, a lot of them are into programming. There's no programming. A lot of them can't go to their job. Medical health care is a big issue. It's harder than it ever was before.

CO: But we know that everyone is having to do without visits. They're not seeing people. They're not getting to see their doctors or the professionals. Everyone is going through it. How different is it for those who are incarcerated?

SM: Well, mostly with the phones. I know, at least when we're on the outside, we can pick up the phone -- like I pick up the phone and see how my kids are doing. A lot of them can't do that. Their phone calls have been decreased to, you know, 20 minutes and they get why, but they don't have a lot of time out. So in the federal system, they're getting out, you know, half an hour to have a shower and call home. And it's not a lot of time.

CO: And as far as the infection rates go, we will repeat what we said in the introduction was there are 78 inmates and 15 corrections staff in the province of Saskatchewan who have COVID-19. And then since as of Monday afternoon, 203 inmates have recovered from COVID, another 87 staff have also recovered. These represent pretty high numbers for Saskatchewan, even though there's been a high infection rate. Is that the case?

SM: Well, I think it may be more likely. I know just in Regina Correctional, they had 68 cases. They could have been more prepared. They've seen what happened in, you know, B.C. and all that. And we got hit later within the institutions. They should have been more prepared for what was going to happen because it was not a matter of is this going to hit the institutions -- it was when it was going to hit the institutions. And I've had, you know, guys ask me and they told me they've asked the jail, like the upper management in jail, 'what are you going to do when it comes? We'll deal with it when it comes.' I don't really think it was something that you think is deal with it when it comes. They should have been more proactive.

CO: At the same time, the minister for corrections in Saskatchewan, Christine Tell, she said that the department has a strict testing regime, that it has been quarantining those new admissions for 14 days. And they said they were making sure people who test positive are isolated. What more should they be doing?

SM: They weren't isolating them. There was Saskatoon Correctional is a part of the reason why they are hunger striking as well, because there was positive cases sitting on the units with those who weren't. They did not move them.

CO: And what should they be doing? I mean, these are corrections facilities. There are dorms. There are people in bunks. They do live and sleep in very tight quarters. What options do governments of Saskatchewan have at this point to stop spreading the disease?

SM: Well, Christine Tell had an early spring -- a lot of inmates had called and told me that they had trailers dropped off at Saskatoon jail and they were for COVID. They were for COVID. They were dropped off there, but they were not made functional until December 29th, way after the outbreak. Had she done her job properly and made sure that those were functional so that when the first cases came in to Saskatoon, they could have been put into those trailers that were meant for that. But she failed to do that.

CO: You mentioned at the beginning that Corey Cardinal and the others are on a hunger strike, they don't expect it to really change anything -- it would be very effective. What do you think might happen next?

SM: Well they're still sending out a lot of letters. I hope no riots occur, like the one that happened yesterday in Prince Albert Correctional. But sometimes that is what happens after, you know, a peaceful protest doesn't work. Nobody wants it to happen. But sometimes when a peaceful protest doesn't work and things don't change, they can only take so much of the abuse, I guess, that they're getting or the negligence that they're getting and they take another course of action.

CO: All right. We will be watching and following this Ms. Maier. And I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

SM: Thank you so much. Have a good day.

CH: Sherri Maiers an inmate's rights advocate. She spoke to us from Melville, Saskatchewan.

[Music]

Sweden film festival

Guest: Jonas Holmberg

SM: Like most film festivals during a pandemic, the Gothenburg Film Festival in Sweden has had to make adjustments: no crowded premieres, no glitzy after-parties, and they've rolled up the red carpets instead of rolling them out. Nevertheless, this year, members of the organising team for Scandinavia's biggest film festival think they've found a way to keep film fans excited. They're inviting one lucky person to spend seven days all alone watching the festival's films. But they won't do it while sitting on their couches, they'll do it after sitting on a boat that takes them to a stormy remote island. Jonas Holmberg is the artistic director of the Gothenburg Film Festival. We reached him in Gothenburg.

CO: Jonas this contest you have launched called the Isolated Cinema. What exactly is your pitch?

JONAS HOLMBERG: The pitch is that we will send one person out to a small cliff, basically, where there is only a lighthouse and a small house for the lighthouse keeper. And then this person will watch all of the films during the film festival for one week. They are totally isolated. They are not allowed to bring anyone, of course, and also no phone and not even a book. So it will be only this person and the sea, the waves, the sky and the six day premieres that we are screening at the festival.

CO: Do you expect you'll get a lot of people who want to do this?

JH: Yes, [chuckles] we launched this yesterday and we have got so many applications from all across the globe. So the interest for doing this is huge.

CO: And what will they have to eat?

JH: [Chuckles] They will have a very comfortable time there. They will have a soft bed, warm room, and very nice food and also some popcorn, so they will have a nice time. It will not be difficult in that aspect.

CO: First of all, just describe this place -- this island -- where do they go?

JH: They go out to this small island, it's out in the North Sea. It's quite remote. It's a very dramatic setting. It's just a small cliff and then it's a very beautiful red lighthouse. And this is a place that for centuries have been very important for Sweden's contact without a world because it has been guiding ships to Gothenburg Harbour, which is the like has been the main contact hub between Sweden and the rest of the world for centuries. There used to be a lighthouse keeper living there, but now everything is automatic. So now it's totally empty. And there we have installed a little cinema for one person. They will be there and it's beautiful. The sea is huge.

CO: What would it be like to be on an island in the lighthouse in January in the North Sea?

JH: It will be lonely. It will be cold as long as you're outside. But you can always go inside and watch yet another movie.

CO: How will you decide the lucky winner of this contest?

JH: It will be a person that loves cinema, of course.

CO: Yes, I hope so. [Chuckles]

JH: [Chuckles] And it should also, of course, be somebody who is open and keen to be alone for those seven days, and also somebody who is willing to share their experience and who can put words into their experience because the communication they will have without the world is through daily video diary talking about the films they have seen. So they will talk about how life is on the island and how this special conditions have affected the relationship to the films that they have seen in their film experience. The background of this idea -- in the pandemic, many people have been in lockdown, many people have turned to films that has changed many people's relationship with films. It's also starting to feel strange to watch films with other people touching each other, hugging and kissing strangers, all these kind of things that has changed the audience relationship with the films.

CO: It's so true what you describe, because not only has it changed our relationship to the screens in our homes, but it is freaky to watch people have normal lives as you watch these programs, they're not wearing masks, they are hugging, they are kissing. It's like, whoa, that's scary.

JH: [Laughs] Yeah, for sure. It's like you can only see the virus spreading across the screen when you're watching this kind of decadent scenes with two people shaking hands.

CO: This idea you came up with has reminded people here of this movie called The Lighthouse made in 2019 where these two men, they survive on this inhospitable island and things go very bad. Was that film at all an inspiration for you?

JH: It wasn't an inspiration. The inspiration came more from the pandemic situation, and we started with let's try to find a place where we can isolate the person with the film as company. And then we came up with the lighthouse after that. So this wasn't the start. But, of course, this wonderful film has been in our minds also, it happens that we talk about it.

CO: Also, I was thinking that this would be something -- because it is Sweden -- I mean, Ingmar Bergman could make a movie out of someone watching all these movies. I mean, there's something very sort of Seventh Seal about all this. Have you tried it? Have you actually isolated yourself for seven days in the lighthouse and watched movies?

JH: No. But what I have done is Ingmar Bergman was the honorary president for our film festival until he passed away and now his house, which is also on an island, on the small island, not as remote as this one, his house is not turned into a place where you can have residency for artists, for filmmakers, etc. And once I had the residence and I stayed in one of his houses for one week and writing and watching films. So I think that's actually the most close I have got to this experience.

CO: Would you like, though, to be the winner? I mean, you can't obviously -- you're running the contest, but does this appeal to you?

JH: I would love to do it. It would be difficult for me, but I would be interested in what the situation or how this situation would affect me.

CO: Would you avoid watching horror movies?

JH: [Laughs] We have one horror movie in the program with this woman who lives alone in an apartment and she starts hearing somebody knocking down the door and she is terrified by this noise and what it means. And actually, to be honest, this film, I'm not jealous about how experiencing alone on an island.

CO: [Chuckles] Okay, a warning on that one. It's a fascinating idea. And I would love to hear who wins that. We'll keep in touch. And thanks for speaking with us.

JH: Wonderful. Thank you very much.

CH: Jonas Holmberg is the artistic director of the Gothenburg Film Festival, and we reached him in Gothenburg, Sweden. And if you'd like to see what the festival is offering, seven days inside a lighthouse on a stormy island in the North Sea all alone, we've posted a photo on our website: cbc.ca/aih.

[Music]

Tripod

CH: When the narrator of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds first sees a Martian invader, he freaks out. And this thing I saw, how can I describe it? he asks. And then answers a monstrous tripod higher than many houses, striding over the young pine trees and smashing them aside in its career. Now, tripods are chiefly distinguished by one thing, which is three things, which is their legs. And Mr. Wells was chiefly distinguished by one thing, attention to detail for which Joseph Conrad once held him as a realist of the fantastic. Well, today, fans of H.G. Wells are realists of the not as fantastic as they'd hoped. The British Royal Mint has just released a two pound coin honouring the author. It features a depiction of one of his Martian invaders, a giant robot on fearsome pointy legs -- four pointy legs. As British artist Holly Humphries tweeted 'Four legs. The man famous for creating the Martian tripod. How many people did this design have to go through? Do they know how to count?" And Welles biographer Adam Roberts commented, a tripod with four legs is hard to comprehend. The designer has explained that he combined several Wells machines into one image. But that is not going to appease the purists who think the Mint has got to be pulling their legs, at least the one, anyway.

[Music]

Part 2: Oregon COVID aid

Oregon COVID aid

Guest: Lew Frederick

CH: Data from across the United States show that Black Americans have been hit harder by the pandemic than other groups on average, which is why lawmakers in Oregon decided to set aside about four percent of their 1.4-billion federal COVID aid payout, specifically for grants for Black Oregonians and their businesses. But now three non-Black business owners are suing the state because they say the fund is discriminatory. Lew Frederick is a state senator for Oregon's District 22. We reached him in Portland.

CO: Senator Frederick, why did Oregon earmark a portion of its pandemic relief funds specifically for its Black citizens?

LEW FREDERICK: Well, basically because we recognise that, in fact, the Black community was disproportionately affected by the COVID crisis and also not receiving the kind of support that other communities were receiving. And it wasn't just the Black community that was struggling with this, but the Latino community and the Native American community and the Asian communities all had different amounts set aside for those particular programmes. The Black community, we came forward to the legislature and said this is something we should do to make sure that we are actually helping folks who had been left out previously but were certainly being affected by the COVID crisis.

CO: So the amount was -- well the whole federal COVID relief to Oregon was 1.4 billion. Is that right?

LF: I think that's right, yes.

CO: So 62 million -- four percent of what was coming to Oregon was then earmarked for this specific need. How much of it was distributed before it was shut down by lawsuits?

LF: Oh, about 50 million of it had already been distributed. And it's presently on hold because of the lawsuits, about eight million left.

CO: What do you say to those -- the claim is that this was a discrimination against non-Black people in Oregon? What do you say to them?

LF: Oh, I basically have to look at them and say, okay, so you're trying to give me the colour-blind kind of approach that all groups matter in situations like this when basically what you're saying is if you help one group, one race group, then that's racism -- but if you just allow the current and the past system to continue, that's just life. That's not the way it works here. We really wanted to address these particular issues and make sure that people were, in fact, being supported in a way that was going to be effective. So, again, it was not just one particular area and it had a broad coalition of people supporting it.

CO: The plaintiffs -- there's two cases I understand, right? So there's one with a businessman, 64 year old White man who has joined with the White owner of a logging company. That's one suit. And then there is another suit by Latino-America owner of a coffee house in Portland. What do they want you to do? What are they arguing in their suit?

LF: Well, I will say that I think that the Latino community came out and said, no, we disagree with you on this. Groups that came forward and said, listen, we think this is a program that we support and we disagree with your concern. The other groups are basically attempting to say that they don't see any racism issues that are taking place that took place in the past and so that they shouldn't be addressed presently. That's a bogus argument, in my view. But that's that's how they tend to come forward -- they basically come forward and say, if you decide to target particular programs, particular past issues and present issues, then you're somehow being racist or not. I don't buy it. I think it's pretty clear we saw that Black businesses were not getting funding, they were not getting funds because the banks did not have a relationship with many of those small Black businesses. So they weren't getting funding. We saw that the health care issues were a significant problem. Housing issues were significant problems. Many of the folks who were working in essential jobs, which is what we kept hearing about, many of those folks were also African-American and they were not in one geographic region. They were, in fact, across the state. So it was a very clear statement that we're going to help these folks and try to get them, at least at a level that they can sustain themselves. And that's what we've tried to do.

CO: Just you hinted at something that's quite important here -- I mean, it's a very long and troubled history as to how Black people in Oregon have been treated. But you mentioned they don't have relationships with banks. They don't have access to the same systems, the same institutions as the White business people, so that they're disadvantaged. Just maybe explain a bit more about where Black business owners are coming from where White owners don't have those problems?

LF: Well, I think probably the best example -- I mean, I can go back in history, Oregon was founded on the basis that Black and non-White folks could not live in the state. So that's one aspect. But moving forward, you have a situation where there has been a consistent effort by banks and loan institutions, lending institutions, to not give loans to African-Americans either because they have drawn a line around the neighbourhood will, because they've actually moved people there. We've had a history of, in Portland, how Black folks being moved out of neighbourhoods. So that's been a constant thing. And if you do not have the ability to really have a house and to put together money for your family, if you're just renting all the time or you're not able to get loans, then you're not going to be able to have the ability to start a business, you're going to have issues in terms of getting education for family. And that has been a consistent issue for us when it comes to gentrification in the city of Portland. So we've had a consistent, both governmental and business approach to not really supporting Black families, Black business people -- we decided that that simply wasn't going to be okay, we were going to address it in a direct fashion. And that's what we've done.

CO: This money that is of the Oregon Cares Fund, that is now in question because of these suits. How long do you think it will be before that money is actually freed up that could possibly go to the Black businesses?

LF: That depends on how long this particular case decides to go. I anticipate that folks are going to try desperately to get in and moving as quickly as possible. But the money was supposed to go out before the end of the year. So we already know where the money was supposed to go. But with court cases and the way that things work, it could be years before we get a settlement on this situation.

CO: Senator Frederick, we will leave it there. And I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

LF: Well, it's good to talk with you too. And thanks again for the work that you folks are doing up there. Thanks for calling me. Appreciate it.

CH: Lew Frederick is a state senator for Oregon's 22nd District. We reached him in Portland.

[Music]

Justin Trudeau

CH: Justin Trudeau wants you to know that he shares your vaccine frustration. The prime minister gave his first press conference of the year in Ottawa this morning. He was asked about concerns that the provinces have been falling behind on the job of getting coronavirus vaccines out of their supercooled freezers and into Canadians COVID weary arms. Here's some of what Prime Minister Trudeau had to say.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU: I think all Canadians, including me, are frustrated to see vaccines in freezers and not in people's arms. That's why we're going to continue working closely with the provinces, both to deliver vaccines to the provinces and to support them as they need it in terms of getting more vaccines out to vulnerable populations and frontline workers as quickly as possible. We've been able to ramp up over the past number of weeks in terms of vaccine delivery, but now is the time with the new year upon us to really accelerate. And that's certainly what I'll be talking with the premiers about on Thursday, how the federal government can support and help in getting these vaccines even more quickly out to Canadians.

REPORTER: A lot of nurses are being told right now when they're asking about why aren't more doses getting into people's arms instead of sitting in freezers that well, the province has got those vaccines earlier, as you remember, those early doses. So at that time, did there need to be some more federal support to help ramp up this giant vaccination project?

JUSTIN TRUDEAU: We have been working closely with the provinces since the month of May on preparing for eventual vaccine roll-out. The benefits of having received hundreds of thousands of doses before we expected them in the end of December, has allowed us to ramp up our vaccination programs quicker. We have seen some challenges that I think we're all impatient about in terms of getting those vaccines into arms. But we are confident and very hopeful that over the coming weeks the challenges will be overcome and the federal government will continue to work closely with the provinces on ensuring that we're able to get these vaccines out to the most vulnerable and to our frontline workers as quickly as possible. There are many other ways of doing it other than just through hospital centres. And these are things that we're working with and exploring with the provinces on.

CH: That was Prime Minister Trudeau responding to a question from CTV's, Kevin Gallagher.

[Music]

Atlantic COVID reopening

Guest: Kourosh Rad

CH: When it comes to COVID numbers in Canada, it's not all doom and gloom. A spike of cases burst the Atlantic bubble back in November, leading to restaurant shutdowns and travel restrictions. But now case numbers there are low enough that some areas are reopening restaurants a full week ahead of schedule, that includes Halifax. With Nova Scotia currently reporting just 19 active cases province-wide. Kourosh Rad as the owner of Garden Food Bar and Lounge in downtown Halifax. And that's where we reached him.

CO: Kourosh, how does it feel to be opening your restaurant again today?

KOUROSH RAD: Well, it's exciting. It's a bittersweet in that, you know, last Christmas, we don't have a lot of business done. We've lost a lot of people due to COVID, you know. But, you know, a lot of our colleagues across the country are not able to open, but we're excited to be able to open up and welcome people back into our space.

CO: You just found out New Year's Eve that you'd be able to reopen this week. So how much of a scramble has it been to get things ready?

KR: Oh, it's been nuts between trying to find the stuff that we need to bring them back, talking to the suppliers, you know, getting our dishes out of storage and washing them and cleaning them, preparing the space, redoing our menus. It's been an interesting few days, regardless of that we're so thankful you.

CO: And you've been closed since November.

KR: Yeah. So we closed a couple of days before the official order came down. So I think it was November 28 that we closed down.

CO: What about your staff? Are you able to recover them? How have they been doing?

KR: Well, it's the second time going through this, so we were a little better prepared this time going into it. We offered to keep some of them on for the takeoffs and deliveries, we offered to keep them on the health and dental plan that we have for, you know, a period of time. So we managed to retain some of them, but we did lose some. Last time around, it was much longer, it was a three month period and we lost almost everybody during that time. But this time we were better prepared going into it. And I think our staff expected to come back. So some of them are going back to school and such, but the rest of them are excited to come back.

CO: How are they feeling about the comeback?

KR: I had a chat today after, you know, we had a crazy few days. I had a chat with a couple of our staff at the end of the day today. We had a kind of a steady day, obviously, that's nothing compared to what we'd have in December. But it just felt good for them. You know, it feels good, you know, to welcome people back and have them coming in and enjoying themselves, serving them. There is such pleasure. And, you know, we are social creatures, right? There's such pleasure in serving people and seeing them happy and enjoying themselves and talking and laughing. We all had a very good day today.

CO: What's the energy been like in the restaurant?

KR: Amazing all around. This is what makes sense. I mean, people ask me, oh, when COVID is over, what are the lessons you learnt? I'm going. I always tell them I can't wait for COVID to be over so we can go back to normal. And normal for us is a dine-in experience. We are doing takeout and delivery only because we have to. And because of that, I'm just excited to have people coming back in and seeing them sitting down, having dinner, having a drink. You know, it's a profound feeling that a lot of people have lost over the past few months due to COVID. But I know that there's that demand and that excitement for people to come back in.

CO: People who are listening to this are being quite profoundly envious right now that people in Halifax are going to have this opportunity.

KR: I know. And I do talk to friends and family across Canada. You know, I haven't been able to see anyone because we do have the mandatory self isolation requirements. So if anyone comes to Halifax, they do have to self isolate for two weeks. But at the same time, that has paid off, right. Like we have collectively, I was just talking to my partner -- she's American and that's a different case altogether -- but we have worked very hard as Nova Scotians and inside Canada to keep the numbers low. We went through lockdown. We listen to the health authorities. We put the mask on when we were asked to. We kept a distance. And then, you know, when it came down to the end of November, our restaurant, we shut down before the official orders came down because we looked around like, well, we are at the centre of this outbreak, we're going to shut down until it's safe to reopen again, right. So it takes the whole village right? In this case, it takes the whole province for us and it takes ourselves -- the trust in our health officials to tell us what to do and for us to listen. And it's not honestly like you see other countries, you see New Zealand, it takes that collaboration between everybody to get to where we are.

CO: And when you say you look to that day when you'll be back to normal, how normal are things? I mean, is it business as usual or is it limited or what?

KR: Well right now, we are excited to have people around, but we have plexiglass everywhere. We have, you know, six foot distance between the chairs. The staff -- everybody is wearing masks. You know, we can't have late night. We have to close down at 10:00 p.m.. Right now, our last service is at 10:00 p.m. by regulation. You know, this is as good as we can hope for at this point. But normal for me would be the day that you can dance on the dance floor, you know. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to that day. [Chuckles]

CO: And of course, Halifax -- anyone who's been there is such a vibrant place for restaurants and pubs and dancing and music and just that live scene, that street scene. So can you imagine what that is going to be like when you get that restored?

KR: Oh, my God. I think it's just going to be out of this world. We're going to write stories about that. want to, you know, curb my enthusiasm just because I don't want to -- it may be some time off. But once we get there, we're going to see how much we missed over the past several months due to COVID. And I think you're absolutely right, Halifax -- even more so than any other year, at the beginning of to 2020, we had this influx of restaurants and spaces for people to hang out and outdoor spaces. So once we can get that back full swing, I think Halifax is going to be even better than it's ever been.

CO: I totally agree with you. And Kourosh I'm happy for you that at least you have a taste of it. And thank you for speaking with us.

KR: Thank you. And look forward to maybe having you at the restaurant.

CO: [Chuckles] I hope so, yes.

CH: Kouroush Rad is the owner of Garden Food Bar and Lounge in downtown Halifax.

[Music]

Ted DeLaney

CH: When Ted DeLaney started working at Washington and Lee University, it wasn't in the distinguished professorial capacity for which he became known, it was as a custodian. ItHe was just a teenager and it would take Mr. Delaney until his 40s to accumulate enough credits to graduate from the once segregated school. Ted DeLaney died last month at his home in Lexington, Virginia. He was 77, and although a lot changed over his career, one thing never did: he remained a tireless custodian of Washington and Lee, but a custodian of its soul rather than of its hygiene. In 2017, he became a faculty member of a commission set up to address the racist history of a school named in part for Confederate General Robert E. Lee. And when the school rejected many of the commission's recommendations, he didn't go anywhere. In fact, he gave the Washington and Lee convocation address the following year. And as ever, he told the truth.

TED DELANEY: A few weeks ago, the news office ask why I thought I had been selected to give the speech. Perhaps I was chosen because I'm an artifact, a living fossil who has been on the campus for most of my long life. My connection with W & L spans more than 55 years, and it has been multifaceted. Since the age of 19, I've done many things here. My jobs have ranged from custodian, laboratory technician, and biology full time student, worker on the circulation desk in the library, ABD teaching fellow, tenured faculty member, and head of the history department. No one listening to my voice has experienced so many facets of W & L and over such a long period of time. I left a state university where students and faculty were ideologically liberal to return to W & L not because they thought a conservative environment. I returned to W & L because W & L and Lexington are my home. I grew up only a short walk from the campus and rode my bicycle past this chapel since I was a boy. As a 17 year old, I could not apply to W & L because I'm Black, and would graduate some 24 years later -- at the age of 41. I came here to work at age 19 and from that vantage point I was able to view both the desegregation decision as well as the coeducation decision. From my perch, I sometimes overheard students and a few faculty members defend the status quo based merely on tradition. W & L should not admit Black students because it's never been integrated.W & L should not admit women because it never had women students. Defending tradition for the sake of tradition struck me as ant-intellectual. Was that the best argument these individuals could make? One fraternity decorated the front of its house with a very large banner. A banner that read "Better Dead than co-ed." Imagine that -- it would have been better for Washington and Lee to go out of business then to admit women students.

CH: Ted DeLaney was a historian and professor emeritus at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. He died last month at the age of 77. Washington and Lee saw its first African-American students graduate in 1972. Its first female undergrads were admitted in 1985.

[Music]

Part 3: Death row woman

Death row woman

Guest: Sandra Babcock

CH: Lisa Montgomery is the only woman on federal death row in the United States, and now she's slated to be executed. Her execution is one of several the Trump administration has scheduled for the president's final weeks in office. It will take place just days before President-elect Joe Biden takes over. The Democratic leader as opposed to the federal death penalty. So Lisa Montgomery's lawyers are fighting for a delay, a postponement that might save her life. Sandra Babcock is part of that legal team. We reached her in Monterey County, California. And a warning that the details of the murder Ms. Montgomery committed and her own history of abuse are disturbing.

CO: Ms. Babcock, how did your client's execution date end up being so close to the end of President Trump's term?

SANDRA BABCOCK: We do not know why the Trump administration decided to schedule Lisa Montgomery for execution. We know that they have scheduled a number of executions, all of them men who have been on federal death row for quite some time. We never expected them to schedule Lisa for execution, mostly because her case is so compelling, but also because she has been on death row for far less time than any of the other people who the government has scheduled to execute.

CO: And we should point out there have been a whole string of executions in the final days of Mr. Trump's presidency. Why is that? What do you understand about what's going on?

SB: Well, we understand that this administration, the Justice Department is a proponent of the death penalty and that they have made executing prisoners a priority. What we don't know is why they have chosen the people that they have. And that is what seems to us to be an illustration of just how arbitrary these decisions have been, because the people that they have chosen are not the worst of the worst and Lisa Montgomery is a great example of that. She is somebody who has lived a life of unrelenting torment and sexual torture and trauma. She is someone who is deeply scarred by the rapes that she endured at the hands of her father and his friends and the men that her mother trafficked her to. She's somebody who was severely mentally ill as a result, who regularly dissociate from reality. So we were stunned to learn that the Justice Department had selected this woman to be executed when there was really no reason to rush this execution and every reason to halt it.

CO: We'll just give a warning to our listeners that this next part of this is disturbing because what she was convicted of doing, which was of killing a 23 year old woman who was eight months pregnant at the time, and then she cut the baby from that woman's womb and attempted to pass the child off as her own. Are you disputing that she did that?

SB: Not at all. And Lisa herself confessed to this crime in her moments of lucidity. She is deeply remorseful and she is somebody who was always willing to accept a sentence of life imprisonment. But the government insisted on seeking the death penalty, which was really anomalous because we have found 16 other cases in the United States where women have committed almost identical crimes, and in not a single one of those cases are the women facing execution. They have all been sentenced to lesser sentences where their cases have gone to trial, mostly because prosecutors recognise that these are crimes that are the product of mental illness. Lisa's crime is a terrible crime that resulted in a terrible tragedy, but it is inextricably linked from the torture and trauma that she herself experienced and the mental illness that resulted.

CO: What do you say to those who do believe that crimes like the one that Lisa Montgomery committed are so awful that they do merit this punishment?

SB: You know, I think that most people, even those who believe in the death penalty when they understand about Lisa's childhood and they understand the kind of experiences that she had that led to this crime, they realise that this is not the kind of person that the death penalty was intended for.

CO: How is she responding to this news of her pending execution date?

SB: Well, Lisa is someone whose grip on reality is very fragile. Her mental illness, I should say -- her mental illnesses, because she has complex post-traumatic stress disorder, she has bipolar disorder, she was psychotic at the time of her arrest. And the symptoms of her mental illness are only controlled through a complex regimen of antipsychotic medications. So she is having a very very very difficult time right now and it is only going to get worse.

CO: Donald Trump will be your country's most prolific execution president in more than a century. And this string of executions that lead up to his inauguration. Lisa Montgomery is to be one of them. Joe Biden does not believe in the death penalty. Is it possible that Lisa Montgomery will get a reprieve or at least will be postponed long enough that Joe Biden would act differently about this execution?

SB: It is possible. We have not given up hope. We are fighting in the courts and we will be fighting up until the 12th if necessary. And the government is fighting very hard to execute her. But we are encouraged by the number of people, over a thousand different organisations have all come forward to say that this person should not be subjected to the death penalty. We are so hopeful that with all of these voices raised against her execution that the president will hear and will realise that he does not want this stain on the last days of his administration.

CO: We will be watching and following the story, Ms. Babock. I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

SB: Thank you very much Carol. We appreciate it too.

CH: Sandra Babcock is one of the lawyers representing death row inmate Lisa Montgomery. She was in Monterey County, California.

[Music]

Alice Switzer

CH: If you studied art in Edmonton sometime after 1981, you may well have done so in a building affectionately known as the Big Block of Cheese or the Great Pumpkin or the Orange Hub. It's an old elementary school transformed into an art college by the magic of a whole lot of orange. It takes a brave soul to really lean into that colour. And that is a fair description of the artist Alice Switzer, who was in part responsible for its selection. AliceSwitzer died this weekend of covid-19. She was 90 years old. She made her mark in Edmonton in other ways too, by creating works of public art around the city and becoming famous around town for her dedication to the colour purple, at least when it came to her wardrobe. But for buildings, it was orange all the way. Here's Alice Switzer's son, David Switzer, remembering his mother today, including the story of how that orange came to be.

DAVID SWITZER: This story goes like this that her and Stephanie Hawkins, who was another one of the first people that were members of that faculty, that it was kind of ambiguous and they were going through lots of different colour samples and stuff. But after a night of drinking apricot brandy, they decided on that lovely burnt umber colour. So there you go. [Laughter]

ADRIENNE PAN: So clearly, great decisions are made after a night of apricot brandy. [Laughter]

DAVID SWITZER: Well, some good decisions. I can't tell you of all those decisions being this good, but hopefully they are.

ADRIENNE PAN: David, speaking of colours, your mother was actually very attached to another colour. Why purple?

DAVID SWITZER: That colour -- that answer never was. But I can tell you for a very brief time in the early, late 60s and early 70s, it was actually green. But because of the psychedelia of the 70s, it lended to all of a sudden her having all sorts of purple options. So I'm sure that that love of the colour was there, but its accessibility as far as easily found loungewear was much more difficult than it was when we hit the 70s. [Laughter] So it seemed to permeate into her and into all of our lives. But thankfully, she didn't keep that as much as a general aesthetic as it was a personal aesthetic. So our whole house wasn't purple. Our house wasn't painted purple. We didn't even have -- well, we had one purple carpet that was more maroon. [Laughter] So you could get into an argument with her about colours because she'd whip out the colour wheel and she'd say, that's not brown, that's orange No. 163. So you had to always be careful. [Laughter] So thankfully, her purple-ness didn't saturate into everything. But we knew her love of it very much.

CH: David Switzer talking with the CBC's Adrienne Pan about his late mother, Alice Switzer. The Edmonton artist died on Sunday.

[Music]

Ideas Promo: Jesse Wente

CH: Tonight on Ideas, a story of joy with Indigenous writer and broadcaster Jesse Wente, who explains why framing stories about Indigenous people in joy can lead to greater understanding for everyone. Here is Jesse when speaking with Ideas host, Nahlah Ayed, about a laughter filled moment with his Indigenous aunties.

JESSE WENTE: I remember being on a bus in Peru for this was to speak in front of the UN Standing Committee on Indigenous Peoples. And we were going to a sacred site for a ceremony. And it was all these aunties from all over the world, all these incredible Indigenous women from all around, and me, which so privileged to be there. And Nahlah the bus was just filled the entire ride with laughter and joy. And even though we were there to talk about very pressing issues, on this bus ride to have this ceremony, nothing but joy and laughter....

NAHLAH AYED: What does that sound like?

JESSE WENTE: I don't know, because the uncles laugh maybe differently. I don't know. It sounds like home. It sounds like comfort. Sounds like a hug, if that makes sense. But I realised though, that, like, you know, I'm on that bus and I was in those rooms. But when I think about what Canadians see or what the outside world sees of our communities, maybe they don't actually have ever seen that bus.

CH: A story of joy with Anishinaabe writer and broadcaster Jesse Wente, tonight on Ideas after As It Happens.

[Music]

Canadian airline rules

Guest: Mike McNaney

CH: Canada's big airline bosses are asking the transport minister for a reprieve. With COVID numbers spiking, the Trudeau government says that as of Thursday, it's going to require airline passengers to prove they've had a negative covid test before they can get on a flight into Canada from abroad. The airlines say it can't be done. They've written to the transport minister to say they haven't been consulted and will need a delay until later this month, if not longer. Mike McNaney is the president of the National Airlines Council of Canada. We reached him in Calgary.

CO: Mr. McNaney, the federal government believes it gave airlines sufficient warning about this. Why do you think they need an extension?

MIKE MCNANEY: Well, the reality is that we are now a little over 24 hours away from the program starting and the government has not finalised the rules and regulations. And evn when we do receive the regulations, it is clear that they are still working on information and trying to address the myriad of questions we have asked them over the past week and that they're going to need to provide additional regulations in the ensuing weeks. So the government itself is scrambling to get its homework done, which means the industry and passengers are going to be scrambling as well. And the government stating that a week is enough time. Clearly a week has not even been enough time for the government to finalise its own regulations to tell industry how we are supposed to implement the policy in the first place.

CO: Right. So what this measure is, is that people must present a negative results test and that has to have been taken no more than 72 hours prior to departure unless that testing is unavailable. That seems pretty clear. And we've known that probably something like this was coming for some time now. What's vague about it?

MM: Well, what you what you've just described there is the general details of the approach. But there's going to be exemptions and exceptions. There's going to be different requirements potentially from different jurisdictions on how it is applied. And we have a myriad of questions as well in terms of application for transiting passengers and others. And we also have questions around the form in which the test results are to be presented and how we are to ensure the veracity of those test results. We also are still waiting for actual guidance material that goes into greater detail on how the overall regulations are to be applied.

CO: But I guess the message we're getting from Marc Garneau and from the federal government is that they are trying to keep the airlines moving and running at the same time as securing public health. And that's not just for the passengers, it's for all of us -- those passengers will come in contact with and for all those employees in those airports and on those airlines that you're describing. So to delay it, doesn't that just increase the risk of infection for all kinds of people?

MM: Well, we're actually all trying to achieve the same objective. And the frustration from this, it is not moving forward with a testing regime. We have been full throttle supporters for the development of a concise, science based testing regime for Canada and have been trying for five months to get the government to develop such a regime with us. The challenge we face right now is that the announcement last week, there was no previous engagement with industry where we could actually work with them to develop the announcement and develop the regulations. And now trying to do that in a one week time period, as I said, we are now a handful of hours away from the beginning of this program and the government has still not signed off and finalised the regulations. And until the government is actually signed off and finalised the regulations, by definition, they are not final. When you don't have all the details, when you don't have clarity, by definition, you will have confusion and disjointed application. And that is what's going to ensue come Thursday.

CO: Okay. But you are saying that this should have been done some time ago, but at the same time, you're asking for an extension on the deadline that the minister has given of Thursday. And so at some point, you just have to say, okay, let's just jump in, let's get this done. It's incumbent on the passengers to get the tests and it'll be incumbent on the airlines to ensure those tests are done with exceptions, all kinds of them, as you point out. So at some point, you just have to ask, don't you?

MM: You have to act, but you have to act in a coordinated fashion. To your analogy of jump in and let's get it done, well, that is what we are desperately trying to do, given the position we have been placed by the government's announcement -- that is exactly what we are trying to do. We know from the complications of putting out a broad border based measure, which is exactly what this is, that we are the front line implementation of it, not the government. It is our employees at airports around the world who are going to be the first individuals that passengers engage in the implementation of this new requirement. So we are absolutely going to try all we can to do it properly. But as we said from the outset, moving from an announcement to then tactical implementation in less than a week when the government itself is still finalising the regulations and approach, a week is not sufficient.

CO: How different is this from what we've known, international travellers have known travelling with yellow immunisation booklets along with their passports -- how difficult is this actually to pull off?

MM: What you have to factor into all of this are a number of things you have to factor in the tone and the process in which you are going to ensure the veracity of the testing results. You have to start looking at how we are going to incorporate vaccinations and vaccination results and the means in which passengers are going to present that information to airline personnel around the world. And we can ensure the veracity of that information. We have to look at how we are going to ensure that contact tracing is pulled into that process in a real and robust fashion. How do you want to utilise testing and the timing of the testing? These are all the elements that need to be worked into this. And because we are going to be living with the vaccines, obviously give us all hope, but we are going to be living with the virus for an indeterminate time period, we need to then move to a much more robust platforms for the presentation of that information and you have seen the International Civil Aviation Organisation, you have seen ICAO and others have all raised the need to ensure that we were able to secure that data and present it properly so you can deal with fraud and that you can ensure the true application of the policy and the protection of public health. None of that has happened. And that is what we have been saying to government for the past five or six months, that we need to work together to implement. We will do everything we can in the very short time frame that has been presented for Thursday. But we are very concerned about the confusion that is going to exist and the potential for a great many people to be stranded.

CO: All right. We'll be following these developments. Mr. McNaney thank you.

MM: Thank you.

CH: Mike McNaney is the president of the National Airlines Council of Canada. We reached him in Calgary.

[Music]

Constance Isherwood

CH: When we spoke with Constance Isherwood one year ago, she told us she might consider retiring pretty soon thereafter. After all, practising law is demanding and exhausting. And Ms. Isherwood is 100 years old. She's lived through two pandemics. She went to law school in the 1940s at a time when it was not a welcoming place for women, and she'll turn 101 in a few weeks. But the one thing she is not done yet is retire. According to her sister in law, the Victoria, B.C. lawyer is still working four to five hours a day. Last January, Carol spoke with Mrs. Sherwood about what it felt like to turn 100. Here's what she said.

CONSTANCE ISHERWOOD: It certainly feels younger than 100. I am not quite sure what 100 supposed to feel like. [Laughter] But I think back at 90 and 80 and 70 -- it doesn't seem to be much different.

CO: Well, I mean, for a lot of people, by the time they're even those ages, they've stopped working. And you're still going to work each morning at 100 years old. What keeps you going? Why do you want to keep your job as a lawyer?

CI: The practice of law is very intriguing, of course. And the clients that you meet are people you want to help. So that keeps you interested. And of course, going to work keeps your body active and mind active, which is a good thing at any age.

CO: There's something else that is intriguing about the way you work is that you're not into any of the new technology. Not even old technology. No computers. You use a typewriter, you use landlines. What's all that about?

CI: Well, we do have an electric adding machine and we have an electric typewriter. [Chuckles] And I thought we were really getting quite modern. [Laughter] However, I do realize that the computer age is upon us and is very valuable in a law office. And as time went along, my son became my computer man.

CO: Are you going to keep on doing this? Is it any thought of retiring? Any plans for the future?

CI: Well, as far as retirement goes, I've always said, "well, maybe next year. Maybe next year." But now that I'm a hundred, I don't know whether that answer is quite suitable.

CO: Okay, so what advice do you give to people? Because people much much younger than you are feeling old and crotchety and leaving for retirement and sort of giving up on things. What's your advice?

CI: Well, I always say three things: Keep breathing. That's so very important. There's hardly anybody in the world who is alive now, who is not breathing. Number two is: Keep working. And I find that having worked through all the years, that helps to keep you young. And then number three is: Keep smiling. The person who wrote: when you are smiling, the whole world smiles with you. He knew what he was talking about.

CH: That was Constance Isherwood speaking with Carol one year ago. Ms. Isherwood will 101 on January 19th.

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January 5, 2021 Episode Transcript

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