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The Loop Transcript for September 17, 2021

Hosts: Clare Bonnyman, Min Dhariwal

CLARE BONNYMAN: Hey, I’m Clare Bonnyman.

MIN DHARIWAL: And I’m Min Dhariwal.

CLARE BONNYMAN: And welcome to “The Loop”.

[music: theme]

Prologue

CLARE BONNYMAN: Well, we kind of knew this was coming. As of midnight on Wednesday, the province has entered a public state of emergency. New measures came into effect both Thursday morning, and more will come on Monday, September 20th. But, Min, I feel this wasn't surprising.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah, no, I think we... a lot of people anticipated it was coming. We just never knew when it's going to come, right?

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah, exactly.

MIN DHARIWAL: We're just hanging on and hanging on. And then yesterday, it dropped.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah, things were getting bad enough that, you know, I mean, I know even though we knew it was coming.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

CLARE BONNYMAN: And I watched the presser when the emergency alert went off on my phone on Wednesday.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yes.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Scared the heck out of me!

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

CLARE BONNYMAN: But let's kind of run through what's happening because we're back at December of 2020 in a lot of ways.

MIN DHARIWAL: Right.

CLARE BONNYMAN: So for those who are unvaccinated, there are no indoor private social gatherings permitted. And there are limits on private gatherings, too, even if you are vaccinated.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah, absolutely. That's... that's exactly it. And limited to two households, up to 10 people or those who live alone can have two non-household social contacts. You might need to look at that to try and actually [Clare chuckles] have it absorbed, right?

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah, understand. Yeah.

MIN DHARIWAL: Weddings, funerals, retail, indoor sport, and entertainment venues are all facing restrictions. Places of worship as well. And those are limited to one-third of fire code capacity. There is a new plan for proof of vaccination, what the province is calling a Restrictions Exemption Program. Not a passport.

CLARE BONNYMAN: No, not a passport.

MIN DHARIWAL: But it's a Restrictions Exemption Program. And that program will come into play Monday for restaurants, who can choose to close or to participate.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah, and there's still no mandatory vaccination requirement, of course.

MIN DHARIWAL: Right.

CLARE BONNYMAN: But those who choose not to get vaccinated will have to, as part of this REP program, they'll have to show a recent negative test result to go to bars, indoor organized events, all that jazz. We're also in a mandatory work-from-home order now. So unless an employer determines physical presence is required, most people are being asked to stay home.

MIN DHARIWAL: Right.

CLARE BONNYMAN: And schools will require mandatory masking for students grade four and up, plus staff and teachers in all grades.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yep! And on Monday, along with the Restrictions Exemption Program, restaurants are limited to outdoor dining only if they're choosing not to participate in a proof of vaccination. Maximum six people per table and liquor sales will end at 10:00.

CLARE BONNYMAN: [exhales] It does feel like deja vu, a little.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

CLARE BONNYMAN: And, I mean, I know for me, it's sparked a whole lot of conversations within my household of one.

MIN DHARIWAL: Right!

CLARE BONNYMAN But, Min, like how about you? How do you think you'll be reacting? You'll be changing? We're both fully vaccinated.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yes. And so, to a certain extent, I feel as though a lot of these restrictions won't really have a huge impact on me.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah.

MIN DHARIWAL: But... but I don't know about you, Clare. You know, yesterday listening to the premiere and just, you know, I probably should have stayed off Twitter, [Clare chuckles] but it's just like... I'm just burnt by the whole thing, right?

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah, well, it's been relentless, right? And we're at this point where we knew this was coming.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

CLARE BONNYMAN: But it doesn't make it easier.

MIN DHARIWAL: No, it doesn't. And… and... it's... I feel like we're the laughing stock a little bit in the country right now. You know, I've had friends text me right away. I mean, other people were watching this, and they're just like, what... what's happening where you're living right now? Like, what's happening there?

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah. Any time that my family in Toronto is actually paying attention to Alberta --

MIN DHARIWAL: Right.

CLARE BONNYMAN: And they text me without me telling them what's going on first. I'm always like, oh! [chuckling]

MIN DHARIWAL: But I think a lot of people, even who are outside of Alberta, are kind of like, well, let them figure it out now. Like, it's --

CLARE BONNYMAN: Well, we're an interesting case study. We're doing things very differently and not better than many other provinces. And we're making some interesting choices.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah, I've seen some people, you know, public comments out saying they sympathize with what the people are going through in Alberta. I mean, I sympathize with the people who don't have family members or friends anymore, you know? I can't even imagine what that must feel like. And I don't even want to think of what that feels like.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah.

MIN DHARIWAL: But there are so many people like that in this province who are living that reality.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah, absolutely.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

Sorry, Not Sorry

Guest: Hannah Kost

CLARE BONNYMAN: And, I mean, it's just... it's been a week. It's been another week.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

CLARE BONNYMAN: But all of these restrictions, a public state of emergency, that terrifying emergency alert sound. And then there was this.

SOUNDCLIP

JASON KENNEY: I know that we had all hope this summer that we could put COVID behind us once and for all. That was certainly my hope. And I said so very clearly. Based on our analysis of other jurisdictions around the world with similar rates of vaccination, we believed that we could prudently move away from addressing COVID as a pandemic, and towards an endemic. It is now clear that we were wrong. And for that, I apologize.

DR. DEENA HINSHAW: I feel very responsible for the narrative that has made it more complicated to try to put additional public health measures in place because whether or not it was my intention, what was heard at the end of July was: COVID's over. We can walk away and ignore it. And that has had repercussions. And... and I deeply regret how that has played out.

CLARE BONNYMAN: That was Premier Jason Kenney and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw, apologizing... sort of. This week, The COVID-19 situation in Alberta reached a breaking point. We're recording this Thursday, the morning after the big announcement. And to break down the current situation in the province, CBC reporter Hannah Kost joins us now. Hey, Hannah.

HANNAH KOST: Hey, Clare. How's it going?

CLARE BONNYMAN: It's going all right. You know, this week was interesting.

HANNAH KOST: [both chuckle] Yes, it has been!

CLARE BONNYMAN: What did you think watching the presser and hearing all the new restrictions come into play?

HANNAH KOST: Well, we heard a long list of changes, and it seemed like many people were commenting on how long it kind of took Shandro to get through all of the nuances of this latest phase.

CLARE BONNYMAN: [chuckling] Yeah.

HANNAH KOST: But the big news is the proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test requirements and what the government is calling the Vaccine Exemption Program. Now, it is a proof of vaccination program, but the government is not using the same vaccine passport terminology that we're hearing from other places. Basically, it's... it seems to work the same. But as of September 20th, all restaurants will either have to opt into the Restriction Exemption Program or close to indoor dining. This proof of vaccination will also apply to other businesses and social gatherings, but it will only come into play on the 20th, as the government rules out actual cards and fixes some issues on the My Health Records site, which currently has really long wait times. The province announced kind of a three-pronged approach to the fourth wave: maximizing health care capacity, reducing transmission by reducing interaction, and getting as many people as possible vaccinated.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah, but like maximizing health care capacity is a big one because we've been hearing all week, or even for a couple of weeks now, about the stress on the health care system. From where we're sitting now, what does that actually look like?

HANNAH KOST: Well, without intervention, Kenney said last night that hospitals in the province may run out of staff and intensive care beds within the next ten days. The province has more active cases than anywhere else in Canada. And by contrast, Ontario has a population more than three times ours. But we have more than twice the amount of people in hospital. The province also announced yesterday that they are looking outside of Alberta for additional ICU beds and staff. And Verna Yiu, the CEO of AHS, said they had a few options left on the table.

CLARE BONNYMAN: This feels like a huge 180, right? I mean, we all remember the province of the best summer ever. Did they address that at all this week?

HANNAH KOST: Well, the government admitted trying to jump from pandemic to endemic was too quick. They said it seemed like the right thing to do based on the data that they were using. But Kenny said last night it was clear that they were wrong, and he apologized. But then, later on, he seemed to kind of walk that back, saying he didn't apologize for the decision to relax public health restrictions in the summer. And responding to journalists, he was adamant that the data that they saw early in the summer did not predict a fourth wave.

CLARE BONNYMAN: I mean, so as we heard off the top, this week has been kind of full of weird apologies. Monday, Dr. Hinshaw told Primary Care Network physicians that she deeply regrets her part in contributing to this narrative that COVID's over. But what did she have to say Wednesday night?

HANNAH KOST: Some of the same. She expressed regret. She was asked by reporters if she was going to resign? And Premier Kenney came to her defence. But Hinshaw also directly said last night that in early August, they began to see evidence that cases and hospitalizations were not decoupling as they had predicted. And that means for about a month-and-a-half, they began to realize their plan wasn't working. And we are just now seeing stricter action being taken by the government. And so, it seems like there are lots of questions about when she presented information and suggestions to the premier's office and when those were actually implemented? And those went unanswered last night.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Were there any other moments from this week's big presser and big announcements that stood out to you?

HANNAH KOST: Well, something from both the Hinshaw video and the conference last night that I think has generated a lot of conversation is this repeated assertion that the fourth wave caught the government by surprise. Hinshaw told doctors in the Monday Zoom meeting that, quote, Delta caught a lot of us unawares. But it certainly did not seem to catch many other health experts in the province unaware. They raised the alarm about a fourth wave on social media and in the media for weeks after open for summer was announced. And those experts and the journalists who reported what they said were kind of dismissed by some people in government who said in June that the pandemic was ending and that people were spreading fear. And now it's come to pass. So I think at this point, the questions that seem to be on a lot of Albertans minds are, you know, if so many health experts in the province saw this coming, why didn't the experts in our government? And how difficult is it going to be to get people to understand how serious this is now after hearing it was ending before?

[music: ambient instrumental]

The Canadian Elect-Min

CLARE BONNYMAN: Well, in a matter of days, Canada votes for a new federal leader. Already, though, there have been close to six million ballots cast in advance polls. So the line-up on Monday may not take as long as you think. In Alberta, federal elections usually end up in a wave of blue -- 33 out of the 34 most recent MPs from the province are Conservatives, with the lone NDP candidate Heather McPhearson coming from Edmonton. But will that be the case this time? To find out more, Mr. Min Dhariwal has been taking a closer look at "Election 2021". So, Min, what did you find?

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah, "Federal Election 101", Clare. [Clare chuckles] And it is in full swing. And it's, you know, and it's certainly not hard to notice all the signage out there.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Oh yeah!

MIN DHARIWAL: I know one day, I just found myself looking at, you know, municipal election signs --

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah.

MIN DHARIWAL: Followed by, you know, federal election signs, someone running for mayor, someone running for the Liberals, someone running for the Conservatives.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah, colourful lawns.

MIN DHARIWAL Oh yeah! I mean, it's... if you're a passenger in a vehicle or on a bus, it's pretty entertaining. But, you know, and we're also in the midst of this pandemic still. Lots of questions about this one right now. You know, was it the right time to call an election? Was this self-serving on behalf of the Liberal government? You know, are people focussed on the election with all the baggage that's come with this pandemic? I mean, people are going through real-life issues right now. And is an election something that's going to be high on their priority list? So here's some of the random comments we got from some people earlier this week. We were just at a parking lot outside of a mall in Northside.

SOUNDCLIP

MAN: Well, I think they're just giving money away like crazy, and we're going to end up paying for it at the end after. They've got nothing to offer me.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah. So what about voting? Are you --

MAN: I'm not going to vote.

MIN DHARIWAL: Have you ever done that before, or is this --

MAN: Voting? Yeah.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah. I mean, not voting?

MAN: Not... no, I always vote. But this one here, with COVID and everything, I don't even want to be, you know, they should have to votes outside instead of inside buildings.

MAN #2: I guess so, yeah. Like, for myself, because the election days I'm in the Edmonton, I already requested the mail-in ballot. So I already done my share. [laughing]

MIN DHARIWAL: Done your vote?

MAN #2: Yeah. Yeah.

MIN DHARIWAL: What's your take, Brian, on what you've been seeing? What do you think is going to happen next week?

BRIAN: I don't think Trudeau is going to get in. I think everybody doesn't want him in.

MAN #3: I don't know they can solve the problem about what we're facing right now. I'm not sure about that?

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah, a lot of not sure about that. And, you know, that the first person that we talked to --

CLARE BONNYWAM: Yeah.

MIN DHARIWAL: Saying that he didn't want... he wasn't going to vote, and he's always voted. I mean, I was... I was surprised to hear that, right?

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah, some people clearly into it, many not into it, a little bit of both sides.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah!

CLARE BONNYMAN: But it also hasn't been a long campaign. And it feels like as we got into September, things actually ramped up, right?

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this election was called on August 15th. And I think part of that is, you know, you're in the summer mode still. And once you head towards the end of... or at least the end of August, that changes. And so, we've been in this campaign for about almost five weeks. And since then, if you've been following along, we've seen the main leaders of the parties travelling from one side of the country to the other. And most of it has been pretty civil. I would say that's been the case for most of the leaders. But for Trudeau, there have been some really ugly moments, I would say. People hurling insults at him, hurling stuff at him, you know, him hurling stuff back.

CLARE BONNYMAN: [chuckle] Yeah.

MIN DHARIWAL: I mean, it's... it's been wild, Clare, to see.

CLARE BONNYMAN: It's gone both ways.

MIN DHARIWAL: Some of that. So I caught up with Zain Velji, who is a political strategist in Calgary, on where people's heads might be at this election?

SOUNDCLIP

ZAIN VELJI: I think there's many people dealing with many things. There's so many, you know, converging factors heading into this election from a pandemic, to burnout, to back-to-school, to not being interested or engaged in… in… in the... in the race, to being turned off by the level of rhetoric and vitriol. There's so many reasons not to engage. And I think what we are seeing is certainly a cohort of people that are rejecting this election's premise. I think many of them will come around to it, especially if it's framed as a choice between a couple of leaders versus a referendum on Justin Trudeau. That's explicitly what the Liberals are trying to make this final week. That if this is a referendum against Trudeau, they probably lose. But if this is a choice between the Conservatives and the Liberals, they have a much better chance of winning an election that has that sort of phrasing or phraseology.

CLARE BONNYMAN: I mean, we talked about it off the top, right?

MIN DHARIWAL: Mm-hmm.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Alberta's huge backing of the Conservative government. We're, I think, it's fair to say blue.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yes.

CLARE BONNYMAN: [chuckling] Pretty, pretty darn blue as a province.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yep!

CLARE BONNYMAN: Erin O'Toole has come through here on his campaign trail. Can he convince Canadians this time and actually take over Ottawa?

MIN DHARIWAL: Well, you know what? I certainly think from the time that Erin O'Toole was named the Conservative leader to, you know, now, three days before the final day of the election, he has come a huge way. I mean, just this week, he received a very, very public show of support from former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. And you know what? That was in Quebec. Brian Mulroney has a big presence in Quebec. And so, I think that was a big endorsement for him. It also came on the heels of Trudeau getting public support from former Liberal PM Jean Chretien as well. So, definitely, everyone is pulling out all the stops. But I think if you've been following the polls since the campaign started, O'Toole was lagging behind Trudeau. And I think that people were left wondering, you know, if he could close that gap at all. Well, I think he answered that bell, and then some. I mean, they are neck and neck. And this, I think, will go down to the wire. One of the latest CBC News polls has both parties at around 31 per cent. So Liberals and Conservatives at one and two. Jagmeet Singh is next with 21 per cent. The bloc Québecois with Yves-François Blanchet, and the People's Party with Maxime Bernier, next at six per cent, which is... that's big, too, for the PPC.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah!

MIN DHARIWAL: I mean, I don't think anybody expected that.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Definitely not!

MIN DHARIWAL: And then, of course, the Greens with Annamie Paul at just over three per cent. Here's more from Zain Velji on the race, and who's got the edge?

SOUNDCLIP

ZV: For the most part, we've had one predominant narrative, which is Aaron O'Toole, a Conservative leader that prior to the election called, many thought was not viable to win, now finds himself in a position to... to fundamentally really secure a form of government should his momentum continue with a minority or majority, which also seems a little bit out of reach for him. So the big storyline that I'm looking at is the O'Tool bump. Is it a sugar high? Was it real when it started? And can he continue it going forward?

CLARE BONNYMAN: So, I mean, is it going to be a slam dunk, Right?

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

CLARE BONNYMAN: [chuckling] Are we going to see the Conservatives sweep the city this time around?

MIN DHARIWAL: Well, I mean, I think that's the big question.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah.

MIN DHARIWAL: And there's a... there's a couple of different ridings for sure, Clare, that people will have their eyes on. Mill Woods being one of them, where incumbent Tim Uppal will be seeking his second straight victory. He'll be facing a former longtime councillor, Ben Henderson, right? And, of course, he faced Amarjeet Sohi before that. Ben Henderson is running for the Liberals in that riding. He'll be seeking his first election win federally, trying to make the jump to Ottawa. Here's Grant McEwen political scientist Chaldeans Mensah on what he thinks we'll see in that riding, which along with Edmonton Centre, he considers them both swing ridings.

SOUNDCLIP

CHALDEANS MENSAH: In this instance, here, we have an incumbent, Tim Uppal. Last time he faced a very tough battle with Amarjeet Sohi, who is now running for mayor. Now Ben Henderson has been put in that position. He has huge name recognition. I think he'll put up a fight. The problem for Ben Henderson in that particular riding, I believe, is the NDP candidate. I think you're going to find potential for a split of the progressive vote. And that could really hurt Ben Henderson. So if… for Ben Henderson to overcome this hindrance, there has to be a lot of strategy that goes on among the progressive voters in that riding to be able to pull it off.

MIN DHARIWAL: And I think a split of the vote is going to be... is going to be something we'll see right across the country in a number of different ridings, right? And it'll be the difference-maker, in my opinion, right?

CLARE BONNYMAN: Absolutely! Yeah.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah. I mean, it's... it's really interesting, the ridings in the city and how things have shifted --

MIN DHARIWAL: Yes!

CLARE BONNYMAN: This time around and just with new faces.

MIN DHARIWAL: Mmm-hmm.

CLARE BONNYMAN: But an older face.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yes.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Perhaps. How about Maxime Bernier?

MIN DHARIWAL: Wow!

CLARE BONNYMAN: He's had a lot of people showing up to his rallies.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah!

CLARE BONNYMAN: He has tweeted a lot about Alberta.

MIN DHARIWAL: Mmm-hmm.

CLARE BONNYMAN: What kind of impact could the PPC have here?

MIN DHARIWAL: Well, I mean, I think Maxime Bernier is this wild card that nobody thought really, you know, was going to kind of get out of the gates with... with any kind of momentum. But he's, like, you know, maybe a small "j" juggernaut right now, right? [Clare chuckles] With the support that he's managed to --

CLARE BONNYMAN: Small "J", yes!

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah! [Clare chuckles] This is very much a right-wing party. And according to the CBC Poll Tracker, they have the fourth-highest share of the vote heading into the 20th. So I don't think people saw that coming.

CLARE BONNYMAN: No.

MIN DHARIWAL: And last weekend, Bernier launched a three-day tour of Alberta. Hundreds of people showed up right here in our city at Bordon Park to hear him speak. You know, Bernier rallied against vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions. By the way, he's made it public that he is not vaccinated, and he doesn't mask when he goes to any of these events. Yeah, he's certainly taken advantage of looser, like, health guidelines in our province. He had a maskless meet and greet at a church in Spruce Grove last weekend.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Right.

MIN DHARIWAL: And, you know, he uses catchphrases like respect for freedom and choice. As well as, you can vote for the PPC, or you can vote for tyranny.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Oooo!

MIN DHARIWAL: So --

CLARE BONNYMAN: Pretty black and white.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah. So, some people have jumped on that, right? So, you know, if you hear him speak, you'll... you'll hear him talk about balanced budgets and immigration and climate change. But what seems to have galvanized his support, really, is everything that has to do with COVID.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah.

MIN DHARIWAL: And, you know, this is where the anti-vaxx, anti-mask, anti-COVID restrictions crowd appears to have gone. Here's more from Zain.

SOUNDCLIP

ZV: Every party is running a 365, 24/7 political operation. And if you are a PPC or a fringe party in this country, yes, electoral success and playing spoiler against the Conservative delivers, like, some sweet fruit for you, and it's useful, and it's a triangulation point. But this will continue. The fact that it got heat and light through the pressure cooker of this election is because this election and they serged. They're going to continue this sort of behaviour, unfortunately, because it's advantageous to them to fundraise, to build support, to be a pain in the side. And should they in some way find a seat or two in Parliament, they will have even more justification to keep going.

CLARE BONNYMAN: I love the idea of the election as a pressure cooker.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

CLARE BONNYMAN: [chuckling] That feels very on the nose.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah, I mean, and on some days, it certainly has felt like that. And I think Maxime Bernier could certainly have a dent on Erin O'Toole's ambitions as far as getting a majority or getting... maximizing seats because he could pull away some of those voters.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah, the very intense Conservative base, right?

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

CLARE BONNYMAN: But what are some of the other ridings to look out for? I mean, I know there's one on the north side here that looks like a pretty interesting race right now.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah, there certainly is, Clare. I mean, especially with Edmonton Griesbach. And that's where incumbent Kerry Diotte initially won in 2015. He won in 2019 with just over 50 per cent of the vote. But this time around, if you live in that riding, you'll notice a number of signs, at least I did when I drove through just along 137th Ave there, a newcomer and NDP candidate, Blake Desjarlais. Many think that he's... he's made a dent and can give Diotte a run for his money. I think it'll be tough, and it depends on how many votes he can get away from the Liberal candidate as well in that riding. And there's also been a change to just, you know, some of the boundaries of that Riding. Here's more from Chaldeans Mensah.

SOUNDCLIP

CM: This time, it's going to be… it's a big contest between the Conservative, Kerry Diotte, and the challenger in that riding is going to be the NDP candidate, Blake Desjarlais. And the reason for that is that that particular riding has been redrawn. Part of it used to be Edmonton East, which the NDP has won in the past if you go back into the late 80s, the days of an MP called Ross Harvey. So he's won… they won that riding, that part of Edmonton, before. So this redrawn riding has elements, has parts of the Edmonton East in it. Again, the thing to watch out for, and I think the NDP candidate is going to be critical, the thing to watch out for is a split of the progressive vote.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah, that split of the progressive vote. There it is again, right?

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah

MIN DHARIWAL: We hear that. But I think in this riding for sure, the different boundaries that encompass... encompass Edmonton East could... could have a big impact on... on who wins this. It all depends on if that support for the NDP is still there in Edmonton East. And if people come out.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Oooo. I mean, I guess we're just going to see what happens Monday, right?

MIN DHARIWAL: Yes, Monday. And maybe... it might take a few days after that until we get the... get the final tally.

CLARE BONNYMAN: [chuckling] This is next week's problem.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yes.

[music: tense instrumental]

Julie Rohr Obit

CLARE BONNYMAN: It's fair to say the Internet has not been the happiest place lately. But this week, a story of love and hope from right here in Edmonton kind of took over.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Min, how would you describe Julie Rohr?

MIN DHARIWAL: Well, I mean, she is certainly a woman with humility.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Mmm-hmm.

MIN DHARIWAL: With so much, you know, courage, grace, and to... to be public about what she, you know, is going through. Amazing.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah. Because she was diagnosed with cancer.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Has been sharing her battle very publicly.

MIN DHARIWAL: Right.

CLARE BONNYMAN: And invited a lot of people into what is a super hard time [slight chuckle] for herself and her family and her community.

MIN DHARIWAL: I'm not sure how... how she was able to do that. I mean, you know, going through a battle against cancer, I mean, energywise and just with so much emotion already.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Absolutely.

MIN DHARIWAL: For her to share it, I think has been a special moment for many people who’ve tuned in.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah. And it speaks a lot to who Julie is.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

CLARE BONNYMAN: And, this week, Julie passed away. But not before her friends and community sent as much love as they could.

MIN DHARIWAL: Mmm-hmm.

CLARE BONNYMAN: All, of course, via the Internet.

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah.

CLARE BONNYMAN: The hashtag: #welovejulierohr went wild.

MIN DHARIWAL: Absolutely!

CLARE BONNYMAN: And, Min, I know it was all over my timeline. [chuckling] How about yours?

MIN DHARIWAL: Yeah, it felt like daily, I was seeing someone from Schitt's Creek or, you know, some Hollywood star or sporting icon, you know, giving her... sending her messages of love and support. And the messages, the ones I saw, they just seemed so genuine and full of love. So --

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah.

MIN DHARIWAL: It's great to know that... that, those messages got to her and got into her heart.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Yeah. I mean, we're talking Rick Mercer, Eugene Levy, Connor McDavid. There was a private concert from Chantal Kreviazuk, right?

MIN DHARIWAL: Yes.

CLARE BONNYMAN: Many of Julie's favourite actors, singers and celebrities all sent her these wishes of strength. And thanks to social media, the world was able to give a little bit of love to someone that's given the city a whole lot.

SOUNDCLIP

[music: wistful instrumental]

DAN LEVY: Julie, Dan Levy here. On behalf of the cast and crew of Schitt's Creek, we are so glad that you loved our show. We're so glad that it has brought you joy. And we are all, each and every one of us, sending you so much love right now.

KAREN ROBINSON: Hi, Julie. It's Karen Robinson. And, girl! I hear you love our show. So I just wanted to send all of that love right back at you and just keep it going in a loop. What I keep picking up all over Twitter is that you... you are... you are it. When God made you, she did OK. She... she did better than OK. Anyway, I am holding you and your family in my heart. I am holding space for you in my heart.

RYAN REYNOLDS: Well, hey there Julie. It's Ryan Reynolds. I just want to send this little video and let you know, I'm thinking about you. I heard a little bit about your story. And one of the things that struck me about your story is that you... you... you are beloved by so many people and people. Enough people that that message got all the way to me out here in Boston. Anyway, I want to send lots of love. Stay strong. I hope I get to meet you in person one of these days.

BRITTLESTAR: Hey, Julie, it's Brittlestar here. I had to check to make sure you followed me, not for my own ego's sake, but just so that you knew who the hell this was. Because I... apparently, you do follow me. And I appreciate that. So thank you so much. I just wanted to say one thing, and that is I could have gone before Dan Levy and Ryan Reynolds, because I just look, I mean, [sigh] that’s a lot of competition for me. And it looks like I’ve... like you took those two people and mashed them... like I'd eaten both of those people and then aged. It's... that's that's my thing. I have to get over that. That's fine. That's fine. Listen, you have a lot of people who love you. And these videos are spreading a lot of joy on the Internet. And that's a wonderful thing to be able to do. So thank you for the opportunity to help spread some happiness. And stay awesome.

RICK MERCER: Hi, Julie. Rick Mercer here. I just wanted to take a moment and say hello, and wish you well during what I know is a very, very difficult time. You're clearly a very courageous individual who will have a lot of friends who love you very much. I mean, who am I kidding? They must love you a lot. I mean, they love you so much they turned the entire Twitterverse upside down just like that because they love you. I mean, who does that? I don't know. They're your friends, not mine. You'll have to take that up with them. But I'm glad they did because it does give me this opportunity to tell you that I'm thinking about you like I know so many other people are. And I wish you only all the best. Be strong.

[music fades]

CLARE BONNYMAN: If you want to know more about Julie, she did a piece with CBC Edmonton in her own words a few years ago. It's called, “I'm a mom and cancer won't change that”. We're going to link to that in the episode show notes. But her family posted on Twitter on Thursday a goodbye message from Julie herself. And we'd like to end the episode today with her words. Every day is a gift. May yours be full of beauty and wonder.

[music: theme]

CLARE BONNYMAN: “The Loop” is a weekly podcast from CBC Edmonton. And our team is: Min Dhariwal, Leslie Goldstone, Corey Haverstock, Krystina Silva, and James Evans. Our theme music is “Change Your Mind” by Edmonton musician Jom Comyn. And I'm Claire Bonnyman. Thank you as always for listening because there’s a lot to know. And you can jump into “The Loop” with us. We come out every Friday. And let us know what you think. Leave us a rating or a review. You can do that wherever you find the show, of course. Or if you want to get in touch, there are ways to do that. Right, Min?

MIN DHARIWAL: Yes, there certainly are, Clare. You can get in touch. We have an email: theloop@cbc.ca. Use: #TheLoopCBC on social media. Or you can reach out to us via Twitter. I am, of course: @mindhariwal. And, Clare, you are?

CLARE BONNYMAN: No, I'm going to make you do it.

MIN DHARIWAL: @Nabbyknob

CLARE BONNYMAN: [chuckling] No! @namynnob!

MIN DHARIWAL: Oh my goodness! [Clare chuckles] I’m o-for-two

CLARE BONNYMAN: [laughing] And, of course, follow the show on “CBC. Listen” or your favourite podcasting app.

[music: theme]

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Transcript: The Loop September 17, 2021

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