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The AIH Transcript For November 29, 2021

[hosts]Carol Off, Chris Howden[/hosts]

CAROL OFF: Hello, I'm Carol Off.

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

[music: theme]

Prologue

CH: Tonight:

CO: A dose of their owned medicines. A South African vaccine director says that if the developed world is worried about the Omicron variant, it should stop hoarding and start helping everyone access the shots they need.

CH: Occupied and preoccupied. A dairy farmer in Southern B.C. who's helping to collect gift cards for people affected by the floods says the effort is distracting her from the destruction in her community.

CO: Help wanted. As female athletes in Afghanistan continue to try to reach safety in Canada, a former Afghan Olympian says she's doing all she can-- because Ottawa isn't making any promises about making good on its promises.

CH: It's beginning to look a latke like Hanukkah. On the second night of the Jewish Festival of Light, we debut a holiday reading of Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story A Parakeet Named Dreidel, as performed by Josh Dolgin, a.k.a. Socalled.

CO: Sleep dreams are made of this. An Ontario snowplough naming contest gets an unexpected dump of entries, each one a special snowflake of punny perfection.

CH: And... wondersquall. Fans of an Oasis tribute band spent three nights stranded in a British pub with the musicians thanks to winter weather -- but the inn's manager says they're already looking forward to the reunion tour.

CH: As It Happens, the Monday edition. Radio that hopes everyone recovers from all those covered and recovered covers.

[music: theme]

Part 1: Omicron - South African Virologist, Afghan Female Athletes, Noasis Band Stuck

Omicron - South African Virologist

Guest: Shabir Madhi

CH: The Omicron variant has the world's richest countries scrambling. This morning, Canada's health minister and his G7 colleagues promised to meet Covid-19's latest variant of concern with, quote, "urgent action." For many countries, including Canada, that action has begun with restrictions on anyone travelling from southern Africa. That's where Omicron was first identified. But health officials there say travel bans aren't what's needed to make the world more safe. Shabir Madhi is the director of the vaccines program at the University of the Witwatersrand. We reached him in Johannesburg.

CO: Mr. Madhi, what's your message to Canada as we hit the brakes on travel from South Africa in response to the Omicron variant?

SHABIR MADHI: Well, I think the main thing is to learn from the past almost two years now that restricting travel from a few countries is not going to prevent the importation of the variant. If you're wanting to truly prevent the importation of this variant that was first identified in South Africa, you likely would need to shut your borders to the rest of the world, similar to what Israel is embarking on. The belief that you can just limit travel from a few countries basically defies logic.

CO: But isn't it just one step in a program? Isn't it just one thing that the countries are doing in addition to others? That might be of some effect?

SM: No, certainly not. The science actually shows that this sort of a strategy simply might delay the importation of the variant but certainly doesn't prevent the importation of the variant. So the question is, what are you trying to achieve? In addition to which, I think we need to be clear about what threat this variant actually does pose. The current experience from South Africa clearly indicates that this variant is not necessarily more virulent than previous variants, in addition to which most of the infections that have transpired up until now have only resulted in mild infection. So there was a theoretical concern that this variant would be able to escape immunity. But the type of immunity that's being referred to is mainly antibody-mediated protection, which is what is required to prevent infection and mild disease. Another arm of the immune system seems to be relatively concerned, which is T-cell immunity, which is what is very important for protecting against severe disease and death. And the case that epidemiology of the variant currently in South Africa is that most of the infections are primarily mild infections.

CO: Well, and I just want to ask you a question about South Africa's way of sequencing and tracing the disease. It has been lauded for having very good science on this from the very beginning, very close monitoring of the disease. And that was how your country was able to send out this alert about the Omicron variant. Do you feel at some point that you're being a victim of your own success by alerting the world?

SM: Absolutely. It's of little comfort when world leaders are congratulating South Africa on its science and then at the same time stabbing it in the back for actually informing the world about the evolution of this variant. I think that's actually hypocritical. Instead of isolating South Africa and other southern African countries, they should be doing what is necessary to actually prevent these sort of occurrences taking place in areas where they don't have enough access to vaccines. And unfortunately, Canada is one of the countries that is guilty of not actually fulfilling promises to provide vaccines to low and middle-income countries and instead hoarding vaccines and using it for purposes which are less important than saving lives and, as an example, providing vaccines to children. Whereas people, health care workers included, in Africa are going unvaccinated because of an inability to access vaccines.

CO: But is it not the case that South Africa has nearly 20 million doses of vaccines made by Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, and that your country has asked both those pharmaceutical companies to suspend their deliveries of further vaccines because you're not able to use them. That people... there is such a low uptake, so such a low demand for the vaccines. Is that not the case?

SM: That is the case, but that variant hasn't evolved in South Africa. It hasn't necessarily evolved in South Africa. We need to be clear about that. In fact, the first identification of the variant was in Botswana, which also doesn't mean it evolved in Botswana. This variant could have evolved anywhere on the African continent. The reason it was first identified in South Africa is because of our sequencing capabilities and capacity. So what's happening in South Africa is an issue of a poor vaccine uptake at the moment, which is unfortunate. But that is not the case for the rest of Africa. The rest of Africa, with less than five per cent of sub-Saharan Africans have been vaccinated or have received a single dose of the vaccine. It's an issue of inequity of distribution of vaccine. So the more people that are left unvaccinated, the greater the likelihood that we're going to continue experiencing the evolution of these sort of mutations, which results in variants.

CO: But even though you have enough vaccines for your adult population, you have only a 35 per cent vaccination rate. Why is that?

SM: So in South Africa, the problem right now, it's one of hesitancy because of misinformation around vaccines, as well as one of apathy, which is really unfortunate. In South Africa, certainly... and unfortunately, that's also possibly the case for other countries. When they do eventually get access to a vaccine is that they might have underestimated or they very likely have underestimated the logistics that's required to actually deploy as vaccines and advocacy that's required to prepare communities to take up the vaccines. So there's multiple factors at play, obviously. It's not... I do agree that it's not really about excess. It's also about addressing acceptance of vaccines in communities, addressing issues of hesitancy and apathy. But for the rest... for most of Africa outside of South Africa, the majority of other African countries, especially the low-income countries, a big issue right now is one of excess of vaccines.

CO: And will South Africa be sharing its excess vaccines with those other countries and the continent of Africa and the southern Africa?

SM: In fact, I strongly believe that they should, rather than keeping the 17 million doses that have gotten at their depots. They are trying to make efforts to start boosting special groups, including supplementing the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine with additional doses of a vaccine. But beyond that, if the vaccine remains in depots and is under threat of expiring anytime soon, those vaccines certainly should be shipped. The one problem that we do face is that all of the vaccines in South Africa currently are through bilateral agreements. And obviously, there are some limits, some restrictions that their companies might have place in terms of the sale of those vaccines, but certainly something South Africa should definitely be considering as well if those vaccines are lying in a depot, whereas neighbouring countries don't have access to vaccines.

CO: Mr. Madhi, we will leave it there, and I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

SM: It's a pleasure. Thanks.

CH: Shabir Madhi is the director of the vaccines program at the University of the Witwatersrand. He's in Johannesburg. For more on that story, visit our website at: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: The Mini- Update Theme]

Afghan Female Athletes

Guest: Friba Rezayee

CH: Canada's immigration minister is asking Afghans hoping to come here for patience. Sean Fraser told The Globe and Mail that Ottawa is not wavering in its commitment to resettle tens of thousands of Afghan refugees. But he couldn't promise when that commitment would be honoured. Which is not the message those seeking asylum were hoping to hear. Many of them are still inside Afghanistan, facing food shortages, or worried for their lives. Friba Rezayee is trying to help get female Afghan athletes to safety. She was the country's first female Olympian. She moved to Canada 10 years ago and runs the non-profit group Women Leaders of Tomorrow from Vancouver.

CO: Friba, you were a high-profile athlete in Afghanistan competing in judo. How worried are you about members of the judo team who are still there?

FRIBA REZAYEE: I am extremely worried about their safeties. I'm very fearful. They are in hiding because after the Taliban took over the central government, they released a decree banning all women from playing any sports either locally or internationally. Because according to the Taliban's Sharia law interpretation, sports for women is a sinful act. And women will be punished from 100 lashes to a death penalty. And when they returned, they... they took a survey and they made a list of all the female athletes. And that's why all of the female athletes, they are in hiding, and they are terrified for their lives.

CO: And so, this is what you wrote to the minister for immigration, the new one, Minister Fraser. What did you want him to understand about the situation that you think he might not understand at this point?

FR: I would like him to understand the urgency of this matter, and also because the Canadian government has promised safety for the female leaders, human rights defenders, and our athletes in Afghanistan were human rights defenders, and I was, and I still am a human rights defender. We are asking for immediately... for immediate, secure Canadian visas for verified Afghan female athletes, and we have the list. Assure safe passage to airports and assign charter flights evacuating the female athletes. We have worked with those carrying out similar flights. We know they want to work with Canada. All that is in need are Canadian visas only.

CO: We know that people have been issued even with temporary visas, travel documents of all kinds from Canada, and they are also stuck, and some of them in Afghanistan, some of them outside the country. So, what understanding do you have? Have you heard anything from the government, from Canadian government, as to why it is not able to fulfil the commitments it made to so many people, including these athletes?

FR: We haven't heard anything from the Canadian government. When I wrote the letter to the prime minister, the entire Canadian soccer team, gold medallists from Tokyo 2020, signed my letter, but we still haven't heard anything from the Canadian government. And what we would like Canadian government to understand is that we are providing solutions. We are sharing the Canadian government's burden of work and resettlement. And all the work... we are doing all the paperwork for the Canadian government. We are making it easy for them. All we are asking in return, to issue them visas, and it's not extremely difficult for the government. I believe that the main reason for this delay and slow process is the long bureaucracy.

CO: But now, the immigration minister, whom you wrote to, Sean Fraser, he was speaking to the Globe and Mail, and it was quoted today saying that Canada will live up to its moral obligations. But he said -- and this is a quote, "I fear that there is a belief amongst some people that it's supposed to happen tomorrow." What do you say to him?

FR: We understand that these processes take time, but we also want the minister, the Honourable Minister, to take it as seriously. And it is possible for the government to issue these visas in a timely manner. We are not asking him to give us a visa tomorrow, but if we get a promise, if we get a confirmation from the government, if they say that, hey, we have read your letter, we understand the situation, we will issue visas for your team within two weeks. Give us a timeline and confirmation because the Canadian government promised, and we are asking them to honour their promise.

CO: And that's what we've heard from other groups who are trying to help the refugees. They're saying that they're not even getting a response. That they just want at some point, just some signal as to what is going on. And so, what... at the very minimum, what would you want the government to do? If you could speak to Mr. Fraser directly? What would you say as a bare minimum you need right now for your athletes?

FR: For a bare minimum, I would say to him that, dear Minister, this is an urgent issue. Please give us a timeline, and please give us the confirmation for their visas. You know, we are too. And we... we would like to help you. We are asking the government to help us to help them.

CO: And we also know that they are still in Afghanistan. And they, as you say, that they are possibly going to be killed by the Taliban. How worried are you that this won't happen quickly enough to save those women?

FR: I am extremely worried about their safety because when the Taliban returned, the Taliban raided one of our judo athlete's house because as she was prominent, and she was advocating for women's rights, for gender equality, for women's sport in Afghanistan. And she became popular. And as she advocated on social media, local media, and she condemned the Taliban publicly. And so the rest of our judo team and she went into hiding. And she waited for five nights and five days in a car with her father at the airport just to get a chance to get on one of those Canadian military airplanes and to be lifted from the Kabul airport. The situation is very dire. It's very critical. The girl whose house was raided, the Taliban ordered her to show up at the local mosque, and they scheduled 110 lashes publicly. We managed to find safety for her through some help from the Canadian community, from Ontario, including B.C. We found her shelter, but that's what the Taliban acted. We are not political here. We are not making noise for no reason. All we're asking is for... just for their safety because this is a matter of life and death.

CO: Friba, we will leave it there. We're going to try and get answers, including some from the government. And I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

FR: You're welcome. Thank you so much.

CH: Friba Rezayee is the founder of the Canadian non-profit Women Leaders of Tomorrow, based in Vancouver. In a response from the immigration minister's office, spokesperson Alexander Cohen wrote: "There are many obstacles that make this work considerably more challenging than previous refugee resettlement initiatives, like Syria... no existing infrastructure to support our work; our referral partners like the UNCHR are still getting established; the situation remains very dangerous; and the place where most refugees are located is controlled by a recognized terrorist group under Canadian law... This means that getting the program established is taking longer than in the past. We anticipate fulfilling our commitment to welcome 40,000 refugees ... over the next two years."

[Music: Indie rock]

Noasis Band Stuck

Guest: Nicola Townsend

[Music: “Don’t Look Back In Anger” by Oasis/Britpop]

NOEL GALLAGHER: [singing] So Sally can wait. She knows it’s to late as we’re walking on by.

CH: In the period immediately after they'd been stuck somewhere for days because of inclement weather, most people would probably look back in anger. But fans of the Oasis cover band, Noasis, seem more likely to look back in fondness on the 72 hours they spent trapped at the Tan Hill Inn this weekend. They went to the pub for the music, and they stayed because they had to -- thanks to monumental snowfall and blistering winds. Nicola Townsend is the manager of the Tan Hill Inn, and we reached her in Richmond, England.

CO: Nicola, in a word, how would you describe the experience of spending 72 hours stuck inside this pub listening to Oasis covers?

NICOLA TOWNSEND: [laughing] Uh, in one word? It turned out to be amazing. [CO chuckles] They didn't play overkill, let's put it that way.

CO: All right. But everything else went swimmingly?

NT: Yes, it did. It was really successful. Everybody was really friendly, very accommodating, very patient and just really caring as well. So… and everyone got along really well, so it was no bother at all.

CO: Let's just go back to Friday night, when you were... everyone was having a great time listening to the band. And at what point did you realize that you were not going to be closing the pub as usual?

NT: Pretty much as the band started, to be honest. By about 9:00, the wind had gotten to a much higher speed, and it was causing an awful lot of drift.

CO: And so, did you decide or was it decided that people just shouldn't go anywhere? Was there an announcement?

NT: I just said that I didn't think it was advisable for anyone to be leaving the building and that I would make sure that there was somewhere warm and to shelter and sleep for the night, and that maybe it wasn't safe to go home.

CO: All right, but this is a pretty fine place to be stuck, right, for... for a long evening. Can you just describe the scene at the Tan Hill Inn?

NT: It's an early 17th-century building, so it's very old, but it has got extensions that's been added on to it. So we've got lots of little rooms, and I think that that helps because people could separate into little groups and, you know, people were chatting with each other. They've never met before. They were playing games, board games, card games, you know, and everyone just got along really well. They were all helping, fetching logs in for the fires and washing up, washing glasses, taking food out for people. Everyone just mucked in and did their little bit to help.

CO: Did the beer run out [chuckle], or did you still have a supply?

NT: Oh no, we still have plenty of beer.

CO: OK, so that was fine. Food, you had enough food?

NT: Yes, plenty of food. I'd say the only thing that ran out of was breakfast sausages. [CO chuckles] That was pointed out to me by one of our guests when I said to somebody else in an interview that we were fine and we haven't run out of any food. And afterwards, he said, yes you did! You've run out of breakfast sausages.

CO: Oh, dear! [both laughing] All right. Well, so somebody noticed that. But everything else was... and how many... how many people did you have there?

NT: We had 61 people and seven staff.

CO: And they all stayed... where… where did they sleep?

NT: We do have nine guest rooms, and three of those rooms are, like, multi-functional rooms. You can have in one room up to eight sleep, and you can have six in another one. And so people were happy to share as long as they got somewhere warm and comfortable to be. And then, we ended up having to use the sofas and small camping mattresses on the floor, but we had plenty of duvets and pillows, and so everybody had something to keep them warm and comfortable for the night.

CO: OK, for the night. And so, people were ready to bed down. It was kind of fun, kind of an adventure. Did you have any idea that you'd be spending three nights together?

NT: No. I did kind of think on Friday night that we would probably end up together on Saturday night as well. [CO chuckles] and we were waiting to hear from another local council to see if they were able to get a snowplough to us. But they were struggling. They couldn't get to it. So once we knew that, I just said to everybody, right, let's just bed down for the night, let's get comfortable again. And everyone was really relaxed about it, and there were no bothers. They just got on with what they wanted to do. We put movies on, and we had pop quizzes. We did karaoke, and everyone was having a really good time. And, yeah, they cooked us a nice traditional Sunday roast dinner yesterday, and we had some very happy people.

CO: Well, with the exception of the breakfast sausage for one person.

NT: Yes! [both chuckling] I didn't let him forget about it. [chuckling]

CO: OK, now. So everyone had been there on the Friday night to hear this band called Noasis, which does covers of the band Oasis. Did they keep playing? Did they have some more performances?

NT: They did... what they did on Friday night was they were hoping that they'd be able to load the band with their equipment and get away first thing in the morning because they were due to be in London for a gig. So they'd got everything loaded up, ready to go. Well, they thought they were going to load everything up ready to go, but we couldn't get out of our function room. The doors were barricaded with snow. So, it all got put by the door ready to have a quick evacuation the next morning. But then they did some acoustic bits, especially sat around the fire, going to different rooms and chatting with people. And then, other people went out to their vehicles and collected their own guitars and played themselves as well. You know, it was just a really, really relaxed atmosphere.

CO: I understand that you started calling it Snow Oasis?

NT: We did, indeed. We nicknamed it Snow Oasis. [CO chuckles] The snow was quite a way up the door. You could open the door and have a platform of snow. But we soon broke through all of that, and the drifts were probably about nine-10 foot high.

CO: OK, that's serious. That's serious. Canadians would agree with you. [chuckling] That's... that's a bit of a storm, uh-huh. [NT laughs] So now, I understand there is a plan for a reunion of this crowd, right, next year?

NT: Yeah, we have discussed it. And one of the customers wants to design the T-shirts that we can all wear. So it was a really good group. And it was... the best way I can describe it. It was like being at a party with friends.

CO: [laughing] Even with friends, three nights is a lot. So this was... something that kept them all happy. And so they plan to reunite next year.

NT: Yes.

CO: And do you think that they'll be staying for three nights again? Or just maybe just a shorter get-together?

NT: [chuckling] They're hoping it's one night, but I think some of them would be quite happy to stay three. [both chuckle]

CO: All right. Well, I'm glad everyone's home safe, Nicola. And it's good to talk to you. Thank you.

NT: You're most welcome. Take care now.

CO: You too. Bye-bye.

NT: Bye-bye.

CH: Nicola Townsend is the manager of the Tan Hill Inn in Richmond, England. That's where we reached her. For more on that story, visit our website at: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Ambient rock]

Snowplough Naming Contest

CH: Let me see here. Now, I can do this. "Push Notification". Eh, that’s not specific enough. "Drift Dodger"? No, it doesn't dodge, it -- wait: "Pile Driver"! "'Snowhere to Hide"! "Snow Motion Replay"! "Plower Point Presentation"! Eh, nuts. You know what? Fine: [clackity typing] 'Snowy McSnowplowface". Done. You know, there are more and more snowplow-naming contests popping up these days. Calgary's in the middle of one. Minnesota, Vermont, and South Dakota have all got in on the act, apparently inspired by a similar contests in Scotland -- where this year's winning entries included "Veruca Salt," "Buzz Iceclear" and "Licence to Chill". This is just the kind of thing that should be up my alley. But this particularly alley obviously needs plowing. Luckily, others don't seem to be suffering from the same kind of creative freeze-up. The Ontario municipality of Chatham-Kent has waded its way through thousands of suggestions -- 12 of which will ultimately adorn vehicles in its snowplow fleet. Voting is now open on a short list that includes such sparkling gems as: "The Blizzard of Oz"; "Sleetwood Mac"; "Flurrious George"; "Gordie Plow"; "Sled Zeppelin"; and "She's Squall That". Mayor Darrin Canniff says the enthusiasm for the contest was a surprise, but a nice one. Because as the days grow shorter we all could use a little cold comfort.

[Music: Electronic]

Part 2: B.C. Abbotsford Help

B.C. Abbotsford Help

Guest: Jimi Meier

CH: Over the last two weeks, people across the Abbotsford area haven't had a break. And now, they're waiting to see what a new storm in the forecast will mean for their community in British Columbia. Jimi Meier runs a dairy farm in the Sumas Prairie, an area that's already been hit hard by the flooding. In recent days she's been helping collect gift cards, and she's created a Facebook page to support those in need. We reached Jimi Meier in Abbotsford earlier today.

CO: Jimi, first of all, how are you, and how is your family holding up with everything that's happening in your community?

JIMI MEIER: We're doing well. It's been a long couple of weeks. But for the most part, we were very fortunate. You know, we stayed nice and dry. We had a circle of water around us, so we were more fortunate than a lot of others, and a lot of them didn't fare so well. So we consider ourselves lucky, and we've had some issues here and there, but still, we consider ourselves more fortunate.

CO Your dairy farm is a bit higher up. Is that right?

JM: That's right. We sit a little bit higher on the outskirts of the Old Lake bed, so we had water come around, and a lot of our fields were full. But as far as our houses and our farms, they stayed completely dry. So we were very fortunate that way. We were able to bring in a few other cows from my brother-in-law's place, their young stock. So they could stay dry here. And we had room for that, so that was nice.

CO: And I know you have family members who also have farms, so you mentioned your brother-in-law. What happened at his farm?

JM: They got hit pretty hard. There's two of them there, two families, and they got completely submerged. So you could see the tops of the roofs and, you know, a few feet down from there. But for the most part, they got pretty wet. But they were... you know, they had a lot of help afterwards. The next day, everything was down again, and a lot of help to come in and help them clean out. And we have two other brothers on two other farms, and they both fared quite well as the same. So that was very fortunate.

CO: Did your brother-in-law lose any animals?

JM: No, which was amazing. [chuckle] With what they were up against, they didn't think that they would be so... so lucky. And as the water went down, you know, I think they just weren't in it too long, and... and they didn't lose any.

CO: That's one of the most awful parts of this, isn't it? Is the people who return to the animals. Do you know farmers who lost their animals?

JM: Yeah. And so, some of them, you know, still haven't even been able to get to their farms because a lot of it's still underwater. And some of them were able to get back pretty quickly, but it was still a bit too much. But at that point, you know, every farmer that I know was trying their hardest to either get them out as best they could or just to keep them above water the best they could. And many other farmers came in to try and, you know, get trucks in to try and move them. And there's only so much room and so much time. So, not everybody fared as well.

CO: Did you think when that began that you'd be facing this, like, weeks later, you'd still be looking at this kind of weather and disaster?

JM: Definitely not. [chuckling] You don't expect to go through it in the first place. And then as time goes by, two weeks later, you know, you're still going down the road and seeing people with their homes and their farms, and they're completely tearing them apart and trying to rebuild. And then, now having it come in again is... you know, it's easier because people now know, OK, we're going to have to do this and have to do this to get back on our feet again. But in the same sense, they're still unsure of what to do from the first one.

CO: So I guess that comes with an impulse to want to do something to try and help. I understand you have found a way of doing that, a project?

JM: Yeah, it worked out really well. You know, that we were OK. All of our employees were able to come out... or come back to the farm. And, you know, the first night when a lot of us were evacuated, I left with my girls and my mother-in-law and some of our workers. But then my husband and my two boys and my daughter's boyfriend, they all stayed behind. We came back three days later to get back in, and my husband said, we're soaking wet. We need clothes, and you go to Mark's Work Wearhouse and get some dry clothes. So I had purchased five coveralls, two flannel jackets, socks and a pair of gloves, and it was $700. And we were OK to take care of that. But in the same sense, I started thinking, I thought, that's just one family, and there's so many out here that are going to need so much more. So I talked to them at Mark's, and they were willing to put up a box for me, and people could donate gift cards and put in to the box there. And then Lowe's came on board. Shoppers Drug Mart came on board and a Starbucks. So all the local ones were willing to put up boxes and a flyer for me. And, yeah, we've only been, I think, six or seven days now that we've had it. And I think we have about a thousand followers, and people have been just so, so generous. I think within the first four days, we had about $10,000 in gift cards.

CO: Wow!

JM: And sent us. And to me, that's incredible because so many people want to help. And, you know, food is coming in, and that's helpful. And, you know, the help and the muscle is coming in to help people clean places. But for myself, it was personal because I knew they're wet, they're cold, they need some supplies. So, yeah, just by starting this page and my friend, Halie, who is another dairy farmer also involved in this, the flooding, and we decided that's what we were going to do. And then, we got a message from Cammack Boots in Quebec, and they wanted to donate some boots because they saw a page. You know, they asked for about 300 or said they could do about 300. Within two and a half hours, I had a list of 350. [CO chuckles] So they... and then I also got called because of that Facebook page by Watson Gloves, and they said, we want to help you too. So they sent out about a thousand pairs of gloves. And on Saturday, my friend Halie and I went out, and we just went from farm to farm, and some of the people are still out there working. They had no gloves. They were so grateful. So, you know, just out a good and just because of that page, within a few days, people were really responding. And, you know, I just... it was overwhelming. And we just appreciated it so much.

CO: How are you bracing yourself for the weather that's going to come in the next days?

JM: We're just going to do the same thing we do, [chuckle] always. We've prepared, you know, we're trying to have enough feed. Like, it's been difficult because, you know, even though we didn't get flooded, there were still situations that happened even to us. So we know that that happens to everybody. We've been dumping our milk. And I think we had the last three days, we've been able to start shipping our milk. As well, we were... we have no water, so the water is running. But first, we were on a boil advisory and then now it's only flush-only, we can't use the water. So we were bringing in totes of water. You know, to some of those things we learned from the last two weeks, we'll see if we can stay ahead of that now with this coming in.

CO: Well, Jimi, I hope you're able to stay high and dry. And I appreciate speaking with you about all this. Thank you.

JM: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

CO: Take care.

JM: Take care.

CH: Jimi Meier is a dairy farmer in Abbotsford, British Columbia. We reached her there.

[Music: Ambient]

Molson Island Conservation

CH: Molson Island is the largest undisturbed island on Lake Memphremagog in Quebec. And Andrew Howick is making sure it remains that way. For more than 20 years, he's been the sole owner of the island. But now, instead of cashing in on the undeveloped land, he's handed it over to the National Conservancy of Canada. Here's Mr. Howick explaining that decision today and what makes the island worth protecting.

SOUNDCLIP

ANDREW HOWICK: Well, it's a very beautiful island. It's quite a wonder of nature. I guess the most unique part of the island is the swamp. There's a swamp that goes down the middle. There's fallen trees and very beautiful green moss. You'd think you're in Louisiana! I've never seen anything like it. And then there's the beautiful, rocky shore facing the south and the west. There's a red pine forest. There's a white pine forest, a cedar forest, and there's a maple forest on the peak of the hills. So it's really quite unique for such a, you know, it's a small area. And then the other thing is it's never been built on. So it's really, as you said, a virgin Island.

PETER TARDIF: And you've got lots of wildlife there?

AH: Well, there is... there is small wildlife. So the deer cross on the ice in the winter. But in the... in the summer, it's small... small wildlife, yes.

PT: So tell us about the donating this island? Tell us about that story.

AH: OK. Well, you know, I'm 80 years old. I have four children, but only one is here in Montreal. The other three are in Europe. So, you know, I had to think about what's going to happen to the island after I pass on. And so, I thought about selling it. And I put it for sale two or three years ago. But it was very clear very soon that the only people interested in making a reasonable offer for the island were people who were going to develop it. Before they put it in their offer of so much money, you know, they... can we build on it? Can we bring electricity? How many houses can we build? Can we build a little road? So it wasn't going to be a virgin natural island for very long. So that got me because, you know, we're all more aware than we used to be about the environment and climate change and so on. And you know, I think you and I and everybody is a little bit more aware than we were. So wanting to preserve this beautiful island forever in its natural state, my wife, my children are very happy and proud that I've done this. It's a small act, but it's an act at least for the preservation of nature.

CH: Andrew Howick is the former owner of Molson Island on Lake Memphremagog in Quebec, speaking with Peter Tardif, host of Quebec AM today.

[Music: Folk]

Part 3: NL Truckers Hampers, Stephen Sondheim Obit

P.E.I Public Menorah

CH: Last night, the first candles on menorahs across the country were lit to mark the beginning of Hanukkah. And one candle on Prince Edward Island made history -- because it was on the island's first public menorah. The three-metre-tall menorah stands on the lawn of the provincial legislature in Charlottetown. Last night, members of the Jewish community gathered around it to celebrate 120 years as part of the province. Martin Rutte explained what it was like to see the menorah lit for the first time.

[sc]

MARTIN RUTTE: I cannot tell you how excited I was. I spoke last this evening. I was on the... on the ceremony. And I'm used to public speaking. I was so moved... I just... I wasn't nervous, but I was just emotional. It was just so beautiful. One of the things Dr. Joseph Glass, our historian, talked about is in 1898, there was actually a Jewish store across the street on Grafton. And for that man to have thought from 1898 to 2021, there would actually be a public menorah lighting on the legislative grounds of the P.E.I. legislature is beyond belief. So it's... it's historic. It is, in a sense, a coming-out public party of the Jews of Prince Edward Island, and we're thrilled. My wife had this idea about a year ago. Wouldn't it be lovely if we had a public menorah lighting on P.E.I.? Because public menorah lightings are across the country. They've done it in British Columbia, on the legislature, in Edmonton and Toronto, at the air force base in Winnipeg has done it. The White House has done it. Why can't we do it here? And I went, oh, all right. So I went... I didn't even think it was possible, but never mind my thoughts. I went to Hannah Bell, and she turned to me and said, we're going to do this. And we've... tonight, we've done it. We know that it takes a village to raise a child. And tonight I changed that a little bit to say it takes an island to raise a community. And we also... the premier had a great line at the end, which one of the foods that we eat on Hanukkah is a latke, which is a potato pancake. And so he encouraged the Jewish community, eat more latkes than they've ever eaten before made, of course, with those P.E.I. potatoes.

TONY DAVIS: [chuckle] Little island message in there.

CH: That was Martin Rutte speaking with CBC reporter Tony Davis about the first public menorah on P.E.I.

[Music: Folk]

NL Truckers Hampers

Guest: Kim Kerrivan

CH: Ever since last week's storm cut off parts of the main highway, dozens of truckers have been stranded at a seasonal ferry terminal in Newfoundland. For some of those drivers, it meant waiting days at the Port of Argentia for the weather to improve, and for their turn to board. When Kim Kerrivan heard that some of the truckers didn't have much to eat or drink, she stepped in to help. We reached her in Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador.

CO: Kim, how are the remaining truckers doing today?

KIM KERRIVAN: So I was actually down around lunchtime today, and there was about 20 truckers left. And they were in very high spirits for... considering the circumstances. But they're very grateful for all the food and everything that we've been offering. Lots of smiles and getting a few stories from them today. So it was really nice to actually see them face-to-face and have a little chat with them.

CO: How long have the trucker been waiting at this point?

KK: Some of them are actually newly there. Some are probably there about a day or so. But hopefully, they'll get out at some point tomorrow, if not early Wednesday.

CO: So the ferries are still being delayed, even though you have a bit of better weather now?

KK: Yeah, there's a... there's some type of a storm coming, I believe. It's been pretty calm the last couple of days, so they haven't had any issues. So this one seems to be the last one to tie them up. So hopefully, they'll get out sooner than later.

CO: Can you describe what the ferry terminal actually looks like on the weekend?

KK: Oh my gosh! We actually went down Saturday morning was my first time down there, and there were so many trucks on the side of the road. Along both sides of the roads was just filled. There was about... I think we counted about 60 at that point that were outside of the road. But in total, I think there was about 120 between inside the gates and just around. Some of them were still parked down within the Placentia community itself. It was so overwhelming to see so many... so many truckers there and just couldn't move because if they... if they moved from their spot, they would lose their place in line. And some of them just couldn't get to... to leave there any ways to get down to the stores and stuff. So, we were just so happy to get there to help them out.

CO: So at what point did you realize, did you figure that you're going to have to step in and do something

KK: So Friday night, I just happened to see through a Facebook post, actually, that a lady had shared one of her friends was in the line up waiting to access the ferry, and they didn't realize that the services there had been closed for the season, so they weren't prepared food-wise what they would have needed to get across because there was a delay in the wait time. So they reached out through a Facebook post, and one of my friends had noticed the post and went down and bought them and a few other truckers some items just to hold them over. So I thought, well, if one or two people are needing something and everybody's posting all these pictures of the big lineup of trucks, there has to be a couple more people that might need some supplies. So Friday night, about 10:00, I started a Facebook group. And within less than 24 hours, there was 700 members. And I can't even explain how many posts and email transfers I got from the time I woke up Saturday morning of everybody just wanting to help. It was amazing.

CO: And what did you mobilize? What did... what did all of you get together collectively and do?

KK: So Saturday morning, I planned a meet down just outside of Argentia Terminal. And a bunch of us brought together any donations that other people had wanted to do themselves. And through monetary donations that I received, I actually went down to our local Foodland and picked up some supplies with a couple of my friends. And we just bought anything and everything that we thought we could use for them. And mostly non-perishable because we figured, you know, if they're here a few days, it's better to give them some things to hold them over for a little while. And we all met down there, and we just bagged off stuff, you know, just to kind of keep the distance from them and not have to come at them with so many things. We just bagged off individual bags for them with water and Gatorade and sodas, granola bars, cookies, muffins, fruit. It was a mixture of everything. And then… but homemade t-bone, sandwiches, there were so many different things that everybody that they could think of wanted to help out. A couple of the trucks had dogs, so they did up dog bags [chuckle]. There was vegetarians. There was a diabetic. Like, different things. We tried to accommodate everybody as best we could, so we just did up all the bags. We had about 150 in the beginning, so we used up a lot of those. And then everybody just kept coming with more and more and more food. It was just amazing.

CO: How did the truckers react?

KK: So when we went down, I don't think they were expecting to get as much coming at them food-wise as they did in the first couple of hours. There was people ahead of us down there that had been there that morning and already with teas and coffees for them. So we showed up with hot tea and coffee again, and the bags of food, and they just couldn't believe how generous the community was and wanted to help them and do this for them. Some of them were trying to pay us because they just didn't feel right accepting everything that everybody was giving them. Some wanted to donate back. But the biggest smiles from them was just... it was just so nice to see that they appreciated what we were doing for them so much.

CO: What do you think that they will remember about your community?

KK: Oh, most definitely how kind everybody's been for them. Even today, they... they told me, a few of them down there, they said, we can't believe how amazing everybody, any person that they've met so far since they've been here talking to them and just giving anything and everything that they got if they needed it, right? They want to pay it forward. And we're just trying to say we... we’re just happy to help. Like, we just want to be here to help you guys.

CO: And you expected to get some help. You knew that your community would step up, but did you expect to see the amount of response? What does… what does it say to you about your own community that you had such an overwhelming response to their need?

KK: Yes, there's no doubt that the community will step up. It always does, and it always will anytime somebody needs anything. But it was honestly very heartwarming to see how many people wanted to help these people. I mean, most of them aren't even from the area, and they just wanted to make sure that everybody was taken care of and nobody was hungry, and nobody needed anything. And, you know, a little Facebook group that I figured, oh, if we can get 100 people to join it and kind of know about them. It grew... right now, there’s 1,700 people in it, you know, since Friday night. Everybody just wanted to do their part. And they’ve certainly outdone themselves. I can't even explain how thankful I am that everybody wanted to do this. And the amount of people just wanting to volunteer, to go down endlessly, to go down and check, clean up things and check on them and bring them things. And it's just amazing.

CO: Kim, I am so glad you were there for those people, and it's really great to hear the story. Thank you.

KK: Thank you so much.

CO: Bye.

KK: Bye.

CH: Kim Kerrivan helped coordinate a community effort to feed truckers left stranded at a ferry terminal after last week's storm in Newfoundland. We reached her in Placentia.

[Music: Folk]

Stranded Canadian Field Hockey Team

CH: It was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the Canadian Junior National Women's field hockey team. Last week they travelled to South Africa for the Junior World Cup. But not only has the tournament been postponed, the team is now unable to come home. There are no commercial flights because, as you know, on Friday, Ottawa imposed travel restrictions on countries in southern Africa. Jenn Beagan is the assistant coach of the team.

SOUNDCLIP

JENN BEAGAN: We're situated in a little athletes' village here. We're the only team that was on the ground before... before everything shut down. So we're quite safe where we are, just waiting patiently for news from home with regard to possible flight routes. It went really fast. We arrived here on... on the 23rd and immediately started our training camp, just in preparation for the World Cup to start. It was supposed to start December 5th. And we woke up two days later to an email just giving us the heads up that a new variant had been found and just to be really vigilant with our COVID protocols. We went off to train. And then, within a matter of hours, coming off the field, the next news in was the EU and the U.K. were starting to close their borders and that… that our event actually was cancelled, so it moved very, very quickly. We feel like it changes on the hour. The situation is very fluid, and we're constantly getting feedback from our team at home with... with what's happening, but it is moving very quickly.

JASON D'SOUZA: What kind of communication have you had with the… with the federal government about next steps?

JB: Yeah. Well, we were very fortunate. We had a call. I think it was Sunday evening by the sport minister. She very kindly called personally to speak with our team here and just let them know that... that the government was on it, that we have a team back home working on getting us home.

JD: Listen, Jen, I just want to ask you, I know, you know, obviously, safety is the priority and we're really glad to hear you and… you and all the team members are safe, but the players raised, I think it was something like $170,000 themselves to attend the World Cup. How's everyone feeling right now with just how events have transpired?

JB: Yeah. Yeah, our program is self-funded. And we just have a fantastic group of... of young athletes. They worked very hard to get here. They won their continental qualifiers. They're Pan-American Champions. And that happened in September. And they turned around between then and now to... to raise $170,000 to get themselves here to the World Cup. That was a huge feat for them. And so obviously, there's a lot of disappointment hearing that the event is postponed. But that's the good news is that it is just postponed, and we're hopeful to hear that it will be rescheduled in the new year, and they'll be able to hopefully come back.

CH: Jenn Beagan is the assistant coach of the Canadian Junior National Women's field hockey team. The team is in South Africa, trying to find a way back to Canada. She was speaking with Jason D'Souza, guest host of CBC's Metro Morning.

[Music: Vocalization]

FOA: Josephine Baker Pantheon

CH: She came from St. Louis, Missouri, but found her greatest fame in France. And tomorrow, Josephine Baker will belatedly receive one that country's highest honours. Ms. Baker was a dancer, a singer, a civil rights activist, and a part of the French resistance during the Second World War. On Tuesday, she will be symbolically entombed in the Pantheon -- the domed monument on the Left Bank in Paris where French heroes from Jean-Jacques Rousseau to Marie Curie have their final resting places. Josephine Baker will be the first Black woman to be given the honour. Her son, Brian Baker, spoke with As It Happens about his mother, when the announcement was made in August.

SOUNDCLIP

BRIAN BAKER: It means an example for our youth in France, but all over the world. An example of idealism and of someone who has tried all her life to get a universal brotherhood. So for our family, it's a big emotion. It's a lot of promise. She was raised in a very poor family and she had no future, destiny and the fate was on her when there was a producers who decided to... to send to France, to Paris, a Black American show. And she was a part of that show. She... she has been designed because as a just dancer, she had a lot of energy. And the people of Paris and the producers of Paris loved her. And the proposal to... to stay and be a big star in France, in Paris. She... she... she always said that when she arrived in France, she could see the difference of treatment as a coloured woman, and even for the other dancers and musician, they were very well-treated in hotels, restaurants and everywhere in the street. And she was... she used to say, in the USA, we still don't have the right to... to go in some hotels or restaurants or even some other places. And When Germany invaded France, my mother decided to go with general de Gaulle with the Resistance. And she proposed the French army and the French Secret Service to... to do something. And finally, they decided to use her as an agent, especially in Arab countries where she could be received by big kings and the big sultans, etc., that she knew already as an artist to help the Ally army. And she was with the French Resistance in in the castle because she was hiding, resistent, and communists, and Jews from the Nazi.

HM: How do you think your mother would feel now about this symbolic entombment in the Pantheon?

BB: First... first of all, she would have been very surprised. Then, she would have probably protest, saying there is surely better people than me who deserve to be there. President Macron, who asked me this question, what would think your mother? And would she accept to be in the Pantheon? I say, well, after surprise and after maybe protesting, more or less, she would have been very honoured.

CH: From our archives, Josephine Baker's son, Brian Baker, speaking with guest host Helen Mann on As It Happens in August.

[Music: French cafe song?]

Stephen Sondheim Obit

Guest: Gabe Mollica

CH: Stephen Sondheim often said teaching was a sacred profession. The revered composer and lyricist taught many people. Not just to write and perform musical theatre, but to love it and be moved by it. Mr. Sondheim died on Friday at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut. He was 91. And he'd devoted his life to creating such masterpieces as West Side Story, A Little Night Music, Sweeny Todd and Into the Woods. But before the late legend wrote any of those shows, he wrote another, which he presented to his mentor and surrogate father Oscar Hammerstein when he was just a boy.

SOUNDCLIP

STEPHEN SONDHEIM: I was 15 years old and I written a show and I really thought it was worthy of Broadway at the age of 15. So I brought it to him, and I said, pretend this just crossed your desk and you've never seen it before. What do you think? And I thought he would say, well, we'll go into rehearsal next week. But instead of which, he said, well, if that's the case, then I got to tell you, it's the worst thing I ever read. And he saw the shock on my face. He said, I didn’t say it wasn't tallent, but I'm going to tell you why... what's wrong with it? And he started... he treated me like an adult, which is, of course, the best way to teach a kid. And I was just at that age when my brain... brain was a sponge. And I gulped it all and I said at the risk of hyperbole that I learned more in that afternoon than most songwriters learned in a lifetime of writing because he distilled all his knowledge in a few hours and I just soaked it all in. And then when I was 17, I became an assistant on a show called Allegro, which was the third show that he and Rodgers had written. So I was a gofer, I got coffee and I typed script and I watched the process live. And what was great about it was the show was very ambitious and it was a failure both with audiences and with critics. And to watch a group of extremely talented and accomplished people like Rodgers and Hammerstein and Agnes de Mille, who directed it, make mistakes is enormously valuable and a great experience.

CH: Stephen Sondheim, speaking with PBS in 2010 about one of his first, failed forays into musical theatre. It would be followed by countless successes -- and by the kind of career many have likened to Shakespeare's. And yet, no matter how celebrated Mr. Sondheim became, he never stopped sharing his wisdom willingly. His notes to fans were generous and genuine, written on a typewriter and signed by hand. Gabe Mollica received a number of them. Mr. Mollica is a comedian, writer and teacher. We reached him in Queens, New York.

CO: Gabe, what goes through your mind when you hear Stephen Sondheim talk about one of his own first attempts at writing musical theatre?

GABE MILLICA: I think it speaks to his... his life as a lifetime student and teacher, who constantly said that teaching was a sacred profession. So it appears to me that he appreciated it so much as a student being taught honestly, but being taught with kindness as well. And two, which is that he wasn't just obsessed with... with learning for his own sake, but when it was time to share with others, he saw that as, again, as a sacred profession, something that he... he gave to his collaborators, as well as, you know, teenagers writing fan mail.

CO: And yes, and as you were. You were a student, a teenager, when you wrote to Mr. Sondheim for the first time and he wrote you back, right?

GM: He did. Yeah, I wrote a... I wrote a fan letter as someone who had just conducted for the first time his triumphant ending of Act One of Sunday in the Park with George. A song called Sunday. And I wrote to him in the summer after I graduated high school and said, this work is really important to me. I had just gotten out of the hospital and I conducted this piece for the first time, and I appreciate the care that you put into the song and I and... I just love it a lot. And he wrote me back. And what was surprising is that in my letter, I said, next year, I'll be studying music at Hamilton College. But I didn't include Hamilton as the return address because I didn't live there yet. But when I eventually got a letter from him, a signed headshot, he had sent it to the college, not to my parents home, which always gave me the indication that he really did read my long, rambly letter and took the time to get somebody to look up the address of Hamilton College and mail me a headshot and a signed note to my new home.

CO: But that wasn't the only correspondence you had with him, was it?

GM: No. Later in college, I received a research grant with one of my music theory professors, Rob Hopkins. And I was tasked with all summer I came up with this research project where I would study Into the Woods. And I loved Into the Woods, and the whole first act is about fairy tales, characters wanting things and getting what they want. And the second act is about the consequences for having achieved or been granted a wish. And so, we studied musically what happens to these characters when consequence is introduced? And I wrote to Stephen Sondheim three or four more times, and he always responded with candour and honesty. He was very willing to engage with a young music student about how his scores were constructed and why it... why it was important.

CO: And so… but you were quite convinced this wasn't some... some lackey [chuckling] who was tasked with responding to fan mail. He was engaging with you, right? He took you on in some cases.

GM: Yeah. No, absolutely. He made a note, at one point, he would type his letters on a typewriter and then he would sign them with the signature that still adorns the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in Manhattan. Every time I see it, I think I know that signature. I have that signature. And then I got two letters from him that say, hey, sorry, I can't sign my name today. I broke my wrist and I'm unable to sign, but I want you to know that this really is me.

CO: So clearly, you admired him as a human being, as a person who would take the time to write to a teenager. But what is it you admired about him as a writer, as a creator of musicals? The lyrics, the music, everything he did, right?

GM: Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, he was… [chuckle] the things that he chose to write about feel really instructive, I think, to any young, creative person. He writes about loneliness. He writes about isolation. His characters are sad and twisted and... and have a desire to create or in some cases, kill or in some cases, love and be loved. For Merrily We Roll Along along in the desire to create, Sunday in the Park With George, the conflict of loving someone and also having extremely important art that you love just as much, if not more. To Into the Woods, which is about just basic wish fulfilment and the consequences of wanting things. I mean, he's writing about really complicated human things, combined with his brilliant craft of being able to distil something complex into a... into a lyric that is, in his words, in search of clarity.

CO: But as you point out, I mean this complex, deep emotional. These are things you had to think about. He was never... well, he never had one of those kind of... kind of big, sentimental Broadway hit shows, did he? That wasn't his thing, but he won everything. He won all the awards. And so... and so, what do you think he was trying to do? What did he tell you? Did he give you any insights as to what he thought his job was?

GM: You know, I wish I could have asked him about that because it's something that I think about, too. But it's clear to me that he was a little bit obsessive. And later in his life, when... when his musicals became more infrequent, the things that he picked are really... are really sort of interesting. I mean, the idea that late in life, he didn't write a Wicked. You know, he worked on Passion, which is sort of obscure love story in a lot of ways, uncomfortable for folks. That's how he chose to spend his time. I think... I think he realized that his work would stand the test of time, and I think at a certain point, his desire for commercial success did not trump his desire to to be an artist.

CO: You learned a lot from him, but what touched you most about his work? What’s a moment that you remember as when you so connected with him?

GM: Yeah, I think the first... I've seen Sunday in the Park With George in every iteration it's been in. And it's a... it's a show that at the end when George and Dot are singing Move On, there's the lyric at the end that that really gets me where George is talking about being an artist, he says, I want to make things that count. Things that will be new. And Dot says anything you do, let it come from you, then it will be new. And it's just a perfect lyric at the end of a very emotional several hours, and it's something that I think all artists struggle with. And he so clearly and beautifully distils that desire of an artist to be unique. And the reminder that loved ones can give you... say, hey, if if it comes from you from an organic, meaningful place, it will necessarily be new.

CO: Gabe, I appreciate talking with you about Stephen Sondheim. Thank you.

GM: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

CH: Gabe Mollica is a comedian, writer, and lifelong Stephen Sondheim.

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November 29, 2021 Episode Transcript

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