Full Transcript for Episode 160: When Trees Send Warnings And Humans Build For Disaster

alternative, or we use that as our water when we make coffee, and maybe I should explain that. 00:05:54.959 --> 00:06:13.040 So we have this one called Morning Glory, and what I do is I use the uh the water or the tea from the Morning Glory, which is roasted dandelion roasted chicken root and chaga, to make my coffee with, and I get the get everything directly in my coffee that way, so it works out pretty good. 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:15.519 And no caffeine in that. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:35.199 And then the mint one we have no caffeine in there, and then the cold brews, the uh which is uh the Ruby G we call it, which is the hibiscus, red beet, chaga, chicory, lemon extract, extremely popular and going like gangbusters, which is good. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:38.399 Not only that, but the other cold brew I mentioned already. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:53.439 So those are going pretty good, and although we are currently exploring, because Josh, my oldest son, uh thought we should have a caffeine coffee, something with not a caffeine coffee, but a caffeine tea. 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:58.160 Because we get a lot of people asking, you know, I need my morning coffee or caffeine. 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:08.079 Now, one of the other interesting things on the program with John Snell was I didn't really realize that caffeine was a plant's way of deterring bugs. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:14.639 So when the caffeine comes out, it kind of chases bugs away, which is kind of interesting in itself. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:33.519 And though the I think it was the Vietnamese uh individual tea grower that sprayed his his plants, his tea plants with a egg spray of some kind in order to attract bugs, but they couldn't penetrate through the egg covering in order to stimulate a caffeine response. 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:38.079 Which to me speaks volumes about the way plants react. 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:50.160 I've been trying to get somebody else on to do a podcast, but I guess they're pretty important person and and uh uh they they kind of ticked me off because it was like wasting my time. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:54.959 And I'd rather just somebody tell me, don't waste your time rather than go through that. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:08:08.879 But uh the way plants talk to each other and and I think that uh there's uh some interesting books about plants in Africa and how they release something into the environment. 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:16.959 So when giraffes are coming to eat the leaves, they let other plants know to release this that turn giraffes off from eating this. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:19.920 And it's just the way that plants continue to commute communicate. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:22.800 And I think we're finding out more and more about this all the time. 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:32.879 But some time ago, I very specifically said that we need to bring uh Garrett back on the program to talk about what he's doing now or what he's applying for and how are things going. 00:08:33.120

--> 00:08:34.320 How's it going, Garrett? 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:35.039 Good. 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:36.399 Uh can't complain. 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:37.039 Life's good. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:09:00.159 I've been busy, uh working steady right now, and of course I have my hands full with uh with Grenton here, and he's going through the big changes of you know, there's a four-month regression, they call it, where uh, you know, his sleep rhythm isn't quite set yet, so he'll be fussy, he'll be, you know, shorter nap, sometimes a little longer nap, and then wake windows are all kind of different here and there. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:17.679 And and Brittany, my wife, has been doing an amazing job with keeping on top of it as best she can, and you know, something like that I really appreciate as she, you know, I'm working and she takes a night shift, so it uh, you know, allows me to have a good sleep at night, and I'm really thankful for that. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.000 And but yeah, I I'm I'm good. 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:20.799 Good. 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:27.440 The weather's been more or less been nice, which is really nice you're working in because it's starting to get a little bit cooler now, especially in the morning. 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:32.720 So, you know, at least we're not in the heat longer, we're in the heat shorter now, which is a nice part. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:37.759 So, where is it that you just to remind people where you're where you're working and what you're doing? 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:39.679 Um, so I'm in Toronto. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:41.120 We're back in Toronto still. 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:46.080 Um, we are doing the new uh Metrolink line. 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:47.120 The LRT line? 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:47.840 The LRT line. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:49.279 The late rapid transit. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:49.600 Yep. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:50.159 Yeah. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:53.759 So they're uh it's about a five-year project. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:10:06.080 They're in year two now of it, and they're starting to do a lot more uh of the peer work, so they're getting starting to get ready on some of the bridge decks that are going up, but it's uh it's very hit or miss. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:22.080 But no, it's it's been good and it's uh it's a process because the way that they're building this is very, very um intricate work, and it takes a long time to piece it together because it's something that you can't do quite quickly. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:35.840 Just because some of the spacing and on the rebar, when when they space rebars, because it's designed to you know have the bars in a certain place to take the pressure or shifts or motion or movement from the trains and everything else going across it. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:42.559 So it's there's a lot of steel that's going into this project, and it takes a lot of time to do it. 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:47.919 You know, other jobs you might place 100 bars an hour, this job you're placed in maybe 20. 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:52.799 Yeah, and and you talk about placement of all that stuff and the vibrations from the train. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:55.679 I remember Les's soul, uh former mayor from Sault Ste. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:59.519 Marie when I was the junior minister for Northern Development and Mines. 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:04.399 Um, John Roswell was his name, great guy and good friend Al Paet. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:10.399 Al worked with me for a number of years, um, was his campaign manager to get him to be mayor. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:13.360 And he was also an engineer, but in Sault Ste. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:17.039 Marie, the mayor was a part-time job, which kind of surprised me. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:31.360 But what he was working on was a bridge going over the French River, I believe it was, for snowmobiles, for the snowmobile trail, so that snowmobilers can drive over top of the the French bridge. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:48.879 And when you're heading up towards the Sioux from from um from southern Ontario, you'll go across the French uh, if you look to the west or to the left, heading to the towards uh the Sioux and and uh Sudbury, you'll see this kind of arching bridge there. 00:11:49.039 --> 00:12:04.799 But the reason I thought it was interesting was is that uh John was uh John Roswell was telling me that it was kind of interesting that they then told them that, of course, that uh people would be using this for walking across in the summertime. 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:17.679 So they had to change the entire structure of the bridge because a walking vibration was very different than an AT or a snowmobile or ATV vibration going over the bridge. 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:34.879 So they had to change it all to make sure that when people walked on it, because when you walk with your stride, you put certain stress and it causes the bridge to vibrate certain different ways, that they had to restructure the entire bridge to accommodate walkers to walk across it. 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:36.320 Which I found interesting. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:40.480 So, same like you're saying about trains going over with the rebar and stuff like that? 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:41.039 Yeah. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:13:04.799 So uh, you know, they're building something that's supposed to be just for people to understand, if it's supposed to hold, you know a thousand tons of pressure, they'll build it to withstand 10,000 pounds of stretch of stress and pressure and weight, because it's hard to always accurate or accurately judge how much weight you're gonna experience or what might happen. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:12.000 So if, for example, the strain stalls out and it's sitting on top of the stunning bridge, you know, now there's a concentration of weight. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:18.480 It's not like it's gonna be a motion where the some of the force is being moved forwards or backwards, or depending on what's going on. 00:13:18.720 -->

00:13:22.159 So if it sits there, then that's a factor in all that safety stuff as well. 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:25.840 So it's built for all kinds of issues and things like that that can go wrong. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:32.960 Yeah, so and if it's sitting there and I get a heavy snow out, out there, all of a sudden this huge amount of weight of snow sitting on top of the train. 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:34.799 Yep, that's going on all the structure. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:35.200 Yep. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:36.480 So that's good. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:47.919 Hi everybody, I'm Angelo Viola. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:49.200 And I'm Pete Bowman. 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:55.519 Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's favorite fishing show, but now we're hosting a podcast. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:56.320 That's right. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:02.399 Every Thursday, Ang and I will be right here in your ears, bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:02.879 Hmm. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:05.360 Now what are we going to talk about for two hours every week? 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:07.279 Well, you know there's gonna be a lot of fishing. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:12.399 I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:14.159 Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:24.879 We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors, from athletes, all the other guys would go golfing, me and Garks and Turkey, and all the Russians would go fishing. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:26.000 The scientists. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:31.679 And now that we're reforesting and letting things, it's the perfect transmission environment to line. 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:37.120 If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated for me. 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:38.240 You will taste it. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:40.240 And whoever else will pick up the phone. 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:47.279 Wherever you are, Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside. 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:52.080 Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:03.120 And now it's time for another testimonial for Chaga Health and Wellness. 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:07.679 Okay, we're uh with Tristan in Belleville. 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:10.480 Tristan, you've had some experience with Chaga, the regular tea. 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:11.759 Tell us about it. 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:17.120 Um, so I actually ran into you about a year ago, same place you are now. 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:22.240 And uh I uh just was like, oh I'll get it back and try it. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:39.440 So I think four straight days of drinking one cup of tea every day, I noticed an immediate difference like like in my body just feeling better, and then definitely drink them after drinking the night before like alcohol, it kills hangovers big, big time. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:46.799 I'll usually have two afterwards, but what happens, Tristan, is uh hangovers are essentially a lot of free radicals in your brain. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:51.120 And the antioxidant level is so high in Chaga that it eliminates a lot of those. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:57.120 I get a lot of guys have the same thing when they've had a good night uh and the next day they're hurting feeling for it. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:15:58.639 And so you have the same result, right? 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:00.159 A couple of cups in your That's right. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:01.360 I makes a big difference. 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:14.080 I've taken them to basket parties multiple times, and friends of mine that don't drink tea ever, I'll have them drink one in the morning, and even they are saying the first time they've ever had them that they notice the difference that day that they don't miss with coffee. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:18.159 They're not so like blah, and kind of down, and like don't want to do anything. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:20.879 So definitely recommend drinking it regularly. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:22.320 Okay, thanks very much, Kristen. 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:22.879 No problem. 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:23.200 Okay. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:36.559 We interrupt this program to bring you a special offer from Chaga Health and Wellness. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:47.919 If you've listened this far and you're still wondering about this strange mushroom that I keep talking about and whether you would benefit from it or not, I may have something of interest to you. 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:57.919 To thank you for listening to the show, I'm going to make trying Chaga that much easier by giving you a dollar off all our Chaga products at checkout. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:07.119 All you have to do is head over to our website, Chaga Health and Wellness.com, place a few items in the cart, and check out with the code CANAPY. 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:09.839 C-A-N-O-P-Y. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:14.640 If you're new to Chaga, I'd highly recommend the regular Chaga tea. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:21.279 This comes with 15 tea bags per package, and each bag gives you around five or six cups of tea. 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:22.880 Hey, thanks for listening. 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:24.559 Back to the episode. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:39.119 So, Garrett, you you were applying for a new job somewhere, and I found it unbelievable what you have to go through to um for this new job. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:46.720 Yeah, so the new job is uh Darlington, which is the OPG, which is Ontario Pen Power General Engine. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:51.599 And what's going on there is they're putting in nuclear reactors. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:52.000 Right. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:58.400 And it's a huge investment across actually a lot of Ontario because there's something going up in Pickering. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:02.799 Eventually, uh Port Hope's supposed to

get a brand new one as well. 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:04.160 I believe Sault Ste. 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:06.160 Marie was supposed to get something out of this thing. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:21.440 I'm not, I can't quite remember for sure or not, but it's a big deal because what people don't understand, or what I didn't understand as well, is that nuclear setup, yes, it's here in Canada, but it is a worldwide standard. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:48.720 And by that I mean is when the floods were going on in Japan and the nuclear actors were getting exposed to the flood damage and everything else or tsunami, they had to make altercations to the nuclear plants there, and then because they did it there, and yes, we're not technically beside an ocean or a sea or anything of that scalable body of water, but we're beside the Great Lakes. 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:49.200 Right. 00:18:49.440 --> 00:19:04.720 So we had to then implement barrier systems designed for flooding and tsunami and things like that, because this the Great Lakes can be big enough to have waves of, I believe it's like nine meters tall sometimes on the middle of the earth. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:18.480 Well, and still back in the the 1950s, Hurricane Hazel came through, um, died off until it hit the Great Lakes, and then it picked up strength over the Great Lakes, and it's like supposed to happen once every hundred years kind of thing. 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:22.559 That hurricane will come into Darlington and Pickering in that area there. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:22.960 Yep. 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:26.079 And so I guess they're preparing for all that kind of stuff. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:28.640 Yeah, so because of that, they had to make changes there. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:33.119 And like I said, what I was trying to get at it's a world scale because it happened in Japan. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:34.640 Now we have to do it here. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:42.799 Despite if it may never have been a situation to happen or not, we still have to do it here because it's like I said, it's a very wide-scale perspective. 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:43.519 Right. 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:50.240 So the safety and protocol and the background track is quite extensive because it's flat across the board. 00:19:50.559 --> 00:20:06.799 Well, and that's what I wanted to to talk about was I found it more difficult to be what you're doing basically a rebar construction job, an iron worker job there than it was to become a police officer with the background checks and everything. 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:10.480 Yeah, so this check is um how long does it take? 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:12.799 Well, it's a three-month process. 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:14.880 Three months through a background check. 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:17.759 And that's I think that's on the fast end. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:21.839 So they said actually it was six months still. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:26.000 No, they they've gotten it they ramped it up a little bit. 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:32.720 They brought in more companies to kind of note the numbers or help along the process. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:35.039 So it's like a six-stage process. 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:40.799 So there's your original application, then it's a screen process. 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:42.640 What's involved in the screen process? 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:43.200 What does that mean? 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:44.160 Screen process. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:50.880 So the screen process is pretty much they call you and they say, Hey, we now need you to verify your identifications. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:21:07.759 We need to ask you brief questions about your application there, just to kind of do like a quick check to make sure it's like, hey, you have at least some base level of you're not faking it, I guess, or you're not lying about it, you know, just quick clarification stuff. 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:13.200 So that way they're going through it, they're like, okay, like they didn't miss anything, they didn't miss any stuff. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:21.599 And so, for example, like traveling outside of Canada, they want to know all your travel history for not just the last year or two, it's like for the last seven years. 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:28.559 Traveling outside of Canada, so they check whether you traveled outside of Canada in the last seven years or so. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:29.279 Yeah. 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:31.359 Okay, and then what are they checking for? 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:35.599 Like where you went or where you went, what are you doing, who are you affiliated with? 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:37.839 So how do they do that? 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:47.519 You have to I I the way you talked about it, I thought you were supplying like when you went to Florida and went to Disney, you had to have Disney receipts and hotel receipts and all that kind of stuff. 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:48.720 Not that extensive. 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:54.559 They just had to verify, like, you know, that my last trip was to Disney. 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:57.440 So I had to verify that hey, do you go to Disney? 00:21:57.519 --> 00:21:58.480 How long do you go for? 00:21:58.640 --> 00:21:59.279 What else would you do? 00:21:59.359 --> 00:21:59.839 Blah blah blah. 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:00.880 Right. 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:09.839 And I I understand it to a degree, but there there is a point of like you know, I went to Disney and you can check. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:11.680 I didn't travel anywhere else. 00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:16.000 So, you know, does going to Disney mean I can't work at a nuclear power plant? 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:36.480 I think what they're trying to do is find out to make sure that there was an alternative intentions for terrorists who try to get in and do work there or get on-site access to the to the working facility there at the nuclear plants, I think. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:36.799 Yeah. 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:38.559 I'm assuming that's what

it's for. 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:42.319 Yeah, so it's um it's a process. 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:52.799 So it's like I'm saying it was six stages there, so it's your application, your pre-screen, and then they send it off to three um background agencies. 00:22:53.039 --> 00:23:00.559 And then the fourth one is I don't know if it's one of the like the big worldwide one or something like that, but that's the fourth one. 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:03.759 And then if once you pass all that, then you get your approval. 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:09.359 No, they start this process with the understanding that there's a job at the end of it if you pass. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.319 Or does that mean you just you're in the queue now, and when something comes available, they can call you? 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:15.359 You're in the queue. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:16.000 That's it. 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:20.160 Yeah, so your screen's good for 10 years, and then every 10 years you have to redo a new screen. 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:23.759 Even if you're working there or working there, you still have to do a background screen. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:24.240 Really? 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:24.720 Yeah. 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:26.000 Wow. 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:29.920 Because uh a couple of uh the bosses explain how the process works. 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:31.680 It's like, yeah, it's like, oh, did you have it before? 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:34.720 I'm like, no, I didn't have it before. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:36.079 I didn't work there before. 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:44.880 And he's like, Oh, if you have it for you, you know, sometimes you can if it's still good, and you have 10 years once you have your initial screen process go through. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:48.400 That's pretty extensive from what I found. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:57.200 It's just uh, you know, so obviously we're looking at things like passports to verify trips and outside where you went outside the country and things like that, et cetera, et cetera. 00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:18.640 Yeah, because and to me it was like I understand nuclear is a different scale, but when I was at Site C in BC, it was it was like a three-week, two-week process, whereas fill up the application, we send it down to a police background check, and it's you know, two, it's more and it's the more extensive police background check, and it's like a two-week process or something like that. 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:19.119 Yeah. 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:22.960 And you get back, it's like, yeah, clean, you know, good to go. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:29.119 Well, and those police background checks, I gotta tell you, because I'm the guy responsible for a lot of those background checks now. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:38.720 So what happened was when uh when I was a kid, I recall uh my father saying, uh, whatever happens, you stay away from him, you don't go near him, anything else. 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:44.319 And uh um, and I asked why, and he went into cop mode because he was a cop, because I said so. 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:53.279 And then uh two years later, uh um I remember asking uh my dad, your grandfather, uh, why did you tell me to stay away from that guy? 00:24:53.440 --> 00:25:06.160 He said, Because he had um arrested him for sexually molesting a 14-year-old in downtown Oshawa, and there was no way to identify him or remove him from his position at that time. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:08.799 And so I thought that was completely wrong. 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:17.039 So then I worked and brought in background checks, vulnerable person checks to make sure that any individuals are identified, at least. 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:18.960 And that's only if somebody's been convicted. 00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:21.440 I mean, if if somebody hasn't been caught, then it's not a problem. 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:25.839 People whined about that, but you had to start somewhere and you had to start to deal with the stuff. 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:34.880 And quite frankly, it was because when you were playing hockey, one of the parents came to me and said, that guy in the ice should not be there uh refing with those with those kids. 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:35.359 What? 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:36.400 Well, how do you know that? 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:37.279 I can't tell you. 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:38.559 Well, why can't you tell me? 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:39.279 Because of my job. 00:25:39.359 --> 00:25:39.920 Well, what? 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:45.200 Anyways, and found out, yeah, that person should not be out there with kids and was quickly removed. 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:58.160 So what took place then was we brought in, I brought in legislation that had uh background checks for all the coaches and people that were dealt with kids and vulnerable people, and it went Canada wide. 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:00.079 So I was the one responsible for that. 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:03.359 So but believe me, the referees didn't like that. 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:09.279 So when they found out that was the guy who made us do that, then boy, is he ever in trouble. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:16.720 So that was some of the reason why it was to make sure that the right individuals were were not out there. 00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:34.319 And the uh the background checks, obviously, like you said, for Site C, which is uh Canada's largest hydro dam on the Peace River that you did, was uh was necessary to to make sure not only that, but you had to do uh blood uh drug testing too for that one, I believe, did you not? 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:43.279 Yeah, so then it's drug testing, and then it was um there's one other test you do, I can't remember what it was, but it was like drug and alcohol test. 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:46.720 And they just have to make sure that's like you're not on anything. 00:26:46.799 --> 00:27:01.519 And yes, weed was legal all the time, but you're not allowed to partake in that recreational thing during any work facility or

during any time when you were there because it's very strict of you know like it's a major project. 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:12.640 It's and it's also again, so it's not a nuclear plant, but if that dam was ever sabotaged, if that's the theory of what's going on, you know, that's a major energy producer for BC. 00:27:12.720 --> 00:27:21.279 That's a major dam structure on the Peace River that at the time I'm sure if that went down or something happened, the flooding that would cause would be very significant, yeah. 00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:21.920 Yeah. 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:27.279 So you know, it's there's still a huge level there of risk that you have to consider. 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:36.480 Yeah, so a lot of those checks, but I I found the working uh applying to the nuclear plant three years, and you know, where'd you go on your holiday? 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:37.200 What'd you do? 00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:42.480 Check your passport to make sure that's what it says you went to, and things like that, to verify everything. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:44.559 It was it was rather elaborate, mind you. 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:50.559 I haven't applied or talked to anybody about the police application uh for working in in those sectors. 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:54.720 So I was quite surprised, but uh it was rather interesting. 00:27:54.960 --> 00:28:01.039 So and then so you're nearing the end of that now, and you think there might be a job at the end of it? 00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:10.720 Yeah, so I was um I actually received an email last week about my screening that it was into stage two or no, three or four now. 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:11.359 Right. 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:17.839 And at that stage, you can't they can apply for if you need it to get sooner, right? 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:33.200 You can apply for a work permit or work and training permit, right, which will allow you to do like a three-day safety course, and I guess like you know, pre-job hiring. 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:40.880 Um then you can go do that course and get there about a couple weeks earlier while you're still waiting for your full clearance. 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:41.440 Right. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:44.640 Um but yeah, it's quite the process still. 00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:53.440 But, anyways, going back to something you said earlier, though, on the start here, you said how something about giraffe in Africa will start eating a tree and then it sends out signals. 00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:57.920 Yeah, you read some book or told me that with some books that you read that kind of indicated that, talked about that. 00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:06.880 Yeah, I just wanted to touch on it because it was something that was kind of cool because you don't really think of, you know, you don't think of like the intelligence of animals, but you also don't think of the intelligence of trees. 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:07.839 Yeah, and plants. 00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:10.400 So they send out electrical pulses. 00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:14.559 So say a giraffe is eating a tree at X location, right? 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:22.000 Right, and it'll send out electrical pulses through the ground that will be received by other trees. 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:27.680 And then usually I don't remember what type of tree the giraffe is supposed to be eating or what their diet is there, right? 00:29:28.079 --> 00:29:33.759 But the tree will then pump toxins into its needles and barbs or whatever the giraffe is eating. 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:34.319 Yeah. 00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:45.119 And what happens is the giraffe won't just go to the next tree because the electrical signals that are sent out are going in like kilometers or miles of radius. 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:45.680 Right. 00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:58.799 So, yes, there's lots of food in certain locations, but it becomes scarce because the toxins being pumped into the leaves or the needles of the trees that the giraffes are eating are turning the nutrients bitter. 00:29:58.960 --> 00:29:59.119 Yeah. 00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:11.200 So then they'll only eat for a certain thing, and then they'll have to walk for like miles and miles because that signal would have died off, or the threat would have been, okay, well, it's coming from three miles away. 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:12.640 Oh, it's not concerning me. 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:12.960 Yeah. 00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:19.119 And instead just jump into the next one, which is already pumping toxins into its needles to stop people or stop the giraffes from eatings. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:23.119 They'll walk like three or four or five miles, even more, yeah, and feed for the next one. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:37.039 Well, for for the listeners that are listening, if you um if you do a YouTube search on the secret uh secret language of trees, um, you'll see where they connect through their roots through a a fungal relationship. 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:44.319 It's an arbuscular one that circles the roots and then it communicates to each other that way through the through the ground. 00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:54.720 But uh the one uh that you told me about before in Africa I found interesting, but I wasn't sure how it was um communicated to the other trees to release the the stuff that turns the leaves bitter. 00:30:55.039 --> 00:30:57.119 Yeah, so like I said, it's just a process. 00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:05.920 And then the same goes, another example is given was um I believe it was with beetles somewhere in North America. 00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:16.079 And you know, these beetles are insects that are chewing the leaves, it'll do the exact same thing where it'll send out these pulses and warnings and it will stop. 00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:18.960 And actually, what these trees do is different. 00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:23.920 It'll pump out a uh pheromone that'll attract insects, right? 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:26.160 That'll eat these other bugs. 00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:26.960 Oh yeah. 00:31:27.279

--> 00:31:30.880 And that's what it'll do to protect itself. 00:31:31.119 --> 00:31:31.359 Right. 00:31:31.599 --> 00:31:38.960 So there you just sit there and use like, you know, you walk through the forest hundreds of thousands of times, but you don't sit there and think about like, what is a tree thinking about? 00:31:39.119 --> 00:31:39.440 Yeah. 00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:41.359 Yeah, how does it communicate? 00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:46.559 How does it yeah, it it's it's fascinating to see these these sorts of things taking place. 00:31:46.640 --> 00:32:02.079 And I think the it's in uh one of the northwestern states where the the largest living organism in the world is uh uh a huge mass of uh fungal network, which is kilometers long, is what I understand. 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:05.680 So it it's kind of huge just the way they communicate and everything else. 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:09.279 But there there's so many things that we don't realize that take place out there. 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:15.039 And I uh yeah, I remember you telling me about the giraffes, but I didn't realize it was an electronic pulse. 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:22.880 Yeah, yeah, it was an electronic pulse, they said, and uh it sends it out through the ground to the root systems, and other trees pick up. 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:24.880 Kind of like a radio frequency in a way. 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:25.519 Yeah. 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:26.799 Well, very interesting. 00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:27.599 All right, Garrett. 00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:37.759 Well, I think we got a good update on what's happening and all the process that you're going through and what's taking place over uh potentially at Darlington, which is uh a lot closer to home, so to speak. 00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:40.079 Yeah, it's a lot closer to home, which is nice. 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:42.559 And uh, you know, it's a big project. 00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:57.839 There's I believe it's eight structures in total, but there might be more because there's, you know, these projects, there's always add-ons because they'll get halfway through something and they go, Well, the ground's already cleared and regulation might come out in 20 years, so let's just do it now. 00:32:57.920 --> 00:33:00.480 So they might add on more things and more things to it. 00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:26.640 Yeah, there was a lot of that theory for things on it, because I can recall when the the major free ray uh structures were taking place, uh it was something that I I kind of learned was that a lot of times they will build interchanges now because even though the population isn't going to utilize it extensively, but within 10, 15 years, it'll start to use it then. 00:33:26.799 --> 00:33:35.359 And the cost to build the interchange and shut down the highways 10, 15 years from now is significantly higher than what it is now. 00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:41.519 So it was more cost effective when they have the funds to do that to build it then, even though it's gonna not be used for a while. 00:33:41.759 --> 00:33:42.240 Oh, absolutely. 00:33:42.400 --> 00:34:00.240 And it to me it makes sense because the way like things are going around here with traffic, like you know, and driving back into it every day now on a regular, you do realize it's like the traffic is such backed up that they are scrambling for solutions to get heck, it means they get a thousand cars off the road. 00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:00.559 Yeah. 00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:04.480 You know, it doesn't make that big of a dent, but a thousand cars is still a thousand cars. 00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:04.960 Yeah. 00:34:05.200 --> 00:34:23.519 Well, my sister Charmaine, great person, she was just here, just took her to the airport today because she was here for for over three weeks, uh staying at uh mom's place at uh um my mom's and mum's 91, and she was spending some time, quite a bit of time with her. 00:34:23.679 --> 00:34:27.119 And I took her to the airport, and sure enough, you know, the backlog there. 00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:36.400 But when the the the other highway it's reducing a lot of the stress on the main highway 401 here just uh east of Toronto. 00:34:36.559 --> 00:34:37.679 But it was interesting. 00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:50.800 Um I found out that they did a see the 407, which was originally a toll highway, uh, it was put in place and it was not added to the provincial debt because it was a toll highway. 00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:58.320 So uh that was a great way to provide jobs for the construction sector to build major roads. 00:34:58.800 --> 00:35:01.440 And so what that did was it's kind of a snowball effect. 00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:15.440 So while all the major construction companies are doing that, they're not bidding on all the small jobs in local municipalities, so that freed up construction workers to work in other municipalities and not compete with the big players. 00:35:15.679 --> 00:35:25.599 But what I found interesting was that they couldn't do the expansion on the 401 until after the highway called 407 here was built. 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:34.480 Otherwise, if 407 was built, the cost feasibility would be, it would not be able to cover itself and would be added to the provincial debt debt. 00:35:34.719 --> 00:35:45.199 So they had to build the 407 first in order to supply the to comply with the auditor general's requirement to have it not part of the debt before they did an expansion on the 401. 00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:52.320 So 401 expansion is going through now, but uh just the way some of these things take place, you you don't really understand it. 00:35:52.639 --> 00:36:01.039 Doesn't make a lot of sense overall, but in order to make sure the books are balanced and everything is in compliance, that's the way those b structures had to get done. 00:36:01.280 --> 00:36:17.440 407 first, because it was cost feasibly um figured to cover the cost, so it wouldn't be added to provincial debt based on the the current usages before they did

any expansion, because if they did expansion on 401, then it wouldn't be cost feasible and would have been added to provincial debt. 00:36:17.599 --> 00:36:18.079 Yep. 00:36:18.320 --> 00:36:24.960 And you know, and there's other things too that just mesmerizing is like the engineering that goes into the highway. 00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:27.360 Uh like the engineering there, sorry. 00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:27.679 Yeah. 00:36:27.920 --> 00:36:38.239 Um it's just remarkable, because I know a statement that you said to me that always just kind of stuck when I was a kid is that the the 401 is running at a hundred times its built capacity. 00:36:38.480 --> 00:36:39.840 Yeah, it's design capacity, yeah. 00:36:40.159 --> 00:37:09.280 And it's and it's a hundred times, and you know, and you look it up and it's actually like a factor, and it's just you sit there and you go, a hundred times its capacity, and we're only recently just doing any you know development for road and trying to get traffic going or taking less like more vehicles off the road, make transporting easy, like yeah, we it was amazing because uh the the chief engineer Kevin Pask at uh Ministry of Transportation when I was junior minister there, he was the one who told me that it was operating at a hundred times its design capacity. 00:37:09.440 --> 00:37:12.800 They had no idea that that many vehicles would be able to utilize it. 00:37:12.880 --> 00:37:15.440 And and people, you know, they they adjust and adopt. 00:37:15.519 --> 00:37:20.159 I mean, when we were in Egypt, do you remember the the traffic there in Egypt at all? 00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:24.559 There'd be like three lanes, but there'd be five lanes of cars because nobody stayed in the lanes. 00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:32.400 They just made extra lanes and used all the curbs and everything else and and the shoulders to drive on because the the the traffic was so bad there. 00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:44.480 And the other thing that was really neat, I thought, when we were in Egypt, was the license plates there, people painted them on a uh on a piece of uh plywood and stuck it on the back of their car. 00:37:44.559 --> 00:37:45.199 Their numbers. 00:37:45.280 --> 00:37:48.800 It didn't have to be a a structured license plate like we get here. 00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:56.880 And so it just had to be numbers on a on a on a those ones were plywood, and they were just painted on the plywood and put in the license plot. 00:37:57.119 --> 00:38:04.719 But yeah, so even there, the lanes were three lanes, there'd be five lanes of cars going through to accommodate all that. 00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:06.400 And it's the same thing here. 00:38:06.639 --> 00:38:09.760 People learn how to adjust and modify to accommodate for it. 00:38:09.920 --> 00:38:10.320 Yep. 00:38:10.559 --> 00:38:10.800 Yep. 00:38:11.039 --> 00:38:18.880 Well, you know, and people will still complain it's all the highway's too slow, and and but you sit there and it's like it's running at

a hundred times its capacity. 00:38:19.119 --> 00:38:19.360 Yeah. 00:38:19.599 --> 00:38:25.679 So there's a point of like, you know, we're complaining, but it's like, hey, it's still doing its job. 00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:26.079 Yeah. 00:38:26.239 --> 00:38:37.360 Well, when Pierre came down from just outside of Timmins to work with me when I was minister, he, you know, he he he was his big thing was we need more, we need better roads in northern Ontario. 00:38:37.679 --> 00:38:42.239 So after a month here, I said to him, I said, okay, Pierre, which is it? 00:38:42.400 --> 00:38:43.679 Where would you spend the money now? 00:38:43.840 --> 00:38:46.159 On the roads in northern Ontario or southern Ontario? 00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:47.679 And there was no hesitation at all. 00:38:47.840 --> 00:38:50.400 Southern Ontario, they need the roads built down here. 00:38:50.559 --> 00:38:55.360 We got nothing to complain about up there until they see these backlogs of cars here. 00:38:55.679 --> 00:39:01.039 Yeah, well, like I said, sometimes you get to work in half an hour and you get home, it takes you two hours. 00:39:01.199 --> 00:39:01.519 Yep. 00:39:01.679 --> 00:39:03.679 You know, I'm lucky where my location is. 00:39:03.760 --> 00:39:09.599 I'm not on the like the far end or the south end of the uh LRT. 00:39:09.679 --> 00:39:12.960 I'm on the north end of it, so I'm missing most of the downtown traffic. 00:39:13.039 --> 00:39:22.559 But if I for sure it was downtown, my drive would be from an hour and uh 20-15 minutes to uh probably close close to two hours, I'd say. 00:39:22.719 --> 00:39:23.360 Yeah. 00:39:23.760 --> 00:39:24.719 All right, Garrett. 00:39:24.880 --> 00:39:30.480 Well, I appreciate the updates, and I know my listeners who were answering questions about that, they like to hear about the updates. 00:39:30.719 --> 00:39:33.920 And everything's going good with uh your son Gritton. 00:39:34.159 --> 00:39:35.440 Yeah, Gritton's good. 00:39:35.519 --> 00:39:36.880 He's he's growing. 00:39:36.960 --> 00:39:48.880 Uh I keep hearing that he's gonna be a tall baby, or gonna be a tall kid, or a tall man when he grows up, and you know, because he's measuring in the over 90 percentile for his height. 00:39:49.199 --> 00:39:55.519 Um, and he's already, yeah, he just turned four months there, and he's already in uh six-month outfit. 00:39:55.679 --> 00:39:59.039 So quite the jump there. 00:39:59.360 --> 00:40:06.559 Well, all is good, and thanks, Garrett, for the update on everything, and just some more information about what's happening out there under the canopy. 00:40:06.639 --> 00:40:07.360 Thanks, Garrett. 00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:08.079 No problem. 00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:34.239 How did a small-town sheet metal mechanic come to build one of Canada's most iconic fishing lodges? 00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:45.920 I'm your host, Steve Nitzwicki, and you'll find out about that and a whole lot more on the Outdoor Journal Radio Network's newest podcast, Diaries of a Lodge Owner. 00:40:46.159 --> 00:40:48.800 But this podcast will be more than that. 00:40:49.039 --> 00:40:54.639 Every week on Diaries of a Lodge Owner, I'm going to introduce you to a ton of great people. 00:40:54.880 --> 00:40:59.840 Share their stories of our trials, tribulations, and inspirations. 00:41:00.239 --> 00:41:02.800 Learn and have plenty of laughs along the way. 00:41:03.039 --> 00:41:12.639 Meanwhile, we're sitting there bobbing along trying to figure out how to catch a bass, and we both decided one day we were going to be on television doing a fishing job. 00:41:12.960 --> 00:41:19.679 My hands get sore a little bit when I'm reeling in all those bass in the summertime, but that's might be more efficient than it was punching. 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.480 You so confidently you said, Hey Pat, have you ever eaten a drunk? 00:41:24.639 --> 00:41:32.079 Find diaries of a lodge owner now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.