World Report - December 18: Thursday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

The Trump Administration makes new demands from Canada and Mexico, as Canadian officials work to keep CUSMA trade deal intact. Ottawa and Ontario expected to sign a deal to reduce the regulatory burden on large projects, including the road to the Ring of Fire. Blizzard expected to hit Manitoba; schools closed, Unitersity of Manitoba exams cancelled. UN warns aid groups could be kicked out of Gaza Strip by end of the year if they don’t comply with new Israeli registration rules. European farmers protest a proposed free-trade deal with South American countries.US President Donald Trump takes aim at predecessor, Joe Biden, in prime-time address. 

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This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Marcia Young. The Trump administration is making new demands of its biggest trading partners. It's giving Canada and Mexico a list of concessions it wants in the next version of their three-way trade agreement. But it's not clear the U.S. is going to stay in Kusma. As Katie Simpson reports, Washington is making these demands as Canadian officials push to keep the trading relationship intact. It is in the interest of the United States to keep free and open trade with Canada. As Canada's ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, was appearing on American cable news to make the case to keep Kuzma.

Her counterpart, the top U.S. trade official, was submitting a report to Congress listing off the complaints the Trump administration has about the three-way trade agreement. Outlining the changes Donald Trump wants to see in order for the U.S. to remain in the pact, including specific demands of, Canada. Trump wants provincial bans on the sale of American alcohol to end. He wants it to be easier for farmers to sell American dairy products into Canada, and he has problems with the Online News Act

and Online Streaming Act, which American tech giants don't like. These issues will be discussed as part of the Kuzma Review, which begins next year. I think it can survive because it's the right thing for all three countries, but it's the right thing for America. Canada is your biggest customer.

You sell more to us than China. UK, France, and Japan combined. So you put all those countries together, that's 1.7 billion people. We're 40 billion people. And we buy more from America, American manufacturers than all of them combined. Canada has already indicated it would like to stay in the agreement and is open to making improvements to the deal. It's also demanding the U.S. end punishing tariffs hitting a wide range of Canadian industries. But there are no signs Trump is willing to budge. Katie Simpson, CBC News, Washington. Prime Minister Mark Carney will host a virtual meeting with the country's premiers later today.

But first, he and Ontario Premier Doug Ford are addressing the media, and they are about to take part in a signing ceremony. Let's bring in Janice McGregor from our Parliamentary Bureau. Janice, what are they signing? Marcia, Doug Ford's government reached an agreement with First Nations leaders earlier this fall, laying out what northern indigenous communities would receive in return for their cooperation to build new road infrastructure. to the rich critical mineral resources in Ontario's Ring of Fire.

At the time, the Ontario Premier called on the federal government to get out of the way and not duplicate the province's approval processes. Today, he's expected to sign a deal with the Prime Minister to facilitate just that, a one project, one review approach to resource development from now on. Ontario's finance minister, Peter Bethlehem Falvi. We can't spend years and years and years on process because capital has disappeared. And when capital disappears, nothing gets done. After that public event, the Prime Minister and the Premier of Ontario move behind closed doors for the First Minister's meeting.

What's on that agenda? First Minister's talks are now dominated by two discussions that go hand in hand, developing major projects to boost the economy and strategizing against the latest trade threats from the Trump administration. BC Premier David E.B. told reporters yesterday, he's been in talks with federal officials to speed up new investment, to improve trade infrastructure in the West, a need that's come into sharp focus after the decision by Saskatchewan Podash exporter nutrient to invest in a new railport facility in Washington State instead of BC.

If they have $60 billion to take an hour off of the train ride between Montreal and Ottawa, then I am sure we can reach agreement on moving goods and people around British Columbia without difficulty. Tensions have also surfaced over whether, there are now two sets of environmental regulations in this country, a special deal for Alberta following its recent MOU, and stricter standards on things like methane emissions and electricity generation for every other province.

Thank you, Janice. You're welcome. The CBC's Janice McGregor in Ottawa. The Alberta clipper that caused chaos in parts of the prairies yesterday is moving east. Blizzard conditions with gusty winds and near zero visibility are expected for southern Manitoba, including Winnipeg. The TransCanada remains closed to the Saskatchewan border, the University of Manitoba, has cancelled exams for the day. Dozens of schools are also closed. In the northern parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, people can expect it to feel

like minus 50 with the wind chill. The United Nations warns the clock is ticking on a number of aid groups operating in the Gaza Strip. Israel could kick them out by the end of the year if they don't comply with new registration rules. And the timing could be disastrous for Palestinians still cleaning up from last week's rainstorm. Rafi Bucci Canyon has more. It comes down on us when it rains, says Ramadan Abu Saif, pointing to the partially caved-in ceiling of his home in Gaza.

You can see how the bombing damaged the house, he says. The ceiling was damaged during the conflict between Israel and Hamas. and it collapsed further when rainstorm Byron swept through late last week. He and other Palestinians in Gaza staged a protest yesterday, demanding mobile homes to replace those bombed-out buildings or tents they receive for shelter. But aid groups already face restrictions and those could tighten in a couple of weeks. It is very devastating that... Yulene Feltvag is with the cooperative for assistance and relief everywhere.

Care has been in Gaza since the 15th. It, like countless other organizations, now faces a December 31st deadline for a re-registration process. It would force them to submit all staff names to Israel for vetting. The UN warns the system relies on vague, arbitrary, and highly politicized criteria. Feltwag says care has tried registering, but does not have a response yet. If it does not get the nod, she says it will slow aid delivery. You know, we have warehouses full in Cairo. Israel says the new process.

is necessary to root out Hamas members among aid organizations. It says more than 20 NGOs have already registered, and it's making every effort to make sure aid gets the civilians instead of Hamas. Rafi Bucchan, Yon-Cabisi News, Jerusalem. European farmers are driving their tractors into Belgium protesting a proposed free trade deal with South American countries. They are blind. Blasting music, blocking the roads and setting off fireworks outside an EU leaders meeting.

Police have fired tear gas and water cannons at the demonstration. The farmers say they're worried this trade deal will undercut their livelihoods. The EU is hammering out an agreement with the countries known as Mercosur. That's Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia. The deal would progressively remove duties on almost all goods traded between the two blocks over the next 15 years. U.S. President Donald Trump is promising Americans an economic boom like they have never seen before. But the year in televised speech from the U.S. President comes as some polls suggest he's taking a popularity hit, largely because of the rising cost of living.

Willie Lowry joins us from Washington, and will he go over Trump's speech for us? In many ways, this was a classic Trump speech. The U.S. president speaking for just 18 minutes, relatively brief for him, but spending much of that time railing against the Biden administration, blaming the former president for much of what he believes is wrong with the U.S. I inherited a mess, and I'm fixing it. When I took office, inflation was the worst in 48 years, and some would say in the history of our country, which caused prices to be higher than ever before making life unaffordable for millions and millions of Americans. Trump kept the focus primarily on domestic issues, though he touted his foreign policy achievements,

mostly helping to end or quiet conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere. The speech felt harried at times as he rushed through his list of achievements and sought to convince Americans that the economy was back on track. So how do some of these claims measure up in the real world? Yeah, so the president insisted that inflation has stopped. It hasn't. It's still hovering at just over 3%. That's actually a slight increase from the previous month. He praised tariffs, crediting them for revitalizing the country's economy, and bringing in what he said was $18 trillion in investments. That number is hard to verify. He also said

he had completely closed the southern border. He hasn't, though illegal immigration has significantly slowed under Trump. This late-night address comes as President Trump's approval ratings have dropped to below 40 percent, according to several polls. He's hoping that by speaking directly to the people, he can convince them his first year has been a success. Thank you, Willie. My pleasure. The CBC's Willie Lowry in Washington.

That is World Report. I'm Marcia Young. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca slash podcasts.