Your World Tonight - Affordability crisis, the big dig out, radon gas, and more

Episode Date: January 26, 2026

MPs return to Parliament Hill to face a long to-do list. Pressing matters like food prices, productivity, and the U.S. trade war are top of mind. The Prime Minister tried to address at least one of those issues — affordability. The government announced a GST credit top-up aimed at helping millions of Canadians. The opposition Conservatives say they’ll support the plan, but want the government to do more to cut food costs.Also: People across Southern Ontario are trying to dig out from a weekend winter wallop. Record levels of snow blanketed much of southern Ontario. Especially hard hit — Toronto, with a record breaking 60 centimetres of snow, Sunday. It was the largest one day snowfall in the city’s history, closing schools and businesses, and snarling traffic and transit.And: The dangers of radon. What you need to know about the invisible threat, lingering in the homes of many Canadians.Plus: ICE in Minnesota, gold’s new milestone, alleged Canadian drug kingpin Ryan Wedding in court, and more.

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This is a CBC podcast. And during this time of global turmoil, Canadians are coming together to build Canada strong. So we know that in times like these, we have to take care of each other. It's hard to keep your elbows up on an empty stomach. After a week of world travel and trying to build and bolster international trade,

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced new measures for Canadians struggling to put food on the table. Will the Prime Minister finally reverse his inflationary deficits and taxes, so Canadians can afford to eat. As MPEs return to Ottawa, conservatives promised to back the government's GST grocery break, but the opposition isn't satisfied and says the liberal plan will leave Canadians hungry for more.

Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Susan Bonner. It is Monday, January 26th, just before 6 p.m. Eastern, also on the podcast. My husband and I just dug our truck. A former Canadian Olympian and alleged drug kingpin appears in court. Also, my husband and I just dug our truck out of a hole up there. No, subway line two, no subway line one.

So I don't think we need to bring in the army. Canada's largest city digging out after a record-breaking storm, schools were closed, transit chaotic, and now the cleanup. Even as overall inflation has fallen off, Canadians have watched the cost of groceries climbing with no end in sight. Now the Prime Minister is proposing some solutions. But as Rafi Bujikani tells us, the Conservatives are calling on Mark Carney to do more.

Orange juice is up 12% year-on-year. Ground beef up 19%. Prime Minister Mark Carney back from traveling abroad with an announcement targeting his audience at home. Many Canadians are feeling the pressures right now of every. day expenses. Canadians need a boost today. The government plans to raise the GST rebate by 25% for low-income Canadians for the next five years, also adding a one-time top-up of 50% this year. Measures Ottawa says will impact more than 12 million people. There is more, too,

$500 million for food suppliers to increase productivity, another 20 million for food banks. You know, there isn't a silver bullet in Canada to solve food insecurity. Kirsten Beardsley is the CEO of Food Bank's Canada. Last week, she briefed Carney's cabinet as a guest speaker during their retreat in Quebec City, pushing the need for a grocery benefit. She says she's pleased they listened. We need targeted measures, and today's announcement will be part of that. And the policies are also getting a warm welcome outside a grocery store in Vancouver.

It's helpful to do that. It's significant, but I hope that the government thinking about that, they're thinking about the bigger picture. The long-game impact on the country and what has gotten us to this point. Over on Parliament Hill. The Speaker, the Canadian people deserve affordable groceries. The Conservatives blamed the liberals for the present situation, and as MPs return to a minority parliament this week,

the government alone cannot pass this legislation. Opposition leader Pierre Palliev, quick to say Carney needs to do more by cutting other taxes. There's the liberal fuel standard tax, which is seven cents a leader on farmers, truckers, and those who bring us our food. There's the industrial carbon tax on farm equipment. But ultimately, challenged by finance minister Francois Philippe Champagne, Prime Minister has revived a Trudeau era rebate, which will let pass, that will barely cover a few trips to the grocery store. That's one piece of legislation, though. And just short of a majority with 170 MPs, the Liberals will need help from across party lines for each bill they want to pass.

Asked by journalists, Carney dismissed the idea he's angling to send Canadians back to the polls. You can't draw that conclusion at all. And the Conservatives are not likely to try and bring down the government anytime soon. They're busy with Pahlia facing a leadership review later this week. Rafi Bucanian, CBC News, Ottawa. Affordability is just one piece of the bigger economic picture, which includes U.S. tariffs and the ongoing trade war. The Prime Minister was asked about all those things today, as well as whether last week's speech made things harder for Canada. Tom Perry reports.

So we're starting to fundamentally transform our economy. Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney was traveling the globe. Today he was back in Ottawa looking to focus on domestic issues. though his big trip, and in particular a speech he delivered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, was still resonating. My comments in Davos laid out how we see the world. In his speech, Carney described what he sees as the decline of the rules-based international order. He urged middle powers, like Canada, to act together to defend their interests. The speech was seen as a veiled critique of the United States under Donald Trump and the U.S. President responded accordingly,

accusing Canada of being insufficiently grateful to America and later referring to Carney as governor in a social media post, a slight once reserved for former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. You know, I'm not going to comment on every tweet or truth or comment from whoever, so I can handle it. To Carney, Trump's comments may be driven by the fact Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are set to review their continental trade deal. One of Trump's latest threats is a 100% tariff on Canadian goods if Canada enters a free trade deal with China, something Carney says his government has no intention of doing. Dominic LeBlanc, Minister Responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade says he's been in contact with U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer to reiterate that point, underlining, that the Prime Minister's visit the China last week was about resolving specific disputes over Canadian agriculture products and seafood and China. Chinese electric vehicles. I was reassured that Ambassador Greer understood very clearly what the agreement is and what it's not. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has expressed his own concerns about the deal

Carney reached in China. Ford has criticized the prime minister's decision to allow tens of thousands of Chinese EVs per year into the Canadian market, calling it a threat to Canada's auto sector. But after meeting with Carney today and with industry minister Melanie Jolie, the Premier was sounding more conciliatory. We're going to move forward. We're all part of Team Canada. And the way I describe it is we're a big family across the country. The Prime Minister will meet with Ford and his fellow premiers this week

to discuss his recent trip and map out what might lay ahead on trade talks with the U.S. and its always unpredictable president. Tom Harry, CBC News, Ottawa. For millions of people in Toronto and surrounding areas, the most pressing issue of the day wasn't trade or politics or even affordability. It was snow. After a record-setting storm, the work of clearing roads and sidewalks is just beginning. As Jennifer Yoon reports, authorities are asking residents to be patient. It's a bit of a Herculean task. Beneath the snow, you can barely make out the outline of the car Martha Lapp is digging out.

Like so many people in Toronto, she's shoveling hard after a historic snowstorm wallop the city. It's tough in the city where there's no place to put it. 56 centimeters of snow fell over downtown Toronto Sunday. The most that has ever been recorded in a single day is Jeff Colson, a meteorologist with environment and climate change Canada. The event itself in Toronto was probably historic given the fact that we're shattering records that have never been broken before. Many stayed home, but those who couldn't face a messy commute.

A streetcar derailed and subway and bus service was disrupted. City workers are plowing the snow, says Mayor Olivia Chow, but haven't started removing it off the streets yet for the most part. The city's snow plowing contracts don't include snow removal. We cannot demand the private contractors to do the snow removal. That is why we are now redeploying city staff, to do the all hands on deck to do what we can to both plow the road and also remove the snow.

A polar vortex brought Arctic air over most Canada. Snow and ice came to most parts of southern Ontario. Freezing highways where at least 100 collisions were reported. At Toronto Pearson Airport, over 100 flights are cancelled again today. Even as crews work to clear. the snow from runaways. But those who don't need to travel today are enjoying the snow. Most schools in and around Toronto have called a snow day and tobogging hills in the city are full of kids making the most of it. Going tobogging, this is a good day for it, but you might get snow

shot on your face. And there's more snow in the forecast in Toronto through Friday. For the kids on the hill, that might be good news. But for city workers, more snow, even a mere fraction of what fell Sunday might complicate things as they clear the streets. John Offrey-June, CBC News, Toronto. Coming right up, facing backlash in Minneapolis and across the U.S. a shift in tone from the White House after another ice-related killing. And from on the run to in front of a judge, an alleged Canadian drug boss appears in court. Later, we'll have this story.

It's toxic, it's invisible, and it's high. in millions of Canadian homes. What was I breathing in for so long for all those years? I'm CBC health reporter Lauren Pelly. Coming up on your world tonight, I'll explain why radon gas may be giving more people deadly lung cancer and how scientists are trying to tackle this hidden threat. In Minnesota, there are signs that Trump administration

could be softening its stance in the face of fierce local protests and nationwide outrage over another killing involving, U.S. federal agents. U.S. President Donald Trump is making a leadership change as state officials continue to push back against the president's immigration crackdown. The CBC's Katie Simpson reports from Minneapolis. Outside a hotel where ICE agents have been staying, demonstrators tried to push their way into the building. Windows and glass doors were smashed, the chaos ending after officers fired tear gas into the small crowd. As backlash intense, over the killing of a second American.

President Donald Trump is making some changes, placing his Bordersar, Tom Holman, in charge of operations in Minneapolis. Bordersar, Homan, is in a unique position to drop everything and go to Minnesota to continue having these productive conversations with state and local officials. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says Hulman will report directly to the president. It was later revealed that Greg Bevino, the head of Border Patrol, who's become the face of the operation, he's leaving. Trump also appears to at least be attempting to change his tone,

saying he had a good call with Minnesota Governor Tim Walls and that right now they're on the same wavelength examining a path forward. It is President Trump's hope and wish and demand for the resistance and chaos to end today. But various members of the Trump administration have made all kinds of demands about changes they want to see before the ICE operation ends, asking for criminals to be handed over to federal agents, demanding details about who receives food assistance benefits and even requesting access to the state's voter rolls. This is not about fraud and it's not even about immigration.

Minnesota's Attorney General Keith Ellison is trying to force an end to the ICE operation in court. He argued the surge in resources amounts to an occupation and is unconstitutional. The federal government doesn't have any right to try to flood us, threaten us with retribution, and to coerce the state of Minnesota into complying with Trump policy. Lawyers for the Trump administration disagreed and a judge will rule at a later date. As that hearing was taking place,

there was a sudden commotion in the lobby of the same federal court building. The family and friends of a 20-year-old man, Jose Roberto Ramirez, had come with him to surrender to authorities. He's an American citizen who was wrongly detained by, ICE agents during an incident that was captured on video.

His aunt screamed for agents to stop as Ramirez is forcefully pulled out of a vehicle. While he was released, federal agents allege he broke the law during the incident, issuing a warrant for his arrest without specifying the charges. It's untenable. Chase Ironize is a lawyer supporting the family. He says this serves as a reminder that ice operations have an impact on everyone here. Katie Simpson, CBC News, Minneapolis. Ryan Wedding has entered two not guilty pleas at a U.S. federal court in California.

The former Canadian Olympic snowboarder allegedly ran a deadly international drug ring. He was arrested in Mexico last week after being on the run for a decade. He faces more than a dozen charges, including murder. The CBC's Thomas Daggle has been leading our coverage on this case and brings us this update. In Mexico City today, President Claudia Shainbaum stood in front of a big screen in a room full of reporters and cameras, pointing to an image of a man resembling Canadian Ryan Wedding from a social media post that's gone viral. Shanebaum says the picture proves the alleged cocaine kingpin turned himself in last week, walking into the U.S. Embassy in Mexico on his own. But CBC News has determined the image displayed by Shane Bomb is actually fake generated by artificial intelligence. Still, it illustrates Mexican officials are at pains to show Wedding's arrest was not carried out by the FBI on Mexican soil.

Here's the version of events from U.S. Attorney Bill Assaley. Despite tremendous roadblocks and challenges, our American law enforcement team was able to apprehend him. That is a tremendous accomplishment. For the first time today, Wedding's lawyer, Anthony Colombo provided his own timeline, insisting his client was in fact apprehended. Any spin that the government in Mexico is putting on this, that he surrendered is inaccurate. The Ontario-born wedding stands accused of leading a cocaine-smuggling empire linked to Mexican cartels. He was led into a courtroom near Los Angeles today in handcuffs,

appearing before a judge to plead not guilty to a slew of federal charges, including drug trafficking and three murders in Ontario. flexibility built in in terms of which country can can prosecute. Dalhousie University law professor Robert Curry says it's an unusual case where U.S. authorities are free to pursue the charges even though the killings were carried out in Canada. All of it since U.S. prosecutors allege the attacks were at the behest of a criminal organization that used stash houses in Southern California to move drugs. He could definitely challenge jurisdiction before the California court of some

of the charges that have been put in place, I think his chances would be unlikely. As for Wedding's lawyer, he says the charges against his client don't amount to evidence. He's a former Olympic athlete, which obviously takes a lot of mental toughness to participate in those type of games and at a high level, so he's in good spirits. Wedding remains in custody with U.S. prosecutors moving today to ensure he's not released on bail. If convicted in California, Wedding faces life in prison. Thomas Daggle, CBC News, Toronto. The price of gold has been surging and hit another new high today,

$5,100 per ounce. Silver is setting new records too. Senior business reporter Peter Armstrong is helping us understand what's playing out here. So, Peter, what do we know about what's driving investors? It's not just one thing, Susan, it's a wash of uncertainty emanating from a bunch of different places, right? on the one hand, you've got the U.S. upending 75 years of global trade. We've seen faith in American financial institutions being challenged, add in kind of Greenland and Venezuela.

But it's important to remember all of that is happening at the same time. We're seeing kind of fundamental changes in China's investment environment. We're seeing upheaval in Japan's bond market. Traditionally, in times of uncertainty, investors pile into U.S. bonds, U.S. currency. But, Susan, those are selling off, too. investors looking for a safe haven, they're turning to gold and silver. Peter, I think people understand the story in the U.S., but you mentioned China and Japan. Tell us more about what's happening there. Yeah, the surge we're seeing in gold prices. It actually started with Chinese

investors. For years, Chinese households, as we all know, were deeply invested in real estate. The government was trying to tamp down on speculation there. So investors were looking for something else and they looked to gold as something that's not controlled by the government. That started the climb, but then all of this geopolitical uncertainty we've seen has acted like rocket fuel. Okay, that's China. Japan was in the news last week as bonds there sold off. How does that fit? Yeah, so the new government in Japan is launching this major stimulus package to spur along the economy. That package has driven up bonds in that country and is driven down the currency, the yen. So to keep the currency afloat, the government has sold off some U.S. Treasury bonds to buy yen, threatening to do more.

And remember, Japan's the biggest non-U.S. holder of U.S. treasuries. So when it sells, the market takes notice. Peter, we keep hearing that markets have largely shrugged off the uncertainty around Trump. And that's why most stock markets remain at all-time highs. Does this mark a shift? I think that's precisely the question we're trying to answer. And we won't know for a little while, right? Stock markets, they tell us one important story about how the economy looks,

but bond markets and precious metals. and the traditional safe havens we've talked about here, they tell us something else. So I asked Carl Schmada, chief market strategist at the financial services firm Corpe, what's driving the surge in gold? You know, erratic policy leadership in the U.S. combined with political change throughout the rest of the world,

added to the technological ship that's happening throughout the global economy, raises uncertainty levels to thresholds we haven't seen in decades. And Susan, it's a volatile time in the world, not just here in Canada, Even as new tariff threats were levied by the U.S. over the weekend, you can sense the world trying to make sense of where things go from here. Thank you, Peter.

You bet. Senior business correspondent Peter Armstrong here in Toronto. This is Your World Tonight from CBC News. If you want to make sure you stay up to date and never miss one of our episodes, follow us on Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts. Just find the follow button and lock us in. You can't see it or smell it. Millions of Canadians have no idea it's hiding in their homes.

Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. Health Canada estimates it kills more than 3,000 people each year. Now, there's a push to change how we build houses in Canada. Health reporter Lauren Pelly has more. I still turn around and go, why me? You know, I did all the things I'm supposed to do properly. Steve Blake felt healthy and fit. Then two years ago, a nagging cough led to a devastating diagnosis,

stage four lung cancer. As someone who'd never smoked, the 57-year-old wondered if radon exposure played a role. You installed a monitor down here. Yes, I was recommended to put it in the basement. Blake had spent more than two decades working from the basement of his Calgary home. After his cancer diagnosis, he put in a radon monitor. It kept flashing red, showing high levels of this toxic gas. What was I breathing in for so long for all those years?

Radon gas is naturally released from the ground when soil and rock break down. It can build up inside closed spaces, and when you breathe it in, the gas decays into radioactive particles. Health officials say long-term exposure is the top cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. Canada and Canadians are amongst the most radon-exposed persons on this planet. At the University of Calgary, Aaron Godarsie is leading a national radon study. His team found an estimated 10 million people across the country are living in houses with high amounts of radon. And the number of homes with dangerous levels has more than doubled since 2012. Godarzi says it's

likely due to how we build our homes, making them as airtight as possible to keep heat inside. are our safe spaces. And we don't like to think of our safe spaces as being harmful to us. They certainly can be. He's among those welcoming a major change to the Canadian Building Code. That document sets the standard

for building design and construction across Canada. New regulations released in December now require newly built homes to have a passive radon stack, which acts like a chimney to help funnel the gas safely outside. It's such a big accomplishment. Kelly Bush and a new home,

Health Canada's manager for radon outreach. She says her team's research helped inform the new guidelines, but they won't translate into action overnight. It's going to take a while because it needs to be adopted by provinces and territories, but long term, we are going to be building homes in Canada that have less radon in it. Others warn the bigger issue is the millions of existing homes that already pose health risks and the high cost to install radon mitigation systems to vent the gas out. The price tag to Canadians can range from $2,000 to $5,000 and sometimes more.

Lauren Pelley, CBC News, Calgary. For a deeper look at how scientists are working to protect Canadians from this invisible threat, you can read more from Lauren at cBCNews.ca. Finally tonight, it's a twist on the usual subject matter of a museum. Instead of masterpieces, there are the bits and pieces. of broken dreams and crushed expectations. The framed rejection letter, the withered and neglected house plant,

the broken tire rod from a DIY car repair that should have been done professionally. This isn't even half bad for like a failed album. These are some of the first like musical ideas that I really ever came up with. In the past five years, hopefully I've gotten a lot better, but that's not what the point of this exhibit is.

That's Jamie Greenberg. He's a music producer going through some of his early and unsuccessful recordings, his submissions to the Museum of Personal Failure. It opened this week at Vancouver's Kingsgate Mall. Other exhibits include a wedding dress from a failed marriage and the Hall of Rejection, full of fruitless job applications and layoff notices. Avan Collins is the museum's curator. He says failure often gets ignored,

even though everyone goes through it. Failing is part of the human experience. People are giving me these things that they're like, I tried really hard on this and it like didn't work or like other things came up and so I couldn't finish. But it's like they're beautiful things. Like the effort is tangible. Collins hopes the museum inspires optimism

by accepting and honoring the things that didn't work out. Even the flyers Collins made to promote the grand opening. They got printed backwards. By mistake, he used them anyway. Thank you for joining us. This has been your world tonight for Monday, January 26th. I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca slash podcasts.