Your World Tonight - AFN rejects Ottawa/Alberta deal, Putin ready for war with Europe, facial recognition on police body cams, and more

Episode Date: December 2, 2025

Assembly of First Nations chiefs demand the immediate withdrawal of a new pipeline deal between Canada and Alberta. The deal would lift the federal ban on oil tanker traffic in northern B.C. waters. National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said it was "as if First Nations rights can be wiped away” with one agreement.And: Russian President Vladimir Putin says, if Europe wants a war, Moscow is ready. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are in Russia, meeting with Putin in an effort to advance peace talks. Ukraine officials say Russia has no intention of ending the war, and is wasting everyone’s time.Also: Police in Edmonton are starting a new pilot project tomorrow using facial recognition technology on body-worn cameras. Police say the goal is to see if artificial intelligence can identify people when officers can't. But there are concerns about privacy and what AI means for the future of policing.Plus: Stage 4 prostate cancer diagnoses up, HBC charter gets one bid at auction, and more.

I've been patiently yet anxiously dreading this moment. It is the end of Stranger Things. This is the show that started back in 2016. We get to watch these teenagers fighting supernatural forces. Now it's beginning its fifth and final season this week on Netflix. On Commotion, I talked to some of the smartest TV critics I know about all things, Stranger Things, and about how this show transformed the way that we watch television.

For this episode and more, you can find and follow Commotion with me, Alameen Abdul Mahmoud, on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. Canada can create all the MOUs, project offices, advisory groups that they want, but chiefs are united. When it comes to approving large national projects on First Nations lands, there will not be getting around rights holders. Facing the nations. The Prime Minister is speaking to chiefs from across the country on the the same day, they are voicing their opposition to Mark Carney's pipeline deal with Alberta, a deal that vows to respect indigenous communities while pushing for a pipeline through their territory.

Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Susan Bonner. It is Tuesday, December 2nd, just before 6 p.m. Eastern, also on the podcast. We're going to start doing those strikes on land, too. You know, the land is much easier. We know the routes they take. We know everything about them. We know where they live. and we're going to start that very soon too. New threats from U.S. President Donald Trump warning alleged drug smugglers that military strikes so far

only focused on international waters will be moving on land and may not be limited to just Venezuela. It has become a showdown between indigenous rights and resource development. Just days after Ottawa and Alberta came to terms, a pipeline proposal is getting a firm rejection from First Nations leaders. Now the Prime Minister is looking to win approval with doubts being raised about the project's future.

Marina von Stalkleberg reports. We are gathered on the unseeded territory of the Algonquin Anishnabag people. Prime Minister Mark Carney addressing the largest First Nations organization in Canada. Days after he signed a deal that could have a new oil pipeline, built right through many of their territories. The Memorandum of Understanding with Alberta could also see Ottawa lift a ban on oil tanker traffic off the sensitive north coast of BC.

There must be consultation consistent with free prior and informed consent before a project can be designated in Canada's national interest. Carney's assurances come the same day the Assembly of First Nations demanded the Canada-Alberta pipeline deal be withdrawn. The Chief's emergency resolution passed unanimously also fully backs the BC Coastal First Nations opposing the plan and reaffirms the Assembly's full support for the oil tanker ban. The pipeline going to BC's coast is nothing but a pipe dream. Chief Donald Edgars of Old Masset Village Council in Haiduguay moved the resolution. Whether you support the pipeline or not,

we can all agree that any government must seek our free and prior and informed consent before any proposed projects take place on our land and waters. This NYU provides no such assurances. Some indigenous groups do want to see a pipeline built. We are pro-oiling gas. Greg Desjolet is Chief of Frog Lake in Alberta. The Cree Nation owns and manages its own oil extraction company. We have to look at ways to be included for the long-term, the length of the project,

not three, six months of brushing or porta-potties. I think we need to be there as partners and owners. Desjolet says the federal government needs to do a better job of consulting. Because while First Nations may have different views on resource extraction, they appear united in how they feel Carney has handled the relationship so far. AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse-Nibinac. The truth is that Canada can create all the MOUs, project, offices, advisory groups that they want, but chiefs are united.

Energy Minister Tim Hodgson asked for his reaction to the resolution. We need to work together. Now is not the time to split apart. Now is the time to come together and figure out how we can develop our energy and our natural resources. Hodgson says Ottawa will make sure indigenous people are at the table, but says the federal government can't consult on a project when there isn't one yet. Marina von Stackleberg, CBC News, Ottawa. There are questions today about how much consultation the federal government had with Algoma Steel regarding its plans for the future. Yesterday, the company announced it will lay off 1,000 people, about a third of its workforce.

Two months ago, it got half a billion dollars in federal loans. The CBC's Peter Armstrong spoke with Algoma's CEO today to try to get some clarity. Peter, when the federal government loaned Algoma all of this money, did it know these layoffs were coming? Honestly, Susan, it's hard to see how they wouldn't have known. I mean, the central pillar of the plan to keep the company alive was to speed up this transition to these new, more efficient furnaces, which by definition was going to mean fewer jobs. You spoke with the CEO of Algoma today. Did he know this would be the result then? He did. And this company has been very clear about these implications, right? The money from Ottawa and Ontario was supposed to help Algoma transition away from these old, the traditional way of making steel, those old blast furnaces that are so labor-intensive were going to be replaced with these new, higher-tech, arc energy furnaces for the very purpose that the company could produce different kinds of steel.

And one of the benefits listed at the top of the list is that these furnaces are more efficient. And when you say efficient, does that mean fewer workers? Exactly, right? Then you have to add in most of Algoma's products can no longer access the U.S. market because of tariffs. It becomes very clear that layoffs were inevitable. Algoma's CEO Michael Garcia says he has been clear about that. We've been crystal clear with our employee base from the beginning. And really, all the news that was announced today, that's the most important part of this entire week has been the impact on our employees and in the community.

And Peter, we heard today from Melanie Jolie, the minister responsible for industry. She said, well, let's listen to what she said. Right. This is not a perfect answer to those who are affected. But my point is, is we'll continue to fight for these jobs. We'll be working with the union. We'll be working with the company. And we'll make sure that the future can be brighter right now for the steel workers and the steel sector.

So, Peter, what do you make of that? Well, I think she's saying, that, look, the government has taken these steps to help Algoma be more flexible. And then it's taken steps in the budget, for example, to help companies build. That in turn should, in theory, at least, induce demand for steel. The government's also promised, at least, to help cut shipping costs so Ontario Steel can be more competitive in, say, Alberta and B.C. And all told, the theory is they hope, Susan, that the extra demand, because of all of that,

will mean extra shifts back at Algoma and that some of those laid off workers can be brought back to work. But nobody's putting any of those promises down on paper today because there are so many unknowns still. Thank you, Peter. You bet.

That's CBC Senior Business Correspondent, Peter Armstrong, here in Toronto. Coming right up, warnings from Washington about controversial strikes on alleged drug boats moving onshore And a U.S. delegation gets FaceTime with Vladimir Putin, with Ukraine-Russia peace talks happening in Moscow. Later, we'll have this story.

I'm Karen Pauls at the Archives of Manitoba, where they hope to get an important new addition to their HBC collection. All of us were just concerned that it would be sold and be in private hands and possibly also leave the country. I'll tell you more about a deal between two of Canada, Canada's richest families and what it means for a 355-year-old document later on your world tonight. Donald Trump is threatening to expand his attacks on alleged South American drug traffickers. So far, strikes have hit boats in Caribbean waters.

Today, the U.S. President said targets on land will be next in Venezuela and beyond. Katie Simpson has the details from Washington. Welcome to the final cabinet meeting of 2025. Flanked by his cabinet secretaries, U.S. President Donald Trump kicked off what would become a lengthy and unusual meeting, unexpectedly announcing his plan to expand U.S. attacks on international drug traffickers, beyond the American airstrikes currently targeting boats in the Caribbean. And we're going to start doing those strikes on the land, too. You know, the land is much easier.

It's much easier. and we know the routes they take. Trump didn't specify when this phase of the campaign would begin, other than to say, soon. The U.S. military has already surged resources to the Caribbean as tensions intensify. And while Trump says Venezuelan drug traffickers have been the target of attack so far, that's not necessarily going to be the case moving forward. Anybody that's doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack. So not necessarily just that is way of.

No, not just that is well. Trump made the comments near the end of his two-hour cabinet meeting. At various points, he appeared tired, restless, and struggled to keep his eyes open. He sat next to Pete Hegsef, his embattled defense secretary, who had a typo on his nameplate, an extra S at the start of the word secretary. We've only just begun striking narco boats and putting narco terrorists at the bottom of the ocean. Hegseth is trying to distance himself from that controversial double strike on an alleged drug boat back in September. According to a Washington Post report, after the first strike did not kill everyone on board,

a second strike was ordered to finish the job. I watched that first strike lot. As you can imagine, at the Department of War, we got a lot of things to do. So I didn't stick around. Hegsteth said he learned of the second strike hours later. He called it the correct thing to do, a decision he says was made by Admiral. Frank Bradley. I did not personally see survivors, but I stand because the thing was on fire.

It was exploded and fire or smoke. You can't see anything. You got digital. This is called the fog of war. There are bipartisan concerns in Congress about the ongoing operations and the Trump administration's intentions. And it comes as Venezuela's president, Nicholas Maduro, makes a bizarre call for calm. Maduro danced on a stage Monday at a moment.

large outdoor gathering in Caracas to the English remix of a song demanding peace. At this point, there's nothing to suggest Trump will back off his plan. Katie Simpson, CBC News, Washington. Trump also used the cabinet meeting news conference to launch a vicious tirade at Somalis in the U.S. They've been a regular target for the president. Their country stakes, and we don't want them in our country. I could say that about other countries too. we don't want them to help. We have to rebuild our country. You know, our country's at a tipping

point. We could go one way or the other, and we're going to go the wrong way if we keep taken and garbage into our country. He went on to directly insult Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, who was born in Somalia. Somali Americans have said his accusations unnecessarily target an entire community. American negotiators are in Moscow tonight, taking their push to end the war in Ukraine directly to the Russian president. High-level talks focused on a U.S. peace plan. But before they began, Vladimir Putin took aim at Europe, calling its effort to stop the fighting unacceptable. Katie Nicholson has more on the talks.

Small talk through interpreters ahead of their big Moscow meeting. So pleased to see you. Russian President Vladimir Putin sat across an opulent, white, from U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump's son, Jared Kushner, there to push a newly revised peace plan. The initial 28-point plan was heavily criticized for echoing Russian talking points, including limiting the size of the Ukrainian army and forcing Ukraine to surrender territory. That plan now whittled down after two rounds of negotiations with Ukraine. Before the meeting, Putin held a

news conference and blamed Europe for obstructing U.S. efforts to resolve the nearly four-year war. Putin's stance, hardly one of compromise. We are not planning to fight Europe, Putin said, but if Europe suddenly decides to wage war against us and starts it, we are ready right now. Also ahead of the meeting, Russia's Defense Ministry posted videos of its soldiers holding a flag, claiming to have conquered Pokosk, the eastern Ukrainian city, which serves as a key hub to the front lines. But Ukraine says the fight there is ongoing. Sergei Kuzan runs a Ukrainian security think tank.

He says the videos are all about making Putin appear strong before negotiations. These operations are aimed to put pressure on Americans and Europeans, he says, who supposedly need to see Putin's strong. strength and power. On the other side of Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a warm reception from the Irish Parliament

and later struck a positive note on the new momentum for peace. It's a little bit optimist was in my words because of some speed of negotiations and from American side the interests in it. We not just hope.

We hope and work. hardly work each day. And we hope, of course, because we want peace. In Washington, hope and frustration from the American president. And our people are over in Russia right now to see if we can get it settled. Not an easy situation. Let me tell you, what a mess. After nearly five hours, Witkoff and Kushner left their meeting with Putin for the U.S. Embassy. Russian envoy Kirol Demetriov posted a single word on social media. Productive and added a dove emoji.

Katie Nicholson, CBC News, Washington. A new study of prostate cancer diagnoses is putting a much debated form of screening back under the microscope. The PSA test is not recommended for routine screening in Canada. but some experts say it may be time for that guidance to change. Jennifer Lagrasse explains. We saw cases of incurable prostate cancer climbing. Anna Wilkinson is the lead author of a new study on prostate cancer. It found that the proportion of stage four prostate cancer cases among Canadian men 50 years and older

has increased between 2010 and 2021. By looking what's happening in Canada, we can see the way that screening guidelines, or impacting prostate cancer outcomes. Wilkinson is a general practitioner in Ottawa and treats cancer patients. The study shows an increase in the rate of incurable prostate cancer and a leveling off of death rates for all stages. Study authors say this could be indicative of screening recommendations. Canada has never recommended routine screening for all men using the prostate-specific antigen test or PSA.

In 2014, it said the PSA test caused more. more harm than good, recommending against it. The harm that we saw from this study right now is under diagnosis. I would like to see recommendation that allows men access to screening within the proper context to mitigate harms, but still offer men a choice. One major drawback of the study, the authors don't know whether people were screened or not. The PSA test involves blood work that measures levels of a certain protein produced by the prostate. The levels tend to increase with age.

A higher level doesn't necessarily mean cancer. This is a very controversial topic. Bishal Gawali is a medical oncologist in Kingston. He says the test isn't accurate, and the majority of prostate cancer cases are slow growing. Even after you have detected that it is prostate cancer, in fact, the right course of treatment is to do nothing and just wait and watch and see how things evolve.

But prostate cancer survivor, Don Rees, says without screening, things could have looked a lot different for him. To give yourself a five-minute blood test, just to ensure that your PSA levels are staying at the level they need to stay at, it's the difference between life and death. At 65 years old, Rees, who started getting the blood test in his mid-40s, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He says he's not sure what stage it was, but was told it was aggressive.

Months later, he had surgery. And now at 67, he's glad he kept a close. eye on it. 100% PSA screening is the way to go. There is no downside as far as I'm concerned. The Public Health Agency of Canada's Task Force on Cancer Screening Recommendations is currently going through a reorganization. It will decide what topics it will provide guidelines for in the spring of 26. Jennifer LaGrasse, CBC News, Toronto. Police in Edmonton are starting a pilot project tomorrow using facial recognition technology on body-worn cameras. Police say the goal is to see if artificial intelligence can identify people when officers cannot.

But there are concerns about privacy and what AI means for the future of policing. Erin Collins has that story. There we go. So we can see that the mugshot photo of Anli here is on the left. Edmonton police demoing a new way to ID bad guys. Acting superintendent Kurt Martin shows how body cameras and facial recognition software can work together. You can see there's quite a few people that are actually captured in this image here, but the only person that was actually triggered the facial recognition. The idea is simple enough.

A police officer in the field would be able to engage their body cameras to get more info about the person in front of them. The image would be analyzed by AI, searching a limited database of people wanted for a violent crime or with a history of negative interactions with the police. And if the subject was flagged, the officer in the field would be alerted. For now, this is all just hypothetical, a test of the cameras and the software, but that could change.

In a future phase, the idea would be obviously to do this in near real time and make sure that our officers are aware of any potential dangers that exist to them right away. A test of the potential for artificial intelligence to be used in policing. I think the speed of development of these technologies is catching everybody by surprise. Professor Ian Adams is part of the U.S. Council on Criminal Justice's AI Task Force. Slow down and take a breath, roll out the kind of test that it sounds like Edmonton is doing, and make sure that you're actually spending public dollars wisely. On the streets of Edmonton, opinions are mixed.

Yeah, I think they've got a very dangerous job to do, and anything that can make their job safer and easier for them, I support. It sounds like it could be somewhat invasive. How reliable is it? You know? How many false hits will they get? It's an issue that has police forces divided too.

The RCMP prohibits using facial recognition with body cameras. But other forces have embraced the idea. This video shows police in London, England, deploying cameras with facial recognition to identify people wanted for crime. crimes as they pass by on the street. You're being arrested because you're shown once in a police national computer. A broader application of the Edmonton forces use of the technology to be sure,

and a sign that AI is being used more extensively in policing, according to Professor Adams. You do use these technologies in a way that might impact civil liberties. It is important that we have what we call a human in the loop. Somebody with good judgment to sort of put a check and make sure that that facial recognition return is correct. For its part, the Edmonton pilot will have a human officer check the results of the AI. The force's proof-of-concept test starts Wednesday and will last about a month. Erin Collins, CBC News, Calgary. Quebec wants to crack down on the high cost of ticket resales.

A proposed law would prohibit resales unless buyers are clearly informed. They are on a resale platform and the same ticket may be available elsewhere at a lower price. reselling a ticket at a higher price than the original would only be permitted with the consent of the event organizer. 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. It is one of the most important documents.

in Canada's history that will be sold to two of the country's richest families. CBC News has confirmed a bid has been approved from the Weston and Thompson families to buy the Hudson's Bay Company's founding charter. The struggling retailer was forced to sell the document and other assets to pay off creditors. Karen Pauls has more on the sale and where the charter will end up. We have to get past two locked doors. to get into this vault at the Archives of Manitoba. Three stories of HBC documents and maps

donated by the company decades ago. Many of our oldest records of the Hudson's Bay Company. Kathleen Nip is the keeper of the HBC Archives. She says the collection would be complete with one major acquisition, the HBC Royal Charter, signed and sealed by King Charles II in 1670. It granted the company a trading monopoly

covering one-third of what's now Canada. without the consent of the indigenous peoples who already lived there. But the 17th century fur trader is now effectively a bankrupt 21st century retailer. So HBC is selling the charter. All of us were just concerned that it would be sold and be in private hands and possibly also leave the country. Cody Groot teaches history and indigenous studies at Western University. He's also part of the UNESCO Memory of the World Advocate.

Committee, which has recognized the HBC Archives. It's one of the most significant archival collections in the world, equating this with other documents like the Magna Carta or the Diaries of Am Frank or the original recordings of the Wizard of Oz. Enter two of Canada's wealthiest families. Galen Weston offered to buy the document for $12.5 million. David Thompson antied up $15 million. Then the two families set aside their rivalry and announced a joint bid of $18 million.

would permanently donate the charter to the Manitoba Museum, the Canadian Museum of History, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Archives of Manitoba. There is an arc of evolving relationship with settler society that today is asking us to reconsider. Raymond Frogner is with the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation. It's signed on in support of the Weston-Thompson offer because it includes $5 million for maintenance of the document

and consultation with indigenous peoples on how to present, it to the public. You know, why this matters and what are indigenous concerns on its discussion and interpretation and kind of a reset to build a society based on values of respect and equality and human dignity and not feudal values of governance and dominance and control. With the document on the auction block tomorrow, a source with direct knowledge who CBC is not naming because they're not authorized to speak on the matter, confirms there are no other bidders. So the court will be asked to approve the joint Thompson-Weston offer next week. The hope is that the Royal Charter will travel to its new home early in the new year.

Karen Paul's, CBC News, Winnipeg. We close tonight with an Italian mayor accused of hitting the wrong note while trying to harmonize a skating rink and a tribute to one of the country's most treasured performers. Opera great Lucianil Pavarotti, his global fame and large physical stature earned him the nickname Big Pee. But a statue of the singer in the coastal city of Pesaro is more like iced tea. A temporary skating rink is set to open this weekend in a city square.

It's also home to a broad. on statue of Pavarotti, who died in 2007. But instead of moving the statue, the rink was built around it, leaving Pavarotti knee-deep in ice. This downtown shopkeeper likes it, and that was the mayor's opinion, too, posting a photoshopped image of the statue holding a hockey stick, encouraging skaters to come give Pavarotti a high-five. But the singer's widow, Nicoletta Mantovani, thinks the setup is ugly and in poor taste, telling a local newspaper, it's just not right seeing her late husband stuck in a skating rink. The criticism appears to have changed the mayor's tune. He's now saying, it was a construction mistake and the rink was never supposed to enclose the statue.

Still, city officials say it's too late to make changes. And the statue stays on ice. thanks. Thanks for joining us. This has been your world tonight for Tuesday, December 2nd. I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again. For more CBC podcasts, go to CBC.C.com slash podcasts.