Your World Tonight - Alberta pipeline reaction, heatwave melts U.S. 250, StubHub ghost tickets, and more

Episode Date: July 3, 2026

Ottawa throws its weight behind a massive expansion of Canada's energy sector. The new multi-billion dollar west coast pipeline is designed to unlock new global markets and calm Western alienation. It also puts taxpayers on the hook for a massive financial risk in an uncertain global economy.Also: Tomorrow, the U.S. marks a massive milestone — its 250th birthday. But a blistering heatwave is crashing the party, cancelling parades and emptying streets from Philadelphia to Washington.And: Buying tickets to nowhere. A CBC news investigation into how scalpers are able to advertise on StubHub without even having the tickets themselves.Plus: U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra warns CUSMA trade talks are far from the finish line, a major new mRNA vaccine safety study, Venezuela's medical crisis, and more.

The spirit of innovation is deeply ingrained in Canada, and Google is helping Canadians innovate in ways both big and small, from mapping accessible spaces so the disabled community can explore with confidence, to unlocking billions in domestic tourism revenue. Thousands of Canadian companies are innovating with Google AI. Innovation is Canada's story. Let's tell it together. Find out more at g.co-slash-Canadian Innovation.

This is a CBC podcast. You are having the Prime Minister talk about oil. It used to be for many years. You didn't even say that word. Ottawa and Alberta agree on a pipeline route that could offer a huge boost to the province's energy sector. The proposal might also be a pathway to unity between the province and the rest of the country.

But it comes with a massive cost and financial risk to taxpayers. This is Your World Tonight. It's Friday, July 3rd, just before 6 p.m. Eastern. I'm Juanita Taylor, also on the podcast. There's only a trust system. There's zero verification. Ticket to frustration the calls to fix reseller sites,

as the CBC investigation still finds listings for events that haven't even gone on sale yet. Alberta and Ottawa are banking on a massive new West Coast pipeline to fuel the economy and calm regional tensions. Both governments are pledging to back the multi-billion dollar. plan, and it's still not clear how much taxpayers will be paying. And as the CBC's Maggie Kirk reports, it could also be the latest battleground in the debate over Alberta's future in Canada. We are a pipeline community and we are certainly looking forward to this project, hopefully getting final approval and moving forward. Mayor for the oil town of Edson, Kevin Zahara, is optimistic that this deal will succeed.

Even when other pipeline promises have fallen through. When TMX got canceled or postponed the first time, it was a devastating blow to our community. But we're in a much different time right now. We have a federal government that appears to be promoting our natural resources. Heather Exner-Perrault is a senior fellow and director of natural resources, energy, and environment at the McDonald-Lorea Institute. And she agreed the tide seemed to be shifting at the national level. You are having the prime minister talk about oil. It used to be for many years.

You didn't even say that word. And so very much she is doing his part, I would say, to bring Alberts along in the Canadian story. And obviously, you know, having a designation by October 1st, it's certainly time to be fresh in the minds of Albertans as they head to that voting poll on October 19th. That's the day Albertans will vote on whether the province should host a binding referendum, on whether Alberta should stay in Canada or start the process to leave.

But many Albertans are asking today whether this West Coast pipeline deal will be enough for Albertans to reject separatism. Independence advocate Christopher Scott says it won't change his mind. He wants to see Alberta become a sovereign nation, despite yesterday's announcements. I think that it's a means by which the federal government and the provincial government are trying to extinguish the independence movement. Al Salazar is the head of macro oil. and gas research at Inverness.

Given what's happened to past pipeline proposals, he says Albertans are justified in having some skepticism. However... The fact that we've gotten this far is cause for optimism. Now, again, she did mention no one actually had committed to move any oil on the pipe yet. Private investors and buyers for the oil are yet to be found. That means taxpayers are taking on the risk of 90%

of the estimated $35.2 billion cost of the project, says Chris Severson Baker. He is the executive director of the Pembina Institute, which is a think tank supporting Canada's clean energy transition. The future demand for oil is very shaky. We're seeing other countries rapidly adopting electric vehicles. So that's a huge risk that by the time you get through all of the planning and the building, that there will still be a demand for oil. With billions of public funds now on the line, some are seeing this as a big gamble.

Ottawa says consultations with indigenous communities will begin immediately to sell them on the idea that this should be a designated nation building project. Maggie Kirk, CBC News, Hinton, Alberta. Part of the push behind the new pipeline is expanding the market for Canada's oil away from the U.S. Washington says it still wants to buy that crude and it won't wait forever. With the White House refusing to extend the current North American trade deal, the U.S. Ambassador tells CBC the ball is now in Canada's court. Olivia Stefanovic reports. We have needs for critical minerals.

We have needs for automobiles. We have needs for aluminum. Despite his boss declaring that the U.S. doesn't need anything from Canada, the American ambassador says there's a long wish list. We're in the market for 3 to 4 million more barrels of oil per day. Canada is a logical supplier. But if Canada doesn't want to partner, Pete Hoekstra says the U.S. will turn somewhere else. Again, that's a decision that Canada can make.

But America is not going to wait for that decision. We will go to other places in the world to look at where we can get that oil from. After 14 months of trade talks between the two countries, Hoekstra says few issues have been resolved. But he insists the Americans will keep talking. Even though the Trump administration announced, it will not extend the current Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement. At the end of the day, the Americans twice have decided to exempt Coosma-compliant exports to the United States

from their reciprocal tariff regime. Dominic LeBlaw is the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade. He met with his Mexican and American counterparts on Wednesday to reaffirm support for Kuzma, arguing it's in all of their economic interests. Because of the integration of supply chains, because of business investment decisions in all three countries that benefit North America and all three countries. Kuzma will remain in place for the next decade, but it's subject to annual reviews, and the U.S. could still withdraw, as the president has mused.

I'd rather have it terminated. The challenge now, ensuring major parts of the agreement are not reopened, and getting sectoral tariffs hitting Canadian steel, aluminum autos, and lumber off, or lowered for good. So managing this cost of weight and see that the government has used in the negotiation with the United States has come at a serious price for Canadians and for Canadian workers. Shuvoloy Majumdar is the Conservative Party's new critic on Canada-US relations. He questions whether the federal government has the determination to get the deal done. Defining us as a middle power to oppose the United States rather than bring the strength and ambition of a sovereign, secure, and prosperous country.

The U.S. ambassador to Canada says there are only two people who will determine the future of Kuzma. The Prime Minister and the President will be the ones that are setting the tone for where these negotiations go in the next couple of months. Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump are scheduled to see each other next week at the NATO summit in Turkey. Olivia Estefanovich, CBC News, Ottawa. Elections Alberta has rejected a petition against proposed coal mining on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Musician Corb Lund had fronted the Water, not Coal, initiative. They wanted to force the provincial government to pass a bill banning coal mining or led voters to side in a referendum.

But Elections Alberta says organizers were about five. 5,000 verified signature short of what was required. Coming up, three doctors in Venezuela described their work to help people injured in the earthquakes, their experiences and the tough task ahead. Plus, buying tickets to nowhere, a CBC investigation into how scalpers are able to list tickets on Stubhub without even having the tickets themselves. And later, we have this story. It started with getting their first ever World Cup.

point to their first win and now Canada's men's national soccer team are into their first ever round of 16. Here we are and we deserve to be here. I'm Sarah Leavid in Houston, Texas. Later on your world tonight how the team and fans are feeling ahead of tomorrow's match against heavyweight Morocco and the hopes of a continued historic run. Tomorrow the U.S. marks a massive milestone. It's 250th birthday. But a blistering heat wave is crashing the party, canceling parades, and emptying streets from Philadelphia to the Capitol. Still, the president insists the show will go on. CBC's Paul Hunter reports from Washington. From a stars and striped top hat wearing Uncle Sam on harmonica, alongside the National Mall in Washington, to an overhead flyby of a B-2 stealth bomber. It was the day before

America's semi-quincentennial, its 250th birthday celebrations, tomorrow, July 4th. And all was well until... Attention, fair doors. The event has been postponed. Please proceed to the nearest exit. The oppressive heat that's walloped the region, pushing 40 degrees Celsius today, shut down everything for hours. Please have to go!

Sir, I need to go. It's too hot, please. As one otherwise celebratory visitor put it on his way out of the park. This sucks. And it's not just D.C. in Philadelphia, the America 250 parade was flat out canceled. Here's organizer Michael DeBlane. Ultimately, just the temperature, the pure temperature. We had workers out there who were not feeling well and getting faint and things like that,

and we just couldn't do it in a way that we could guarantee people would be safe. And in New York City, three, two, one, where the New Year's City, where the New Year's, Eve Times Square ball will drop at midnight for every time zone on earth with an American territory or state. That countdown was for Guam in the Pacific. The heat brought this from Mayor Zoran Mamdani. We ask that New Yorkers look out both for one another, as well as for the tourists who may not be used to navigating our subway systems, our busy streets or this week of extreme heat. Back in Washington, where that algae-laden reflecting pool is still being

scooped of its duck poop, the greenish water will be a kind of backdrop tomorrow for what U.S. President Donald Trump promises will be a doozy of a speech in spite of the heat. It's going to be approximately 107 degrees out. And I'm going to go and I'm going to make a really long speech just to show that I can do anything. Tonight, Trump's headed to a somewhat cooler South Dakota on board the new Qatar-donated Air Force One, set to make a speech after a fly-by-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-view. of Mount Rushmore, the giant carved monument honoring America's greatest presidents. A place Trump has mused could one day feature his own likeness.

Meanwhile, back outside the National Mall, as visitors continue to be ushered out due to the heat, a woman stood holding a placard reading, Trump must go. Trump supporters shouting at him. Love Trump. She said. Paul Hunter's CBC News, Washington. The United Nations Weather Agency says rapidly growing Al-Nino conditions will likely drive global temperatures even higher. Alvaro Silva is a scientist with the World Meteorological Organization.

He says al-Nino years are even more potent because of climate change. It increases the likelihood of extreme weather and climate events in different parts of the world. Even if this phenomenon is a naturally occurring phenomenon, it now develops a on on top of long-term climate change due to human activities. Silva says El Nino is expected to persist in two next year. It was an intensely scrutinized medical breakthrough thrown into the public spotlight during the COVID pandemic. Now, a massive global review dives into the safety of MRNA vaccines,

just as researchers prepared to use that same technology to fight cancer. Health reporter Christine Birak has the findings and a look at where the science goes next. Vaccine seems to have been a particular sort of lightning rod for a lot of... At a vaccine clinic inside BC Children's Hospital, Dr. Manish Saterongani still gets questions about MRNA COVID shots. The question they're really asking is around the safety of the vaccine, and how do we know that they're safe?

Several years and billions of doses later, an extensive review of MRNA vaccines is out. It weighs their safety, effectiveness, and the public's trust in them. Dr. Sederongani is one of the co-authors. The review published in The Lancet looked at all clinical trials, real world data and case reports from January 2020 through to December 2025. One of the core findings is the vaccine is much safer than the infection. While heart inflammation is a rare vaccine side effect,

researchers found catching COVID put people at a far higher risk for those exact same heart issues. I think really important for people to understand that the basic technology is safe and effective when it comes to vaccines. It was nice to see a very complicated and large topic area covered in, I think, a really clear and concise way. Matthew Miller is an infectious diseases researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton. Based on messaging from the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, as the pandemic showed us, MRNA vaccines don't perform well.

Miller says people may be rightfully confused about this issue, but the real fight during the pandemic was likely, over freedom of choice. It was this association of vaccines with being forced to be vaccinated rather than an inherent issue with the vaccine itself that led to, I think, a lot of pushback. The review also notes that MRNA vaccines don't linger in the body. They deliver a quick set of genetic instructions, offering your immune system a preview of the virus before disappearing. Long before the pandemic, MRNA technology was being developed to attack cancer cells. And the logic behind it is...

Dr. Rami Saleh is an oncologist at McGill University Health Center in Montreal, where scientists are working on personalized treatments for lung cancer. The hope is to wake up the immune system and to teach the immune system that, you know, there will be abnormal-looking cells that look like your cells, but they're not really yours. Those are the cancer cells. So the immune system can go and attack them. He says with clinical trials now underway for several major cancers, the hope is a proven track record?

We'll build trust. Christine Beirak, CBC News, Toronto. An Ontario couple has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering a 12-year-old boy and abusing his brother. Becky Hambur and Brandy Cooney were found guilty in May. A life sentence means at least 25 years with no chance of parole. They are also facing a total of 10 years for forcible confinement, assault with a weapon and failure to provide the necessities of life.

It's been nine days since parts of Venezuela. were shattered by twin earthquakes. More than 2,600 people are confirmed dead. That number could rise substantially as the injured and those with chronic needs struggled to get medical treatment. Many survivors are relying on volunteers who've come from afar and who have roots in the country.

CBC's Jorge Barrera reports. In a makeshift tent clinic set up in a Katya-Lamar park, In the hard-hit La Guayda state, Dr. Luiziana Rivas asks a 65-year-old woman if she's been taking her blood pressure and diabetes medication. The woman says she hasn't, because she doesn't have any, Rivas tells her not to worry. The doctor has a suitcase full of medicine, one of several she brought from Chile.

Riva says many of the patients she's seen have chronic illness that aren't being treated or are suffering psychological disease. trauma from the quakes. She's one of four doctors, all Venezuelan, who flew from Chile with one-way tickets, joining a team with the same background already on the ground. Riva says the land calls this. We are here because we want to be here. These are our people. Dr. Marinajee Bastidas was on the flight with Rivas and they work side by side today. She says two of her cousins are missing in La Guaida and a third cousin died in a car crash on the highway

after dropping off donations for survivors. My heart is obviously broken, says Bastida's. They are working out of a shelter for the display set up in a school and run by the Venezuelan military. They say they're kept stock with supplies, no matter the cost. Some doctors have traveled far, even within Venezuela's borders. Dr. Salvador Jimenez says he hopped a ride with a convoy the night of the disaster.

They traveled about 200 kilometers to get to the quake zone. Jimenez heard one of his friends was trapped in a fallen apartment building. He hasn't found his friend, but he stayed and now operates from a field hospital in a camp for the displaced, about two dozen kilometers east of Katya Lamar. I haven't slept in seven days, says hemer. Menes. He says he won't leave until he completes his duty here. With the scale of devastation facing the country, it's a timeline with no one in sight.

Jorge Brer, CBC News, Caracas. Imagine buying a ticket to the World Cup only to find out your seat never existed. Regulators are being urged to clean up the online resale market after Stubbub left thousands of fans empty-handed. The tech giant insists it doesn't allow speculative posts known as ghost tickets, but a CBC investigation reveals just how easily scalpers can sell them. Dave Seglins reports. You're a Super Bowl champion, brother.

The Super Bowl, the pinnacle of American football, is set for next February. We'll go online right now. You can find hundreds of tickets for sale on StubHub, Vivid Seats, and other resale sites. They have no seat numbers, no rows. The NFL hasn't officially released any tickets yet. The World Cup was the same. Two years ago, Stubhub ran ads offering seats long before FIFA released tickets, and people bought them, only to be disappointed come game day.

Devastated, and we've been planning this for like months. I'm getting scammed by Stubhubbhub. I'm so mad right now. Stuck with flights and rooms they didn't need when their tickets suddenly evaporated. There's only a trust. system, zero verification. Randy Nichols is a U.S.-based music manager and live show specialist. He's been investigating StubHub and how easy it is for sellers to offer tickets with no proof. I recently, before World Cup tickets were even on sale to the general public, was able to list and

put tickets up for sale. I listed them at $10,000 a piece and make sure that nobody actually bought them. CBC did its own test. Stubhubhub now does require real FIFA. tickets to be uploaded. But we were able to post imaginary tickets for resale for the 28th Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Just a few clicks, no proof required of actually having a ticket, we posted fake seats for sale for $2. We took them down before anyone took the bait. Stubbub insists it does not allow speculative ticketing, but concedes it does let sellers who've been promised future tickets to offer them for resale. One, we're calling for governments to pay attention. Stephen Parker represents live event venues across the U.S. He says the breakdown and cancellations at

Stubhubb amount to fraud. You cannot sell a car that you don't own, a house that you don't own, but somehow it is legal in the broad majority of states to list a ticket, take the cash, and maybe get that ticket that you don't own and may find or may not find to that fan. The solution, he says, is a national price cap. It's been done before. Cutter passed a ticket resale price cap during the World Cup four years ago. If the United States had that,

if Canada had that, I don't think we'd be seeing the issues that we're seeing right now. In an email to CBC, Stubhubbhub insists, it's just a marketplace connecting buyers and sellers. And that if sellers renege on a deal,

Stubhubhubb charges them penalties that are supposed to deter the kind of widespread cancellations that have been shutting out fans. Dave Seagland, CBC News, Toronto. It has already been a memorable World Cup for Canada's men's national soccer team, but tomorrow they will try to extend their historic run. The team takes on Powerhouse Morocco in the tournament's round of 16.

They say they're ready, and so are the fans, many of whom have made the trek out to Houston to see the match in person. Sarah Levitt has more from that city. It's unbelievable. Even in Houston's humid, 36,000. degree heat, fans of the Canadian men's national soccer team are kidded out. Jean-Sébastien Roy is wearing his plaid, long-sleeved shirt, complete with patches showing off the maple leaf and the name of Canada's most ardent group of soccer fans,

Les Voyageurs or the Voyagers, here in Texas, to watch Canada take on Morocco at the World Cup's round of 16. Historic. I think people need to understand that it's like having Zimbabwe, hockey team, qualified for the hockey war championship. For loyal fans like Roy, it's been quite the run. We've been on the road for a long time. I left home, Quebec City, three weeks ago. I didn't bring my razor, so now I have a beer.

On the practice pitch, the men prep in conditions they won't face tomorrow and learn to deal with the heat. Coolers filled with ice and power aid at the ready, sprinklers intermittently on to keep the grass fresh. Tomorrow's game, though, is in a climate. controlled indoor stadium. Player Alistair Johnston says they're ready. We know that if we're at it, we can beat anyone with where we're at right now.

We deserve to be in the last 16. But they face a tough opponent in Morocco, an African soccer powerhouse. Morocco beat Canada 2-1, 4 years ago in Qatar and finished 4th. Jesse Marsh is Canada's head coach. In terms of what we expect for Morocco, I expect their best performance of the tournament. and I think we'd be foolish to think anything else. As long as you have chips and you're at the table, you're still very much in the game. Gareth Wheeler is the lead commentator at one soccer.

He says Canada has been helped with an easy schedule and lucky draws in opponents, but they have proven themselves along the way. They're one of the fastest, most aggressive teams at this World Cup. The thing is, Morocco plays very much the same way, but maybe there's a little bit more technical ability or players playing at a higher level and the ability to go out and play a faster brand of football. Watching closely tomorrow will also be family. He's been very lucky to be able to get so many minutes, and he's done well.

Jean de Fugérol is the father of defender, Luke de Fugérol. I think the whole tournament's been the best moment with that goal against South Africa probably being the pinnacle of it all. And my prediction is, you know, we'll make it to the quarterfinals and maybe get knocked out by France then. So we're hoping to go from Houston to Boston. The winner tomorrow plays either Paraguay or France next Thursday. Sarah Levitt, CBC News, Houston.

Finally tonight. And now here is Canada's country gentleman, Tommy Hunter. The man known as Canada's country gentleman has died at the age of 89. Tommy Hunter's career as a musician spanned about six decades from the 1950s. Many of his singles topped the country music charts in Canada, including his 1967 hit, Mary in the Morning. Hunter was born and raised in London, Ontario, and started taking guitar lessons at about age nine.

It wasn't long until he started booking gigs and playing in churches. He joined the CBC Country Ho-Down television series in 1956. A few years later, he got a show of his own. The Tommy Hunter Show. The Tommy Hunter Show ran for 27 years on TV after first running for five years on radio. That's one of the longest ever runs for a country music show. It featured some of the biggest stars like Johnny Cash, Gordon Lightfoot,

Garth Brooks, and even a young Chenaya Twain. In 2011, Hunter told then-CBC host George Dronbolopoulos he was able to feature his childhood idols. I grew up with Hank Snow. and Wilf Carter and Roy A. Cuff and Ernest Tubb and Eddie Arnold and Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. And they were all on our show. I was like a kid in a candy shop. And I had the best seat.

The three-time Juneau winner and Order of Canada recipient continued performing until 2012. The last stop of his farewell tour, his hometown of London, for his 75th birthday. On that set list, his hit and show theme song, Travelin' Man. Thank you for being your world today, traveling there, traveling there, gathering memory. Thank you for being with us. This has been your world tonight for Friday, July 3rd. I'm Juanita Taylor.

Have a good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.a.