Your World Tonight - Alberta premier wants the town of Jasper to apologize, Trump detours on Epstein files, Canada’s diamond industry in trouble, and more

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wants an apology from the town of Jasper. The town’s report on last summer’s devastating wildfire says demands from the provincial government made the job of firefighters more difficult.And: U.S. President Donald Trump has changed his mind about the Epstein files – again. Now he says grand jury testimony should be released. But will it be enough to silence critics, after reports Epstein files include a letter from Trump to the convicted sex offender?Also: Maybe diamonds AREN'T forever. Hundreds of people are being laid off in the North West Territories, as production stops at one of the area's open pit diamond mines.It’s part of a growing trend reshaping the industry....Plus: Stephen Colbert’s show is cancelled, antisemitism in schools, the rise of daytime partying, and more.

There are two kinds of Canadians. Those who feel something when they hear this music. And those who've been missing out so far. I'm Chris Howden. And I'm Nile Coxall. We are the co-hosts of As It Happens. And every day we speak with people at the center of the day's most hard hitting, heartbreaking, and sometimes hilarious news stories.

Also, we have puns. Here Why As It Happens is one of Canada's longest running and most beloved shows. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. This report comes as a shot out of the blue. It's unfair, it's untrue, And I would like them to withdraw it. Alberta's Danielle Smith lashes out at a report into last year's devastating fire in Jasper. It was commissioned by the town and says the province got in the way, making things worse. And that has Smith leaping to her government's

defense. This is your world tonight. I'm Stephanie Scanderis. It's Friday, July 18th, just before six p.m. Eastern. Stephanie Scanderis. It's Friday July 18th just before 6 p.m. Eastern also on the podcast. Look at the end of the day we're seeing with the Wall Street Journal piece this is the kind of stuff frankly that unites the mega base that fires up the mega base to rally behind President Trump. There was outrage when Donald Trump said there was no need to release any more on Jeffrey Epstein. The MAGA movement accused him of turning on them. But after the Wall Street Journal reported on a body letter between the president and

the sex offender, the movement appears to be turning back to Trump just as he presses go on his lawsuit against the paper and its journalists. Almost a year ago, Jasper, Alberta was changed forever. Much of the picturesque town was destroyed by wildfire. A third of its buildings burned to the ground. One firefighter was killed. The town has now released a review of the response to that fire that is critical of the province's role in fighting it. And as Aaron Collins tells us, Alberta's premier is firing back. Fortunately, my home was spared any structural damage. Nathan Deer's house is still standing. But a year after a wildfire destroyed hundreds of homes in his town, the Jasper resident is still looking for answers.

I think it's just what can we do to improve and to try and ensure that if this ever happens again in any of the other national parks that we can do better. There are questions a new report released by the municipality attempts to answer. Jasper is a complex multi-jurisdictional environment. Bill Given is Jasper's chief administrative officer. He says that complexity made fighting last year's fire more challenging. The town's report critical of the province's role, saying it hindered efforts by trying to take control, complicating the response to the fire, contributing to confusion and

increased safety risks. The report obviously identifies that that's something that is a complication that needs to be discussed and additional dialogue probably needs to happen between all the parties involved. The report was authored by an independent consultant and surveyed hundreds of firefighters and other people involved in the response to the fire. Still, Alberta's premier isn't impressed. This report comes as a shot out of the blue. It's unfair, it's untrue, and I would like them to withdraw it.

Danielle Smith defending Alberta's response to the fire, demanding an apology critical of the federal government's role. The province was not asked to help until the fire reached the town. This was a federal response by Parks Canada. They chose not to ask us to come into unified command until the cleanup began. To better coordinate, the federal government says it is looking at creating a national wildfire fighting agency. Ellen Uralshewski is the federal minister of emergency management.

We think that the formation of such an agency could have a very positive impact on our ability to coordinate. A good idea according to Professor Mike Flanagan of the Institute for Wildfire Science at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. We're living in a warmer world and even if you don't believe that, we are seeing more fires and we need to be better prepared for them. And these fires are becoming more intense and difficult to impossible to extinguish. And Flanagan says climate change means Canada's wildfire problem isn't going away. There are 565 wildfires burning across Canada right now. 61y-one of those are in Alberta.

Erin Collins, CBC News, Calgary. Federal officials are also confirming Canada's wildfire problem is not going away. They say this year is already one of the worst seasons on record. Tim Hodgson is the Natural Resources Minister. By August, wildfire activity is expected to continue to increase and to persist to well above average conditions over much of Western Canada with the highest fire danger in southern British Columbia. Wildfires have torched more than five million hectares across Canada this year.

Some of the most affected regions are in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Thousands of people have been forced from their homes. The fires have also led to several air quality warnings throughout the country. Donald Trump is bowing to pressure, much of it from his own base, and asking for the release of more court records relating to Jeffrey Epstein. It comes as the president launches a libel lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal after it published a story about another Epstein-related document, a letter that allegedly shows a close bond between the convicted sex offender and the president. Katie Nicholson explains.

Applause and cheers for the U.S. president the day after a bruising bombshell story from the Wall Street Journal exploring his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Thank you everybody very much. A disciplined Donald Trump avoided any mention of the scandal at an afternoon bill signing and ignored questions from reporters. Mr. President, Mr. President, why not go further than just unsealing this? Mr. President, did you send that letter? His fury so far confined to social media, where he posted,

the Wall Street Journal printed a fake letter supposedly to Epstein. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a scam, that he shouldn't print this fake story, but he did, and now I'm going to sue his ass off. The Wall Street Journal is standing by its story about a letter allegedly sent by Trump to Epstein for his birthday. The paper said it included a hand-drawn image of a naked woman and an imaginary conversation between the two men, implying a shared secret. In it, Donald says, we have certain things in common, Jeffrey, and Jeffrey replies,

yes, we do come to think of it. The conversation ends with Donald wishing Jeffrey happy birthday, saying, may every day be another wonderful secret. Well, it's not journalism, right? It's information warfare. I think that's pretty clear. The MAGA world, which 24 hours earlier was full of angry voices demanding Trump release the full Epstein sex trafficking investigation files, now squarely defending their president,

uniting against a frequent target, the news media. This is the kind of stuff, frankly, that rallies the base, the mega base behind President Trump. This will actually energize them. And that's a big component here. Republican strategist Matt Terrell says the turmoil within Trump's base over Epstein will likely blow over. I don't think there's going to be some great divorce

here. I think the base will stay united with him. Again, let's see what happens here. The article prompted Trump to order his Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Epstein grand jury testimony subject to court approval. A move that won praise from conservatives like activist Charlie Kirk who had previously called the administration out for not releasing the Epstein files.

This is massive. This is something that we've been talking about for quite some time and really a power to the grassroots and thank you President Trump. Grand jury documents are normally sealed and confidential. They would be a narrow subset of the total Epstein investigation files and it isn't clear how much information they would contain or even if a judge would allow them to be released or made public. Katie Nicholson, CBC News, Washington. Donald Trump going after the Wall Street Journal is nothing new. The U.S. president regularly attacks newspapers and networks.

But there's concern his threats, his lawsuits and new cuts to public broadcasting are having a chilling effect on American media. The latest possible evidence of that? The surprise cancellation of late night TV's biggest star. Sarah Levitt reports. I want to let you know something that I found out. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has been nominated for two Emmys and is often the top rated late night talk show on TV.

But now... Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending the Late Show in May. And... The program has been on the air since 1993, most of it with David Letterman at the helm. Colbert took over in 2015. Now CBS says in a statement canceling the show was,

quote, purely a financial decision against the challenging backdrop in late night. But many, including some U.S. lawmakers, are questioning the timing of this announcement. After a monologue Colbert gave on Monday, he criticized the 16 million dollar settlement CBS parent company Paramount made with U.S. President Donald Trump. The lawsuit claimed CBS deceptively edited an interview with then presidential candidate Kamala Harris before last fall's election. Paramount is seeking approval from the Trump administration to merge with another media company.

Now I believe that this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It's Big Fat Bribe. On social media, the president weighed in. I absolutely loved that Colbert got fired he wrote. His talent was even less than his ratings. The resolution is adopted. The late show news comes as another media target of Trump's suffers a setback.

While U.S. Republicans have long sought to claw back public media funding, Congress succeeded this week in cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from broadcasters, including PBS and NPR. We talk a lot about news and the word news has even gotten somewhat politicized, but people need information. Laura Lee is a former NPR producer, now the editorial director of a North Carolina media company. You know, the Trump administration has been vocal in their explicit criticism of the media

and I think a lot of the conversation I'm having with colleagues around the country is just about, you know, what is the long-term sustainability plan if that funding doesn't return. Donald Trump was much less successful in the first term in creating a climate of fear. Democrat Senator Adam Schiff was on the Late Show Thursday night. He wants to make news organizations, CBS and Paramount afraid. He wants to make ABC afraid and he is succeeding. He is succeeding. From lawsuits to funding cuts at big networks and local stations,

there are concerns over just how far the Trump administration wants to go. Sarah Levitt, CBC News, Montreal. Coming up on the podcast, diamonds maybe aren't forever. The closing of a Canadian mine casts a harsh light on the changing face of the industry. Plus, details of a CBC investigation into hate groups reportedly using gyms and parks to find and train new recruits. And a story for the party animals who still want their beauty sleep. Why nighttime ragers are being replaced by daytime events that get people home in time for dinner.

All that and more is coming up on Your World Tonight. Canada's once glimmering diamond mining industry is losing its luster. Hundreds of people are being laid off in the Northwest Territories as production stops at one of the area's open pit diamond mines. It's part of a growing trend, reshaping the industry, lab grown diamonds, sparkling their way into the spotlight. Jamie Strashen reports. No, there's no physical difference. In his downtown Toronto showroom, jeweler Oret Oymakas holds two diamond rings

side by side. In terms of how diamonds are evaluated, they are the same, the grade, the grade, the specs, the clarity. One mine from deep below the ground, one grown in a lab. I always make the analogy of ice made in your refrigeration system versus ice made outside in the cold. So physically they're identical, there's no difference whatsoever. But there is one major difference, the price. The mine diamond is around $35,000. The lab grown retailing for about $3,500. Oya Makas says it's caused a seismic shift in the diamond industry as those soon to be engaged have quickly

gravitated away from mine diamonds. So it used to be 100% of our business prior to 2019. Now it's become basically 3 to 4% of our business. Thousands of kilometers away in the Northwest Territories, the change is having a huge impact. Burgundy Diamond Mines announced this week it's laying off several hundred employees after it suspended operations at one of its two main sites, blaming economics. Paul Zaminski is a diamond industry analyst. It's an extremely expensive place to operate. I mean, fuel prices are up with inflation,

labour costs are up with inflation, construction materials, mining equipment, all these items are up. As the cost of producing lab-grown diamonds has plummeted, the value of mined diamonds has remained virtually the same. Canada is one of the biggest diamond producers. But with all three large mines in the value of mined diamonds has remained virtually the same. Canada is one of the biggest diamond producers, but with all three large mines in the northwest territory slated to wind down by 2031, diamond mining could cease to exist altogether. I mean the impact of that on the north

is going to be tremendous. University of Alberta's Graham Pearson says it's remarkable how quickly this has happened. But it took many, many years and many millions of dollars worth of effort to just find the diamonds. And we've been mining them since, what, the early 90s. And here we are. It might all be over soon. And that would be an absolute tragedy. A diamond is forever, De Beers. For an industry crafted around building mystique, it appears, Zeminski says, to have lost a generation of consumers. I think younger consumers just haven't been exposed to say, you know, these very famous

diamond marketing campaigns that their parents, you know, were exposed to. At the end of the day, it's a luxury product. I mean, diamonds aren't something, you know, people need. They're something that people want. And for many, shopping for the perfect diamond ring, where the stone comes from, doesn't seem to matter. Jamie Strash in CBC News, Toronto. Canada's special envoy for fighting anti-Semitism says anti-Jewish hate is a major problem in Ontario schools,

and education officials aren't doing enough about it. After hearing from hundreds of Jewish parents, Deborah Lyons released her findings this week. Then she abruptly stepped down. Deanna Sumanak Johnson has more on the report, the reaction and the resignation. I've definitely had a lot of comments made to me. Lior Marcus and his family made a decision to switch him out of a Jewish private school and into public school in grade 11. But the new high school graduate says

life as a Jewish student in the last two years hasn't been easy. I was told by some by a student that the Jews didn't have it that bad in the Holocaust or how other people had it worse. And I was told that in class, in an actual class discussion, I was said to my face that October 7th was completely justified. A new report suggests Lior is not alone.

Commissioned by Deborah Lyons, the just departed federal envoy on combating anti-Semitism, the report surveyed nearly 600 Jewish parents in Ontario about their children's experiences in schools. More than 40 percent of incidents involve actions and rhetoric that had nothing to do with Israel or the Gaza war. Retired U of T professor Robert Brim conducted the survey and wrote the report. They were, let's say, Nazi inspired statements to kids that, you know, Hitler should have finished the job or kids walking down a hall and going zygheil to the Jewish students, things of that

nature. Ontario's Minister of Education Paul Calandra said in an email he was deeply concerned, angry and frustrated with the findings and added that if schools can't ensure safety of all children, he will step in. Sixty percent of the incidents reported by the families involved comments made by other students or teachers about Israel and the war in Gaza. A large number of the reported incidents are connected to the Mideast conflict, a delicate and emotional subject that experts say should be addressed in a way that isn't anti-Semitic and allows students to express opinions about the staggering destruction and loss of life

in Gaza. Leora Schaeffer is the executive director of the Canadian Chapter of Facing History and Ourselves, a charity that uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry. So I think we need to have some optimism that we can create spaces where students talk about the conflict in ways that are not further causing harm and that students can have these conversations and not experience them as being anti-Semitic. But it's a balance that's not easy to strike. Just days after releasing her report, Deborah Lyons announced she's stepping down from her post three months early without providing a reason, but saying she leaves with a heavy heart and

concern over Canadians who feel they must pick a side when it comes to defending humanity. Deanna Sumanac-Johnson, CBC News, Toronto. A CBC News investigation has learned of several fight clubs across Canada run by white supremacists. The groups operate in gyms and public parks and post about it online, but they try to hide their identities. The CBC's Visual Investigations Unit, along with the Fifth Estate, spent months digging into these clubs. Grant La Flesche is with the Fifth Estate.

So Grant, we've called them fight clubs. I understand they're also called active clubs. What does that mean? And what are these groups doing in gyms and parks? Grant La Flesch On the surface of it, it sounds super benign, doesn't it? It's just active club. They say, we're here to train, we're here to get fit, be healthy, have community with like-minded people. Sounds like your average yoga club or something. It's not. These are white nationalist fight clubs or neo-fascist fight clubs. And the reason that they're training is not just to get healthy.

The real reason when you probe their social media accounts, when you look at the things that they're saying and doing, they have a political point of view that Western society is going to collapse. And when that happens, they need to be ready to fight a race war that they're expecting will come, and they want to win this race war in order to usher in a white ethnostate. As part of our reporting, we spoke to Mack Lemereau. He's from the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, which is an international think tank based out of London, and they study extremism. I think we should care about active clubs because anytime you have a group that is training for violence and organized around a virulently racist ideology,

the potential for violence and the potential for something catastrophic to happen is extremely high. Okay. And one of the places that they are training is in gyms. Do gym owners know anything about the white supremacists using their facilities? Not the gym owners we contacted. We contacted several of the gyms that we identified where these guys were training and the answers were always, we didn't know why they were here, we certainly didn't know that they were involved or pushing this kind of white supremacist ideology. One of those gyms is Hammer BJJ, it's a Brazilian judicium gym in Hamilton, and we talked to the owner, Rob

Barham, who said he had no idea what was going on. I don't affiliate myself with any sort of white supremacy. I have a firm policy that I don't want those types of behaviors or those types of energies in this place. I'm trying to protect that and trying to foster into something good for, you know, the kids of the community that can come here and better their life. So if the gym owners who are renting spaces out to these people didn't know what they were about, how did you find out? Well, myself and the visual identification team at CBC,

what we did is we took those training videos that these action clubs are posting all the time. It's how they prove their cred to each other. We're active. You can see us sparring. You can see us doing these things. And they try to hide themselves. They blur faces. They blur backgrounds, but they left breadcrumbs. And so we used whatever was left in those videos and pictures, buildings, houses nearby, parts of murals on walls, the way padding lines up in the gym was distinctive in one case. So we were able to identify where they were training, which gyms, what cities they were in, and sometimes just by their own tattoos, who some of their members were.

Hostie And I'm guessing you reached out to these groups. Any response? Grant No, ma'am. They did not answer our questions directly at all. In most cases, it was just silence. Grant, thanks so much. Thanks for having me. The Fifth Estate's Grant La Flesche joining me in studio. If wintertime makes you think of hibernation, then summertime is party time.

That might make you think of popping bottles, packed dance floors, and late nights. It is still that. But there's a growing trend offering an alternative to nightlife. They're still dancing, still socializing, but not always booze. And instead of staying up till the sun rises, these events are held before the sun even sets. Magda Gebrselessa explains. The sun is beaming, the beats are banging, and the crowd is filling up the dance floor at LaValle's Roo in Toronto. This is Somebody Anybody, a sold-out R&B brunch

and day party. Going out at night time is not the vibe anymore as I'm getting older I just want to be home early. Night time you know if I'm gonna be honest the men are a little weird. I just feel like this year it's been very focused on day parties more than night parties. Brandon Fenton is one of the organizers. He's finding that more people think the daytime is the right time to party. Aside from Toronto, he and his partners run similar events in Miami, DC and next month in Edmonton. He's been in the party planning scene for 15 years

and he says this year day parties are all the rage drawing in bigger crowds. You're gonna get more of an older crowd that come to day parties. People want to be inside by 8 o'clock 9 p.m. People have families now. Across the country there are other midday parties swapping out serving spirits for sober selections like coffee. That's the case with the croissant event in Montreal. You're not into this alcohol and drug things, so here people are all sober.

It's just coffee, matcha. Lisa Ray is one of the organizers. She says about 4,000 tickets for the last event were given out. We have families or people that are a bit older that still want to party but don't want to go to clubs and don't feel like they are welcome there so they just come to our parties. DJs Basil Sawaya and George Gazelle are in charge of spinning tunes from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

They say the nightlife alternative tracks with a changing society. Everybody's healthier, we eat better, we sleep better, we take better care of our bodies. I think it's also for financial reasons. Honestly, like the night scene, the club scene, etc. has extremely changed and inflation has been really, really high. While admission was free at this party, other day parties do charge to get in.

Back in Toronto, Patula Petrie-Cooper paid $65 for brunch and the party. The event that wrapped up by 8pm was just right for this mom of twins. I still need my sleep and my beauty rest and being able to be alert and everything for the next day for the kids is like perfect. For her the days of partying all night long are long gone. But these early jams are doing the trick. Makda Gebre, Celeste, CBC News, Toronto. And finally... That's the sound of 120 trombone players on a stage in London, Ontario for the International Trombone Festival.

The first time Canada has ever hosted the event. Denise Huron teaches trombone at Western University and it was his idea to bring the festival here. Well, honestly, my primary goal is actually for my students, more than anything, because lots of these students come from small towns all over Canada and just haven't had the opportunity to see world-class musicians.

Honestly, their jaws are on the floor. They're starstruck by seeing some of the big names like Christian Lindbergh just walk down the hall. Actually, I just received a text on a group chat saying, I just shook Christian Lindbergh's hand. Christian Lindbergh, in case you didn't know, was once voted the greatest brass musician in the world. And he's just one of more than 500 trombone players in London, giving lectures, playing concerts, holding trombone pub nights and street parties,

which are also educating the public because Hiran says the trombone does not get the respect it deserves. Mostly we see trombone as an ensemble instrument and most non-musicians see it as a circus instrument. But really it provides a lot of different colors. There's a, there's a wonderful quote that trombones can weep like a choir of angels or bring the wrath down like the devil himself. The festival wraps up tomorrow and if you can't make it, there is a live stream on the website.

So we'll go out with a little more trombone and you can decide if this is a choir of angels or the wrath of the other side. This is Denise here on performing his own arrangement of the theme from the Mandalorian. This has been Your World Tonight for Friday, July 18th. I'm Stephanie Scanderres. Thanks for being with us and listening to That With Us. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.