Your World Tonight - Budget promises, famine in Sudan, grain bin hotel rooms, and more

Episode Date: November 3, 2025

The finance minister has new shoes, and tomorrow the new government will release its first budget. The pressure from the U.S. trade war is immense, and this is the government’s first fiscal update in almost a year. Prime Minister Mark Carney is promising a “generational” budget – one that will reset Canada’s economy. But the Liberals are three seats short of a majority – so they need to convince other MPs to agree on the path they set out.And: Fighting, fear, and famine. The tragic situation in Sudan.Also: If you’ve watched Yellowstone and dreamed of staying on a farm with cows, two Alberta ranchers may have what you’re looking for. They are converting old grain bins into hotel rooms for people who want a taste of Canada’s prairie life.Plus: Cuban workers in Canada forced to pay Havana most of their wages, New York City election, and more.

This ascent isn't for everyone. You need grit to climb this high this often. You've got to be an underdog that always over-delivers. You've got to be 6,500 hospital staff, 1,000 doctors, all doing so much with so little. You've got to be Scarborough. Defined by our uphill battle and always striving towards new heights. And you can help us keep climbing.

Donate at lovescarbro.cairbo. This is a CBC podcast. We're going to do the kind of things that will make this country stronger. I would expect the opposition parties to be supportive. The choice for us is simple. If the budget brings down the cost of living, we'll support it. If it brings up the cost of living, we will vote no. A federal budget, the government says, will boost a struggling Canadian economy.

in need of votes to prop it up in the House of Commons. On the eve of the Carney government's first full economic plan, there are promises to spend, pledges to cut back, and no opposition party is vowing to support it. And I think the majority of small businesses out there don't have 10 employees, so it's like the big guys will be okay,

but the little guy is going to get potentially stamped out. Ottawa's plans for nation-building projects sound great to construction firms or defense contractors, but how will big bills help small business? Welcome to your world tonight. I'm Susan Bonner in Ottawa. It is Monday, November 3rd, coming up on 6 p.m. Eastern, also on the podcast. We're looking at Sudan as a kind of forgotten crisis,

and surely the international community must do more. In Sudan, violence and unrest are everywhere. Now food is getting harder and harder to find, evidence of famine, malnutrition and death. after 18 months of civil war. It will likely be the biggest test yet for Mark Carney and the minority liberal government, the Prime Minister's first budget.

Canadians want to know what's in it for them. Opposition parties do too, and those details could determine if the budget passes or voters go back to the polls for the second time this year. We have full coverage of this story for you tonight. beginning with Tom Perry. An old tradition with a new twist. Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne,

paying a visit to a shoe factory in his own Quebec riding, carefully and with much guidance, making himself a new pair of black-dressed shoes that he'll wear tomorrow when he presents his budget. There will be no surprises. Canadians have asked us to do big, bold things. Champagne has been telegraphing for months. This budget will be about putting the brakes on program spending

while making what he calls generational investments in areas like housing, infrastructure and defense, all aimed at growing the economy and making Canadian business more competitive. We're going to do the kind of things that will make this country stronger and everyone will see themselves in that budget. So that's why I would expect the opposition parties to be supportive because there is something for every Canadian in that budget. In a minority parliament, the liberals will need some opposition MPs to support their budget or at least not vote against it.

Conservative leader Pierre Palliev has not said how his party will vote, but has issued a list of demands the government is unlikely to fulfill, including that it eliminate the industrial carbon tax and limit its budget deficit to $42 billion. The choice for us is simple. If a budget brings down the cost of living, we'll support it. If it brings up the cost of living, just like every other liberal budget, we will vote no. So instead of trying to provoke a costly election on a costly budget, why don't it an affordable budget for an affordable life? The Block Quebecois has issued its own set of demands, but says it will wait to see the budget before deciding whether or not to support it.

The NDP with seven members could be the difference, though for now the party's interim leader, Don Davies, is taking a wait and see approach. Well, we're not really going out anything. I mean, we're not speculating on how we're going to vote. You know, if it's a budget that's good for working, people will support it. If it's not, we won't. One factor that could make this budget a tough sell for some opposition MPs will be the deficit. Various predictions have it running somewhere between $70 billion and $100 billion. A senior government official says this will be a pro-growth budget, one aimed at building capacity and strength and getting Canada's products and resources.

to the world. Canadians will soon find out what all that will cost. Tom Perry, CBC News, Ottawa. Canada's small business owners will be watching closely tomorrow. Many have been hit especially hard by U.S. trade policies, and they'll be looking for any signs of relief. Anise Hedari has that angle. I'm looking for small businesses to be considered. Steve Malia owns Starfield Optics and Ontario Telescope.

He's based in Bolton, Ontario, where his company sells, and manufacturers for the amateur astronomy industry. And he says businesses like his need help. That's not what he's seen so far. Right now, and I'm not saying anything against this, right? Programs for auto workers and the auto industry, for steel and aluminum, that makes sense. Because as a retailer, I want to have customers that can buy stuff. But customers getting support can't buy things from small businesses if the small businesses go under.

So Malia wants to see programs that make it easier for his company to borrow money, to access capital, maybe some tax cuts for small businesses too. So this is where I find it being a real challenge, right, a small company like myself that doesn't have 10 employees. And I think the majority of small businesses out there don't have 10 employees. The big guys will be okay, but the little guy is going to get potentially stamped out. I think there's been a priority to stimulate foreign investments. Defan Boucher would like to see the government focus on creating jobs at Canadian-owned companies

instead of trying to attract companies from abroad. He's president of global vehicle systems. It builds robotics for the auto industry in southwestern Ontario. Economic uncertainty and tariffs have slammed his business and his region. What we saw as a small to medium-sized business is, as these foreign investments came in, we might saw some of our skill set cannibalized because these larger corporations are hiring thousands of people at a time. And in the end, they don't really have a vested interest in, you know, in Canada. Canada has had a chronic issue with economic growth and low productivity and sluggish

investment. Job creation is something Mahmoud Nanji expects the government to focus on. He's with the Ivy Business School at London, Ontario's Western University. And he says this budget may have more of a focus on business rather than the consumer. So don't expect a GST rebate for purchases during Christmas like the Trudeau government did. I think the government has limited fiscal capacity. Most of its spending is going to be around the nation-building projects and defense and, you know, those priorities. Waiting to see if Starfield Optics might fit into those priorities, Steve Malia back in his warehouse. As an entrepreneur, you don't get any sleep anyways. And as an astronomer, you have no sleep. You're up all night as it is.

Unfortunately, his telescope can't quite get an eye to the finance minister's plans before Tuesday's budget. And he's had already, CBC News, Calgary. For more now on tomorrow's budget, the host of CBC Radio's The House. Catherine Cullen is with me here in studio. Catherine, the government keeps suggesting, repeating, that this budget is going to be a really big deal. Do we expect it to live up to that billing? Susan, it is likely that this is going to be a historic budget. For example, the deficit is likely to be bigger than anything we've seen outside of the pandemic or wartime.

So big, big spending, as we heard on military, on housing, on big infrastructure projects. same time, though, cuts to some government spending too. One business person I was speaking to said this might be one of the most significant budgets we've seen in the last century. So big spending, but it's about more than that? Right. The Prime Minister has talked about this as taking a risk, swinging for the fences. He says Canada is going to spend big on some of these priorities to attract major amounts of foreign investment. He wants to amp up the Canadian economy. But Mark Carney is trying to do that as this massive uncertainty hangs over Canada in the form of Donald Trump's tariffs, perhaps even the future of free trade under

KRISMA. Okay, big issues for industry. What about individual Canadians who are looking, for example, for help dealing with the cost of living? Yeah, it's an interesting question, Susan, because, you know, I'm sure we're going to hear about this budget being a way to create jobs, careers, even. Tax cuts, though, that is trickier. Kearney has already cut off some government revenue.

People will recall, for example, a tax cut aimed at the middle class in the spring. So if they are trying to rein in parts of government spending, it makes it hard to go a lot further. And that takes us to government programs. Which ones might get cut? What do we know? Yeah, one example. CBC News has confirmed that Carney government will stop the program to plant two billion trees. Now, they're going to honor existing contracts, so that should bring us just shy of one billion trees. But there are going to be a lot of calls that are a lot tougher than that.

What are they going to do about foreign aid, indigenous services, health Canada, for example? What else are you watching for, Catherine? A new immigration plan and Carney's much anticipated plan for the environment shifts in how we approach climate. Will the government, for instance, keep the emissions cap? And we can't ignore the politics. This is a minority government. People have been throwing around the possible election word. I think in Ottawa there is actually kind of a palpable sense that it does seem possible in some people's view that we could end up in an election here.

That said, I do think all the parties understand. That is not what Canadians want right now. So I will tell you, Susan, I can't see the future, but I am not packing my suitcase yet. Good to hear. We'll see you tomorrow, Catherine. Thank you. And Catherine will join me for CBC Radio's special budget coverage live from Parliament Hill, beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern. That's tomorrow, Tuesday, November 4th. The federal government wants to try to recoup funding from an automaker that pulled production out of a Canadian plant.

Last month, Stalanta said it would move its Jeep Compass Vehicle Assembly from Brampton, Ontario to Illinois, despite its contract to invest in that plant and Canadian workers. Today, industry minister Melanie Jolie said Ottawa will seek reimbursement of federal aid if Stalantis does not commit to building another vehicle at the factory northwest of Toronto. The government will take the next step under the contracts to recover Canadian taxpayers' money. This means that we'll start the 30-day period of the formal dispute resolution process in order to bring back production at the Stalantis Brampton facility. The Canadian government, along with Ontario, have pledged billions in subsidies for the automaker.

Coming right up, new depths of desperation in Sudan, as civil war pushes the country into a food crisis. And the local political race being watched across the U.S. and beyond, the final push to elect New York's new mayor, Later, we'll have this story. I'm Kyle Bax. If you've watched Yellowstone and dreamed of staying on a farm with cows, two Alberta ranchers may have what you're looking for. Why some farmers are turning old grain bins into guest houses. I grew up on a grain farm.

Always loved the idea of grain reeds. A taste of farm life on the Canadian prairies and what it means for the future. I'll have that story later on your world tonight. It is being described as a humanitarian catastrophe, happening amid a brutal civil war. For the second time in less than a year, the world's leading authority on hunger confirms there is famine in parts of Sudan, and it warns there's a risk it could spread. Sasha Petrissik has the latest. Pleying the fighting, thousands of Sudanese. flood the town of Tawila, pitching tents, lining up for what little aid there is from the

handful of international organizations still operating in Western Darfur. They're the lucky ones, escaping the violence in Al-Fashir, 65 kilometers down the road. Gunfire woke me at three in the morning, says Nadi Ibrahim. I've never heard anything so loud, gunfire, so heavy. Or attacks on civilians, so violent, says Mohamed Abdullah. As I fled, the paramilitary stopped me, he says, taking my money and phone, taking everything. Al-Fashir fell to the so-called rapid support forces, the paramilitary RSF, last week.

It attacked markets and hospitals with drones and artillery. Fighters are accused of massacring tens of thousands, killing aid workers and triggering a famine. Officially declared today in Al-Fashir and another area by a UN-backed group monitoring global hunger. UN spokesman Farhan Haq. We continue to receive credible reports of summary executions in sexual violence. And more than a week after the takeover, the city remains barricaded.

Al-Fashir is the latest prize for the RSF after taking the rest of Western Darfur. Fighters celebrated their victory with gunfire. The rebel paramilitary is well equipped, supplied by Emirati allies in the Gulf, waging a two-and-a-half-year war that's caused some of the worst suffering in the world today, says the international Red Crosses, Tamaso de Lalonga. And we have been seeing some peak of horror in the last two years and a half, and surely the international community must do more.

France's foreign minister, Jean-Nuel Barreau, has called for calm, insisting the belligerents comply with international humanitarian law. The U.S. has tried to broker a ceasefire in talks that have been largely ignored on the ground, proposing another three-month humanitarian pause today. But the help that aid groups say is desperately needed, has been slow to come from the world, with the UN saying less than 30% of the humanitarian budget for Sudan has been forthcoming.

For the camps, now filling fast. Sasha Petrissik, CBC News, Toronto. At least 20 people are dead and more than 600 injured after a powerful earthquake rattled northern Afghanistan. The Taliban says those numbers are likely to rise. The 6.3 magnitude quake struck one of Afghanistan's most populated cities, destroying hundreds of homes and part of the historic Blue Mosque. The country is still trying to recover from a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in August.

That killed more than 2,200 people and swept away thousands of homes. Voters in New York head to the polls tomorrow in a mayoral race that could make history. It pits a former governor against a 34-year-old. socialist. Zoran Mamdani is riding a wave of popular support, and he has Donald Trump's attention too. The CBC's Chris Reyes has more. Election Day looms, my friends. Zoran Mamdani is the unlikely frontrunner for mayor of New York. I say Zoran! I say mayor! A little-known local assemblyman for New York State before the summer, Mamdani sent shockwaves across the U.S. when he beat the establishment favorite. Former New York

Governor Andrew Cuomo to become the Democratic nominee in the mayoral race. Cuomo has since been mounting a fierce campaign as an independent. You are responsible for eight and a half million lives. And he just does not have any credential whatsoever that would give anybody confidence that he's going to keep you and your family safe. Mamdani is a self-declared democratic socialist running on a long list of promises from rent freezes to free buses to government-run grocery stores. Policies that have drawn the ire of some of the city's financial leaders like Alex Whitkoff, CEO of an investment firm.

And he's proposing spending over $100 billion. Where is the money going to come from? Freeze the rent will only encourage people to stop investing in the housing stock. Rents will be flat, but expenses will be going up. It doesn't make sense. Mamdani's policies in meteoric rise has prompted rebuke. from President Donald Trump who had this to say about him yesterday

on CBS's 60 Minutes. Communist, not socialist, communist. He's far worse than a socialist. Some? Trump says he would have a hard time giving money to New York under Mamdani and that he would rather have Cuomo as mayor. Debates between Cuomo and Mamdani have been firing and at times deeply personal.

If elected, Mamdani would become New York's first Muslim mayor. Mamdani has accused his opponents of Islamophobic. attacks. Andrew Cuomo laughed and agreed when a radio host said that I would cheer another 9-11. Cuomo has fired back saying he's calling Mamdani out for views that have raised concerns for some in the Jewish community. He refuses to denounce globalize the Intifada, which basically means kill Jewish people. Mamdani has denied that claim on being a mayor for New York Jews. He said this. I will be the mayor who doesn't just protect Jewish New Yorkers, but also

celebrates and cherishes them. New Yorkers will make the final call. More than 700,000 have voted early, a record number. Polls closed Tuesday night. Chris Reyes, CBC News, New York. People in Yukon are going to the polls today, and no matter what happens, there will be some fresh faces at the cabinet table. All seven liberal ministers resigned before the election, and only one of the party's MLAs is running again. After nine years of liberal government, the NDP and the Yukon Party are hoping to break through. Yukoners will also vote on whether to change the current first-past-the-post electoral system to ranked ballots. They were promised fair wages and a comfortable life. But some are getting their meals from food banks and shopping at garage sales.

Cuban temporary workers say they are struggling to survive. in Canada, after allegedly handing over most of their earnings to their government back home. Evan Dyer has that story. As soon as you arrive, you realize that this is a naked abuse. You work like any Canadian here, but you only get a miserable salary. CBC News has agreed to hide this man's identity to protect his family from reprisals in Cuba. He's a professional who worked in Alberta for a joint venture between Cuba's state mining company and the private Canadian company Sherritt International.

On paper, he was paid close to $100,000 annual salary, but the pay slips don't tell the whole story. He says the former Cuban CEO of the Sherat Refinery in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, told him that Cuban workers had to wire transfer between 80 and 90% of their net pay to the Cuban government, leaving them struggling to make ends meet. We couldn't go to a winner or a marchal. We couldn't go to a winter store or a Marshall store or the West Edmonton Mall

because there was no way to buy things there. We bought most of our food at Dolorama, which had the lowest prices. And for everything else, garage sales. Some turn to food banks, he said. The confiscation of wages is normal for Cubans working abroad, says Cuban-born researcher Maria Worlow. These people are not used to thinking, I have the right to take a vacation. I have the right to take my family to the movies. No, they're thinking survival.

But Sherritt workers knew they were being exploited, says another worker. 100% of the Cubans are unhappy about this, but it's not something you would talk about lightly or discuss in public because the embassy is going to find out. We're not supposed to form relationships with the Canadians we work with eight hours a day. Outside of work, we're not allowed to have friendships with Canadians or visit them. You have an intermediary. that is confiscating the salary, hiring you out to another bidder.

Worla says the Cuban government is engaged in human trafficking. The Cuban supervisor has the prerogative to send any member back at any point and to discipline them. The workers say they were required to report to Cuban officials on all interactions with Canadian co-workers. Sherrod International, the Canadian half of the joint venture, told CBC News it had no knowledge of any wage confiscation scheme. The workers say Cherit paid them their wages in full. It was their Cuban supervisors who forced them to hand over most of the money. The Cuban government didn't respond to CBC's questions. The Canadian government says it has improved its systems for preventing such abuses generally,

but didn't respond to questions about whether it would intervene in the Cuban joint venture. Evan Dyer, CBC News, Ottawa. 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. Canadian farmers are doing more than just farming these days. Field tours, corn mazes, pick your own produce. Some ranchers in Alberta are now taking their agricultural side hustles

to the next level. Think Little Hotel on the Prairie. As Kyle Bax tells us, converting old green Grain bins into guest houses is about survival and succession for farming families. After storing grain for decades, these two-story metal bins now house guests from around the world who want a taste of farm life on the Canadian prairies. I grew up on a grain farm. Always loved the idea of grainries. The trio of grain bins were book solid all summer long, says Cindy Marr, on land where 300 cattle graze. There's a living room, kitchen and bathroom. The upstairs bedroom has a large window with views of the pasture and mountains. Western art and old cowboy photos hang on the round interior walls.

We've diversified our ranch, and it's a good opportunity to get extra income that way, too. It's also aimed at keeping this land in the family. Succession planning is a growing problem facing many farmers. Agri-tourism is one way to bridge a generational. gap enticing the children of farmers to stay in farming. Cindy's daughter-in-law, Peyton. More and more, you can't be just a rancher. You're always looking for ways to branch out while the goal in the dream is to ranch, but it doesn't always work that way. About $300 billion worth of farmland will change hands over the next decade, as the average age of farmers nears 60 years old.

But some farms can be too big or too small to easily pass on. It's one of the most present. issues right now in the agricultural industry. Rebecca Perk-Stevenson is a University of Alberta professor who studies succession planning on family farms. It's a type of industry where you may have worked your entire life with, so your own identity is really enmeshed with the work that you're doing, and you like doing the work. It's been a fun adventure so far.

Brianna Morrison's kids are young, but she's already thinking decades ahead. She converted five grain bins into hotel rooms and began renting them this summer. stayed very, very busy. We're starting to kind of book into next year as well. Each filled with Western decor, from bullhead cabinet handles to cowboy prints on the shower curtain. The grain bins are on the land. Her family has farmed for three generations near Pinscher Creek in southwest Alberta. Fingers crossed, she says, her kids will want to join the family business. They might have more ideas for this place and want to continue it and make it their own

too and grow on it. And I hope that that can come with the legacy of this ranch too. For now, she's focusing on marketing and hospitality to keep welcoming guests to the ranch while still looking after the animals. Kyle Backs, CBC News, near Twin Butte, Alberta. We end tonight with a Nova Scotia hockey player who left his team to support a friend in need and came back, inspired to do more. You know, we've grown to be family. and it's obviously a very, very tragic time for their family, for all of us, and, you know, we obviously want to be here to support each other. Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand on the ice.

He's won Stanley Cups and gold medals with Team Canada. Last week he took on the role of guest coach with the March and Mill Company Hunters of the Halifax U-18 hockey league. Marchand was filling in for his good friend J.P. McCallum, whose 10-year-old daughter, Celia Panachi McCallum, recently died of cancer. She had such a big heart, and she was so strong, and she had such an incredible group of friends and family around her. She made a huge impact on my life, on my family's life.

Marshaun is in the middle of his NHL season and needed a leave of absence to go to Halifax. His appearance helped raise thousands of dollars and supported a family when they needed it most. That was the goal. But then came a couple more. Here comes Losterine, up ahead for Brad Marshaam, with a chance he scores. Marchand opened the scoring on Saturday night, his first game back with the Panthers,

pointing to the sky after putting the puck in the net. Later, when the game went to shootout, Marchan scored the game-winning goal. Great opportunity to honor Cila. I know she's watching from above, so I knew she was with me on that one. Thank you for joining us. This has been your world tonight for Monday, November 3rd. I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again.