Your World Tonight - Build it here defense strategy, Jesse Jackson dead , EU investigates Shein, and more

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

Prime Minister Mark Carney has rolled out the Canadian government’s defence industrial strategy. It’s been in the works for more than a year and promises to use defence investment to leverage the Canadian economy and jobs.Also: The U.S. has lost one of its most prominent civil rights leaders. Jesse Jackson’s life of activism spanned from Martin Luther King Jr.’s death to the election of the first Black American President, and beyond. Jackson died today at 84.And: The European Union has launched a formal investigation into online retail giant Shein. It started after regulators found listings for illegal products on the platform, including child-like sex dolls and weapons.Plus: Canadian women's pursuit speedskaters are back-to-back Olympic champions, Iran talks end after three hours, and more.

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N-E-T-H-R-I-S-com. Nethris, much more than just a payroll software. This is a CBC podcast. It's a bold plan to get our armed forces what they need, when they need it. It's a bold plan to scale Canadian defense companies while creating over 125,000 high-paying jobs across Canada. Canada's new military-industrial complexities, a mission to wean off this country's largest supplier.

With Ottawa and Washington locked in a trade war, Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to change the way Canadian forces. forces are equipped for real combat. Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Susan Bonner. It is Tuesday, February 17th, just before 6 p.m., also on the podcast. The Big Three, hooked on it. A golden performance by Canadian skaters at the Olympic Games.

And... We must never surrender. America will get better and better. Keep hope alive. He channeled the hope and frustration of a nation. an American civil rights leader and once one of the country's most powerful voices, Jesse Jackson has died at 84. It's a battle plan to redeploy Canadian defense spending.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has formally launched the government's defense industrial strategy. He is promising more security, jobs, and prosperity. But experts say making the Canadian forces less dependent on U.S. contractors, won't be easy. Murray Brewster has our late story. Defending Canada means more than just increasing the size of our military. Prime Minister Mark Carney, making the case to mobilize Canada's defense industrial base. It also means the strength of our industries, the resilience of our economy, and our capacity to act independently when it matters the most. Our national security and our economic security

go hand in hand. This long-awaited defense industrial plan, promised by Carney almost a year ago, sets the goal of awarding 70% of federal defense contracts to Canadian firms by 2035. Right now, only 42% of federal defense contracts stay in Canada. However, the strategy does not define what constitutes a Canadian company, and that is a problem. The Canadian defense industry is dominated by subsidiaries of American. defense companies. Defense expert Michael Byers says if the goal is to act independently from the U.S., then there's a need for a truly homegrown industrial capacity. And this has been Canada's industrial

defense policy for decades to force these big American companies to set up Canadian subsidiaries to make things in Canada. So yeah, you can get to 70% pretty easily if you include those foreign subsidiaries of American firms. Otherwise, in 10 years, I mean, they're dreaming or they're lying. The federal strategy identifies 10 key sectors in the defense industry where military equipment can be built in Canada to support not only the Canadian armed forces, but an arms export market, something previous Canadian governments, especially the Trudeau liberals, were reluctant to do. Problem is, it coincides with the new push by the Trump administration to further make the United States the arms maker of choice among allies.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegsef points to a February 6th executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump. This executive order is our mandate. Leverage America's record-breaking defense sales to revitalize our industrial base and support our partners. Wendy Gilmore, a Canadian and former Assistant Secretary General for Defense Investment in NATO, is cautious,

saying she doesn't believe Canada will end up in direct competition with the U.S. There's nothing in this strategy that says that we're not going to continue to be a branch plant economy for military capabilities. The strategy says up to one, 125,000 Canadian jobs are expected to be created. The Conservative opposition says the government has a history of making bold promises on defense and not delivering.

Murray Brewster, CBC News, Ottawa. With more on today's announcement, the host of the House on CBC radio, Catherine Cullen. Catherine, Murray points out some of the challenges. How risky overall is this plan? Susan, there's a lot of ambition here, but it is going to be hard to pull it off. The government really has to jump in. into action. It's going to require a lot of new contracts. And the Canadian government has a bad track record when it comes to military procurement. Yes, this prime minister is promising

generational change, but he alone can't sign all those contracts. He needs the bureaucracy, which he is trying to retool here to make this happen. It's also worth noting that there are a lot of smaller companies that may see opportunity in this strategy. Think about the priority areas like drones, artificial intelligence, but smaller companies in particular can struggle to deal with the big demands of government bureaucracy. The criticism from conservatives today is that Carney is, in fact, only creating more bureaucracy now. And as we've just heard, the U.S. will be watching closely. What are the risks the U.S. won't like this plan?

You know, it's interesting because the United States really is at the heart of all of this in many ways. Donald Trump wanted the NATO alliance partners to meet their spending commitments. then he wanted them to spend even more. And countries are now acting, but they're doing it in part because they feel they can't rely on the United States to have their backs as much anymore. So look at this very fraught question of whether Canada will buy all its new fighter jets from the United States.

If Canada does opt to buy some planes from Europe instead, that could tick off Donald Trump. And today, the question touched on in Murray's piece, what if Trump perceives Canada is competition here? Carney took pains today to say that Canada's goal is to be complementary, not competition, to U.S. supply chains. And beyond the U.S., there are real challenges of expanding military exports. Certainly the question of who we sell weapons, too. The Prime Minister wants to focus on like-minded NATO countries who are also increasing their defense spending.

But we've seen in the not too distant past that the exports of military technology can get tricky for Canada. Think about the deal to sell light-armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia made when Stephen Harper was in power. There was a lot of criticism, particularly after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and concerns the vehicles were being used in the war in Yemen. Still, Justin Trudeau stood by that deal because of the restrictive contracts involved, he said. Just recently it came to light that Canadian-made vehicles were being used by ICE immigration agents in the United States. Carney says deals will come with guardrails, limits. But fundamentally, if Canada becomes a...

a bigger global supplier of military technology. There will only be more of these potentially controversial relationships, Susan. Thank you, Catherine. Thank you. Catherine Collin is the host of CBC Radio's The House in our Parliamentary Bureau. Coming right up, officials at U.S.-Iran talks indicate some progress, but at the same time there are signs of a broader military build-up. And Team Canada adds another goal to the...

metal count in Milan. Later, we'll have this story. After finding illegal products like child sex dolls for sale on Sheehan, the message is pretty clear. Sheen has to analyze the risks it poses to our consumers in the European Union. The Chinese e-commerce company is under investigation in Europe. The commission is making a big stand and they're looking to make an example of somebody. I'm Nisha Patel in Toronto, what Sheehan says it's doing to protect young shoppers. That's coming up on your world tonight. He was a giant of the American Civil Rights Movement with an influence felt across the United States and beyond. Tributes are flooding in for Jesse Jackson, who died today at 84, a Baptist preacher with a booming voice he used to captivate a nation and help reshape it.

Katie Nicholson reports. I was born in the slum, but the slum was not born in me. Jesse Jackson's own life story, one he drew from to inspire and uplift. I was born next door to a white church. I can only attend as a janitor. Jackson came into the world on October 8, 1941, in deeply segregated South Carolina. In many ways, Jackson was forged by the changing world around him, swept up in the civil rights movement, a disciple of Martin Luther King Jr. So in his inner circle, Jackson was there when King was assassinated. in Memphis in 1968. Sound like a stick of dynamite or large firecracker.

I always wondered how much trauma that must have been for him to witness Reverend King's assassination. Reverend Al Sharpton knew Jackson for 69 years. He never would talk about it too much. But it drove him. He kept saying, we've got to keep Dr. King's dream alive. Eventually driving Jackson to make a run

for the highest office in the land. First trying to clinch the Democratic nomination in 1984 as he launched the National Rainbow Coalition, an organization purpose-built to bring together marginalized people from all walks of life. My constituency is the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespect it and to despise. Jackson's run was cut short after it emerged

he had used pejorative language to describe New York. Jews. He would apologize in a synagogue. It was insensitive and wrong. Jackson would again seek the Democratic nomination in 1988 and fell second place to Michael

Dukakis. But the groundwork was laid. Roughly 20 years later, a teary Jackson was there on the national mall as the U.S. swore in its first black president. I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear. To most

of the world, a fiery orator. But to his six children, Santita Jackson says he was a devoted and loving father. He always let you know that on my worst day, in my worst moments, I was the best thing that ever happened to him. And I will carry that with me always. Jackson continued to be a voice for social justice around the world well into his senior years. As the U.S. erupted in protest after the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by a white. police officer, Jackson was there to remind people of the roots of Dr. King's movement. Keep marching, remain disciplined, focus, and nonviolent. As he railed against police brutality,

Jackson was fighting his own health battles, diagnosed first with Parkinson's and later with a degenerative brain disorder. His family says he died peacefully at home at 84. Jackson's words and the inspiration they sparked, however, we must never surrender. America will get better and better. Eternal. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive. Katie Nicholson, CBC News, Washington. Round two of indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran today lasted just three hours.

Iranian officials were positive but vague, offering no details on the discussions. In a television interview, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said the talks went well, but there were still red lines the Iranians were not ready to recognize and resolve. CBC's senior international correspondent Margaret Evans has more. Protesters shouting at the Iranian delegation's convoy as it left the Omani residents near Geneva earlier today. Oman's foreign minister mediating in the second round of indirect talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran's nuclear program. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Arakchi described this round as having a more constructive atmosphere than the first.

Both sides still have positions that need to be brought closer, he said, but at least now we have a set of guiding principles and a clearer path to follow. But there were a few details, and later at a disarmament conference, he blamed past actions by the United States and some other Western countries for undermining trust. U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Whitkoff, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were in Geneva for the talks. Earlier, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Hamenei took aim at Trump and the military buildup he's ordered in the Middle East,

including two aircraft carriers. They say we've sent it. ship to Iran, he said, in a televised speech, but even more dangerous is the weapon that can send it to the bottom of the sea. Today, Iranian state media broadcast images of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy conducting military drills in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has in the past threatened to shut down the strait key to global commercial shipping routes if Iran were to come under attack. Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran with military

action if it doesn't agree to U.S. demands, not only on its nuclear program, but on its missile capabilities and support for armed militias in the region. Earlier this year, Trump also criticized the regime's violent crackdown on anti-government protesters in January, killing thousands. This week, many Iranians are marking the 40th day of mourning for loved ones killed in the protests, some daring to do so in public. This is sound from a cemetery in the city of Mashad posted on social media. The chant, one person killed, thousands have his back. The fear for many Iranians hoping for the demise of the Islamic Republic

is that the international community doesn't have the war. theirs. Talks no longer concerned with human rights if they ever were. Margaret Evans, CBC News, London. The Big Three, the Golden Girls, Le Madame. Whatever you call them, the Canadian Women's Pursuit Speed Skaters are now back-to-back Olympic champions. They've won the 12th medal of these Winter Games for Canada and the third gold. Chris Reyes has more on the big race from Milan. The big... Isabel Weidemann, Ivani Blonde and Valerie Malté crossed the finish line, one after another, hands in the air.

Goal for the Canadians! Back to back, Olympic champions! And in the stands where their families watched, Pandemonium. The three were arm in arm as the Canadian anthem played. In a tight race against the Netherlands, Team Canada trailed in the early laps before crossing the finish line, barely a second faster. Blondin said the final push didn't phase the team one bit.

Our team starts a little bit slower, but once we get to the midsection, it's just we just start dropping the hammer and bring it home. The women won their first gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The Canadians are going to win gold. Where they also set an Olympic record.

Back to back, Olympic gold medalist in team pursuit. How does that sound? Crazy. Yeah. So pumped. So stoked. So stoked. John Whiteman, Isabel's dad, left to his feet at the result. He said he can't wait to celebrate with all the families. These girls have been doing this so long, working so hard, and that three of them got it done. Even more special that friends and families were in the stands, not a possibility in Beijing, which still had COVID protocols in place. Weideman remembers her family watching from home. Yeah, I'm so excited that they got to be here with us.

this time. For Malte and Blondin, also a big bonus. For me to have both of my parents here and members of my family and being my fifth Olympic, it's special for me. It's actually my first time that I have family coming to games. Returning Olympians and multiple Olympic medalists, the group now skating together for eight years, came into this race with a bit of a nickname.

You're like a team of Madame now. You're so experienced like 35, 35 and 35. 30 years old. With a new gold medal around their necks, Whiteman also wants a new version. We were supposed to be golden ticket girls. The golden girls. Golden girls, indeed. Chris Reyes, CBC News, Milan.

Overall inflation is down, but food prices are still going up. Statistics Canada says annual inflation ticked down to 2.3% in January from 2.4%. Gas prices were down considerably, but food went up 7.3% in January from 6.2% a month earlier. Statskant says a big part of the year-over-year food increase was in restaurant meals, which were exempted from GST last year. Opposition leader Pierre Pahliav blames liberal policies for pushing up prices. Canadians deserve affordable food, food that they can enjoy with their families, food that will nourish their bodies, not hunger and desperation. What we have now is a hunger crisis

in this country. 2.2 million people lined up at food banks. We've seen food prices rise at near-record rates, and those prices are accelerating. The prices of groceries edged down slightly, mostly thanks to a good growing season for fresh fruit. The European Union is investigating one of the world's biggest online retailers. Sheen is known for its fast fashion and ultra-low prices. Among other concerns, the EU is looking into sex dolls the Chinese company is selling and questions about addictive site designs allegedly used to hook young shoppers. Nisha Patel reports. We will now conduct an in-depth investigation.

The European Union is putting Chinese e-commerce giant Sheean on notice. spokesperson Thomas Ragné says the company is suspected of breaking digital services laws. So the message is pretty clear. Sheen has to analyze the risks it poses to our consumers in the European Union. It has to mitigate them. Regulators launched the probe after finding listings last year for illegal products, including weapons and childlike sex stalls. The incident sparked protests in Paris and calls for a crackdown.

Sheehan said the listings were. from independent third-party vendors in its marketplace. In January, the company's lawyer, Yiananuj, told lawmakers that Sheehan has tightened up the rules on how it operates. Where standards are breached, we act decisively and swiftly, including through fines, suspensions and terminations, and we continue to strengthen our controls as new risks merge. Compliance and respect to enforcement are central to. to how we operate in the EU.

The investigation has a broader scope too, examining Sheehan's design, which includes gamified programs that give points to shoppers and could encourage higher spending. Regulators will investigate if the platform is addictive and whether it could have a negative impact on users' well-being and consumer protection online. Aaron Alpeter is an e-commerce consultant in Montreal.

He says he's watching the case closely. They're basically saying, hey, are you? a marketplace, are you a retailer or are you a casino? There's a line here that the EU is trying to have a debate about, about what is acceptable, aggressive marketing tactics and what is predatory? Sheehan is known for its rock bottom prices on fashion, beauty, and home products. Since it was founded in 2008, the company's popularity has exploded worldwide. That's put pressure on traditional retailers who have called on governments to guard against cheaper Chinese goods. The commission is making a big stand and they're looking for to make an example of somebody.

It'll be really interesting to see what happens to Shopify, what happens to Timu, Shian, TikTok shop. It could take a year or more for the European Union to complete its investigation. If it finds that Sheehan violated any laws, the company could face steep fines. Nisha Patel, CBC News, Toronto. We close tonight with the AI fight scene that has Hollywood sparring with the creators of a powerful new tool for making videos. On a rooftop with the sun setting behind them, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise duke it out. There's perfectly choreographed stunt work, crisp sound effects, a remake even added fake dialogue. You killed Jeffrey Epstein, you animal!

The 15-second clip was made with C-Dance 2.0 launched last Thursday by the Chinese company and TikTok developer Bight Dance. By the end of the day, social media was flooded with stunningly realistic videos of characters from Marvel movies, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings. Mr. Frodo, why don't we just take the Eagles straight to Mount Duel? That actually makes sense. It didn't take long to get the attention of major film studios. The Motion Picture Association represents Netflix, Paramount, Disney, and others. In a statement, the organization said, in a single day, C-Dance engaged in massive copyright infringement.

It's just the latest confrontation as AI becomes capable of making a scene from a Hollywood blockbuster with the simple click of a button. Bight Dance has responded to the criticism saying the initial videos were made during a special testing phase of the app. Moving forward, it will suspend the ability to generate videos of real people and do more to protect intellectual property. Thank you for joining us. For your world tonight for Tuesday, February 17th, I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca slash podcasts.