Your World Tonight - Canada’s defence strategy, healthcare questions in Tumbler Ridge, social media ‘safe space’, and more

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

Ottawa is set to unveil its new defence industry strategy that bets big on building at home, while promising to boost military exports by 50 per cent, and create more than 125,000 jobs within the next decade. Carrying a price tag of more than $6 billion dollars, the plan was developed to improve Canada’s readiness, and decrease reliance on foreign suppliers, like the U.S..Also: The state of support in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, and how last week’s mass shooting exposed gaps in the community’s mental and physical healthcare system.And: Digital detox. The Canadian social media start up that promises a safer space for kids.Plus: Chinese EV cybersecurity concerns, land fight in Occupied West Bank, the Canadian permit program affecting U.S. citizens, and more.

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This is a CBC podcast. Canadian procurement has always been a challenge, and I think this is one of the challenges that the defense industrial strategy is hoping to change. Making Canada less reliant on the U.S. has been a federal priority for months. But buying Canadian isn't easy when you're shopping for military-grade equipment,

and the world's largest supplier is right next door. Now Ottawa is fighting to change that. This is your world tonight. I'm Stephanie Scandaris. It's Monday, February 16th, coming up on 6 p.m. Eastern. Also on the podcast? Roving surveillance operations on our streets. I'm concerned about cybersecurity and the threat of China. Cruise control, heated seats, spying? New Chinese electric vehicles come loaded with the latest features.

Some fear, surveillance technology will also come standard. And... This isn't a one-week thing. This is going to take. weeks, if not months of healing. The need for more mental health support in a community shattered by a mass shooting. When it comes to national defense, Canada wants to build itself up. And Mark Carney's government is planning on boosting the defense industry, too. The government is set to release its new plan.

And as David Thurton reports, Ottawa is betting on Canadian-made. So most of Cracken's business, probably 75 to 80 percent of our business, is in the defense industry. Most of our work is in seabed mine warfare, mine countermeasures, and seabed intelligence. David Chey is with Cracken Robotics, a Canadian company whose underwater robots bring to light the mysteries of the deep. With Canada having the largest coastline in the world, you'd think the Canadian Armed Forces would be its biggest customer. Canadian procurement has always been a challenge, and I think this is one of the challenges that the defense industrial strategy is hoping to change. Ottawa is set to release that strategy as early as Tuesday. The plan has more than $6 billion behind it directing much of that money to create what it calls a build-at-home defense strategy to shift its current reliance on American military suppliers to Canadian ones.

70% of federal defense contracts it promises will go to Canadian firms within the next decade. It is very comprehensive. Charlotte DuBalle-Antoine is a defense expert with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. For her, the strategy lives up to expectations. thinks about policies in a wide array of matters and thinks about the defense sector as an integral part of Canada's economy and think about growth beyond just defense. The strategy promises to add up to 125,000 new jobs.

But some are skeptical. James Bazan is the conservative defense critic. He says the liberals have allowed Canada's defense equipment to deteriorate. He doesn't have a lot of faith in them. Well, I think the biggest obstacle is replacing the mourn and rust-ed-out equipment that we currently have, making sure that we're investing to what the military actually wants and needs to do the tasks that are before them.

This is not the first Canadian defense strategy. The question now, though, is whether or not there's political momentum behind it. Rob Hubert is with the Center for Military Security and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary. When there is political will, we can deliver. If Carney, it really comes down to Carney, and probably his most central advisors, as long as they are believing in this, it can be done. What's different this time, NATO and its allies face new threats from China and Russia,

and even from within. President Donald Trump has questioned the need for old military alliances. On the U.S., the strategy says very little, except for the need to build new partnerships with Europe. David Thornton, CBC News, Ottawa. Hand-in-hand with national defense is cybersecurity. And now that Canadians will soon be able to buy electric cars made in China, there are concerns that Chinese technology could threaten Canadians' privacy. Jennifer Yun has that story.

China wants these electric vehicles to be roving surveillance operations on our streets. Conservative leader Pierre Paulyev last September describing concerns about Chinese-made electric vehicles. Now thousands of those cars are poised. to hit Canadian streets after a trade deal with China, raising fresh concerns from others, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford. I'm concerned about cybersecurity and the threat of China.

Modern car is really a computer with a motor more than it is a car. Cybersecurity expert Chester Wisniewski says cars, no matter where they are manufactured, gather a lot of data about us. It's location and its speed and it's breaking and all kinds of information from hundreds of censors. and cameras all over the vehicle. According to research from American nonprofit Mozilla Foundation in 2023,

most of the car brands they studied sold that data. The privacy invasion here is very, very profitable for the auto companies. And in the case of Chinese EVs, Wuznowski says there are additional concerns. It takes on a different aspect when we consider the geopolitics of China. Former CIS National Security analyst Stephanie Carvin says data in the hands of Chinese manufacturers is concerning. because of that country's national security law. Which basically states that any Chinese company is obliged to help the Chinese state when asked.

And China has been accused of tampering with other technology they've exported too, like cranes in major U.S. ports. Michel Juno Katsuya is the former chief of Asia Pacific for CISS. Well, they discovered hidden in the mechanism, a system that is capable to transmit and to capture data. In Norway, too, public transport. operators beefed up security requirements last year after they realized Chinese-made electric buses could be remotely turned off. Katsuya says all this is concerning as China faces foreign interference accusations in Canada. We need to be much more now attentive who we do business with.

Carvin says there are other data privacy concerns that are more pressing, like the fact foreign governments can legally buy much of the data they want about us from third-party vendors. doesn't need EVs to spy on us. They have everything they need. Katsuya says Canadians have to start taking data privacy more seriously. We've been extremely negligent. Borderline stupid when it comes to this kind of defense. That includes paying closer attention to the personal information we share online or on apps

and not disclosing data unless absolutely necessary. Jennifer Yun, CBT News, Toronto. As Canada awaits the arrival of Chinese EVs, It's getting easier for travelers to go the other way. Tension between the two countries continues to cool down. And starting tomorrow, Canadians will be able to enter China visa-free. The new policy will be in effect until the end of this year. Philip Lyshanach has more.

He can actually now just go to China without having to apply for a visa. Gordon Soe is co-founder of Landed for Success. The organization helps immigrant-owned Canadian businesses connect worldwide. He says he already knows an entrepreneur making last-minute plans to visit China. He's in Sri Lanka, right now, Sri Lanka, Singapore. And then as of tomorrow, the 17th, he's going to go visit China for a business trip. Previously, the visa application process for Canadians traveling to China

involved a lengthy weight and $140 fee. Following Prime Minister Mark Carney's meeting with China's president Xi Jinping earlier in January, China opened travel to Canadians to visit the country visa-free starting February 17. the start of the lunar new year until the end of 2026. Oral Brown teaches international relations and political science at the University of Toronto. He says it's a symbolic move signaling a new relationship between the countries. It's expensive to get a visa. It is a long process.

It also symbolizes a trend of better communications between Canada and China. Canada also agreed to allow the sale, of close to 50,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles in Canada at a lower tariff in exchange for an end to retaliatory tariffs on Canadian canola, seafood, and beef. But Brown says Canada's willingness to partner with China has already drawn the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump. The appearance of getting close to the China can also complicate our negotiations with the United States on Kuzma.

And he also warns that Canadian businesses operating in China have been subject to arbitrary actions. We should not fall into the trap that all of a sudden this regime now in China has dramatically changed and there are unlimited opportunities. We need to be aware of the opageness of how the Chinese government operates. Brown says China's detention of Canadians Michael Spavorn, Michael Kovrig, in retaliation for the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei Chief Financial Officer, Wangzhou should be a cautionary tale. But Gordon Soe says he and entrepreneurs he knows don't have those concerns.

That from my perspective, right? I think like anything else, if we're going to go into somebody else's home or their backyard, be respectful for with... So says the business people he speaks to are more apprehensive about traveling to the U.S. Voli-Shanock, CBC News, Toronto. Dominic LeBlanc is on a high-stakes visit to Mexico this week. the North American trade minister is part of a large delegation, aiming to shore up economic ties with our third biggest trading partner. The incredible level of interest generated by this trade mission is a testament to Canada's commitment to a renewed and sustained partnership with Mexico.

The delegation includes hundreds of Canadian business leaders. Discussions will focus on growing exports in a handful of sectors. Kuzma renegotiations are set for the summer. Both Canada and Mexico want to stay in the pact. The Trump administration has threatened to pull out of the agreement in favor of bilateral deals. Coming right up after a devastating mass shooting, Tumblr Ridge, BC struggles to provide with a health care system stretched thin. And Israel's government will make it easier for settlers to buy land in the West Bank,

a move Palestinians call de facto annexation. Later, we'll have this story. I'm Deanna Suminac Johnson in Toronto. To ban or not to ban social media for teens, that is the question, but it doesn't have to be, according to one family. There's still going to be a fun aspect. People can still post what they want and show people their life, but the algorithm doesn't promote the addictive scrolling.

A new app designed by a Canadian parent, hoping to offer the connection of social media while keeping the risks under control. That's coming up on Your World Tonight. As the people of Tumblr Ridge, British Columbia, mourn their losses from last week's mass shooting, a healing process has also begun for the deep but invisible scars of mental trauma. Emergency support is there for now. Sam Samson has more on the community's push for better health care. The children especially feel comfortable coming in, and we've got games, coloring, Lego.

In Tumblr Ridge, BC, the head librarian Paula Cootts, has watched her workplace provide refuge after last week's mass shooting. The community center as a whole has become a safe space, fun activities as a distraction, and a place to access mental health workers brought in to help process this trauma. I actually talked to one of the victim's mothers who was on her way down to counseling, and they did go, and it seemed to have helped the whole family. Now, I'm a little concerned about when it goes away.

But regional health care concerns existed long before the shooting. Last fall, the community petitioned against cutbacks to on-call emergency services. The local ER is also only open 9 to 5 on weekdays. Northern Health says it continues to have ongoing dialogue with the District of Tumblr Ridge and that it added a second 24-7 ambulance to the community in September to improve staffing predictability. I'd be lying if I said it doesn't raise the stress level in any paramedic when you're dealing with children.

Jonathan Burgess with BC Health Services coordinated paramedics the day of the shooting. He says those who responded are getting the mental health support they need. Tumblr Ridge is an amazingly supportive, tight-knit community. They all know our paramedics here, whether they're in uniform or not. We've been working with them in the aftermath, ensure they feel supported as they process what they went through. Paramedics from other regions have been brought in to fill shifts

while locals take some time off, however long they may need. This isn't a one-week thing. This is going to take weeks, if not months of healing. The shooting has also raised concerns about mental health policies, including BC's Mental Health Act. RCMP say the shooter had previously been apprehended under that law. A law BC was already reviewing. Provincial Public Safety Minister, Nina Krieger, says they'll be looking at the shooter's interactions with the mental health system. We know that mental health supports are spread thin across the country and certainly in rural and remote. communities. And in the immediate aftermath of the events, really are priorities ensuring that the mental health supports are there in place for families. RCMP completed their examination of the

school over the weekend and turned the property back over to the school division. To avoid more trauma, school officials are looking for alternative classroom spaces so students don't have to return to the site of one of Canada's deadliest mass shootings. Sam Samson, CBC News, Tumblr Ridge, British Columbia. Ukraine's Volodemir Zelensky is playing host to a pair of U.S. lawmakers. President, so good to see you. Thank you. Good to see you. The President welcomed Democratic senators Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon White House to Kiev.

The three reportedly discussed American military support for Ukraine and Russia's ongoing attacks. U.S. brokered peace talks are set for tomorrow and Wednesday in Geneva. The White House has set a June deadline for a settlement. The Kremlin wants concessions, which, Kiev rejects. Next week we'll mark the fourth year of the war. Family, friends, and dozens of mourners gathered at a Moscow cemetery to pay their respects to Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died two years ago today. He was in an Arctic prison serving a 19-year sentence for leading an alleged extremist organization. At the

time, the Kremlin said it was sudden cardiac arrest. On Saturday, report from five EU nations said Navalny was poisoned with toxin from an Ecuadorian dart frog. Russia called the findings Western propaganda. Israel is being accused of trying to take over more land in the occupied West Bank. The government has approved a controversial property registration process in the occupied territory. Officials say it'll create legal certainty about land ownership. Palestinians say it's a violation of international law. Cameron McIntosh reports from Jerusalem. By registering land in parts of the occupied West Bank as state property,

Israel is putting the on hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who live there to prove they own it. Many fearing this is a step towards de facto annexation. We are afraid of these Israeli steps because they simply do not correspond to transparency and do not match justice, says Samir O'Day of the Palestinian Land Authority, which calls this illegal and says the land is already registered to Palestinians. The rights have been established for its owners, and it is not allowed for Israeli occupation, he says. Israel captured the West Bank in the Middle East War of 1967

and has occupied it ever since. Under international law, it remains Palestinian territory, intended for a future state. The Israeli government has long said it needs to, to control the West Bank for security reasons and calls this an administrative move. In a part of the West Bank, it already controls. Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson or in Marmorsstein.

This measure is designed to bring order to land registration, enabling a transparent clarification of rights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not allow a Palestinian state. Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smolterich is pushing the plan. He's a West Bank settler who also says openly he wants to bury the idea of a Palestinian state. Since the October 7, 2003 attacks, illegal Israeli settlements have rapidly expanded, often with government approval. Violent settler attacks on Palestinians have also ramped up. Many rights groups see this latest move as a land grab.

Lear Ami Hore speaks for the rights group Peace Now. So the purpose is to take over land so they can build more settlements and take over more control over the territory. So the intention is clear. What's unclear, how Palestinian ownership documents for those that have them will stand up in Israeli courts. Last week, Israel also moved to expand its oversight of land in Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank,

a move that brought international condemnation. United Nations spokesman Stefan Dujaric. The Secretary General warns that the current church trajectory on the ground, including this decision, is eroding the prospects for two-state solution. As Israel expands into the West Bank, and with Gaza's future far from certain, Middle East analyst Yossi Mekelberg agrees two states look less likely. I think we're in a position in a point in history which is very dangerous, unless it's diffused. I'm afraid it will seek for a long time of violence and bloodshed.

With this latest move, Israel creating another path for control. of the West Bank. Cameron McIntosh, CBC News, Jerusalem. Austrian authorities have charged the main suspect in an alleged plot to bomb a Taylor Swift concert in 2024. The 21-year-old is accused of several crimes, including terrorism and being a member of ISIS. Police aren't naming the suspect. He's one of three people arrested in the case. The incident caused Swift to cancel her three shows in Vienna. About 200,000 people were planning to attend. For now, Canada is...

is not among the handful of countries banning young people from using social media. That doesn't mean there isn't a lot of concern about bullying, addiction, and abuse. But there's also worry about cutting kids off from the technology. So a Canadian mom is trying to create a kinder, gentler version of social media. Deanna Suminac Johnson has a story. When my daughter got her first phone, she experienced a side of social media that I wasn't even aware of. Vancouver mother Natalie Ball felt that banning social media for kids altogether doesn't have to be the only way to reduce its risks. Risks that include cyberbullying, anxiety and depression, poor body image, even poor performance on standardized testing.

Last week, after years of consultations with experts, Ball launched an app called Tribella that seeks to bypass some of those problems. We wanted to create a more intentional feed. The app has no like button. AI moderation screens out sexual and violent content, and it doesn't use an algorithm to target kids' vulnerabilities. So say a youth or anyone might have a slight insecurity about their looks, they could be fed extreme content on dieting, things based on their looks, and eating disorder content.

And so being able to control and not have a behavioral-based algorithm was a huge part of the design. Ball's daughter Angelina Dyn, now a 19-year-old student at Western University, helped out, based in part on her own experiences with social media. They're still going to be a fun aspect. People can still post what they want and show people their life, but the algorithm doesn't promote the addictive scrolling. The push for Canada to enforce some restriction on social media use by children is gaining steam. Media reports in January suggested the federal government could ban social media for kids under 14, as early as this spring. After Australia's ban on social media for under 16s, France and Spain are considering similar moves.

Kid-friendly social media alternatives can work, says Matt Hadfield from Digital Rights Group Open Media, but a critical mass of kids would have to embrace this new app. The trouble that they are going to face is the problem for the network effect. The network effect is essentially the idea that the value of any network is dependent on who else is in that network. Groups lobbying for Aussie-style ban in Canada say they would still like a minimum age requirement even for this app. That idea of having that time for a kid to get to know themselves. Robin Shirk is with a group Unplugged Canada.

She is in Ottawa meeting with government stakeholders about legislation on social media used by kids. I want that platform to do well. When kids are of an age where they can join social media, I want them to have those choices. As different groups suggest different paths towards the same goal, keeping kids safer online. Deanna Suminac Johnson, CBC News, Toronto.

Can you believe it? The Canadian 24-year-old from Perry Sound, Ontario. You better plan the parade because we're coming up. The call from Italy as Canada picks up its second gold of these Olympics. Megan Oldham took the top spot in women's big air skiing. She also won bronze in the Slope Style event last week. Also at the games, Canada's women's hockey team is off to its eighth straight Olympic final, the squad beat Switzerland two to one. Canada will face Team USA for gold on Thursday. Some people in the U.S. are upset about changes to a Canadian

border entry program. It allowed some U.S. citizens to pass through Canada without passing through customs. But in a bid to boost border security, that program is being scrapped. Karen Pauls has the details. It's still dark out. Jason Goulet is taking clients ice fishing. Basically just making sure the heat's on. Their holes are still open. They got bait. Goulet is a Minnesota outfitter and resort owner. He's not happy.

Ottawa is scrapping a border entry program that made it easy for people like him to travel into and through Canada. Go to school, grocery shopping, doctor's appointments, go see your accountant. Northwest Angle is the only part of the U.S. outside of Alaska north of the 49th parallel, the boundary between Canada and the U.S.

Three sides surrounded by Canada with no road connecting it to the rest of Minnesota. So if you want to drive here, the only way is through Manitoba. We have a family of 10. There's almost somebody traveling every day. It's a pretty big deal to us. Right now, Goulet and about 100 or so year-round residents are part of Canada's remote area border crossing program. It pre-clear them to freely cross the border in five remote areas. There are about 11,000 permits issued each year, 90% of them to Americans.

But in September, that ends. People will have to stop at the nearest Canadian border station or use a dedicated telephone reporting site. If I catch four or five of these today, I'd be happy as heck. Some tourists get pre-cleared, but others, like Gary and Mary Jokamson, have to wait in line to use the phone. phones to call Canada Customs. We were there for over two hours that time. So luckily, we didn't have to get anywhere quick to get home. But if you were in an emergency, you'd be getting a little

antsy on it. We're going to do extreme bloodies and extreme seizures this weekend. Nathan Truestell owns Jerry's bar and restaurant, the community's gathering place. He says there's an easy solution. Do what the Americans do. You know, now that it's 2026, right? We've been We've been working with apps. We all have smartphones. And as long as we have good cell signal and we do, then it would make life so much easier. Ottawa says this is all part of a $1.3 billion security upgrade,

in part because of pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump. But folks here don't think swapping pre-clearance for a phone call will bolster the border. Karen Paul's, CBC News, Northwest Angle, Minnesota. And finally tonight, actor and filmmaker Robert Duval has died at age 95. Here he is in the 1983 film Tender Mercies. Is there a reason that happened? And Sunday Daddy died in a war. My daughter killed an automobile accident.

Why? You see, I don't trust happens. I never did. I never will. Duval's portrayal of a washed-up country singer, struggling with personal demons, won him an Oscar for Best Actor. He was one of the most successful actors of the 80s and 90s, rising to the heights of Hollywood for pairing his acting skill with extraordinary versatility.

Nobody has ever gone down a New York police captain, never. It would be disastrous. All the five families would come after you, Sonny. The Corlione family would be outcast. Even the old man's political protection would run for cover. So do me a favor. Take this into consideration. Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather was a breakout role for Duval, playing a trusted coniglieri to the Corleone crime family. For the part, he hung out with real-life New York gangsters to pick up on their habits and speech patterns.

I love the smell of napalm in the morning. In Apocalypse Now, another Coppola epic, Duval said perhaps his most famous line, as a surf-crazed Vietnam soldier who loved the smell of napalm. Duval won Emmys for his work on TV. He directed and produced several films. According to a statement from his family, Duval died peacefully at home yesterday. He did not want a formal funeral service.

Duval's family is encouraging fans to honor his memory by watching a great film, talking with friends, or taking a trip to admire the world's beauty. This has been your world tonight for Monday, February 16th. I'm Stephanie Skendaris. Thank you for being with us. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca.com slash podcasts.