Your World Tonight - Canada’s defense and energy deals, Guilbeault to quit, Uber upsets customers, and more

Episode Date: May 27, 2026

The Carney government reveals deals to buy early warning aircraft from Swedish planemaker SAAB, and to supply liquefied natural gas to Germany’s SEFE, as the prime minister continues his push to make Canada an energy superpower, while scaling back its overall reliance on the U.S. amid an ongoing trade war with President Donald Trump.Also: Quebec MP and former environment minister Steven Guilbeault says he will resign his seat this summer. Guilbeault has been a critic of Prime Minister Mark Carney's energy plans, specifically Ottawa’s pipeline deal with Alberta.And: Canadian customers give Uber a bad rating over allegations of deceptive practices, and complaints about monthly charges for unwanted memberships.Plus: Exclusive details behind Germany’s Canadian submarine bid, obstetric violence against First Nations and Inuit women in Quebec, replanting the forest, and more.

There's a healing element in salt, in sweat, in tears, in the ocean. In Halifax, being surrounded by salty water and fog is just enough grit to help polish away the pressure of to-do lists. To just make time for things that feel good, to let the salt cure whatever ails you. Halifax could be the break that finally leaves you feeling like you took one, as long as you're willing to rub salt in your wounds. Discoverhellifax.ca.ca. This is a CBC podcast. We're very encouraged. We're very happy with this decision. And we're moving forward.

This marks a major milestone for this project as it advances towards its final investment decision, its construction and production. The ministers of defense and energy and natural resources make big announcements, both aimed in part at expanding Canada's independence from the United States. This is Your World Tonight. I'm Deanna Suminac Johnson. It's Wednesday, May 27th, coming up on 6 p.m. Eastern. Also on the podcast. What we're doing right now is we're rewarding bad behavior. Mark Carney's energy shift comes at a cost to his caucus, as Canada's one-time environment minister says he's leaving the liberals and politics behind.

There is no way we can reach our 2030 targets, unless there's a significant shift. There's no way we can reach our 2035 targets. Canada has announced it will buy a fleet of globalized surveillance planes from Sweden's sub instead of U.S.-based companies, signaling another move away from the United States and closer to NATO, which is considering the global eye to replace its aging early warning aircraft. Tom Perry has the details. We're beginning to move ahead with ambitious major investments for our defense and security. Speaking to defense contractors at a conference in Ottawa, Prime Minister Mark Carney, official. Canada has chosen the Swedish firm Saab for the purchase of a new fleet of military

surveillance planes. I'm pleased to announce that Canada has entered into negotiations to procure Saab's airborne early warning and control aircraft. Saab's Global Eye aircraft is equipped with advanced sensors that can track objects on land, sea or air up to 650 kilometers away. Those Swedish sensors are mounted on a long-range executive jet that's manufactured by Bombardier in Toronto. Michael Johansson, CEO of Saab says the plan is to start making the finished product here in Canada and build at least 40 global eye planes, six for Canada, the rest for allies, over the next 15 years. And we need to ramp up and we cannot deliver everything from Sweden. So this will be a new industrial setup for us in Canada, which is very important to us.

Saab beat out two U.S. firms that were looking to sell their surveillance systems to the Canadian military. Mark Carney has pledged to lessen Canada's reliance on American defense contractors. Defense analyst Dave Perry says the Prime Minister was quick to point out, Bombardier aircraft contained 20% American parts, though he's not sure whether that will be enough to appease U.S. President Donald Trump. I think we've seen in the last year and a bit that the American administration finds lots of reasons to be on happy about lots of things. Sob also makes the Gripen fighter jet, which Canada is considering as an alternative to the U.S. made F-35, though Defense Minister David McGinty says the government is still weighing

its options. On the F-35, we're going to take the time we need to take to get this right. On Parliament Hill, the opposition is dismissing all of it. Conservative leader Pierre Palliev, unimpressed with the Prime Minister's promise of new planes and new Canadian jobs. What Mr. Carney announced today was just more talk. There's no contract, there's no deadlines. But the government says it is moving ahead on planes and much more, looking to rearm and re-equip Canada's military with less focus on the U.S. and more on domestic production and different allies.

Tom Perry, CBC News, Ottawa. Canada's Navy will need to replace its aging submarine fleet in the next few years and competition for the multi-billion dollar deal is ramping up. South Korea and a combined German-Norwegian proposal are in the top contenders with both promising ambitious benefits. The CBC's Murray Brewster brings us exclusive details on what Germany and Norway are offering. Murray, bring us up to speed.

What have you learned? Well, what we're looking at are big promises. All of them predicated on German shipbuilder TKMS winning the submarine competition. Now, Germany's defense minister, Boris Pristorius, went over a few of the highlights during the annual arms expo called Kansek here in the city. It's not only about military benefits. The program creates and sustains more than 650,000 jobs over the next years.

The impact on the GDP will amount to 86 billion Canadian dollars. Now, those are high-level numbers. I had an opportunity to have an exclusive sit-down with Pistorius afterwards, and we got down into the weeds about what's in the proposal. Germany is looking at a wide range of investments in the Canadian economy, both military and economic activity outside of defense. For example, the Germans are proposing a partnership with Alberta for a carbon capture facility using TKMS technology.

Now, it's also willing to invest in turning the port of Churchill in Manitoba into a major hub, especially for LNG exports. On the defense side, they're of course planning to, to build submarine maintenance facilities on both coasts. Interestingly, though, they also want to build a factory to make heavy torpedoes and hypersonic missiles. So an ambitious offer indeed, but how does this compare to what South Korea is offering? The Korean bid is similar in terms of its scope, but it is more conservative in terms of how many jobs Canadians could expect to see. Hanwa Ocean, for example, believes it can propose at least 200,000 jobs over the next 15 years.

The difference is that many of the German proposals, those jobs and the projects that they're looking at could be up and running within two years. And, Murray, when can we expect a decision on this? Soon. Within a month. That's according to both the prime minister and the procurement minister, Stephen Fuhr, who were at the Kansak show today. They emphasize they want to make a decision quickly. The prime minister says both the German and South Korean submarines meet the Navy's requirements. So I asked him whether the case is now just going to be decided on economic benefits. Certainly the economic implication, the broader economic benefits, it goes to the previous question, to Canada, but a partnership that extends more broadly and strategically. Now that's really interesting language because the Germans throughout this process have relied heavily on the fact that Canada, Germany, and Norway are all longstanding NATO allies.

So it remains to be seen what the government's going to decide. Murray, thank you so much. You're welcome. Senior defense correspondent Murray Brewster in Ottawa. Coming right up, a change of environment. Quebec Liberal MP Stephen Goebbow says he's quitting politics at odds with the government's expansive energy plans. And the race to restore our forests as fire, infestations and development threaten Canada's trees.

We'll also have this story. If you use the ride share service Uber, you may want to check your recent credit card bills. CBC News has heard from more than a dozen Canadians who say they were signed up for an Uber membership without their knowledge, and were a hit with one or more monthly charges. I feel like it's close to being fraudulent. Honestly, this does not seem right. It feels like you've been taken for a fool. I'm Sophia Harris in Toronto.

I'll have that story later on your role tonight. More deal-making in pursuit of diversification. The federal government says it will sell liquefied natural gas to Germany's leading energy company. The multi-billion dollar pact is earmarked for fast-track approval. It's also facing some pushback. Tanya Fletcher has more. Solicisms will generate significant economic activity in British Columbia and beyond. Federal energy minister Tim Hodgson doing Ottawa's sell job on this agreement,

a first between Canada and Europe. German energy company, Cepha, has signed on to buy one million tons of liquefied natural gas per year for up to two decades. It'll be exported from Cilissom's LNG, a still-to-be-developed 10 billion-dollar floating facility off BC's coast near the Alaska border. Despite opposition to the project, Hodgson says the decision makes sense geopolitically as Canada attempts to diversify trade. We're in a world where energy security is national security. We're in a world where our allies are begging us, are begging us to produce our resources. Now, how is we're going to do it in an environmentally responsible way? Yet some environmental groups and First Nations oppose the LNG project,

calling it legally contested and environmentally risky. The NISGA Nation is co-owner of the project. President Eva Clayton stood in lockstep next to the energy ministers for the announcement and says her nation consulted with all indigenous groups along the pipeline. route. Granted, there's a whole mixture of thoughts there, but more and more of our indigenous people are beginning to recognize the very trying times that the world is facing. And so they're looking at ways to bring prosperity to their people. Another complex layer is the geographical logistics. Germany is multiple oceans away from British Columbia. So how will all that liquefied natural gas

get from coastal BC to Europe. That's still unclear. When asked why Ottawa wouldn't pipe the LNG across the country, then ship it directly across the Atlantic to Germany, the federal minister said it's cheaper to move the product over water in a tanker than it is to pay tolls through a pipeline across the country. Well, I think Canada is currently engaged in a game of 3D chess. Dutand de Silva is former CEO of the Canada Energy Regulator. She says as long as the country can get its resources to tidewater,

the options from there multiply, especially as energy concerns mount overseas. To actually access that European market is very important not only for economics, but for us to become an energy superpower. Still, some market analysts have warned of an LNG bubble, where projects might fail to generate expected returns. And there are still three things that need to happen before this project comes to fruition. More export agreements need to be made, legal hurdles need to be cleared, and the energy source needs to be completed.

Tanya Fletcher, CBC News, Vancouver. Quebec Liberal MP Stephen Gibbo has officially announced his intention to resign from Parliament this summer. Guibo says he's leaving over the Prime Minister's push for greater fossil fuel development. He says this new direction is putting Canada's climate goals in jeopardy. Olivia Stefanovic has more. There is no way we can reach our 2030 targets.

There is, unless there's a significant shift There's no way we can reach our 2035 targets. Outgoing Liberal MP, Stephen Gilbo says he tried to stick around to influence federal environmental policies, but can no longer support Prime Minister Mark Carney's vision to fight climate change. What we're doing right now is we're rewarding bad behavior. Gilbo, a longtime environmental activist, tells CBC's power in politics, he started thinking about leaving Parliament after he quit Cabinet last November. after Carney struck a deal with Alberta.

Like others, I was very disappointed. The agreement is supposed to create the conditions for a new bitumen pipeline in exchange for Alberta lowering its carbon emissions. A compromise that Gilbo says was supposed to quench separatist sentiments, that is, until Premier Daniel Smith announced a referendum on a referendum last week. I'm puzzled why we would put so many eggs in the basket of a preemptive. who has not shown to other provinces, frankly, and the federal government and Canadians, that she can be a reliable part now.

First and foremost, what I want to do is thank Mr. Stephen. When asked about Gilbo's decision to step down, Carney did not criticize the Montreal-area MP recruited by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and instead wished him well. Of course, it's for him to make decisions about his career. Carney's response starkly different from that of Green Party leader Elizabeth May. I am heartbroken and I see that today the Prime Minister's comment on Stephen Giebo's departure is things change. I wonder who Mark Carney is.

I wonder if, and I think my friend Stephen Gibo is probably wondering, when did Carney change? We are not entirely surprised. Bloch-C-C-Bocque-Cabees leader Ive Francois Blanchet echoing me. The government of Canada has dropped the ball concerning climate and environment for the benefit of oil and gas industry. Even some of Gilbo's harshest critics are now giving him praise. I really admire his principles. Ellis Ross is a conservative MP from British Columbia. To stand up like that, he understands that his principles don't align with the federal liberal principles anymore.

So for him to resign totally. Like he had the option to go independent. And from what I understand, he's even refusing that. Gilbo's resignation will leave Carney's razor-thin majority hanging on by just two seats. Olivia Estevanovich, CBC News, Ottawa. A new report is shedding new light on the widespread mistreatment of indigenous women

in Canada's health care system. Researchers documented dozens of women who say they were pressured into, sterilization, often without proper consent. Sarah Levitt looks at the findings and hears from survivors calling for change. I am a survivor of coerced sterilization. Gassaneo kick takes a deep breath before she talks before the permanent people's tribunal in Montreal this week.

The Mohawk woman from Six Nations, Ontario, is here to share her experience in the Canadian healthcare system. The tribunal, an international human rights organization, is a meant to investigate human rights violations. Kicks says she was just 17, giving birth to her second daughter when... The physician had asked about the sterilization, and I couldn't answer her. I couldn't speak. She said, okay, I'm starting the sterilization procedure now.

Kicks says she had no idea it was irreversible. Her testimony comes as the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador says there have been decades of obstetrical violence against First Nations and Inuit women. A second newly released report highlights testimony from almost 100 women more than half who said they were forced into sterilization. We heard 55 more cases in this second phase. 55 forced sterilizations, adding to the 22 women who spoke out in the first report, this researcher says.

Women reported being told they had too many babies or couldn't properly care for them. Susie Basil was the lead. researcher behind the report which looked at cases between 1956 and 2023. I had the responsibility to help to be with these women and do my best as a researcher's to make sure that their voices and experience are heard somewhere somehow. And in this specific case, it's now written on paper. Last fall, about 30 at Tickemec women joined a class action lawsuit now authorized targeting three doctors and the regional health authority in the area,

alleging forced sterilization. They aren't the only ones. The Saskatchewan Health Authority is also facing a class action. Tessa Rourke is the chief of the Mohawk Council of Aquasasasne. These practices go directly against fundamental rights, the right to bodily integrity, the right to free choice, the right to carry life. The Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador says more needs to be done, particularly in this province.

Francois Vero-Paul is the Assembly's chief. Quebec government remains slow to fully recognize the existence of systemic discrimination and racism. In 2022, Senator Ivan Boyer, who is Métis, presented a bill that would criminalize forced sterilization in Canada. It's currently being read by the House of Commons. A step forward, advocates say. Sarah Levitt's CBC News, Montreal. A CBC News investigation has uncovered complaints from Uber customers across Canada who say they were unknowingly signed up for premium monthly memberships.

Uber denies the claim saying users agreed to the service, but as Sophia Harris explains, experts warned deceptive online tactics may be a plague. It's bewildering. You feel like you've been scammed. Nora Kelly of Montreal was surprised to find an $11 charge from Uber on her credit card bill for May 11th. After all, she never took an Uber that day. This is crazy. I was biking all day yesterday.

Next, Kelly uncovered four more Uber charges for previous months, totaling almost 60 bucks. The savings I get with an Uber-1 membership, don't disappoint. Turns out she was enrolled in Uber-1, a monthly paid membership that offers discounts. The problem, Kelly says, to her knowledge, she never signed up for Uber-1. It really was astonishing, shocking, in fact, that they would be able to do this,

but it feels like you've been taken for a fool. CBC News has heard from more than a dozen upset Canadians who say they were signed up for Uber 1 without their knowledge and hit with one or more monthly charges. The Federal Trade Commission is now suing Uber. In the U.S., similar complaints prompted the Federal Trade Commission to sue Uber, alleging deceptive billing and deceptive cancellation practices, as many people say they had difficulty canceling their unwanted membership.

I do believe that this looks like a case where dark patterns were used. Tech expert Ritesh Kotech says Uber may be getting people to sign up for Uber 1 by incorporating what are known as dark patterns, subtle design tricks embedded in websites and apps. This is a sophisticated method that is used by organizations to manipulate and mislead individuals into doing a particular action, into clicking something. You may not even realize that you clicked on,

it and agree to it. That's how good these dark patterns are. In an email to CBC News, Uber denied the use of dark patterns and said it does not enroll or charge people for Uber One without their consent, and that canceling typically takes less than 20 seconds. But Kelly communicated with Uber over the course of two days before she got her membership canceled, and she failed to get all her money back. I feel like it's close to being fraudulent, honestly. This does not see. seem right. After CBC News reached out to Uber, the company told Kelly it would refund all her Uber-one charges, plus issue a $30 credit. However, Uber still insists Kelly signed up for the program.

Sophia Harris, CBC News, Toronto. Climate change enhanced wildfire seasons are taking their toll on Canadian forests. The Canadian Tree Nursery Association estimates nearly a 10th of our forests have been destroyed by wildfires between 2023 and 2025. And when you add in trees chopped down for things like lumber and paper, Canada's losing trees faster than nature can grow them back or people can plant them. Karen Paul's joined a tree planting crew in Manitoba

trying to give Mother Nature a hand. Marley Moose carefully puts tiny jack pine and black spruce trees into satchels hanging from her hips. The 22-year-old has spent the last three summers here in Manitoba's interlake region, about 300 kilometers northwest of Winnipeg. Everywhere around me is Burt, but it's where life used to be. So we're back here, giving life back to these dead areas. She's planting trees in the traditional land of her first nation.

Our nations are trying to take more control and have more say within the land which we occupy and of where we come from. We want to take care of it. Because when we take care of the Earth, the Earth also takes care of us. One decade ago, this forest was devastated by a jackpine budworm infestation. It was starting to regenerate until an out-of-control wildfire ravaged the area in 2021. There's not much left. Burned stumps, scorched trees. Every tree that goes into the ground is like a gift back to Mother Earth.

Ferren Sharp is with the Blue Green Planet Project, which is working. with a group of seven swampy Cree First Nations to plant 20 million trees by 2030. But last fall, the Karni government cancelled the 2 billion trees program which funds this and many others across

the country. Existing contracts will only get them to half the original goal. As a country that relies so much on natural resources and how it supports our economy across the board, I also think it's really important that we have funding that gives

back to what is devastated by the decisions that we've made and how that's impacted global warming and cause these types of wildfire events. This summer is expected to be one of the hottest on record. Forests nearby are already burning. But despite efforts like this, we're not planting fast enough to replace them. Industry groups say we'd need more than 7 billion seedlings to replace just 15% of the forests destroyed by wildfire. since 2023.

More than 100 tree planters live in this camp. Elder Andy Daniels is teaching them indigenous traditions. It's staying. Yeah, steigin. Yeah. What does that mean? It means that you're planting something for regrowth. He says the forest is more than the sum of its tree trunks.

It's supplies with our food, our shelter, our clothing. that's the importance of the survival of our people, the use of the land and the animal life that we need. Back on the land, Moose says being part of an indigenous crew, she feels a special responsibility for giving back to Mother Earth. So that future generations, not my children, but maybe my grandchildren, they'll be able to run through these forests. There's a lot at stake.

Karen Paul's, CBC News, near Devils Lake, Manitoba. Finally, a rendezvous in Nova Scotia more than 70 years in the making between two people with a profound connection who'd never met before. He looked at me, he opened up his arms and I did too, and we had a little cry and a big, big hug. That's Dina Van Domen Samson on her first encounter with Nico Peltembourg, who traveled from the Netherlands this month especially to meet her. The pair hit it off immediately. Talk to each other, love, crying.

Yeah, we did all that already in 24 hours. We just really bonded, like brother and sister, truly and honestly, because we have our parents in common. That deep connection, well, it dates back to the Second World War when the Netherlands was occupied by Germany. Peltembourg's father, Jan, had been forced from his Dutch home into a labor camp in Finland, where conditions were extremely harsh. Given a three-week furlough, he found his way to the Dutch resistance

and was taken to the village of Arab, where Van Domen Sampson's father had a farm. And he didn't know your dad. He didn't know my dad. And he said, come into my house and you're safe. Jan Peltinberg lived out the war on that farm, sadly dying a few years later. Van Domen Sampson's family never spoke of him and eventually relocated to Canada. Then in 2021, she got an email from the Peltembourg's and then a photo once she immediately recognized from her own family album.

So what does she think both sets of parents would make of this reunion? I just think they're up there laughing. I'd say, well, you two took long enough. This has been Your World Tonight. For Wednesday, May 27th, I'm Deanna Sumanak Johnson. Thank you for being with us. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to CBC.

c.ca.ca slash podcasts.