Your World Tonight - Carney speaks at Cabinet retreat, Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’, Marineland’s whales, and more

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

“We are Canadian.” Days after taking aim at the Trump Administration in Davos, Prime Minister Mark Carney tries to rally his cabinet in Quebec ahead of a new session of parliament, as they work on plans to address the complex U.S. trade issue, as well as a host of other foreign and domestic concerns.Also: Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ is introduced to the world. The group’s reported mandate is to rebuild Gaza. More than 30 countries have signed on so far, including many from the Middle East. However, traditional U.S. allies, like Canada and European nations, have not committed. Many say they are unsure about the board’s long-term goals, and the $1 billion price tag for permanent membership.And: Ontario’s beleaguered Marineland amusement park tells Ottawa there are only two choices for its captive whales and dolphins: a future in the U.S., or death.Plus: ICE detains Minneapolis pre-schooler, status of Greenland plan, Ukraine front and centre at Davos, and more.

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This is a CBC podcast. Canada and the United States have built a remarkable partnership, but Canada doesn't live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian. Mark Carney, returning home from a tense and turbulent global summit to a domestic situation that isn't much different. From the cost of living to crime and cross-border trade, the Prime Minister and his cabinet,

group with challenges ahead. Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Susan Bonner. It is Thursday, January 22nd just before 6pm. Eastern also on the podcast. It's all very confusing and it's very hard to find any kind of functionality. A deal to avoid a takeover of Greenland that's a mostly gray area. Little is known about Donald Trump's agreement with NATO or what the U.S. President was promised. in order to pull back? And why detain a five-year-old? You can't tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.

An outcry in Minneapolis after ICE rounds up a preschooler. After getting applause abroad, there is pressure at home. As Prime Minister Mark Carney kicks off two days of cabinet meetings, he's turning his focus to some tough domestic priorities and voters who are expecting him to deliver. results. Rafi Bukhanian reports. Canada is an ambitious nation of builders and explorers. We map this continent before the Americans had even left St. Louis. Prime Minister Mark Carney, with one of his few direct references to the U.S. in his speech

opening his winter cabinet retreat, his last public comments in Switzerland about the need for middle powers like Canada to band together and diversify their economies earned him a rebuke from the U.S. President Donald Trump saying Canada should be grateful to his country for its existence. Carney did have a quick response for Trump. Canada doesn't live because of the United States. But he focused largely on his government's priorities for the new year.

We're undertaking the strongest tightening of the criminal justice system and generations. We're building one Canadian economy and launching nation building projects. His finance minister, Francois Philippe Champagne, at Paints. to tie Carney's recent international travels to Canada's economic strategy, citing the New Deal with China to bring in their electric vehicles in exchange for lower tariffs on Canadian canola exports. I can tell you coming from Asia, the Middle East and Europe, it is clear that the world is keen to engage more and more with Canada.

For David Colletto, the government's focus on domestic issues is not surprising. The Abacus Data pollster says Canadians are starting to become anxious about seeing results from Ottawa when it comes to the economy. Yeah, the global instability is certainly there, but they're also still worried about the cost of living, their access to health care, and the affordability of housing. Though it's only been less than a year since the last federal election, Coletto says many Canadians are not even bothered by the prospect of another sometime soon

if it means a government with a stronger mandate to deal with some of these very same issues. We did some polling that suggested if an election is called early and it's framed around, the need to create stability that most Canadians say that's a good reason. They would support that early election. As Parliament is set to restart, it's not just the House of Commons Carney has to worry about. That deal with China has Ontario and its large auto sector on edge. And as Carney hit on notes of Canadian unity this afternoon at the site of one of the last confrontations between the British and the French, he angered the sovereignist Party Quebecois, which accused them of falsifying English colonial.

history in Quebec in the country's second largest province key to the liberal's own political fortunes in past federal votes and whenever the next one happens. Rafi Buccan, Yon-CBC News, Quebec City. For more now, we go to Ottawa to talk to Catherine Cullen, the host of the House on CBC radio. So Catherine, we just heard the pressure to deliver is on. How did today's speech set up Mark Carney? Well, Susan, frankly, this speech was a bit flat.

compared to the big speech he just gave in Davos. Now, admittedly, high bar there, given the level of international attention the Davos speech got. Here, Mark Carney is speaking to an audience, his own cabinet, who's very familiar with his pitch to Canadians, and he did till a lot of familiar ground. There is strategy, though, in this speech. Precisely because that Davos speech got so much attention, there's perhaps a need to reflect the domestic part of Carney's agenda, showing he's seized with what is happening in Canada, not just with what Donald Trump might be trying to do to Canada. Right. The location, too, Catherine, pretty significant.

Absolutely. As we just heard, Quebec could be headed towards another referendum on sovereignty. And so for Mark Carney to make the case for the value of Canadian identity right now in Quebec, to do it in French, that is an important part of his role as Prime Minister. It's something he's going to likely have to do a lot more of this year. It's also worth noting that Quebecers were an important part of why Carney won the last election. So there's also a desire to keep that support robust. Speaking of support, what else caught your ear in his speech? I did think it was interesting to hear him weighing in on the importance of social programs,

including Trudeau-era ones like dental care talking about strength through diversity. There were definitely words in that speech that would catch the attention of Trudeau-era liberals who have wondered just how far away Carney is taking the party from the values that many of them were first elected on. And Catherine, conservative leader Pierre Polyev has just put out his response to Carney's Davos speech. What's he saying? Susan, he actually goes so far as to call Carney's speech in Davos, quote, well-crafted and eloquently delivered. But basically, Polyev says, enough words.

People's lives have been getting worse. We need action. Pauliev is critical of Carney's efforts to work with China's regime, arguing it makes Canadians more vulnerable. He says, well, it's tempting to say our relationship with America is over. It will outlast any one president. He says Canada should be working with allies in the U.S. that are outside of the administration to minimize the damage. Polyev also insists we need to get major resource projects going. In that respect, he and Mark Carney agree.

Carney, though, sees his government as the catalyst for these things. Pollyev argues that government is a roadblock. Thank you, Catherine. Thank you. Catherine Cullen, the host of The House on CBC Radio, joining us from our Parliamentary Bureau. Mark Carney's Davos speech is getting another thumbs down from Downsouth. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik called it political noise

in a Bloomberg media interview. He also said Carney was whining and labeled Canada's trade strategy with the U.S. arrogant. The Canadians have the second best deal in the whole wide world. If they continue this path, then when USMCA gets renegotiated, do you think the President of the United States is going to say, you should keep having the second best deal in the world? I mean, you guys are such great friends. At the World Economic Forum Tuesday, Carney warned of leaning on hegemon nations and urged middle powers to unite against them. Carney did not name a specific country. European leaders applauded the speech. President Trump panned it.

Coming right up, a day after Donald Trump announced an agreement for Greenland, there are still few specific details. And the U.S. president officially launches his Board of Peace, but he's still waiting to hear back from Canada and other countries invited to join. Later, we'll have this story. With the Ontario Amusement Park running out of options, marine land makes another effort to find new homes for its whales and dolphins. I think it's a positive development.

You know, we hit a stalemate. Essentially, there's nowhere for these whales to go. I'm Jamie Strassion in Toronto. Where the park wants to send the animals and why it's telling Ottawa this may be their last chance at survival. That story coming up on Your World Tonight. There is cautious relief in Europe as leaders await details of a mistake. mysterious Greenland deal. Donald Trump's framework agreement with NATO avoided a U.S. takeover,

but Denmark and Greenland weren't involved and little else is known about what was gained and what was given up. Chris Brown has more from London. I'm glad and I'm happy that he stated what he did yesterday. Whatever arrangement Donald Trump says he struck in Davos to diffuse the Greenland crisis, it seems far from a done deal. To begin with, Greenland's Prime Minister, Yen's French, Frederick Nielsen says he really knows nothing about it. I don't know what concrete in it. Many of you, I know, criticized Donald Trump.

The arrangement was apparently hatched between Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Ruta, but Trump said very little in an interview on Fox News. So what are we talking about, an acquisition of Greenland? Are you going to pay for it? We're talking about it. It's really being negotiated now, the details of it, but essentially it's total access. There's no end. There's no time limit.

Similarly, Ruta didn't elaborate much either. What we will now do, of course, is start to work together within NATO, with our senior commanders, to see what is necessary here. Some reports have suggested the U.S. could gain actual sovereignty over military bases in Greenland. But Denmark's Prime Minister Menta Fredrickson ruled that out. We have said from the very beginning that a discussion about our status, as a sovereign state, it cannot be discussed, it cannot be changed.

It appears the deal involves bolstering NATO's presence in the Arctic and in Greenland, but if that's the case, Trump could just have asked for it, rather than threatening to blow up a 76-year-old military alliance. In nuke, Yasser said everyone's heads are spinning. I think that it's all very confusing and it's very hard to find any kind of functionality. In Britain, one of the countries that would have been hit with Trump's tariffs, Prime Minister Kier-Starmer, said solidarity with Europe was crucial.

I see that as a reflection of pragmatism, common sense, and sticking to our values and our principles. We give so much and we get so little in return. Trump's rant in Davos was full of grievances about Europe and a summit in Brussels Thursday night involving leaders, such as Poland's Donald Tusk, was focused on how to insulate the EU from more of his chaos.

And this is why it is so important for all of us, also for our partners in Washington, to understand the difference between domination and leadership. Many Europeans see this outcome as their continent standing up to an American bully. The Greenland crisis has badly shaken confidence in Europe's most powerful ally. Chris Brown, CBC News, London.

Some worry, the organization could undermine the United Nations, but so far only 35 countries have signed on to the U.S.-led Board of Peace with heavy representation from the Middle East and very few Western allies. Senior international correspondent Margaret Evans has more on today's official launch. The President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump. The U.S. President's newly minted Board of Peace unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Donald Trump joining new signatories from Belarus to Pakistan on stage. Congratulations, President Trump. The charter is now in full force and the Board of Peace is now

an official international organization. Invitation only, thank you very much. Critics already likening it to a member's only club, a permanent seat at the table available for a cool $1 billion. And a chairman for life in, you guessed it, Trump. Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do, and we'll do it in conjunction with the United Nations, you know? Maybe. Trump is well known for his criticism of the UN, even though it was a UN resolution that endorsed his Board of Peace as part of a specific peace plan for Gaza. Gaza, as President Trump's been saying, has amazing potential. Heralded is a great success by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in Davos,

unveiling shiny plans for the future, even as Israeli strikes, continue to kill Palestinians in Gaza. But the board's charter makes no mention of Gaza, even though key Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia have all signed on to the board. Trump hinted at larger ambitions. And I think we can spread out to other things as we succeed with Gaza. We're going to be very successful in Gaza. Critics accused the U.S. president of setting up a rival to the U.N. To supplant that with a U.S. dominated structure would I think be to replace a rigid and perhaps ossified United Nations

with something that was much more unpredictable, brittle, and ultimately capricious and at the whims of the president. Analyst Shoshan Joshi says if Trump is trying to undermine the U.N., it won't fly. So this is not just a contest that the U.S. can shape by itself and say, I'm done. with the UN, it's over. The Chinese will keep playing this game. Very powerful rising countries like Brazil and India will have a stake in the UN and they will seek to influence its agencies and bodies more and more as the US draws back. Many Western countries invited to join have so far shied away, including Canada and the United Kingdom, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. This is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues and we do also have concerns

about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace. Those kinds of contradictions, along with Trump's apparent willingness to threaten or use force against other countries, clearly have many governments uneasy. Margaret Evans, CBC News, London. Donald Trump also met with Ukraine's president. Volodymyr Zelensky says progress is being made to end the nearly four-year-long war with Russia. but he says it's not enough. In Davos, he sharply criticized European allies

for failing to take a stronger stance against Moscow. Breyer Stewart reports. The meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump lasted for just over an hour. When it was done, both sides said it was good, but little else. Zelensky says a document on security guarantees for Ukraine has been drafted up, but the U.S. hasn't yet signed it. We need action.

In his speech at Davos Zelensky said a disjointed Europe was not doing enough and accused European nations of passing responsibility for defense off to the U.S. Instead of taking the lead in defending freedom worldwide, especially when America's focus shifts elsewhere, Europe looks lost trying to convince the U.S. president to change. But he will not change. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Whitkoff, along with Trump's Sunday. and law Jared Kushner are holding talks in Moscow. Whitkoff maintains there's a reason for optimism. And I think we've got it down to one issue, and we have discussed iterations of that issue,

and that means it's solvable. But that one issue is the most contentious territory in eastern Ukraine. Moscow is demanding that Ukraine give up the rest of the Denedsk region, including cities it doesn't yet control. Zelensky has said that is out of the question. and previously suggested that territorial concessions could only be decided by Ukrainians through a referendum. That would be challenging to hold in a country under attack every day. In the southern city of Nipro Thursday, a woman who only gave her first name, Olena,

stood clutching her baby, watching smoke pour out of an apartment building, hit by drones. The apartment can be rebuilt, but people are irreplaceable, she said. At least seven people were injured in the daytime strike. In Kiev, Russian missiles and drones have severely damaged the energy grid. More than 2,500 apartment buildings are without heat,

and most residents like Arena Nemirovich experience hours-long blackouts every day. I don't know how we're surviving, actually. I guess when you walk out in the night, in the evening, it's like a ghost town. Well, Ukrainian crews work around the clock to try and repair the infrastructure before the next Russian strike, the political negotiations will continue Friday. Officials from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. will gather together in Abu Dhabi for trilateral discussions. While there is renewed momentum to secure a peace deal, Russia hasn't even agreed to a ceasefire yet. The U.S. has claimed a deal has been close before, even though both sides remain far apart.

Breyer-Stewart, CBC News, London. There is fresh anger in Minneapolis, and accusations the ongoing federal immigration crackdown has crossed another line. For months, ICE agents have been putting people into detention centers. One of the latest to be detained is a five-year-old boy. Katie Simpson reports. Day by day, block by block, the movements of U.S. immigration officials known as ICE agents, attracting protesters leading to clashes all over Minneapolis. Tensions have not eased in the weeks after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good.

Now their actions face new scrutiny after a five-year-old boy was detained alongside his father, apprehended by authorities as they returned home from preschool pickup. Why detain a five-year-old? You can't tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal. Zena Stenwick, the local school superintendent, says ICE agents arrested the boy's father. She says at the time another adult family member saw what was happening and pleaded with authorities to leave the child in his care. According to Stenwick, the request was ignored as ICE agents then used the boy to try to lure other family members out of the house. And directed him to knock on the door, asking to be let in in order to see if anyone else was home. essentially using a five-year-old as bait.

Photos of the child, Liam Caneo Ramos, show him wearing a blue toque with bunny ears and paws and a Spider-Man backpack as he was escorted into a vehicle by ICE agents. Stenvick says the family was seeking asylum and did not have a deportation order. On social media, the Department of Homeland Security broadly disputed this version of events, calling it a lie. In a post on X, the department said the child was a bank. by his criminal, illegal alien parent who fled when our officers approached. What are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a five-year-old child freeze to death?

Vice President J.D. Vance suggested the incident had been taken out of context by the media. The same reasoning he gave when questioned about a memo which allegedly directs ICE agents to enter people's homes without a judicial warrant. Well, our understanding is that you can enforce the immigration laws of the country under an administrative or if you have an administrative war. That's what we think. Vance broadly defended the actions of ICE agents, as did Greg Bovino, the head of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Several of our teams were set upon by violent protesters, anarchists, rioters. Bovino says agents will remain in Minneapolis for the time being.

This mission's ongoing until there are no more of those criminal illegal aliens roaming the streets of Minneapolis. Authorities say they detained the five-year-old boy at the Roald. request of his father who wanted the child to remain with him. Both are now being held at an immigration facility in Texas. Katie Simpson, CBC News, Washington. 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. The owners of a closed Ontario amusement park say the situation for

its animals is becoming more urgent. Now, Marineland is making another request to the federal government, trying to find a new home for its whales and dolphins before it's too late. Jamie Strassion has that story. For me, I'm excited about it. CBC News has confirmed Marine Land has asked the federal government to approve permits that would allow the whales and dolphins who remain in captivity at the shuttered resort to be sent to four U.S. institutions,

including the shed aquarium in Chicago and the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. Christy Burgess worked as a beluga trainer at Marine Land for three years. The reality is where they are right now is not a great scenario. They're being threatened with death. I'd rather chance a life somewhere else than risk that. CBC News has also learned that Marine Land has issued the federal government an imminent deadline to approve this latest round of applications or else they may move forward with a plan to euthanize the whales.

Marine land didn't respond to a request for comment. Essentially, there is nowhere for these whales to go. Dr. Andrew Trite-S., the director of UBC's Marine Mammal Research Unit, says things became dire when the government turned down a request to send them to China last year. It seemed like there were no other options because, you know, the main condition for them not going somewhere is that they cannot perform in captivity. and there's just no facility in the world that is going to take 30 animals and not allow the public to see them.

It's unclear what role the animals might have in the U.S., but Trita says the performance aspect, illegal in Canada, is misunderstood. They're social animals and they need that type of commitment. What I like about the proposal where they're being proposed to be sent to is that it's to four facilities that are world-renowned in terms of their care. They meet North American standards. Last week, experts from the four U.S. facilities visited Marineland to assess the beluga's health, but Georgia Aquarium told CBC it's premature for any U.S.-based facilities to formally commit to taking in marine land's belugas.

There's one other stumbling block for advocates. Camille Labchuck with animal justice points out that in Canada, breeding whales is illegal, not so in some U.S. states. We don't want to see U.S. aquariums acquiring those. whales and then using them to breed more whales who will then themselves also suffer in captivity. This generation of belugas has to be the last. Since 2019, 20 whales have died at marine land. The theme park in Niagara Falls closed its doors to visitors in 2024. Jamie Strachan, CBC News, Toronto.

Finally tonight, the latest addition to NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, 10-year-old Meyer Gallant, a rookie coming out of Prince Edward Island and making a big impression. I signed a contract to be in the Pittsburgh Penguins for a day. And I was so, like I was red as a lobster. Sweating. Galant was invited to Pittsburgh where he signed his one-day contract, attended a practice and a game. He got to meet the team and his hero, hockey great Sidney Crosby.

At the hotel, we were just having breakfast. and I was just joking around like imagine I was in a limo and then just a few minutes later a limo pulled off The trip was organized by the Make a Wish Foundation Galant has spinal muscular atrophy a genetic condition affecting his muscles and nervous system he's been through a lot and there's a lot more to come but for two days last week all he had to worry about

was mom getting too emotional Oh my goodness. The whole thing, it was just an exceptional experience. And I did pretty good other than when we got into the dressing room and we were looking all around and seeing all of the stalls for each one of the players. And then we turn around and see Myers locker all set up with his name on it, with the jersey. And then what did I do? You bald. I cried. Meyer had to hold it together. The team asked him to read out the starting lineup before the game, which the penguins won. Crosby was the first star, and a young Canadian hockey fan had an experience he will never forget. Thanks for joining us on this edition of Your World tonight for Thursday, January 22nd.

I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca slash podcasts.