Your World Tonight - Carney/Indigenous summit, Syria violence, voting at 16, and more

Episode Date: July 17, 2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s promise of “prosperity for generations” is not convincing all of the Indigenous leaders he met with today. They’re worried about legislation to push through infrastructure projects. The leaders say they aren’t being consulted.And: Reports of more clashes between Druze and Bedouin groups and another Israeli airstrike in Southern Syria are putting pressure on a fragile ceasefire. Syria’s leadership is struggling to assert control and international officials are calling for calm.Also: The next U.K. general election isn't expected for a few years. But when it happens, the government wants the electorate to be larger and younger. The government intends to lower the voting age to 16.Plus: An experimental treatment uses the DNA of three people to create embryos without mitochondrial disease, Calgary defense lawyers say a police officer charged with double murder is getting preferential treatment, Arsenal pays $1.84 million for Canadian soccer star Olivia Smith, and more.

If you want to hear daily news that doesn't hurt your soul and might even be good for your soul, check out As It Happens. I'm Chris Howden. And I'm Nielke Oksal. Every day we reach people at the center of the most extraordinary stories, like the doctor who restored a patient's eyesight with a tooth. Or a musician in an orchestra that plays instruments made out of vegetables. Take the scenic route through the day's news with As It Happens, and you can find us wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC Podcast. Our relationship hasn't always been easy the past 150 years, but all of us are going to make a difference and make it better so that

our grandchildren aren't having these same conversations. Conversations between First Nations leaders and the federal government wrap up after two days. The subject? The lack of conversations around Ottawa's new infrastructure and resources law. The Prime Minister says he's listening to the leaders concerns and if they work together it'll lead to generations of prosperity. But the leaders wonder, was it just more talk? Welcome to Your World Tonight, I'm Stephanie Scanderis. It's Thursday, July 17th, just before 6 p.m. Eastern,

also on the podcast. The warmer it gets, the more stress it has on the fish. The weaker fish are gonna die. This summer has been hot, smoky, dry, water levels are falling, water temperatures rising, putting salmon stocks at risk, prompting air quality alerts, and in British Columbia, a call to conserve dwindling water supply. They came to talk, but many say they weren't heard. First Nations leaders sat down with the Prime Minister in a historic meeting to discuss Mark Carney's signature bill.

It's supposed to enable major projects that benefit all Canadians, but the First Nations leaders say it's leaving out a critical piece, their rights. David Thurton has our top story from Ottawa. This is an important day. The Prime Minister has he headed into a meeting with about 200 First Nation Chiefs. Mark Carney telling reporters he has a strong mandate to bill fast and big after winning April's election. Our signature piece of legislation was

the One Canadian Economy Act received bipartisan support. Both Liberals and Conservatives backed it. The federal law enables Cabinet ministers to approve mega-projects like pipelines or transmission lines up front. And before the Crown fulfills its legal duty to consult with Indigenous peoples. But I'm very encouraged by the turnout today of elected chiefs. I'm here, I'll be here all day with my ministers and principally here to listen. So please help me welcome the Prime Minister.

Carney opened the all-chiefs meeting speaking about partnership and economic prosperity. In many respects, this is the first federal legislation to put Indigenous economic growth at its core. Carney told attendees the event was about what and how First Nations want to build and ways Ottawa can support that. Funding for capacity building and financing for equity ownership, he said, were on the table. The rest of the day, though, was behind closed doors. I think First Nations have been waiting a long time to speak and get their messages out.

National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Cindy Woodhouse-Nipinac, says she told the Prime Minister he needs to address their issues. On policing, on no budget cuts, and on closing the infrastructure gap. So I looked to him to make that commitment. Carney did not make any further public promises. Still, some chiefs are willing to work with him. Irene Neposh is chief of the Waswanipi First Nation in Northern Quebec. I am looking to find myself within his message

and see how is it that I can help as an Indigenous leader. Others not so much, like Cody Daibo, Grand Chief of the Mohawk Council of Gunawake. No, I'm walking out. I mean, this whole thing has just been a complete disaster. All in the Chiefs! Outside the summit, a small group of protesters push for access. Some First Nations in Ontario... Kill Bill 5! ...which have launched a constitutional challenge of C5 and a smaller Ontario law, Bill 5.

You guys took our land and you stole it. Now you want to put mining sites where our last land is. Afterwards, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty addressed those concerns. The likelihood of these projects advancing or being completed without Indigenous people at the table, we hurt the Prime Minister in this session. I want to say almost, but to me sounded like zero. Despite those assurances, Indigenous leaders are still not satisfied. But Carney is vowing to move ahead with his agenda, with more summits in Inuvik Northwest Territories, with the Inuit,

and then the Metis. David Thurton, CBC News, Ottawa. Part of Mark Carney's goal for speeding up major projects is to encourage inter-provincial trade, to mute the harm from any U.S. tariffs. Carney will meet with premiers next week to discuss Canada's approach to those tariffs. And already some provincial leaders are airing their demands. British Columbia's David Eby says his province needs more support from Ottawa because it's feeling more of the economic fallout from US President Donald Trump's trade war. The tariff responses that have been imposed by the

federal government on the US in response to the attacks by the president have fallen disproportionately on British Columbians. 20% of that tariff impact is centered right here on British Columbia. And so making sure that the tariff responses are proportionate, that where they're disproportionately impacting British Columbians, that there is corresponding support from the federal government. EB urged Ottawa to direct the same level of attention toward B.C. softwood lumber as Ontario gets on the auto parts industry. There are reports of renewed attacks in southern Syria, a region that for several days has been consumed by deadly sectarian violence and Israeli air strikes. With officials from around the world calling for calm, Syria's new and fragile leadership

is struggling to assert its authority. Sasha Petrasek has the latest. Convoys of Syrian security forces rolled out of Sweda as a ceasefire was declared between two warring minorities, Druze and Bedouins, and a new Islamist central government still trying to gain the trust of minority groups. But conflict continues. One more Israeli airstrike, this time on Sweda itself, and reports of ongoing clashes between Druze and Bedouins with dozens killed today in what state media describes as massacres.

In a televised speech earlier, interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharah vowed to protect minority freedoms. He also condemned Israeli airstrikes on Damascus yesterday as destabilizing for the region, causing endless chaos for Syria. The dust barely settled on those attacks as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to take further powerful action. We are protecting the brothers of our brothers, he says, referring to the Druze, an offshoot

of Shia Islam, whose Syrian communities have strong links to Druze in Israel. Israel's involvement has been condemned in the region and beyond. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls Israel's actions incitement with Turkey warning of wider destabilization. The United States did not support recent Israeli strikes. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce. All parties must step back and engage in meaningful dialogue that leads to a lasting ceasefire. Some analysts dismiss Israel's justification for striking Syria.

I don't actually believe the Israeli line that they are... John Soares is the former head of British intelligence, MI6. What Israel is looking for, I think, is a fragmented Syria, one which is weak and divided. For now, it is certainly in turmoil. Sasha Petrusik, CBC News, Jerusalem. Israel says it regrets a strike on a church in Gaza earlier today. A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says stray ammunition hit the Holy Family Church. Several hundred people were sheltering inside at the time two women were killed. Several people were injured, including children and the parish priest who was close with the

late Pope Francis. Pope Leo sent a message to the victims saying he was deeply saddened and called for an immediate ceasefire. White House spokesperson Caroline Levitt says President Trump called Netanyahu shortly after the attack. It was not a positive reaction. He called Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning to address the strikes on that church in Gaza.

And I understand the Prime Minister agreed to put out a statement. It was a mistake by the Israelis to hit that Catholic church. That's what the Prime Minister relayed to the President. Holy Family is the only Catholic church in Gaza. the president. Holy Family is the only Catholic church in Gaza. Coming up on the podcast, an in vitro treatment for a dangerous disease is working, but it's also raising some ethical concerns. And sweet 16, the United Kingdom plans to lower the voting age, adding more than a million voters by the next federal election. Plus, the case of a Calgary police officer charged with murder

raises questions about preferential treatment. Those stories and more coming up on Your World Tonight. [♪upbeat music playing -♪?] Doctors in the UK say eight healthy babies have been born using the DNA from three people, preventing an often fatal condition from being passed on to the newborns. The procedure is banned here in Canada. Christine Birak explains how it works and the ethical concerns surrounding it.

It's a great breakthrough for those families. For Dr. Doug Turnbull, it's an incredible feat. The neurology professor helped pioneer a new IVF technique at Newcastle University in England. It takes DNA from a hopeful mom and dad, injects it into the egg of another woman, a baby made from three people, to avoid passing on a rare genetic disease.

British researchers now say it worked. Bobby McFarland is a director of the NHS. You now have an option that allows you to have children that are genetically your own but without the risk of passing on that mitochondrial disease or the threat of that mitochondrial disease. Scientists say eight healthy babies have now been born in the UK using this technique. In results published in the New England Journal of Medicine, pregnancies were confirmed in eight of 22 patients, a success rate of 36 percent.

Four boys and four girls, including one set of twins, now ranging from less than six months to more than two years old. To watch a child die one of these horrible diseases and to see what the poor child goes through and the parents I mean, it's absolutely devastating. Dr. Mark Tarnopolski teaches pediatrics at McMaster University He says about one in five thousand babies are born with mitochondrial disease a condition where tiny energy-making cell structures Don't work properly leaving the body short on fuel to function. We've had children come in with, you know, blindness, lack of movement, inability to breathe, where they have to go in a ventilator and they never come off and they die from it. So it's quite exciting news, scientifically.

Dr. Paul Chang is president of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society. He says in the trial, all of the baby saw a drop in defective mitochondrial DNA to below the level that causes disease. But it can show up at any age. Both good and bad are still present. It's just that mostly it's the good. But over time, they just don't know what will happen. So when I started losing my eyesight, I was on a canoe trip in Elgonquin Park. 37-year-old Andrea Bolin spoke to us from Sudbury, Ontario. She found out she'd inherited the disease in adulthood.

She doesn't want to pass it on. It would be really difficult for me to live with that guilt. And hopes this could be available to her someday. Right now, the technique is banned in Canada and only approved in the UK and Australia. Critics worry about the ethics and design her babies. But many experts believe clear evidence and strong safeguards could help ease those fears and offer hope to families. Christine Birak, CBC News, Toronto.

The next UK general election isn't expected for a few years, but when it happens, the government wants the electorate to be larger and younger. Briar Stewart explains why it's planning to lower the voting age to 16 and whether something similar could happen here. This is about engaging young people in what is going to happen in their future. That's the UK Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner describing why the government should usher in a major change, lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 years old. They can go to work, they can pay their taxes. You know, I have my son at 16.

You know, I think that actually on balance 16 and 17 is a good age to give them the rights. 16-year-olds are already eligible to vote in some elections in Scotland and Wales. And if this change comes into effect, the voting electorate in the UK is expected to swell by about 1 and 1 half million. There will be no opportunity for parliament. The Conservative and Reform parties are against the plan. Conservative MP Paul Holmes.

Why does this government think a 16-year-old can vote but not be allowed to buy a lottery ticket, an alcoholic drink, marry, or go to war, or even stand in the elections they're voting in. On the streets of London opinions are mixed too. 16 year old Lulu Campman thinks it's a great idea. It just lets younger people also share their opinion because really when you vote it affects them because they're growing up and then that's their government. But 48 year old Hakan who would only give his first name, isn't so sure.

I don't think it's a good idea to be honest. It is much easier to manipulate youngsters. The last time the UK changed the voting age was in 1969 when it was lowered from 21 to 18. Canada followed suit a year later. At the end of the day the voting age is a political decision. Valer Gaspar is a research fellow in the Leadership and Democracy Lab which is a joint project between two Ontario universities, Western and Trent. He says while some have pushed for the voting age to be lowered in Canada there isn't much appetite politically at the moment.

In 1970 there was bipartisan support for the move because of protest movements among youth. MPs started viewing young people almost as a threat to democratic stability in Canada. Like I think young people really gave politicians incentive at that time to lower the voting age. In downtown Toronto 13-year-olds Chloe and Macy are still years from casting a ballot but think they should be given the opportunity sooner rather than later. I think it's good because young people have a lot of opinions on stuff and they should be able to voice their opinions too. Yeah, I think that it's better to get more people's opinions.

A group of young people filed a legal challenge in 2021, calling for Canada to lower the minimum voting age. It's a case that's still winding its way through the courts. Briar Stewart, CBC News, London. Criticism is growing around the case of a Calgary police officer. Craig Stothert is accused of killing two men in 2023. He was charged this week with double murder but was immediately granted bail, leaving some legal experts to ask if he's getting special treatment. Megan Grant has more from Calgary. I'm not sure how we can justify two tiers of justice in this particular instance. Defense lawyer Jim Lutz has been practicing criminal law for more than 30 years. He says he's never seen a person accused of murder get a bail hearing the same day as

their arrest. The timeframe is troubling because individuals in the remand centre are waiting months and months for disclosure, for bail. Lutz is speaking about Calgary police constable Craig Stothert, a 15-year veteran of the service who was arrested and charged Tuesday with two counts of second-degree murder stemming from a May 29th, 2023 incident. Online video from that day shows what can only be described as an extremely slow-speed chase. Police cars following what investigators allege was a stolen cube van along Calgary's Memorial Drive, a major thoroughfare.

Police say about 45 minutes into the pursuit after several attempts to stop the vehicle, an officer fired shots. The driver and a passenger, Wesley Davidson and Levon Bryce Fox were both killed. Alberta's Serious Incident Response Team, or ACERT, immediately started an investigation. Within hours of Stothert's arrest,

he was before a King's Bench judge and released on bail with consent of the Crown. King's Bench is Alberta's superior court, where bail hearings for people charged with murder must take place. It's very difficult to get before a King's Bench judge on short notice, and same day is absolutely unheard of. Paul Moreau is the past president of the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association and a former prosecutor.

He says there's only one way to get a same-day bail hearing on a murder charge. That is absolutely extraordinary and could only have happened as a result of previous arrangements between defense Council and the assigned Crown prosecutor. Acer confirmed it worked with both the Crown and defense to, quote, ensure the officer was arrested and brought before the courts in the most efficient manner possible. The Crown's office said in a statement that the time it takes to get before a Kingsbench judge can vary due to many factors.

It said, quote, speculation hinting at unfairness in the handling of this file is without merit. The Calgary Police Service says Stothert is currently on leave. His lawyer declined to comment on the timing of the bail hearing but said earlier this week that his client maintains his innocence and intends to mount a full and vigorous defense. Megan Grant, CBC News, Calgary. BC residents are being asked to conserve water by doing things like watering lawns less often

or fixing leaking faucets. The interior is already contending with drought, a situation that's expected to get worse through the summer. Georgie Smyth reports. That's mostly a problem from like July through end of September. Alex Chiller is in charge of a fish hatchery outside Mariton, BC's desert scape interior, where about 500,000 young Chinook and Coho salmon are being raised. They spawn in the region's rivers, but propping up the species is getting more

difficult. The hatchery is right on the Spires Creek. In the summer months it gets too shallow, too warm and too low in oxygen to ensure the fish's survival. The warmer it gets the more stress it has on the fish. The weaker fish are going to die. It can affect their ability to spawn. So even if they do spawn the eggs that they leave in the river might not have as high of a chance to survive. Chilla says they have to rely on pumping ground water. So this is our what we call an aeration tower.

Which is re-oxygenated on site and flows into the tanks to keep the fish alive. It's just one solution to BC's increasingly hot and dry summers. More than 60% of the province is currently at elevated levels of drought. It's a year-on-year problem, also connected to less snowfall in the winter, which would have typically fed watersheds further into the summer. It takes years for it to actually have the impact felt at a real deep-rooted level.

Connie Chapman is the executive director of water management at the River Forecast Centre. She's one of the provincial officials changing how British Columbians are informed about drought and water usage. An interactive map which shows drought severity is being upgraded to show more detailed information about how much water a community has stored for use and how well rivers and creeks are flowing. So it's really looking at that bigger picture of how we're using water and where the priorities

of that water use really need to fall. At the end of the day we want to ensure that there's enough water within our aquatic ecosystems to support those fish habitats and the other wildlife. The point, the province says, is to connect the sometimes slow and hard to perceive impacts of drought with what people can control. Here's BC's Minister of Water, Randy Neal. I think the message is that we all have a critical role to conserving our water this summer,

especially in areas where we're facing water scarcity. And so that's when it gets really stressful, mostly for the fishes in the afternoons. Back at the hatchery, it's hard to ignore how human pressures are once again squeezing Canada's valued and vulnerable Pacific salmon species. The impacts of a warmer, drier climate are much like the water table interconnected. Georgie Smythe, CBC soccer, and now the most expensive.

She's also Canadian. Whitby Ontario's Olivia Smith is the first female player worth more than a million British pounds. A record-shattering transfer amount that sends the 20-year-old from Liverpool to Arsenal. And her former coaches say she's just getting started. Sarah Levitt reports. We start with some breaking news. It made immediate headlines across the UK and around the world. Arsenal have announced the signing of Olivia Smith from Liverpool.

The 20-year-old forward joins and becomes the first £1 million player in the women's games. Whitby, Ontario's very own Olivia Smith, makes history today in women's soccer. A transfer worth $1.84 million Canadian. It's a privilege and an honor. At the end of the day, I always want to grow. And I think that's been my philosophy going through my career ever since I was young. Humble words from someone

who's quickly becoming a superstar. So tell me, what's your reaction to this news? Not surprised at all. We thought she was always destined to do, you know, create things from the first time we saw her. Marco Milanovic coached Smith with North Toronto Soccer when she was 12 years old, playing with 14-year-olds. He says her game is outstanding, but it's not just that.

Her love for the game, she's obsessed. She was always obsessed and that's something that just drives you to get better the end of the year. Smith got her start at just three years old. At 15, she became the youngest to make Canada's national team in 2019. Last year, her first in England's Women's Super League, she shone with Liverpool. Smith, oh, it's a fantastic play by her. Opens the play up, goes for it!

Oh, didn't she go for it! Olivia Smith with a moment of genuine quality! She was named the team's player of the season. Now, she goes to Arsenal. I think there's a huge sense of pride in this because it's a Canadian player who's just made history. Mariam Kurabi is the founder of the women's soccer podcast She Scores Bangers. She's so intelligent, she's so powerful, she's a really good player and perhaps one of the best that we're seeing in this era and she's only 20. And it's a player who just grew up in

Toronto which I think is a story that I think is going to inspire a lot of young girls and boys. Great ball, Smith, great touch, goal! Olivia Smith! While Smith's transfer fee is a milestone for women's soccer, it's still nowhere near the astronomical figures in the men's game, where top players are purchased for hundreds of millions of dollars. Still, the trend is moving in the right direction for women's pro soccer as prices keep going up along with the sport's popularity.

Sarah Levitt, CBC News, Montreal. Finally, Canadians are also cleaning up in a new category at the World Dragon Boat Championships, a category with Canadian roots. I never thought that this day would come where we would be racing nations against nations and be recognized for the athletes that we actually are. That's Linda Kuska.

She's part of the Canadian breast cancer paddler team that won gold at the Worlds in Brandenburg, Germany. It's the first time there's been a category just for teams of breast cancer survivors. The format started here in Canada in the 1990s then spread around the globe. Cusca has been competing for 26 years. You know you just you get to the bottom of your health scare. You don't know if you're going to be able to see your kids grow up and all of that stuff. And then you find something that rejuvenates you and gets you healthy and fit and mentally healthy and physically healthy.

And it's just the best part in the world actually. It took years of lobbying to add the category and the federation only made it official in late November. Kuzka says just competing felt like a victory. Although winning was pretty good too. It felt amazing. The whole opening ceremony is being able to be named as a flag bearer for Canada. And then racing that race yesterday

and standing on the podium and turning and facing our flag and listening to our national anthem as we were getting our gold medals. It was beyond priceless. So far, Canadian breast cancer teams have won three golds and a silver, helping Canada take the overall medal lead with 27, with three days of racing to go. This has been Your World Tonight for Thursday, July 17th. I'm Stephanie Scanderis.

Thank you for being with us. Good night. [♪ music playing, fades out. [♪ music ends. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.