Your World Tonight - Cross border travel, cost of living, ebooks costing libraries, and more

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

Data from Statistics Canada shows fewer Canadians travelling to the United States, compared to last year. They’re discouraged by political and economic tensions. But there is a twist. American tourists into Canada seem undeterred. In fact -- their numbers are up.And: Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canadians need to be prepared for sacrifices. Many are already struggling with affording essentials like groceries. He says he recognizes the pressures Canadians are facing, but there will be no quick fix. Also: In Canada's public libraries, e-books are having a moment. Readers are turning to the convenience of digital, and turning the page on print. But this surge in popularity also comes with a price… for the libraries themselves.Plus: Ukraine offers compromise for peace, Yukon freeze, a look at Kurt Oatway, one of Canada's top Paralympic medal hopefuls, and more.

Welcome to Lilith Fair! In the late 90s, a groundbreaking all-female music festival emerged, led by Canadian artist Sarah McLaughlin. Promoter said, you can't put two women on the same bill. People won't come. And it put a huge fire under my butt to prove them wrong. Representation for women in rock music wasn't there. And worse, you're being pitted against each other.

Lilith became a free train. Catch the documentary that chronicles a pivotal moment in music culture. Watch Lilith Fair, building a mystery. For free on CBC Gem. This is a CBC podcast. Greetings to planet Earth, all of our friends and family from Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station, flying high above, thinking of you during this holiday season. Even in space, this is a time for traditions.

With a message from astronauts floating in zero gravity, but wearing Santa hats and front of a tiny decorated tree. Of course, down here on earth, many familiar traditions are being challenged in what's been an unprecedented year. Welcome to your world tonight. I'm Tanya Fletcher. It is Wednesday, December 24th, coming up on 6 p.m. Eastern. Also on the podcast, one tradition, as common as colorful lights and scented candles, is last-minute shopping. But in 2025, it's not just the time that's tight, so are budgets. Feels like he gets worse, honestly, every time you go to the grocery store, so day by day, but yeah, it's definitely a lot more expensive this year. If you do manage to save a little, you might want to spend it on travel, perhaps a trip to

a common destination for Canadian snow geese just across the border. I don't imagine that America's ever going to be something that I'm going to feel is an aspirational travel destination ever again. Or maybe not. No matter what traditions Canadians are able to hold on to, there are definitely signs that things have changed. It has been a strange year for U.S.-Canada relations, not just for trade, but travel, too. New data from Statistics Canada shows fewer Canadians are traveling to the United States compared to last year, discouraged by tensions over tariffs, confusing border policies, and a weak exchange rate. But there is a twist. American tourists, Indian tourists,

into Canada seem undeterred. In fact, their numbers are up. Liam Britton explains. Scan the columns of cars waiting their turn to drive south through Pacific Highway border crossing between British Columbia and Washington State, and you'd think travel to the U.S. is at full speed. We are seeing a very, very slow season. We're down about 50% in sales currently this month. Reginald Raju, director of a very quiet Peace Arch Duty Free, has seen a very different, very unfestive story. Even my staff right now, I usually would have about thick staff working today. I only have three staff working currently. Stats Canada is seeing it too.

The agency's latest figures covering October show Canadian resident return trips to the U.S. are down about a quarter from 12 months ago. I've been in L.A. a couple times, New York City, Chicago, Colorado. For work, family, and the desire to see great cities. And I always didn't want to go to New Orleans. Canadian publicist Tracey Lumori has made plenty of stateside trips. But between Trump's annexation threats, the actions of American immigration authorities and human rights concerns.

She doesn't see herself going back anytime soon. I don't imagine that America's ever going to be something that I'm going to feel is an aspirational travel destination ever again. U.S. travelers to Canada are up a modest 3% in October compared to 12 months ago, and other overseas visitors about the same. People will continue to boycott, if I may use that term, the United States here the next month. Toronto Metropolitan University tourism researcher Frederick DeManche puts the blame on America's political situation.

For Canada, I think it's good all over. You know, traffic is likely to increase. We should definitely expect better continuous results in 2026. Popular U.S. destinations are feeling the heat. Los Vegas's tourism agency reports international Sin City visitors are down 6% year-to-date. California has launched a $5 million Canuck targeting ad campaign. and Washington State said in a statement it understands politics may impact travel plans, reporting an overall decline in hotel bookings by 1% for domestic and international visitors. So for that state, Christmas Eve border lineups are likely a very merry site. Liam Britton, CBC News, Vancouver. If you are traveling by air this season, you won't have the extra protections against delayed or cancelled flights

long promised by Ottawa. Canada's air passenger regulations set out rules airlines must follow, including the compensation they owe passengers when things go wrong. But the federal body that's supposed to rule on customer claims is swamped. Marina von Stackleberg has that story. There's no way to get answers. I've sent emails and you just get a one-line response. You're still in the queue.

Gerald Vandevan has been waiting two and a half years to find out if he'll get money for his delayed Westjet flight. An issue with the cabin crew changeover on his way home to Vancouver Island left him stranded at the airport overnight. And the pilot had said four or five times, this is 100% the airline's fault. They could have avoided this. So he says after the company refused to reimburse him,

he filed a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency. The independent federal body holds airlines responsible under the air passenger protection regulations. It decides if the airline has, to compensate a customer for issues like delays or cancellations within its control. But the backlog of complaints is 88,000 cases. It's been very frustrating and it doesn't give me a lot of faith in the systems that we have in place that they're actually there to help us.

For two years, Ottawa has promised to improve the regulations, making it clear for travelers to know their rights and putting the onus on airlines to prove why they shouldn't have to compensate customers. We've been waiting to get these amendments out, and they've just been stuck in the swamp in Ottawa for far too long now. Ian Jack is with CAA, which runs a travel agency. The original sin on this file, really, was the government writing an enormously complicated set of regulations, all kinds of gray areas, all kinds of loopholes and exemptions,

to the point where the average consumer files a complaint with the carrier. The carrier just says, nah. Airlines say the proposed changes could impact affordability, regional connections, and safety. I'm not a person who likes to repeat the same mistake twice. Transport Minister Stephen McKinnon wouldn't say why there's a hold-up, or if there's a plan to speed up the complaint process. No one wants to be in a backlog for compensation. It is a state of affairs that I'm not happy with, and we want to make it better.

for Canadians. They've shown zero political will. Dan Albis, the Conservatives Transport Critic, says he doesn't think air passenger rights are a priority for the liberals. Canadians, when they travel, when they think that these so-called air passenger bill of rights are actual rights, right now it's a right to wait in line. The Transportation Agency says just over half the complaints that make it through its process and with passengers getting compensated. But in several cases, airlines then took the customer to court to fight the decision and avoid payment. Further proof, critics say the current system is not fit to fly.

Marina von Stackleberg, CBC News, Ottawa. A common refrain this year from economists and even the prime minister is that Canadians will have to sacrifice. Trade relations with the U.S. have deteriorated and the cost of living has spiked. Canadians know prices are rising. Every time they look at a receipt. And food bank usage is also reaching record highs.

Michelle Allen has more. Scott Ng and Sarah Brown pushed their card of food across the supermarket parking lot after stocking up for the holidays. They say these food halls are changing all the time. Yeah, it's definitely a lot more expensive this year. Ng says he doesn't think prices will ever go back down. It feels like he gets worse, honestly, every time you go to the grocery store. Pressure, food prices, pressure, just literally the cost of living. In a year-end interview with CBC News, Chief Political Correspondent, Rosemary Barton,

Prime Minister Mark Carney says he recognizes the pressures Canadians are facing. But he says there's no quick fix to these problems. First thing we did as a government was to cut taxes, to cut taxes for 22 million. Canadians as part of that. The second thing in related that we did and absolutely did in the budget is to preserve those programs that are essential for Canadians who have the biggest challenges with the cost of living, child care, pharmacare, dental care. Carney says the government will cut the public service by 10%.

He says this will allow them the lower taxes while keeping programs that benefit people under the most pressure. Those tough decisions, we're preserving all the transfers, we're cutting taxes, we're preserving the transfers to individuals, support for individuals, and transfers to the provinces, including the increase of provinces and territories. Valerie Tarasuck is with the University of Toronto's Department of Nutritional Sciences. She says tax cuts and social programs won't have

help many people struggling to afford groceries. That's not a good enough response to this problem. Tara Suck says more Canadians are having a tougher time putting food on the table, including those who work full time. We've got a layer of the population, right now 25.5% who are food insecure. Those are people who already have made the compromises and now are literally struggling to afford to buy the things that they need. Tara Suck says many Canadians aren't able to make more sacrifices.

Back at the supermarket. Like, we were debating getting green beans or asparagus, and green beans were half the price of asparagus, so green beans it is for sure. Ng and Browns say they're finding ways to make their dollar go further. Michelle Allen, CBC News, Toronto. Coming right up, Russia is expected to say no to a new peace plan worked out with the help of Ukraine's negotiators.

Also, Yukonners are being working. Born to have emergency supplies on hand, food, water, medications, as extreme cold taxes the power grid. Later, we'll have this story. Kurt Oakway, steams into the lead for Canada. A star Paralympic skier, who launched his career after a life-changing injury, determined to meddle again at the Paralympic Games, at age 41. It's only over when you say it's over.

I'm Alexander Silberman in Fort Capel, Saskatchewan. Later on Your World Tonight, the story of Kurt Oatwe, a Paralympic athlete with a career marked by resilience. Overseas, Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky says there is progress in the latest round of peace negotiations to end the war with Russia. After talks between the U.S. and Ukraine in Miami, Zelensky says he is willing to make. concessions on a number of key negotiating points. But he says his offer comes with conditions. Karen Paul's reports. As Ukrainians celebrate their fourth Christmas since Russia's full-scale invasion, the attacks continue. Four people injured in an early morning attack on Zaporizia. And a Russian drone struck a residential high-rise building in Chernehy.

This woman in Kiev saying there is a mood of celebration for Christmas, but they also have to contend with anxiety and fear from the war. In his Christmas address, Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelenskyy asked for peace. We are happy when we hear the music of Christmas, but even happier when we do not hear the music of evil, when we do not hear drones and missiles flying overhead, he said. This, as Zelensky gave new details about a 20-point plan hammered out with the Americans in the last week.

Zelensky expressed willingness to pull his troops back from areas of the eastern Dinesk region still under Keeves' control. But in exchange, Russia would have to move its forces back the equivalent to the land seated by Ukrainian troops, essentially creating a demilitarized zone on the front lines. The new plan also includes secure, guarantees by the U.S., NATO and European states, a non-aggression agreement between Russia and Ukraine, and a full ceasefire taking effect immediately once all parties agree to the deal.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, a Kremlin spokesperson said Russian envoy Kirol Dmitriev has given Russian President Vladimir Putin a detailed briefing on the results of his trip to Miami last weekend. Moscow says it will decide on. its next steps and respond soon. Putin has previously said Ukraine must give up all of Dinesk for a peace plan to work. In Europe, Pope Leo says he's saddened by Russia's apparent rejection of a Christmas ceasefire. May there be 24 hours a single day of peace throughout the whole world, he said. Depending on Russia's response to the new 20-point agreement,

American officials say there may be further trilateral or direct talks to try and resolve some of those outstanding issues. Karen Paul's, CBC News, Washington. The U.S. Justice Department has found more than a million more documents potentially tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The department says it may need a few more weeks to review and release them to the public. It was not immediately clear how or when these documents were discovered. The DOJ was supposed to release all available files by December 19th.

It missed that deadline. Officials there say they need time to redact information to protect victims. It is bone-chilling cold in part of. of the north, even by Canadian standards. In the Yukon, temperatures are hovering around minus 40. And this deep freeze has some officials worried about what it could mean for the power grid and public safety. Anise Hadari takes a look. Certainly rolling blackouts is one possibility, but it is a last resort. Stephanie Cunia is a vice president with Yukon energy, which generates power in the territory. Her weather warning isn't just about the temperature.

Power use broke records on Monday. Because of the extreme Coldweathers, Yukonners are using between 80 to 90% of all of the electricity that is available and that we can supply at a given point in time. Be cognizant. Jay Massey is the vice president of ACCO Electric Yukon, which handles power distribution. He says there are buffers, but the power system there is hitting new peaks. To put it bluntly, the grid needs people to use less power. And if the public can just understand the large electrical loads in their house,

I know we know people need to eat their Christmas dinner that's not going to be deferred but the dishwasher the laundry electrical heat if you have baseboards in multiple rooms there's a number of things that people can do to bring down their electrical load in their homes

and defer non-essential activities till later in the night off peak hours meteorologists say it's not unusual for there to be a cold snap this time of year in the Yukon, but this one is a little bit colder and it's lasting a little bit longer than usual. Derek Lee is with Environment Canada in Vancouver. We're in the last few days. We have seen temperatures in the Yukon drop down to minus 20 degrees or 30 degrees below the seasonal norms, which actually bought temperatures down to minus 50 to the minus 55 range for the northern communities.

Obviously warm blankets, mitts, tukes, very important at this time of year. Whitehorse Mayor Kirk Cameron says residents should keep an emergency kit. But if things get worse, the city is available to respond 24-7, even over the holidays. By the way, it does plan to warm up in a couple of days just in time for heavy snowfall. So you're trading one off for another. And there is already snowfall happening in other parts of the country. Edmonton and many parts of northern and central Alberta facing snowfall warnings.

At 10 to 15 centimeters could result in a lot of people shoveling on Christmas morning. James Colangelo is an Environment Canada meteorologist based in Winnipeg. He says this snow system is starting just east of the Rockies and it'll keep moving. Throughout the overnight hours and into Christmas morning, it starts to pivot and make its way eastward across the northern part of the prairies. It is a system that will be affecting multiple areas. However, the worst of it looks to be in and around to the Edmonton area. While meteorologists point out this year's winter isn't particularly bad,

the timing of this weather could mean Santa needs to fit a shovel down the chimney. Anya, CBC News, Edmonton. Across Canada's public libraries, e-books are having a moment. More and more, readers are turning to the convenience of digital and turning the page on print. But this surge in popularity also comes with a price for the libraries themselves. Yasminea explains. This first book is called Coor's Kiss. In a TikTok video, New Brunswick content creator and book reviewer Lydia White holds up the e-reader

she uses to read digital books. E-reading is really important to me because I can just take that one little device and have, you know, hundreds of books at my fingertips. She loves using her local library's e-book collection, but months-long wait times have her borrowing less. When I want to read a certain book, I want to read it like basically now. Because of convenience and accessibility, e-borrowing has soared at public libraries across the country, a trend accelerated by the pandemic. K.K. Hill is the director.

sector of IT and collections at the Vancouver Public Library. We're now at a point where digital circulation has for the first time exceeded physical circulation. But e-books are putting pressure on library's budgets. They cost up to five times as much as physical copies because of licensing agreements with publishers. Libraries have to essentially rent the content for a set period of time and pay again once it expires. We do end up with much longer wait lists for the digital content. So we just can't afford to buy as many copies to meet the demand when the prices are that high. American libraries are facing similar challenges, prompting Connecticut to pass a law

aimed at reducing the cost of e-books for libraries. Other states have introduced similar legislation. Andrea Chiquetto, the chair of the Canadian Federation of Library Association, says her organization is exploring the possibility of pushing for a similar solution here. There's a lot of demand for these items that we're trying to meet and at the same time facing some significant barriers, particularly with multinational publishers. The Association of Canadian Publishers,

which represents about 100 Canadian-owned and controlled book publishers, tell CBC News it can't comment on pricing due to legal reasons. Maybe also Canadian publishers are concerned. But Kevin Williams, President of Talent Books, an independent publisher based in Vancouver, says he worries Canadian authors will be less represented if libraries have to keep buying the same popular e-book, from multinational publishers.

Canadian presses have always struggled to have as many of their books represented in the libraries because we obviously have to compete against the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of books in English language. Book reviewer Lydia White hopes changes can be made soon. What we want is to be able to have more people be able to read. Saying it shouldn't be this hard to borrow a book. Yasmil Ganea, CBC News, Vancouver. The Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games are only a couple of months away. One of Canada's top medal hopefuls in Italy, Kurt Oatwe.

The elite pariskier raced his way to gold in Pyongchang in 2018. He missed out on the Beijing Games because of an injury. Now he's determined to make it back atop the podium. Alexander Silberman has his story. At his home gym in Calgary, Kurt Oatwe is training for what might be his biggest competition yet, returning to the Paralympic Games at age 41. It's only over when you say it's over.

determined to fight back onto the podium. After a devastating crash on the slopes, left Oatway with broken bones, torn ligaments, and a punctured lung. I got injured and I decided, you know, right there in the hospital, it's just like, this isn't going to be the end. He was forced to sit out the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, refusing to give up on his Paralympic dreams. Before my, you know, I got into an ambulance,

before I got to the hospital, before surgeries and everything, I knew I wasn't going to China. The start of Oatway's skiing journey began at age five, growing up in Edmonton. But while studying at the University of Saskatchewan, a rock climbing accident left him with a permanent spinal cord injury. Determined to ski again, Oatway relearned the sport in a sit ski. He joined the adaptive program at Mission Ridge, a tiny local hill tucked away in a Saskatchewan Valley near Regina.

Well, the first day was very fast. Gord Poulton was Oatway's first coach. He says returning to the sport gave him a renewed sense of drive and purpose, and he saw immediate potential for a future in elite competitions. As you come out of an injury, there's a lot of relearning to do what you can accomplish. And Kurtz obviously accomplished a lot by coming out and being a skier. The Saskatchewan ski community rallied behind Oatway, bringing in an extra coach and helping him purchase his first racing Sitsky.

They didn't spare any effort of encouragement. Linal Otway, Kurt's father, says getting back on the slopes was a turning point after his accident. From a state of despair to a state of triumph, it's been very motivating for him and also for the family as well. Motivation that fueled the start of a competitive racing career with Team Canada, leading to this moment. Kurt Oakway steams into the lead for Canada. An unexpected gold medal win in the sitting Super G at the 2018 Paralympic Games in Pyongcheng. Brilliant run! At the top of the world stage, Oatway remains grateful for his Saskatchewan start.

Been a world run journey and just knowing where you came from, being grateful for the opportunities, it goes a long way. The elite skier is now coming off one of the best seasons of his career, an injury behind the start of his journey. Once again, a renewed source of motivation to race his last Paralympic Games to a podium finish. Alexander Silberman, CBC News, Fort Capel, Saskatchewan. Finally, Leanna Metcalfe has been raising her grandson, Spencer, since he was a baby, in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. He's now eight years old.

Metcalfe says Spencer has always had big dreams, especially about one thing in particular. During ball games, ball practice, we would be at the ballpark. field, he would hear one from a distance and he would stop. Everybody on the ball field would completely stop until he would watch that plane fly over till he couldn't see it anymore. Spencer is autistic. Airplanes are his favorite thing to watch. And Metcalfe knew the perfect place to visit. So I started taking him to the Sydney airport where he got better view. And as it progressed, he started meeting different crew members, different staff at the Sydney airport. And Spencer knew details

about what the process was when the plane arrived, when the plane was leaving. And he told other family members at the fence, the plane will be leaving, and he knew exactly what time. Spencer is now a staple there, visiting almost every day. The airport even gave him his own ID badge that reads Chief Aircraft Spotter. He's visited the tower, sat inside the cockpit of a jet,

and then this year, he got a surprise. Dmitri NioNakis is a pilot who runs a program called Dream Wings, taking kids with disabilities into the sky. And so Spencer Metcalfe has now added co-pilot to his list of titles. With the earth, he loads his feet, with the sun four inches from the horizon in this most beautiful setting, emerging in the beautiful actual flight. He had never experienced that, and that really dazzled him. I mean, it was incredible to watch, so yeah, it was so great.

However, Spencer did not just sit and watch. He also got to handle the throttle and even adjust some of the instruments. Neonakis says it wasn't just a special trip for Spencer. It was special for him, too. I too grew up with my grandmother, a wonderful woman who saved me, guided me, and helped me to become the man I am today. So this flight wasn't just a flight with Spencer and his grandmother. I had my own grandmother on board in spirit.

It was beautiful. It was wonderful. So we'll let Spencer have the last word. After the flight, Neonakis was flying back to his home in Halifax. An airport staff helped Spencer record and sent him this message over the radio. I hope you have a merry Christmas. I'll do you. We'll see you again. Thank you for being with us.

This has been your world tonight for Wednesday, December 24th. I'm Tanya Fletcher. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to CBC.ca.com slash podcasts.