Your World Tonight - Evacuations in NWT, Town Halls on Alberta sovereignty, Leaving Las Vegas, and more.

Episode Date: August 31, 2025

Hundreds of people in the Northwest Territories are out of their homes due to rapidly spreading wildfires, with Fort Providence becoming the latest community under evacuation order. More are getting ready to go, at a moment's notice. Dry conditions and high winds creating ideal conditions for wildfires - and officials calling the fire situation "critical".Also: Alberta's premier is halfway through a series of town halls that may have a Canada-wide impact. Danielle Smith and a group of panelists are hearing directly from residents on potential referendum questions about Alberta sovereignty to be asked in the next provincial election. But that idea means many different things to different people. And: Las Vegas was doing big business in the post-COVID era. But now, Sin City is in a slump - with the number of tourists down sharply, including a large number of Canadians. Casino operators and their employees say they're struggling, since they depend on Canadian cash.Plus: Promoting Indigenous culture in classrooms, Flag football, and more.

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Please play responsibly. Charitable gaming, community good. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Stephanie Skanderas. This is your world tonight. A critical situation in the Northwest Territories, wildfires closing in on the hamlet of Fort Providence, residents forced to leave. You'll hear from our team on the ground. Also on the podcast?

We all know that there's only one way to change equalization, and that is, to get out of the country. There is no way that I want us to leave. I think if we leave, then we're prime real estate for whatever's happening in the United States. To stay in Canada or go, the question that keeps coming up in Alberta as the Premier hits the halfway point

in her town hall series. Plus, We are definitely Vegas goers. It's not like we don't like Vegas. We just decided, I'm afraid, we can't support something that is that anti-Canadian. Las Vegas, on a losing. Streek, why the chips are down for Sin City and what Canadians have to do with it.

Hundreds of people in the Northwest Territories are out of their homes due to rapidly spreading wildfires. More are getting ready to go at a moment's notice. Dry conditions and high winds aren't helping with officials calling the fire situation critical. Juanita Taylor is covering the story. we reached her at the Yellowknife Airport on her way to speak with evacuees in Hay River. Juanita, what we're hearing about really reminds us of those historic wildfires from two years ago. What communities are affected by the current fires? Yeah, and those memories sure are coming back for a lot of people here in the Northwest Territory, Stephanie.

Well, Fort Providence is the latest community that's been issued in evacuation order. That came through just before 9 a.m. local time. It's now two kilometers from the town, and, you know, Stephanie, it grew significantly close to Fort Providence overnight from strong northerly winds. In fact, it moved 11 kilometers last night, and fire officials are calling the situation critical. Those northerly winds, they are expected again into the evening, pushing the fire closer to Fort Providence. And fire officials are saying that there's a very good chance that the fire will reach Fort Providence tonight. But Stephanie, the community has been building a firebreak, and they're hoping that that will prove successful, and crews have set up sprinklers and water cannons. Unfortunately, aircraft haven't been able to be used because of poor visibility, but fire officials now say that the focus is on structure protection on the ground because the head of the fire is just too wide to directly attack with crews.

Now, yesterday, the community quickly went from a notice to an alert, meaning residents should be. prepare for a potential emergency or evacuation. And around 6 p.m. local time last night, the NWT's Department of Environment and Climate Change, they said that a wildfire north of Fort Providence, that they had seen extraordinary growth, and that carried on into the night. Now, roughly 700 people live in Fort Providence. They are being evacuated to nearby Hay River, and hopefully they are listening to that order and taking precautions for their family, because, like,

I mentioned, that fire is now two kilometers from Port Providence. Now, the other community here in the Northwest Territories that has been evacuated is Wattie. That order came through on Friday. Roughly 600 residents are from there. Now they're staying in evacuation centers in Beto Kohn and Yellowknit. Now, that fire has been burning since July, and since the evacuation order that was issued on Friday, that fire is still 12 kilometers northwest of the community. Now, Stephanie, I just also want to note quickly that Highway 3, which is the highway running north to Yelene from Fort Providence, that stretch, that was closed Saturday afternoon due to the wildfire activity.

But it is open for evacuees traveling south from Fort Providence, but not for travelers heading north. Okay, Juanita, I know you're dealing with a lot of smoke conditions there. Thank you so much for this and stay safe. Thank you, Stephanie. The CBC's Juanita Taylor in Yellowknife. Meantime, Nova Scotia officials say the wildfire in the Annapolis Valley has grown slightly. The Long Lake fire is still listed as out of control. But favorable weather conditions are allowing crews to make good progress.

The Department of Natural Resources estimates the fire has burned 84 square kilometers. Cooler overnight lows are forecast for the region. China's president, Xi Jinping, is holding a two-day summit. of leaders that includes Russia's Vladimir Putin and India's Narendra Modi. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is strongly backed by regional allies of Beijing and Moscow. As Philip Lee-Shanak reports, many here in Canada are watching the summit for opportunities and risk as global trade and security are upended by the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump. A steady parade of world leaders arrive in the Chinese port city of Chen Zhen.

Among the heads of state greeted warmly on the red carpet by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin, and India's Narendra Modi. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, also known as SCO, includes China, Russia, and India, and the likes of Belarus, Pakistan, and Iran. It's a large and growing alliance encompassing about half the world's population, and it's looking to counterbalance the influence of the group of seven nations and an increasingly unpredictable United States. This summit has already seen efforts to repair relations between India and China,

with President Xi telling Prime Minister Modi, the world is in the midst of a once-in-a-century transformation and the two most populous countries can be partners in success, and that the dragon and the elephant can dance together. Words echoed by Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, A stable and amicable relationship between India and China can be to the benefit of the 2.8 billion people who live in the two countries.

Former Indian diplomat Navdip Suri says the steep tariff hikes recently imposed by the Trump administration have pushed India to find more reliable trading partners. I don't see India lining up with the ranks of those as President Trump sort of very, vulgarly announced as countries lining up to kiss his ass. Julian Carragestian is a former international trade advisor to the Canadian government. He now teaches at Montreal's McGill University.

He says Canada should also be looking for new trade opportunities and watching this summit closely. If we're not looking for opportunities, I hope we are, given that the United States is pulling up the drawbridge. So we have a right to be able to now pursue our own interests in a very business-like way. But he says there's a risk to seeking a closer relationship with China. You know, we could get on Washington's bad side, but I'll say this, that somehow we're already

on the bad side of the Trump administration, and we were an extremely loyal ally. And he says Canada needs to prepare for an increasingly multipolar world and that the U.S. is not playing their uniquely powerful role it had been since the Second World War. Fulte-Chadoc, CBC News, Toronto. With Russia under ever-growing pressure to end its war on Ukraine, European allies are preparing for what could come next. Countries like Sweden are being blunt with their citizens over mounting fears that Moscow may eventually look further afield.

Emma Godmere reports from Stockholm. So on the front cover, we see a woman dressed in army clothes with a gun in her hand. It's a jarring image to find on a pamphlet in your mailbox, but it's meant to get your attention. It starts with quite on a serious note. It says if Sweden is attacked, we will never surrender. Any suggestion to the contrary is false. Sarah Murdole works with the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency,

tasked with preparing citizens for the worst. This government pamphlet was updated late last year and sent to 5.2 million Swedish households. We've also added, and this is also based on experiences from Ukraine, how you seek shelter during an air raid. We also speak of nuclear weapons. Addressing war is important for us because that is ultimately the greatest challenge, I would say, to our society. So we need to work on a worst scenario basis. It's all part of Sweden's effort to prepare its population for what could be ahead,

as the country's Prime Minister Ulf Christerson noted in June. We are in a specific geographical situation where we need to meet the future threats from Russia. Sweden is now in the midst of its biggest military build-up in decades. A massive effort after years of downsizing. Like Canada, Sweden's slashed defense spending after the end of the Cold War, prioritized peacekeeping abroad over territorial defense

and scrapped their mandatory military service. But things changed around the time Russia annexed Crimea. In the face of growing threats, Sweden reintroduced conscription, fast-tracked defense spending and abandoned two centuries of neutrality to join NATO, then Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in 2024. We welcome Sweden into NATO at a critical time for our shared security. Now, as NATO's newest member, Sweden hopes to set an example of how to rearm and re-prepure quickly. What we are rebuilding now is very much based on how we use to work. Sarah Murdole recognizes the challenge of reaching younger Swedes

for whom the Cold War is a distant chapter of history. But one thing that does feel quite close in Sweden is Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And speaking bluntly about the current realities of war may be the key to motivating citizens to act. And Murdole suggests other allies may want to take note. Maybe you can get some inspiration from how we address our population and how we perhaps dare to speak about the worst case

scenario the way we do. Canada previously printed guides on how to survive a nuclear attack back during the Cold War. The government could consider once again taking a page out of Sweden's pamphlet. Emma Godmere, CBC News, Stockholm. Still ahead, keeping indigenous traditions alive through the classroom. Training programs across the country are connecting aspiring indigenous teachers with elders, learning languages and cultural practices, they can bring back to students in their own communities. That story is coming up on your world tonight. Canada and other countries will have to wait until October to learn whether the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case about Donald Trump's tariffs. On Friday, a federal

appeals court ruled many of the tariffs are illegal, but is allowing them to continue for now. a potential blow to Trump's economic plans. But as Caroline Bargut reports, his team is striking a defiant tone. Members of the Trump administration are reacting to the appeals court ruling and are pushing back. Trump's economic advisor Peter Navarro appeared on Fox Sunday morning futures and calls the ruling politically motivated. This was weaponized partisan injustice at its worst. He says part of the court's issue was that the tariffs are permanent, something Navarro disputes. If China and the drug cartels from Mexico and Canada stop killing America tomorrow, tariffs go away.

Ditto if the trade deficit went to zero. Trump has maintained tariffs will restore manufacturing jobs in the U.S. and eliminate trade deficits, which will make things more fair for America. In a post on Truth Social, he wrote, If these tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the country, saying it would make us financially weak and we have to be strong. Judge Shira Shenlin is a former U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York for 22 years. She says Trump and his administration are wrong to accuse the court of voting along political lines

because the dissent was written by a judge who was appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat. So as usual, I think President Trump is way off base in thinking that judges are political and they rule in accordance with the principles of the president who appointed them. That doesn't seem to be the case at all. Canada and the U.S. are set to renegotiate the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement, also known as Kuzma, which expires next year. Jutan de Silva is the former CEO of the Canada Energy Regulator and former Alberta Deputy Minister for international relations.

She doesn't think this latest court ruling will have an effect on how those negotiations are undertaken. I don't think the president is going to change his approach. I think from his perspective, he's seen that he has had several wins in terms of getting other countries to agree to blanket tariffs and all goods entering into the United States. If the case appears in front of the Supreme Court, there's no way to tell which way they'll vote. But Lawrence Herman, an international trade lawyer and former Canadian diplomat says they have been known to vote along political lines. In the United States, these partisan considerations do play a role,

even though the court is supposed to be above politics. The Trump administration has until October 14th to submit its appeal to the Supreme Court. It will likely also ask the court to leave the tariffs in place until it issues its decision, which legal experts say will come next June. Caroline Bargut, CBC News, Washington. Swedish climate campaigner Greta Toonberg is on her way to Gaza, on a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid. She joined other activists on a ship leaving the port of Barcelona earlier today.

They're part of a fleet of vessels that is hoping to break through an Israeli blockade. Dozens of boats are reportedly joining from. Tunisia, Greece, and other Mediterranean ports. It's not Tunberg's first effort at breaking the blockade. She was deported after Israeli forces seized another aid yacht back in May. Alberta's premier is halfway through a series of town halls that may have a Canada-wide impact. Danielle Smith and a group of panelists are hearing directly from residents on potential referendum questions about Alberta sovereignty to be asked in the 27 provincial election.

But as Sam Sampson reports, that topic means many different things to different people. And how's my favorite premier in the history of all of Alberta? From warm welcomes? All of these videos seem like propaganda. To push back, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and a group of panelists have heard it all this summer. A province-wide tour wants feedback on ways to improve Alberta's sovereignty, ideas that the province may put to referendum votes during next year's provincial election, like, should Alberta withdraw from the CPP and use Alberta's portion of the CPP to create our own Alberta pension plan?

If it focuses on things like an Alberta pension program or a new provincial police force, I don't expect that's going to make much of a splash outside of Alberta. Political scientist Adrian Davidson is watching the panels from Hamilton, Ontario. The McMaster University Assistant Professor says if the Alberta government puts national issues to a referendum, that could catch the rest of Canada's attention. the stuff that comes out of this process focuses more on core institutions, things like the Senate. I think this is where it's going to start to register a little bit more with other Canadians, because they're going to have to start to be part of the conversation.

The question of even being Canadian, though, has come up. I personally hoping that these topics discussed tonight here are preparing us for separation down the road. We all know that there's only one way to change equalization, and that is to get out of the country. If you speak to Donald Trump, please ask him. for asylum for people like myself, for hardworking, Albertans who are Christian. To those comments, the Premier says

that I support Alberta sovereignty within a United Canada. I have those said that if either of the petition campaigns get enough signatures that we absolutely will put it on the ballot and we'll let Albertans decide. Alberta laws allow everyday voters to pose referendum questions if they can get enough signatures.

There are two campaigns for separation questions. One group wants to ask, Do you agree that the province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada? Alberta's Court of King's Bench will hold hearings on the constitutionality of that question in November. And if you could include your postal code? The second petition already has the OK to gather nearly 300,000 signatures before November. It wants to ask, do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada? The group says it has more than 7,000 volunteers.

Susan Miller is one of them. There is no way that I want us to leave. I think if we leave, then we're prime real estate for whatever's happening in the United States. The second half of Alberta Next panels will mainly happen in the southern parts of the province, where Albertans hope their ideas get some traction with the Premier. Sam Sampson, CBC News, Edmonton. You're listening to Your World Tonight from CBC News. And if you want to make sure you 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. A new program is designed to train indigenous teachers in their communities and keep them there. It's a move aimed at reclaiming education, revitalizing indigenous languages, and for both teachers and students to be rooted in their own culture. Deanna Suminac Johnson has a story. They're learning to be teachers not in a lecture hall but on the land. Donna Metallic, one of the attendees, spent the day performing migma crafts

like weaving sweetgrass, learning language and traditions. Like we talked about the basket and how the basket has many weaves, so that's what we were doing a lot today, developing with each other, learning from each other and grouping together for the whole concept of becoming good educators for our children. This day is part of a special program at the University of New Brunswick. Aspiring teachers who are of indigenous backgrounds get to learn from elders, then bring that knowledge back to their communities once they stand in front of a classroom. The program, one of about a dozen across Canada,

to qualify for special funding by the Rito Foundation, 8.6,000. million dollars this year. Juan Rodriguez Camacho, who is of the Moiska's South American Indigenous background, is with the University of New Brunswick and one of the organizers of this training. And it was an amazing opportunity to revert the damage caused to indigenous people by not allowing indigenous people to teach their own indigenous people. It's not just what they're learning that's geared towards preserving indigenous identity, it's also where they're learning. This program hopes to offer aspiring teachers training right with they live through visiting instructors

and online lectures. It's not something Manitoba-based teacher and Professor Marty Ford had when she was training to be a teacher. When I came down to Winnipeg to go to school, I left behind all of my support system. Ford is now Associate Dean of Indigenous Education at the University

of Manitoba and co-lead on one of the other proposals that received Rito Foundation's funding this year. And always, it is best to be able to not only train the people in the communities, but also to able to keep them in their community and offer programming that takes place within the communities? The initiative also gets to the very heart of the Truth and Reconciliation

Commission's calls to action, one of which asks the governments to provide the necessary funding to post-secondary institutions to educate teachers on how to integrate indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms. Experts say it's the students, indigenous children, who will truly reap the benefits of this training. Miga Magan is a Wabanaki Miqma elder leading some of the training in New Brunswick. They're going to be seeing themselves indigenous teachers teaching indigenous knowledge on their homelands. And so those are the first impressions on our children. Whether the program's funding $8.6 million this year will go far enough remains to be seen.

But for these participants, some of them, children of residential school survivors, it's the beginning of the world they hope to see where education can weave the path to reconciliation. Deanna Sumanak Johnson, CBC News, Toronto. Flag football is a sport that flies more under the radar compared to NFL or CFL football. But its appeal is growing. It's a little less physical. Players don't wear pads. And soon it'll get Olympic exposure at the next summer games.

Los Angeles. That has players of all ages starting to dream of the podium. Kubino O'Duro got out on the field with some of them. Dozens of kids on the Universite de Montreal football field developing their flight football skills under the eyes of some season pros. Adriana Rob Blanchette says it's just about having fun. So doing these things like it's more for fun. I'm here. It's a nice day. We're just having fun with friends and meeting new people. Others like Alex Day, it's about learning from the best in the country. Because I love the sports, I played last year on the summer, and it's like pure, you know, it's a passion now.

Players learned real game situations from a professional football playbook, everything from the huddle, the formation, then eventually to running the plate to perfection. Christine Bowie is taking it all in. I'm learning new experiences with other people. I've been playing with boys for their first time. The CFL's Montreal Alouettes organized the clinic for children and teens between the ages of 10 to 17.

This year, there's been a rise in people being interested in the sport. Alouette's running back, Stevie Scott, says he's trying to pass on his knowledge to the next generation. The game, it comes with a lot of little basic things that a lot of people don't really pick up on or don't really notice. So it's just a little ends and else to the game and just to stay focused and stay the course and just, you know, believe in themselves. Some say the rising attraction of flike football is because of the sport being featured at, at the Olympics in 2028 for the first time. It's not certain if CFL players will be allowed to play at the Olympics because it conflicts with their season.

But Alouettes player Joshua Aaltsraboat says if he got the call to play for Team Canada, he would accept in a heartbeat. We've never had a football sport in the Olympics, right? So just to be able to represent my country in a sport that I love and I currently play professionally in the CFL, I feel like it would be a dream for most. And so it's a no-brainer for me.

If you recruit me, I'm definitely on there. 15-year-old Alex Day has the same aspirations. I think it's like an honor for my flag and my country to play for Team Canada. Football Quebec says these camps are a way to help the alouettes find young talent. But with flag football on the rise, they are also looking to recruit for provincial and national teams as well. Sebastian Wallet is with Football Quebec. What we saw from team the nationals, there's like 22 selection from Quebec and a few from other out of continent. out of Canada. So I think, you know, Alberta's getting there, Saskatchewan's getting there.

Yeah, I can't wait to see next championship. Well, that says Quebec will have a big role to play in helping the nation choose the best players to wear the Maple Leaf at the Olympics in 2028. Kubino Nuro, CBC News, Montreal. Las Vegas is seemingly caught in the middle of Donald Trump's trade war. It was doing big business in the post-COVID era, but now Sin City is in a slump. with a number of tourists down sharply. Canadians in particular are staying away.

Casino operators and their employees say they're struggling since they depend on Canadian cash. J.P. Tasker reports. We are definitely Vegas goers. It's not like we don't like Vegas. Geekar Brett and his wife can't stomach the thought of going to Sin City right now after President Trump's 51st state taunts and with the trade war raging. The Regina couple canceled tickets to an ACDC concert

in protest. So we just decided, I'm afraid, we can't support something that is that anti-Canadian. Winnipeg's Mark Daly also pulled the plug on his annual pilgrimage to the gambling mecca. There's no place like Vegas. He says he loves the entertainment capital of the world, but he's heard the stories of some people having a hard time at the American border in this era of bilateral bad blood. My wife and I are both pretty upset with what's going on in the States.

And the only thing that Trump seems to understand is when people take action that hits them in the pocketbook. Travel to Vegas is down about 11% this year, but airline figures reveal there's been an even steeper decline among Canadians. The number of Air Canada and WestJet passengers heading to Vegas has plummeted more than 30% year over year. The decline is even more dramatic for a low-cost carrier flare. It's off 62%. Local officials are noticing, Las Vegas mayor, Shelly Berkeley. International travel is way down. People are not coming to the United States. We have a rather large market with the Canadians.

It's gone from, you know, a faucet to a drip. And the CEOs of major casino operators say the Canadian boycott has hit the bottom line. The international visitation has been an issue, not only for Las Vegas, but a lot of destinations. Bill Hornbuckle runs MGM resorts. EC News listened in on his recent quarterly earnings call. But particularly earlier in the year with Canada, we host a lot of hockey games by way of example, and we saw the station down, and I think it's, I don't think I know, it's still down.

Thomas Rigg is the CEO of Caesar's Entertainment. He says the drop-off is pinching profits. So if you look at our missing room nights this year, Canadians are a significant piece of that. Stephen Miller at the University of Nevada has crunched the numbers. Canadian tourism contributed $3.6 billion to the GDP of Clark County, which includes Las Vegas. That spending supported some 43,000 jobs last year, he says, more than manufacturing and a major Air Force base in the region. And there's been a dip. Nevada now has the highest unemployment rate in the U.S. I know that there's lots of great people down there.

Kerratt is sorry for the workers who have lost their jobs with so many Canadians staying away. But there's only one thing that will bring him back. I guess Trump being out of office would be an easy one. Until then, the bright lights of Las Vegas will be a little dimmer, as many Canadians fold their cards. J.P. Tasker, CBC News, Washington. A classic from Canada's own Sarah Harmer, one you won't be finding on Spotify anymore.

She's pulled her entire catalog from the streaming service, joining a growing movement that started this summer and includes Montreal's Godspeed you Black Emperor. They've also pulled their work from title and Amazon music, leaving it up to buy on band camp. Well, they haven't explicitly confirmed their reasoning. Harmer has, posting on social, media that she doesn't, quote, want to engage with a company that invests in AI military

tech. It's the same reason given by international bands like Australia's King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Wizard. Their decision stems from military investments by Spotify CEO Daniel Eck through his venture capital firm Prima Materia. Most recently, a 600 million euro investment into a German defense company called Helsing that sells AI software used to make military decisions and also makes its own line of military drones. Sarah Harmer says she thanks her label, arts and crafts and her management for supporting her decision. Here's some of her latest. This is New Lowe. on your world tonight.

I'm Stephanie Skanderas. Thanks for listening. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca.ca slash podcasts.