Your World Tonight - Fleeing Flin Flon, ads with fake endorsements, luring Canadian tourists, and more

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

Everybody out. The mayor of Flin Flon, Manitoba says fire is threatening the city and everyone needs to leave immediately. Anybody left could be putting their lives in danger. Evacuees say they’ve seen what fire has done to other communities – and they’re worried.And: Does Canada have the resources it needs, as fire seasons get worse? Already this year, provinces are appealing to other countries to help. Experts say the answer might not be more fire fighting power, but preventing them from igniting in the first place.Also: Don’t believe everything you read online. Diabetes Canada is warning about medical products that falsely claim to be endorsed by legitimate health organizations.Plus: Free golf balls, discounted hotels, and bike rentals on the house – U.S. businesses and tourist boards are trying to lure Canadians back; aid trickling into Gaza and no ceasefire yet, cross examination of Carter Hart, and more.

Other People's Problems was the first podcast to take you inside real-life therapy sessions. I'm Dr. Hilary McBride, and again, we're doing something new. The ketamine really broke down a lot of my barriers. This work has this sort of immediate transformational effect. Therapy Using Psychedelics is the new frontier in mental health. Come along for the trip. Other People's Problems Season 5, available now. This is a CBC Podcast.

They talk about the material things that you might lose and everything but it goes a lot deeper than that We live our little lives and we go along through our lives and mother nature comes along and says no I'm wiping all that away and it's goes right down to the soul the helpless Existential feeling from a threat so big and so uncontrollable the only option left is to flee It's hitting more Canadians tonight. With wildfires raging across the prairies, crews in several provinces are being pushed to the limit, battling flames and wind as more residents make the difficult decision to stay or go. Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Stephanie Scanderis. It's Friday, May 30th, coming up on 6pm Eastern, also on the podcast.

If I got sucked in then obviously there'd be other people to get sucked in and I wanted Diabetes Canada to know that some crooked outfit was using their logo. If you're reading about it on the warning label it's already too late. Medical products that were never approved by Diabetes Canada being advertised and sold on social media with experts warning customers are getting ripped off and risking their health. The city of Flynn Flawn, Manitoba is nearly deserted down to firefighters and essential workers. A mandatory evacuation order is in effect as a fast-moving wildfire fueled by shifting winds is bearing down.

That fire is just one of many threatening lives and livelihoods across Western provinces and territories. Caroline Bargout leads our coverage from Winnipeg. I'm not sure when we'll be able to come back in here, when or if. Staying behind with a handful of key personnel, George Fontaine, the mayor of Flintlawn, Manitoba, says it's time to go. There's nothing you can do, you know, nature will take its course, so we're just prepared to come back to, well, we've seen devastation across the country and different communities where this has happened. And there's a very, very high potential that it's going to happen here. Gusting winds are steering the flames towards the city.

The fire has grown to 40,000 hectares. There is too much smoke for water bombers to get off the ground. So people here are just hoping their community is spared. You know, it's going to be hit or miss. Mother Nature, what can you do? Danny Amont moved from Winnipeg to Flynn Flawn in January looking for quieter life. He packed up his cats along with some family relatives and their dog. The group is slowly making the eight-hour drive south to Bird's Hills.

Just another day on the road like to me like but it's difficult because you know you you have to leave so much behind. Every memory I have is in that house, packed in a box or put on display. It almost seems apocalyptic. The world is burning up. Dennis Ballard is one of 5,000 people who fled Flintlawn. The 84-year-old made the 5.5 hour drive to Saskatoon. He says over the years there were other fires that came close, but these ones are different. They're bigger. They move faster. They're hotter and a hell of a lot more scary.

17,000 people have been forced from their homes in northern Manitoba, including from remote First Nations. The Canadian military is using Hercules aircraft to help people get out of Norway House and Mathias Cologne First Nation, also known as Pukatawagan. A number of communities in eastern Manitoba have also been ordered to evacuate. Premier Wab Kinew says the fire conditions this year are unlike any other. As the experts have explained it to us, is that in past years you've had one region at a time. The east would have an issue.

Then the next year it would be the north. And then the following year maybe the west. This year it's every region at the same time. The Premier says because of that, the province needs outside help. Water bombers have been sent from Ontario. Crews and equipment are being deployed from the U.S. The Premier says in the future, Manitoba will have to look at upping its resources to be able to better handle situations like this.

Caroline Bargout, CBC News, Winnipeg. Just across the provincial line from Flintlawn, residents of Creighton, Saskatchewan are watching the direction of the wind. Any change could seal the fate of the town. Only firefighters and public works crew are still there. Everyone else has evacuated. Saskatchewan, Alberta and BC are all dealing with out of control wildfires and evacuation orders. Smoke has triggered air quality alerts in all those provinces as well as Ontario, Quebec and the Northwest Territories. Air quality in some parts of the United States is also getting worse as the winds push the smoke south. All that, and we are barely a month into wildfire season. With crews already stretched to the limit, Canada is now asking for international help.

And some experts say a shortfall in firefighting resources will only get worse. Kate Kyle explains. A helicopter plunges water onto a wildfire by Churchill Falls, Labrador. From the air and on the ground, wildland firefighting crews are working at full capacity right across the country. And so there's a lot of competing demands out there. Alexandria Jones is with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. It works with the provinces and territories to coordinate the sharing of resources

like firefighters and equipment. Jones says right now there's not enough to meet the demand. Fire activity is significant and that our current available firefighting resources within Canada are all fully committed to response right now. Thursday the interagency raised its level of national preparedness to five. The call for help has gone out to other nations. Both Manitoba and Saskatchewan have declared a state of emergency. Manitoba's premier, Wab Kanu. Today we received news that 125 firefighters will be coming from the United States. That's 100

firefighters proper and then 25 managerial workers who will be able to provide logistical supports. Canada has an agreement to share wildland firefighting resources with nine countries including the US, Mexico and Australia. But some say Canada's wildfire fighting capacity isn't growing fast enough to meet the demand. The fire business is not a steady state. It has peaks or pulses and the pulses are the problem. Mike Flanagan is a professor of wildland fire at Thompson River University in Kamloops, British Columbia.

He's among those calling for more federal resources. We don't have a federal emergency management agency like they do in the states. But it's desperately needed and not just for fire. CBC reached out to the federal government about how it plans to address concerns about capacity and the idea of creating a national firefighting force. Officials have not responded. I have not yet seen evidence that makes me think that it is a fundamentally better solution. Eric Kennedy is an associate professor of disaster and emergency management at Toronto's York University. He says building capacity isn't just about more firefighters.

When it comes to firefighting, but we also see how that's connected to reducing the risk in the first place, making sure fire mitigation is in place, taking care of our ecosystems. Kennedy says Canada must do what it can to match the demand for resources as the situation intensifies with every new fire. Kate Kyle, CBC News, Yellowknife. [♪upbeat music playing -♪》 Still ahead, fighting for food in the middle of a war. Palestinians struggle to get basic rations

as ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas drag on. Plus, with trade tension rising at some tourist destinations, prices are falling. How U.S. businesses are trying to lure Canadians back. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is putting extra pressure on the push for a ceasefire. Palestinians are starving with only the smallest amount of food aid trickling into the territory. US President Donald Trump says an agreement between Israel and Hamas is close, but on the ground there isn't much to be optimistic about. Sasha Petrasek reports. Gunfire broke out at a food distribution site in central Gaza today, more of the unrest

that's plagued aid delivery since an Israeli and US-backed organization took charge of it, sidelining United Nations efforts. I walked here to get food for my family, says one man, and they're firing at us. It's unclear who was shooting, and the group in charge, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, says it's unaware. But there's plenty of criticism of the new approach. The UN says Gaza is facing forced starvation. Gaza is the hungriest place on earth.

Spokesman Jens Lerke blames Israel for not opening crossings into Gaza to the hundreds of UN trucks waiting. He doesn't blame the looters. It's a survival reaction, a survival reaction by desperate people who want to feed their families. Israel rejects the criticism, instead blaming the UN, saying it's allowing Hamas militants to hijack aid.

Israeli ambassador to the US, Yaiche Leiter. The UN is the problem, it's not the solution. The UN was in cahoots with representatives of Hamas. No! Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes continue hitting residential areas in central and northern Gaza. The U.S. has proposed a 60-day ceasefire. In a plan seen by the Reuters news agency, Hamas would release 28 Israeli hostages, alive and dead dead in exchange for more than 1,200 Palestinians held in Israel's jails.

Washington says Israel has accepted the proposal. Hamas says it is reviewing it. It wants a permanent ceasefire. But among Gaza's civilians, impatience is growing with Hamas' hesitation. Hamas has to agree because people are dying, says Lafeej Unaid. What's Hamas waiting for, says Suhad Abderaboo. There's no food, no water. And the aid that does arrive is leading to anger and unrest. Sasha Petrusik, CBC News, Toronto.

At the sexual assault trial of five former World Junior Hockey players, one of the accused was under cross-examination today. Former NHL goalie Carter Hart was pressed about the night in question in 2018, what he remembers and how much he had to drink. Karen Pauls is following the trial in London, Ontario. It is a tall order to discredit a defendant. Lydia Riva is a criminal defense lawyer

who's following the trial of the five former World Junior Hockey players, and in particular, the Crown's cross-examination of one of the accused, Carter Hart. You're not really expecting in a case like this for the Crown to break down the defendant so that he basically confesses his involvement. Crown attorney Megan Cunningham questioned Hart on the events of what happened the night of the alleged sexual assault in June 2018, asking if his memory was impacted by his level of intoxication.

He says it was only the fifth time he'd consumed alcohol and he was drunk with no memory of some periods of time. She's put to him at times that he's even faint memory to protect other people in the room. But ultimately she's trying to discredit him so that the trial judge ultimately will disbelieve his evidence. When he got the text from Michael McLeod offering three-way sex, Hart told court he assumed it was an agreed-upon plan between McLeod and the complainant known under a publication ban as EM. Hart says he was open to sex with McLeod and a woman and he went to room 209 with that hope.

EM has testified the men were talking about putting golf balls and golf clubs inside her. Hart says he has no memory of that. He also could not remember details. Cunningham asked about Alex Formonton going to the bathroom to have sex with EM but he disagreed when Cunningham suggested that Cal Foote did the splits over her face without his clothes on. The risk is that in this case the judge as opposed to the jury simply won't believe the accused. Leo Adler is a criminal defense lawyer in Toronto who's also not part of this case but

watching it closely. Maybe because of their answers, maybe because of their mannerisms, you get an impression of the accused. And hopefully it's a good impression. Still, Reva says this trial is not a credibility contest between the complainants and the defendants. The Crown has to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. That's a high burden.

Hart says he does remember E.M. repeatedly asking the guys in the room to have sex with her. He told court he doesn't think anyone would have done anything to hurt her and never felt things were getting out of hand. But he admitted the night was highly exceptional and unusual. Hart, McLeod, Formonton, Foote and Dillon-Dubé have all pleaded not guilty. Karen Pauls, CBC News, London, Ontario. They look like medical products endorsed by reputable Canadian organizations. But they're not.

Now, Diabetes Canada is warning its logo is being used without permission and these products were never approved. Alison Northcott reports. When you open the box you have this gadget. Joel Snipman thought he was ordering a device to help monitor his blood sugar and make it easier to manage his type 2 diabetes after seeing an ad on Facebook. He trusted it because it appeared to be endorsed by Diabetes Canada. But the product he got wasn't what was advertised.

It measured blood oxygen levels, not blood sugar. If I got sucked in then obviously there'd be other people to get sucked in and I wanted Diabetes Canada to know that some crooked outfit was using their logo. Diabetes Canada says it's heard from more than 300 people complaining of similar ads. This is the slimming and health boost drops. The organization's president and CEO Laura Siren says people have reported ads for purported diabetes health products or blood sugar meters with Diabetes Canada's logo.

But she says the organization never endorses any medical product. So if you live with diabetes and you are seeing a health product we think oh that looks interesting and it's endorsed by Diabetes Canada you need to know that's false. Siren says Diabetes Canada has tried to get the ads pulled down contacting companies selling the products and social media sites. In a statement Facebook's owner Metta said its policies prohibit content that defrauds people by promoting false or misleading health claims and said it's removed some of the ads in question flagged to them

by CBC News and is still investigating. The problem, Siren says, is when one ad disappears, another pops up. And Kabere Dasgupta, a physician, scientist and professor of medicine at McGill University, says the confusion that creates can make an already complicated disease even harder for people to manage. If they wind up going on a whole trajectory of taking something or using something that isn't helpful, who knows, perhaps harmful, then they risk having a worsening of their condition.

Some ads have also used logos for Obesity Canada and even Health Canada. Talia Wiebe with Obesity Canada says the companies pushing the products can be hard to track down. We have not been able to find anyone on the other end. We are working with our legal team to hopefully reach out to them and see some assist and have these products taken down. Health Canada told us the product Joel Snipman thought he was buying is not on the list of authorized medical devices in Canada. Diabetes Canada says anyone considering a treatment or monitoring device found online should talk to their doctor first.

Alison Northcott, CBC News, Montreal. It may sound like science fiction or a far-fetched quick fix for a planet running out of options, but with global temperatures rising, there's a very real push to develop technology that would allow us to simply suck carbon dioxide right out of the atmosphere. Paula Duhatschek explains. In an industrial park north of Calgary, preparations are underway for a sort of carbon removal Olympics. They are technologies from all around the world, from Canada, from the UK, from France, from Germany, from the Netherlands.

Alex Petra is CEO of Montreal based Deep Sky. It's testing different technologies that work sort of like giant air filters, sucking carbon dioxide right out of the sky. And all of them are coming here to demonstrate that we can actually take CO2 from the atmosphere and sequester it underground. Once Deep Sky figures out which technologies work best, it plans to use them in commercial projects all over the country. Damian Steele, an advisor with the business,

says the company is already starting to work on its first two projects in Quebec and Manitoba. We're willing to put our neck on the line and start to invest in these future facilities even before we know what technology we're gonna use. We're so committed to doing this that we just start to. But the carbon removal industry is in a moment of upheaval. Previously the US has been a world leader in carbon removal, but the Trump administration is pushing back on all things climate and at least two carbon removal companies with operations there are cutting staff. Environmental policy consultant

Ed Wittingham says in a strange way, this could be good news for Canada. We can see a pathway whereby capital that would otherwise be deployed in the US actually comes north of the border here. But scrubbing carbon from the sky is an expensive proposition. Deep Sky makes money by selling carbon removal credits to companies hoping to hit certain environmental targets. And with the economy teetering on the verge of a recession, there's risk that even in this country, carbon removal starts to look like an unnecessary luxury. Warren Mabey is head of the Queen's University Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy. When the markets are bad, people are less likely to be voluntarily paying additional costs to signal good behavior.

As for Damian Steele with Deep Sky, he's still confident in the company's future. I have faith that at the end of the day human beings genuinely care about our future and that will turn into stakeholder pressure on some of these organizations. Steele says concerns about climate change aren't going anywhere and that means a market for businesses offering solutions. Paula Duhaczek, CBC News, Innisfail, Alberta. And by morning, wrong was any trace of you I think I'd finally clean. Taylor Swift officially owns all her music.

The pop star announced she has purchased her entire catalog of recordings years after they were bought by a man she accused of bullying her. In 2019, Scooter Braun acquired the company that owned the masters of Swift's first six albums. Swift called it the worst case scenario and began re-recording and re-releasing the songs as an attempt to regain control. Braun then sold the Masters to a private equity firm for 300 million US dollars. Swift has now bought them back for an undisclosed sum. Emmy award-winning actress Loretta Switt, best known for her role as Major Margaret Houlihan on MASH, has died. So you can boss around a bunch of nurses, but not men, not real soldiers.

Is that so? Well, let me tell you something, soldier. I'm damn proud of these. Nobody gave them to me. I earned them. And I'm just as much a major as any other major. Hula Han was a demanding head nurse in the series, set on a

mobile surgical unit during the Korean War. Swit played the role for 11 seasons and won two Emmys for it. After MASH ended she became an animal welfare activist and donated proceeds of her memoir to that cause. Switt died at her home in New York City. She was 87 years old. She was 87 years old. [♪upbeat music playing on video 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. [♪upbeat music playing on video As Canadians sort out summer plans under the stress of a cross-border trade war, American

tourism operators are already noticing fewer bookings from this side of the border. Now they're offering up all kinds of deals and discounts to lure people south. Sophia Harris reports. And it's going to be a very, very challenging season. It's tough times for Paul Dame, owner of Bluff Point Golf Resort in Plattsburgh, New York, around 100 kilometres south of Montreal. Enjoy your day out there, of course. Dame says business so far is down 30% compared to last year.

The big problem? Canadian golfers usually make up around half his business. But many of them are no-shows. They're teed off about U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and threats to annex Canada. They don't like being picked on and to be honest I can't really blame them. To encourage Canadians to return, Dame is offering them some freebies, including a set of three golf balls, each with a classic Canadian symbol. Beavers, hockey jerseys and mounties. A gift to say thank you, a gift to say come back and see us. In April, the number of return trips Canadians made to the U.S. by air and land plummeted by 31 percent, compared to the same period last year.

Just an hour from Montreal, we offer stunning lake views. To help save the summer season in the Plattsburgh area, the local Chamber of Commerce is running TV ads targeting Quebecers. And on Sunday, it plans to launch a web page listing local businesses offering exclusive deals for Canadians. We have lodging properties who are offering at-par rooms or discounted room rates. Some places are offering add-ons. Christy Kennedy is the Chamber's Vice President of Marketing.

What are you hoping to achieve with this campaign? We want to make sure that we're putting the right messaging out there, that we are still welcoming our Canadian visitors. Without you, we wouldn't be as beautiful. California is running a similar campaign, which includes a friendly ad... Thank you, Canada. ...and a webpage listing more than 1,000 hotels and attractions, offering Canadians discounts of up to 40%.

It was launched by Visit California, the state's tourism organization. Carolyn Batetta is CEO. We just want to send the welcome mat. We love having our Canadian friends. is CEO. We just want to send the welcome mat. We love having our Canadian friends. But in downtown Toronto, several Canadians told CBC News the U.S. remains off their destination list. Because of Trump, I'm not going to travel to the States even if they offer discount.

Discount is temporary bandage, nothing else. So Trump also needs to drop the tariffs? Yes, definitely. Still, some US tourism operators like Dame say their efforts are worth a shot. Nice shot. Sophia Harris, CBC News, Toronto. We end tonight at the French Open in Paris, where there's a scheduling disparity that's as different as night and day.

Getting back to the decision about the night sessions, essentially telling women that they're not worthy of... That's not what we're saying. I have to stop you right there. For me, the message has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night. Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo being asked about how the French Open distributes its high-profile court time. Three years ago it broke with tradition and extended play into the evening when more people can watch. It also signed a TV contract that says there can only be one prime time match per night.

Since the switch, 38 night matches have been played, just two have involved women. Organizers say men usually play longer matches, better suited for the TV slot, but Tunisian tennis star Anse Jabir is one of several players speaking out. And I hope whoever is making the decision, I don't think they have daughters, because I don't think they want to treat their daughters like this. It's a bit ironic, you know. They don't show women's sports, they don't show women's tennis,

and then they ask a question, yeah, but mostly they watch men. Of course they watch men more, because you show men more. Scheduling is the latest front in the fight for equality in tennis. Financially, there is now an even playing field. Equal prize money at the Grand Slam tournaments was secured in 2007 after the French Open became the last of the four events to pay women the same as men. This has been your World Tonight for Friday, May 30th. I'm Stephanie Scanderis. Thank you for being with us. Good night.

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