Your World Tonight - Frank Gehry dies, sport/politics mix at FIFA, Indigenous items repatriated, and more

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

Canadian-born architect Frank Gehry has died. He was known as one of the most original talents in the field — designing the ground-breaking Bilbao museum, among many other projects, including the facade of the Art Gallery of Ontario.And: Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Washington. He went for the World Cup draw. But he was drawn into something else — a talk with the U.S. and Mexican presidents.Also: Dozens of sacred and cultural Indigenous items are on their way home from the Vatican Museum. It started with the national Inuit organization trying to get a kayak back from Rome, and it grew from there to 62 objects.Plus: Job numbers up, foundational study on Roundup pesticide retracted, Netflix is buying its Friends — A $72 Billion U.S. play for Warner Bros., and more.

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Donate at lovescarbro.cairbo. This is a CBC podcast. Architecture, I believe, is an art. Some of the greatest artists, El Greco, Giotto, were all architects. So it was a seamless profession. The Canadian visionary, who designed some of the world's most unique buildings, sculpting, steel and glass into global landmarks, while reshaping the possibilities of architecture itself. Frank Gehry has died at the age of 96.

This is your world tonight. I'm Stephanie Scandaris. It's Friday, December 5th, coming up on 6 p.m. Eastern, also on the podcast. We're getting along very well. I don't know. I think we have a meeting set up for sometime after the event. Hoping to kickstart negotiations at an event for the World Cup, After Canada, U.S. trade talks got stalled because of a TV ad during the World Series,

paused for more than a month, now hoping for a reset, as the Prime Minister gets some face-time with Donald Trump. And... Oh, Canada! Oh, congratulations. Canadian trade officials may be focused on the United States. Its men's soccer team is worried about Switzerland, Qatar, and a mystery team. Matchups are set in next summer. FIFA World Cup.

They are striking, must-see, museums, theaters, and homes that are as much art as they are architecture. The creations of Frank Gehry, born and raised in Canada before going on to global fame, the superstar architect died this morning at his home in California following a brief illness. Yasmin Ranea has more on Gary's life and work. I didn't know I wanted to be an architect

until I took some classes in the art school. From there, Frank Gehry would go on to become the most famous architect of our time. Architecture, I believe, is an art. Some of the greatest artists, El Greco, Giotto, were all architects. So it was a seamless profession between art and architecture.

Long before making that connection, Gary was born Frank Goldberg in Toronto in 1929. His family struggled to make ends meet. As a child, he played with small pieces of wood making imaginary buildings and cities. After a time in Timmins, Ontario, his family moved to California. Enduring anti-Semitism throughout his life

prompted him to change his last name to Gary. That name now best known for his Zimbons, design of the shiny waves that define the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Well, it did get a lot of press, I'll tell you that. The project was so successful that it helped transform the city of Bilbao into an international destination, a phenomenon that would later be named the Bilbao effect. It did change the town, so that caught me by surprise. Gary played with materials and designs in ways other architects wouldn't or couldn't.

In Prague, one Gary creation has been nicknamed the dancing house. It's shaped and curved to look like a pair of dancers, one in the arms of the other. In Los Angeles, another building features what looks like a giant pair of binoculars in the center of the structure. And in Canada, he's perhaps most known for leading the renovation of the Art Gallery of Ontario, designing, among other things, the iconic spiral staircase in the museum's Walker Court. Stefan Yost is the museum's director. He imagined it as a place where somebody might be walking up and somebody else might be walking down.

It's so beautiful. They might see somebody and they might fall in love. So he had a very romantic sense of the staircase. Gary worked into his 90s because he loved the projects and the people. I liked solving problems for them. I like making them happy. And so it just drives me to keep doing it. The people relationships are really the most.

important thing. The 96-year-old renowned architect died in his California home after a brief respiratory illness, but one of his final designs is still under construction, two soaring mixed-use buildings in downtown Toronto. The towers will have sections of different sizes that by design don't align perfectly, almost like blocks of wood stacked on top of each other, and they will get the unmistakable Gary Touch and will be clad in shimmering stainless Steel. Having some sense of movement in the palace. Yasmil Ranea, CBC News, Vancouver. For days, Prime Minister Mark Carney played down his Washington trip for the World Cup draw,

saying it was more about soccer than restarting trade talks. But an unexpected pull-aside at the event is offering some hope that frosty relations with the U.S. could be warming up. Katie Simpson explains why. It's going to be fantastic. An upbeat Prime Minister Mark Carlin. genuinely seemed excited to be in Washington. His soccer mission, serving as an opportunity to recalibrate the Canada-U.S. relationship

by getting plenty of face-time with President Donald Trump. And we're getting along very well, you know? We're getting along very well. Trump seemed to be in a good mood as well. He was praised at this star-studded ceremony awarded the first ever FIFA Prize for Peace. Please, the big round will close for the President of the United States He laughed and smiled on stage, seeming to bring that same kind of energy

to his private viewing box, where he was seated right next to Carney. The pair chatted and joked for the better part of two hours. At one point, Mexico's president, Claudia Shanebaum, squeezed in between them, and the conversations continued. All three would later meet in private for about 45 minutes. It actually really demonstrates the ways in which we, We have such a depth of relationship beyond just the ebbs and flows of what's happening at trade talk tables.

Diamond Isinger served as a special advisor on Canada-U.S. relations for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. As the country waits to learn more about what was said in private, Isinger says this is a chance to lighten the mood. Trump is threatening to leave Kuzma, which is up for renegotiation next year. He also broke off separate talks aimed at lifting tariffs on some Canadian sectors after becoming angry about an anti-tariff ad run by Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Patience. We need to be patient. Now is not a time when we're going to get a very good deal out of the U.S., but I think conditions will improve over time.

Canada's former lead trade negotiators, Steve Verhoel, says these complicated talks should not be rushed. We still have the exemption, the Kusma exemption, from our perspective, which allows most of our goods to trade duty-free. We hang on to that. We work on those that aren't, steal aluminum models and others. and just try to do it quietly and professionally. Between Trump and Carney, the body language and camaraderie seemed to suggest the tone is headed in a better direction. And the Prime Minister's office says all three leaders have agreed to keep working together on Kuzma.

But when it comes to Trump, you just never know what's next. Katie Simpson, CBC News, Washington. While Canadian officials look to shake hands on a new trade deal, many were watching events in Washington more concerned about some guys who use their feet. It was the all-important FIFA World Cup draw. Canada has qualified, and today the team learned who it is matched up against. Philip LeShanock has more. Obviously, we're a hockey nation, recently baseball as well, right?

So now soccer, hopefully... As Canada's group matchups become clearer, long-time soccer fans like Deepak Puri say, while this is home to people from around the world, world, he hopes Canadians, of all backgrounds, rally around Team Canada. We saw that with baseball with the Jays recently, so. And after today's FIFA draw, fans like Puri are liking the odds. Canada will be facing Qatar and Group B of the competition. The team is ranked 51st in the world and was the first team eliminated in 2022 when it

hosted the World Cup. At a FIFA draw watch party in Toronto, Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC captain, points out that Canada's competition in Group B is still not settled. Depending on even how the playoff turns out in March, the European playoff, it will be, I think it's a tough move. Canada drew the winner of UEFA. That tournament in March will see Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Italy compete for the final Group B spot.

Any of those four teams will be interesting, especially, of course, with the huge Italian community that we have here. Osorio says many Italian Canadians would have their loyalties tested if 12th-placed Italy were to face Canada. To play the opening game of the World Cup, Canada, Italy, nah, man, it would, honestly, it's huge for the country, it's huge for everybody. John Molinero, long-time Canadian soccer journalist, says in 2022, Canada drew one of the hardest groups and had to play Belgium, Morocco, and Croatia.

The luck of the draw is just, you know, hugely important in terms of, setting teams up for success or failure at the World Cup. Canada made an early exit losing three games. Canadian soccer legend Bob Leonard Doozzi was a member of Team Canada at its first World Cup appearance in 1986. When I say a rag-tag group, I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but some of the players weren't even playing professional soccer. He says playing on home turf may push the team to outperform higher-ranked squads.

Anytime you pull the red jersey on as a player, you feel, I mean, I'm getting goosebumps now, as I'm saying, you feel a sense of pride. And the fact that you're playing in a World Cup in your backyard, well, that pride is just going to go through the roof. That may make the difference if Canada does face Italy in the World Cup opener. Canada's first game is on June 12 at Bimo Field, which during the tournament will be simply known as Toronto Stadium, as per FIFA rule. Feltley-Shanock, CBC News, Toronto. Coming right up, an end-of-the-year surprise for the Canadian job market and why the R-word more economists are talking about is rebound. Also, Netflix could become even more dominant in the entertainment industry

with plans to buy one of Hollywood's biggest studios. Later, we'll have this story. An ancient inuvialuit sealskin Kayak is on its way back to Canada tonight. all the way from the Vatican Museum where it's been housed for 100 years. After a repatriation effort, it's coming home, along with dozens of other artifacts. We want to make sure that it's preserved to the extent that it should be so that it's not further damaged. We want some of our elders and people that continue to have a lot of knowledge with kayaks

to look at the traditional methods that were used. I'm Juanita Taylor, and I traveled to Inuvic Northwest Territories last month to find out more about this Inuvial Vialawez Kayak. That's coming up on your world tonight. Uncertainty has been the dark cloud hovering over the Canadian economy all year. But with just a few weeks before the end of 2025, a tiny glimmer of light today shining through in the latest job numbers. Unemployment down to 6.5% last month. Employers adding 54,000 jobs. Senior business correspondent Peter Armstrong is looking at the data.

Peter, can we call this the beginning of a rebound? You know, Stephanie, I asked a few economists about that today. And I do think, at least part of this is they're all afraid of jinxing it by calling it a recovery too early. And it does depend on what you call a rebound, right? Yes, these numbers are encouraging. And yes, we've seen a trend of more positive news on both the jobs front and the GDP front. But it's important to point out that this is a bounce of a very low point. If it sustains, though, I think we can look back to like the beginning of the summer as the worst of the hit to the economy.

And that, of course, is contingent on the trade war not escalating and tariffs not increasing, of course. Most of the jobs are part-time. Does that take away from the enthusiasm of this report? Look, you would always like to have more full-time than part-time. And the other thing in this is that most of the job growth came for young people, 15 to 24-year-olds, not what they call the core age group, which is 25 to 54. But that, too, might actually offer some encouraging signs. We asked CIBC's chief economist, Avery Shenfeld, what he made of that.

Well, young people tend to be the first ones let go or not hired when times are tough. And we certainly saw that earlier this year. And so they've been out looking for work. And a lot of the jobs created in recent months have been part-time, which sometimes suits what a younger person is looking for. Okay, sometimes. But put together, the economy added what, a combined 180,000 jobs in September, October, and November. Is the drop in the unemployment rate a more important

metric? Look, they're both very important, but they're also both very encouraging. Those monthly numbers, though, they can be pretty volatile. We've talked about that a bunch of times before. So as a general rule, economists and certainly the Bank of Canada tend to look at that unemployment rate a little

bit more. And it was at 7.1% in September. So can you put that big a drop in context for us? It is, it's huge. And that big of a drop in that short of a time, it just doesn't happen very often. Bimo's chief economist, Douglas Porter, included this fascinating stat in his report when the Jobs Report came out.

This is a quote here. He says, the last time we saw a six tick drop in the unemployment rate in a two-month span, aside from the wildness around COVID, was during the last tech boom in 1999. Wow. Thanks, Peter. You bet. Senior business correspondent Peter Armstrong in Toronto. It is a blockbuster acquisition.

shaking up Hollywood and the broader entertainment industry. Netflix is buying Warner Brothers for $72 billion U.S. dollars. The takeover folds big brands like HBO Max, D.C., and a century-old legacy studio into the streaming giants' expanding empire. Magdegebras Lassa has more. A sound synonymous with movies, telling you a Warner Brothers production is about to play. Now the century-old Hollywood studio behind franchises like Harry Potter could have a new owner, Netflix. The streaming giant won its bid to acquire the company in a blockbuster $72 billion deal.

This is a big day. That's Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. Together, we can give audiences around the world even more value and choice. To get to this point, reports say there was a bidding war. Netflix beat out Paramount Skydance in the end. sparking shock for some. Oh, it's out the blue, really, a surprise. Paolo Pescatori is a technology media telecoms analyst in the UK.

While he found the news unexpected, he thinks it's a big win for Netflix and Hollywood as a whole. This kind of preserves, you know, Hollywood and gives Hollywood a chance to thrive in an environment where we are clearly having, you know, making this shift towards streaming. But critics fear it's bad news for cinema. So what we worry about is that there will be fewer movies that are put into theaters. Netflix isn't really known for creating movies for the big screen. And while it says it will keep showing Warner Brothers films in theaters, Michael O'Leary with Cinema United, representing movie theaters around the world, isn't buying that. Commitment to theatrical exhibition means that you have a steady slate of movies that you're putting into theaters,

that there's a meaningful window of exclusivity, and that those movies are supported by marketing. What Netflix has done historically is they'll put a movie in for 10 days so that it qualifies for an award or something like that. That's not a meaningful commitment to exhibition. This deal still has a ways to go, including facing regulatory reviews. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren says it would put workers at risk and give consumers fewer choices. In a statement, she calls it an anti-monopoly nightmare, while Netflix's Sarando says the deal is pro-consumer, pro-innovation, pro-worker, pro-creator. It's a pretty big chunk of our industry now all sitting under kind of one banner.

Meanwhile, here in Ontario, filmmaker, Sasha Lee Henry, worries about what this will all mean in the end for artists like her. From the filmmaker perspective, it does, it's concerning, wondering if that means that the breadth of what they'll be looking for will be narrow. Even if the deal passes all hurdles, Netflix says it will be a year or more before it's done. Makta Geberra Salas is CBC News, Toronto. An Alberta judge has ruled a proposed referendum question on separation is unconstitutional. The question asks if the province should become a sovereign country. It was submitted by the Alberta

Prosperity Project, a citizen-led group. Justice Colin Fiesby also used his ruling to criticize a government plan to sidestep the court. The government tabled a bill yesterday that would have discontinued the case. Feesby called that antithetical to the rule of law and democracy. There are new questions about the health risks of a popular pesticide. Glyphosate is used by farmers everywhere, but a decades-old study promoting its safety is being pulled over claims the findings may have been fixed. Josh McLean now on the fallout. Weeds, no problem. It's been a staple of green thumbs for decades. Glifosate is a common ingredient. in weed killers in Canada, like Roundup.

50 million kilograms of the chemical are sold in Canada every year, used in backyards, farmers' fields, and logging operations around the country. But now a key study, claiming it is safe for humans, is being retracted. Finally. Marie-Elan, Beacon, studies pesticides at the University of Quebec at Montreal. There is a lot of research on the impacts of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides, showing the health effect of those products. Some of those health problems, various types of cancer,

neurological problems, and endocrine disruptors. The retracted study was published 25 years ago by the journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. But now the journal says the study relied solely on unpublished studies by Roundup maker Monsanto. It may have misrepresented how much of the paper was written by Monsanto employees and that the authors may have received financial compensation from Monsanto for their work. work. And so the first question is how quickly should our agencies re-evaluate the toxicity of glyphosate?

Bruce Lanfier is a health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. He says regulatory agencies like Health Canada need more resources to oversee large multinational companies. They continue to rely on industry-funded science, despite the fact that we've seen time and again over the years that you can't trust what these guys put out. In a statement to CBC, Health Canada says it acknowledges the retraction, but that doesn't change its position that glyphosate is safe to be used and that its latest review in 2017 relied on more than 1,300 studies. Many Canadian gardeners are already looking for alternatives.

Kath Smyth is with the Calgary Horticultural Society. It is a non-selective herbicide. It kills anything green that it touches. So when it's doing that, just think about it going into the soil and then into the water table. German chemical giant Bayer purchased Monsanto in 2018 and has faced tens of thousands of lawsuits related to glyphosate in its products, paying out billions of dollars and removing the chemical from residential products

it sells in the United States. In a statement to CBC News, Bayer said it stands behind the safety of its glyphosate-based products and points out that in addition to Health Canada, the European Union renewed its approval of the chemical in 2023 for another 10 years. Health Canada's current approval of glyphosate expires in 2032. Josh McLean, CBC News, Calgary. The DFO has transcribed eight votes yes and three votes no. The motion passes.

A U.S. Vaccine Advisory Committee has voted to stop recommending that all babies get a hepatitis B shot the day they are born. The panel members were appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who's questioned the value of vaccination. The panel voted to recommend the birth. dose only for babies whose mothers have already tested positive for Hepbe or who haven't been tested. Medical and public health leaders have criticized the decision, including Dr. Joseph Hibbelin, who is on the panel. He called the decision unconscionable.

This has a great potential to cause harm, and I simply hope that the committee will accept its responsibility when this harm is caused, and I vote now. In Canada, New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut all recommend vaccination. on the day of birth. Most of the rest of the provinces recommend hepatitis B vaccines begin at two months. Hepatitis B can lead to liver failure, liver cancer, and cirrhosis of the liver.

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. There are dozens of items, some of them sacred, all of them from indigenous communities. They've been on display or tucked away in the Vatican Museum. But now, after a hundred years, the artifacts are coming home. As Juanita Taylor reports, it started with a request for a sealskin kayak that led to much more.

It's unique to this area. Darrell Nassagalwaq is looking at a photo of a century-old Kayaq. He's from Duktu Yachtuk Northwest Territories. He knows a lot about this sealskin kayak specific to his region in the western Canadian Arctic. Nassagalwaq points to the curved tips on the bow and stern. There's no other area that used them that had the same horn. His and other Inuvialawid's strong connection to their history

helped identify the Kayaq that's been housed at the bed, Museum since 1925. They're fragile, but they were designed to be very light and fast. Roman Catholic missionaries sent it to the Vatican, along with roughly 100,000 other objects from around the world, for an exhibition they say was to show the church was open to all cultures, including a display of what daily life was like for indigenous people in Canada, where missionaries lived.

But it's not clear if the items were sent as gifts or taken. Now, 100 years later, the ancient Kayak is returning to the Inuvialuit people. It's heartwarming. Chair of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Duane Smith, is leading efforts to repatriate the Kayak. It's a part of our history, our culture, and what it means to the Inovalut in general. Smith says he's been working with the National Inuit Organization, Inuit Tabarid Kanatami, or ITK, to get it back. ITK says initially that request helped advance First Nations and Métis

to get some of their sacred objects too. Now, 62 cultural objects are being returned. Because these are artifacts, we needed permits. Negotiations between Inuit and the Vatican began in 2022, just before Canada's indigenous group's historic visit to Rome, where they met with the late Pope Francis and joined a private tour of the Vatican museums.

Former Denne National Chief, Arnold Antoine was there and saw some of the pieces. We're on the right path of truth moving forward. Only one object being repatriated has Métis origin. Disappointing for the president at the Métis National Council, Victoria Pruden couldn't say what the item is yet, but she said she's thankful for the work done to get it back. It is a delightful piece that actually has a lot of historical significance

and significance to us. Smith says getting the Kayaq back is a form of reconciliation. and will help revitalize their culture, especially for young people. We want to make sure that it's preserved so that it's not further damaged. We want some of our elders and people that continue to have a lot of knowledge with kayaks, to have access, to look at the traditional methods that were used. All 62 pieces will be arriving in Montreal on Saturday, then brought to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec for examination,

and where Inuit, Méti, and First Nations leaders will decide their final destination. Oneida Taylor, CBC News, Inuvic, Northwest Territories. Finally tonight, an annual fundraiser for one of Canada's major healthcare institutions with one of this country's biggest celebrities revisiting some recent sports heartbreak. Hey, Ryan Reynolds here.

You know, ever since we started making our annual video to raise money for sick kids' hospital in Toronto a few years ago, I've heard from so many generous Canadians offering a co-star. Well, Mr. Freddie Freeman. Moviegoers will know Vancouver native, Ryan Reynolds, baseball fans may shudder at the name Freddie Freeman. Even though he is a fellow Canadian, the pro baseball player is also a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who so cruelly defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series.

A video released by Sick Kids today pokes fun at Freeman's current standing among Canadians when he greets some young patients. It's me, Freddy Freeman. What a loser. Trust me, man. We know who you are. You've really got some nerve coming here. You ruined everything. Let's go Blue Jays!

Jesus, let's bro! Let's go Blue Jays! I asked him in March. What are the odds? Ouch. An L.A. Dodger, though, really, Ryan, I think I speak for Blue Jays fans across the country when I say, too soon. This has been your world tonight. For Friday, December 5th, I'm Stephanie Scandaris. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca.ca slash podcasts.