Your World Tonight - Gas prices soar, Pam Bondi out, fake syrup in Quebec, and more

Episode Date: April 2, 2026

There is frustration at the pump — linked to a war thousands of kilometres away. Gas prices are high as the long weekend begins. And a speech from the U.S. President gave no insights into when the war in the Mideast might end.Also: Donald Trump fires his attorney general Pam Bondi.And: Sometimes it seems like you just can’t count on anything anymore. CBC-Radio’s investigative program Enquête has found the “pure” maple syrup sold by a major Quebec producer isn’t as pure as it’s supposed to be. Lab tests revealed several cans from different batches of syrup were cut with at least 50 per cent cane sugar.Plus: Finance minister in China to drum up business, a Yukon First Nation declares a Finlayson caribou herd a living ecological person, and more.

You know that feeling when you reach the end of a really good true crime series? You want to know more, more about the people involved, where the case is now, and what it's like behind the scenes. I get that. I'm Kathleen Goldhar and on my podcast, Crime Story, I speak with the leading storytellers of true crime to dig deeper into the cases we all just can't stop thinking about. Find crime story wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. This is crazy. You know, gas prices are skyrocketing and unfortunately this car has a turbo engine, so I'm forced to gas up Supreme. So right now I'm gassing up at 222. Frustration at the pump linked to a war thousands of kilometers away and to a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump that gave no real sense of when that war might end.

This is your world tonight for Thursday, April 2nd, just before 6 p.m. Eastern. I'm Stephanie Scandaris, also on the podcast. Good riddons. Pam Bondi was an absolute disaster. She was an embarrassment. It was a catastrophe. Pam Bondi is out as U.S. Attorney General. She angered many with her handling of the files of child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including the lawyers for his accusers. The U.S. President praised her work on social media in the same post where he announced he was firing her. With more than 25 million cars on the road across the country and most of them powered by gas,

even a small price jump can have a big impact on Canadian drivers. But the jumps in the past month have not been small, with the average price spiking by nearly 50 cents per liter. Sarah Levitt has more. At a gas station in Montreal's South Shore, one motorist filling up says the prices are, out of control. But we don't have a choice, he says.

In St. John's Newfoundland... They're ridiculous. Yeah, like I said, I've got to draw that truck to work every day. It's cost me probably $40 every two days. So, yeah, it's a bit much. Across the country, gas prices continued to rise. In Toronto, it's currently hovering around $1.85 per liter. In Montreal, prices are around $2, and in Vancouver, some stations are higher than $2.15.

U.S. President Donald Trump in his address to the nation Wednesday night acknowledged the increased cost in his country too. Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices. But he says the war on Iran will escalate. That means the Strait of Hormuz will continue to be effectively blocked by Tehran for commercial shipping, including critically crude oil shipments. Markets are not taking that kindly and they're responding vigorously. Gas price analyst, Dan,

and McTeague has been watching that market closely. It's pretty clear that if we're going to have no three to four weeks of this, it's going to create and compound an even worse situation. McTeague says it's not just gas prices, but diesel too, and Canada could hit a new record this weekend. That's a concern, says David McDonald, a senior economist with the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, since higher energy expenses are likely to increase costs across the supply chain,

like in farming and food shipments. Then you're more likely to see a spike in interest rates, which then spikes housing prices. The lower the better. Pain at the pump has federal conservative leader Pierre Pollyev calling for a break on some federal gas taxes, including the GST, for the rest of the year. Australia cut their excise tax. Spain, Ireland. It's time to have the government pinch its pennies so that Canadians don't have to. When asked about a tax cut to gas earlier this week,

Prime Minister Mark Carney didn't say yes or no. We'll have a fiscal event in the spring with the spring update. And that would be the right time to fully answer that question. This is crazy. Montreal or Joseph Zavolta is an Uber Eats delivery driver and has been feeling the pinch. It's just really hard these days on everyone, especially on drivers, on top of that, trying to make ends meet. Zavolta and other Canadians are hoping for some form of relief, whatever it is. Sarah Levitt's CBC News, Montreal.

volatility and unpredictability and energy markets to the war that's causing it. There were more strikes across the Middle East today. A key shipping route remains blocked, and despite U.S. threats to keep escalating attacks on Iran, the regime remains defiant. Sasha Petrissik has the latest. If the speech from U.S. President Donald Trump was meant to mark any change in the Iran war, there was little sign of it today. Iranian TV was still showing off missile launches.

Central Israel was still on the receiving end, with video verified by CBC showing hits in a suburb of Tel Aviv. Iranian drones also targeted Iraq and the Persian Gulf. We're going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong. Following up on his speech from last night, Trump posted video on social media of a bridge west of Tehran blowing up, saying much more to follow. In Iran, a government spokesman called U.S. target so far insignificant.

An Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohamed Bagar Ghalyub posted that the country was locked, loaded, and standing tall. Bring it on, he says. At the UN, Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez was trying to cool things down. If the drums of war keep beating escalation will only make all of these worse. The spiral of deaths and destruction must stop. We've taken a different view from the US. Indeed, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper hosted a video conference with 40 countries, including Canada, looking for.

for ways to unblock the Strait of Hormuz and bring down oil prices. That's why we're so determined to see every possible diplomatic, economic and coordinated measure to get the straits reopened. Other countries like Thailand, the Philippines and Russia announced they've struck deals with Iran to allow their ships through. But some allies are getting a little frustrated with what they see is Trump's grandstanding and contradictions. Responding to Trump's latest speech, French President Emmanuel Macron says this isn't a show.

You don't say one thing one day and something else the next. We need stability. Sasha Petrissick, CBC News, Jerusalem. Coming right up, Donald Trump calls Pam Bondi a true patriot and loyal friend. And that was in the same social media post where he announced she is out as U.S. Attorney General. Also, young men in Ontario have been seeking help for their mental health. Ontario says the reason is gambling addiction. Later, we'll have this story.

I'm Steve Rukovina in Montreal, where my colleagues at Radio Canada have uncovered bogus maple syrup being sold in grocery stores across Quebec. All the samples that were brought to our lab, they were falsified. We found some foreign sugar in it. Coming up, how Radio Canada tracked. down the counterfeit condiment and what the producer behind it is saying. That's later on your world tonight.

Donald Trump has fired Pam Bondi as United States Attorney General. She's been a staunch supporter of the president, but she's also faced criticism for how she ran the Department of Justice and specifically her handling of the Epstein files. Chris Reyes reports. Thank you, President Trump. I've known you for many, many years, and I will not let you down. Just a little over a year since Pam Bondi was sworn in as U.S. Attorney General,

and she's now out of the Department of Justice. No official explanation from President Donald Trump, only praise for her loyalty, and an announcement posted on Truth Social that she'll now be joining the private sector. In her own statement, Bondi also hinted at an amicable parting that she'll work tirelessly to transition Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche into the job before taking on a role that she said will continue to fight for Donald Trump and his administration. Democrats in the Congressional Judiciary Committee, including Jamie Raskin, said Bondi,

turned the DOJ into Trump's personal vendetta machine. They sacked dozens and dozens of career attorneys just for having worked on the January 6th case. They did everything they could to obstruct the release of the Epstein files. They did nothing to try to crack down on the outrageous ice tactics that were trampling people's civil rights and constitutional liberties in Minneapolis. Bondi's ouster comes after months of speculation that the Trump administration was frustrated by Bondi's handling of the Epstein files. It's delayed release, fueling animosity towards the president. The documents detailed the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who had passed associations with Trump. Lawyer, Eric Fudali, also frustrated but for different reasons.

Fudali represents Epstein accusers. She was an embarrassment. The way she showed a complete, I wouldn't even just say disregard, but almost an utter contempt for the survivors and what they wanted throughout this process. Trump also recently appeared to be publicly admonishing Bondi for not doing more to investigate his perceived political enemies. For weeks now, there have been reports that Bondi was soon to be on the chopping blood. block after Department of Homeland Security head Christy Noem's high-profile exit last month. Raskin says he's not confident Blanche will be that much different than Bondi. All of them, again, are completely political sycophants and flunkies to Donald Trump.

Bondi is still scheduled to testify before the Senate over her handling of the Epstein files. Chris Reyes, CBC News, New York. Instability in the White House is part of the motivation behind a high-level Canadian trade to China. The finance minister is in Beijing this week with other officials and business leaders. Lisa Singh has more from the Chinese capital. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Maclum and Finance Minister Francois Filippe Champagne greeted by Ambassador Jennifer May at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing. They're in China to make Canada's case in a place of massive opportunity. We think that our financial institutions

or insurance company, which are already present on the Chinese market, can help to further the objective that has been set by the Prime Minister. How are you doing, sir? Great to see you. Thanks for your work and proud of what you're doing. Champagne and MacLam met with Canadian banks and insurance companies who want to do more business here and to increase exports to China by 50% by 2030. A goal laid out by Prime Minister Mark Carney when he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in January.

McLem says it's necessary. We talk about diversifying our trade. We need to do it. It's critical to our prosperity. Canada's economy is precariously tied to that of the U.S. A liability in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war. So one way to gain independence, increasing partnerships with China, like on clean tech and renewable energy. It's Canada's second largest trading partner, but its trade deficit with China. $56 billion last year. A gap these leaders want to close by expanding in bigger markets, including Phil Wetherington, the CEO of Financial Services Company, Manu Life.

We cannot be a global giant and depend only on 40 million customers, but by accessing mega economies such as China and India and the United States, we can be a global giant. You did very well. To do that, you have to do that. to be on the ground, they say, something that's been lacking on the political front the last few years. Kevin Strain is the CEO of financial services firm Sun Life. You can fake caring, but you can't fake showing up. And that helps open up doors at the highest levels.

The finance minister is expected to meet with Chinese vice premier, Hele Feng, showing Canada is serious about the relationship and securing its spot in a market of 1.4 billion people. Lisa Sheng, CBC News, Beijing. More young men are becoming addicted to gambling. The consequences they face aren't just financial. Today, Ontario released a set of ads hoping to counter all the pro-gambling marketing. Philip LeShenock reports. I feel a run coming.

Blue Jays Money Line. Lock it in. Tune in to any ball game and they are everywhere, especially during playoffs. Online betting ads offering the promise of easy cash. And that ball is out of it. Windsor-based gambling counselor Chelsea Rodriguez says she sees the downside. Clients as young as 16 years old who've used their parents' ID to sign up to gamble online. Oftentimes it will begin in the form of a video game because they obviously are not ones to try getting into a casino. And since it's online and easy to conceal, she says there are a few warnings until it's too late.

You can keep going as long as you have access to money and time. And the damage that can be done in a half an hour from your bed, from your couch is really mind-boggling. Rodriguez says problem gambling can show up as anxiety, depression, and even risk of self-harm. The Canadian Medical Association found that young men calling Ontario's helpline has increased since the province expanded private online gambling in 2022. It's a very impressionable group. And so we have a responsibility in government to understand that and to move thoughtful. and quickly. Ontario's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, Stan Cho, says ads produced with the Responsible Gambling Council

is an attempt to help. One ad shows a young man playing online slots on his phone nonstop. It impacts his social life, his studies, and his work. Choos says online gambling companies excel at marketing. They know how people play. They know where to get them, how to speak to them. We need to be able to combat that head on. but we're up to the challenge.

And there are a lot of them. Ontario is the most competitive online gambling market in North America in terms of numbers of operators. There are 50 gambling operators and 80 plus sites, give or take. Dr. Andrew Kim teaches psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University. He says there are also more ways to bet. So kind of sped up the pace of sports betting to be more like a slot machine and not a lottery ticket.

Alberta is set to follow Ontario and open the door to private operations. Paul Burns as president of the Canadian Gambling Association. He says the industry approves of Ontario's ads and wants players to be more responsible. It's not a lifestyle. It's not a way to pay the rent. It is for entertainment, done in moderation. Meanwhile, gaming revenue has skyrocketed by almost a third last year to almost $3 billion. Researchers say more of that jackpot should go to research and gambling addiction programs. Bulte Shanox, CBC News, Toronto.

They have four legs, a tail, a mane, and rights. That's according to one Yukon First Nation who have declared a specific caribou herd, a living ecological person. The goal? To protect the caribou from industrial development, which threatens their health and habitat. George Moradis has the details. That's the sound of Yukon Caribou. This week, the Finlinson herd in southeast Yukon was designated special protection when they were declared a living ecological person. A move made by the Ross River Denna Council. Dylan Loblaw is chief of the Yukon First Nation.

He led the unique animal protection effort. The right to exist in its core range and its winter habitat, the right to be protected from industrial development. The herd also now has the right to legal representation and protection. Stephen Wood is a professor in law and sustainability at the University of British Columbia. I'm excited by it because it's an innovative development in several ways. It is expressed as an exercise of the inherent right to self-government of the Kaska Dena people. The First Nations decision comes as Vancouver-based BMC minerals continues work to open the Kitsakaya mine on the Dena Council's traditional territory. Once in operation, the company says it will be Canada's largest silver and zinc producer.

It's also why Chief Loblaw says legal protection of the herd is essential. Because of proposed industrial developments in its core range area and its critical habitat. It's not the first time a group has pushed for a natural entity to be recognized as having legal rights. In Canada, that process has mostly been in an effort to try and protect certain bodies of water. There are ongoing discussions around whether to grant the Yukon River legal personhood. Wood says while the Canadian legal system uses the terms legal person are judicial person, he says the concept of an ecological person is a novelty, and it would be the first time a group of animals receives the recognition.

The more important thing is that it recognizes certain rights that the herd has. As more of these declarations emerge, Wood says their actual impact, impact from a legal standpoint remains to be seen. We live in a society where there is un-extinguished indigenous jurisdiction and un-extinguished indigenous rights and title that the Canadian legal system is slowly beginning to recognize and respect, but there's still also a lot of resistance. Lobla says his nation will do whatever is necessary to protect the. the rights of the Finlinson herd.

It's important to take care of the lands and resources that we have, you know, because it's all we have left at the end of the day. And, you know, if we take care of the land, the land will take care of us. The Yukon government declined to comment on this story. George Moradis, CBC News, Whitehorse. 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. Now to a story about a sweet Canadian staple with a sour twist. A Radio Canada investigation has discovered fake maple syrup on grocery store shelves. Most Canadian maple syrup is heavily regulated. It's supposed to be 100% pure. But a maple syrup producer in Quebec added sugar. his product. Steve Rukovina has more on this sticky situation. This story begins with breakfast. A Radio Canada journalist noticed at home a can of maple syrup

he bought at a grocery store didn't taste right. The can was tracked to a producer, southwest of Montreal, Steve Bordeaux. The team at Radio Canada's investigative program, Enquette, purchased five more cans of Bordeaux syrup from different stores and took them to the provincial lab responsible for testing and quality control of maple syrup in Quebec, Acerre, for analysis. Luke Lagasse is Director of Research at the lab. He says the results were unequivocal. All the samples that were brought to our lab, they were falsified.

We found some foreign sugar in it. Each of those cans labeled pure maple syrup from Quebec actually contained around 50% cane sugar. Lagasse says there's no way it was an accident. the syrup was deliberately altered. I was really surprised because it was the first time that we got these kind of samples in our life. The Enquette team posed as grocery store buyers and reached out to Bordeaux. He told them he didn't cut his syrup with sugar because that was illegal. But he did say he had the best prices and that his competitors couldn't come close.

Later, Enquette confronted Bordeaux with the test results. He refused to do an interview on tape, but on the phone he said he important. some syrup from suppliers out of province and suggested the bogus batches may have come from them. Most Quebec producers sell their product in bulk before it's canned, and all that syrup is systematically tested at the provincial lab. But Bordeaux cans his own syrup and sells it directly to grocery stores, and that type of syrup isn't systematically tested. Lagasse says purity of maple syrup is important in Quebec.

We're very proud of this in Quebec. producers are very proud of this. And consumers in Quebec, they can tell the difference. In the phone conversation with Enquette, Bordeaux admitted to labeling some syrup he purchased from Ontario as being from Quebec, which is illegal. But later in an email, he said he fully complies with all applicable laws and regulations. Bordeaux said he was launching his own investigation to try to find the source of the fake syrup and that he would introduce his own testing regime.

Steve Rukavina, CBC News, Montreal. Finally, a story to put a spring in your step. That's the sound of a kindergarten class at Holy Cross School in Thunder Bay, watching as a group of freshly hatched chicks runs around the floor of their classroom. Tanna Albert is their teacher. And we hatched chicks this year for Easter. First of all, we got eggs from my friend and an incubator. So we learned about what an incubator does and how long it takes to hatch chicks.

I wanted to do hands-on and I wanted to do something that the kids will really remember and take home. They did like the fact that they are related to the T-Rex, the relative of the T-Rex. So they thought that was really cool. The kids were clearly smitten. I picked a baby chick. I hold them gently. And the funny part is when they were peeping loudly. The baby checks teeth go and then clap the eggs open.

They have things on their nose to pick under the shelf. So one in the name is Snowflake and one name is Chippy. The chicks are very soft. Albert says the chicks are all headed to a new home. She'll be dropping them off at her friend's farm this weekend, where in her words, they'll be released to enjoy life. This has been your world tonight for Thursday, April 2nd. I'm Stephanie Skendaris.

Thank you for being with us. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca.