Your World Tonight - Hate crime bill, Canadians turn away from U.S., women’s rugby team off to the finals, and more

Episode Date: September 19, 2025

The federal government wants to make intimidating people at places of worship — and displaying hate symbols in public — criminal offences. They’re part of legislation intended to crack down on the rising number of hate-related incidents.And: Canadians are taking a big step back from the U.S., and the American ambassador is unimpressed. Pete Hoekstra claims Canadians aren’t passionate about the relationship in the same way Americans are.Also: They had to sell t-shirts just to make it to England to play... but now Canada’s women’s rugby team is going farther than it ever has before.Plus: U.S. Senator Ted Cruz says FCC head is acting like a mafia boss in Kimmel suspension, how CDC vaccination advisory panel affects Canadians, speed camera crime spree, and more.

Hugh is a rock climber, a white supremacist, a Jewish neo-Nazi, a spam king, a crypto-billionaire, and then someone killed him. It is truly a mystery. It is truly a case of who done it. Dirtbag Climber, the story of the murder and the many lives of Jesse James. Available now wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. Hate is not limited to the doorsteps of our religious institutions, but is prevalent throughout the entirety of our communities.

We see it in our streets, we see it in our parks, we see it in our grocery stores. Frankly, we see it almost everywhere. To combat that hate, the federal government is introducing a new law, targeting what it calls symbols of hate. Ottawa says it goes further than existing laws with, a wider definition of what hate looks like and where it must be stopped. This is your world tonight. I'm Stephanie Skanderas.

It's Friday, September 19th, coming up on 6 p.m. Eastern, also on the podcast. Well, when you kick the dog, you can't blame it for snarling back. Woof. The U.S. ambassador to Canada has certainly stirred up controversy with comments this week about how disappointed he is with Canadians, calling them dispassionate about U.S. Canada relations, sparking some very passionate responses. And speaking of Canadian passion, a huge win for Canada's women's rugby team,

making history and sending them into the World Cup gold medal final. Nice, good, safe, words people use to describe Canada. But hate crimes have been on the rise, threatening many people's sense of safety. Now the federal government has tabled a bill that aims to clarify the definition of hatred, protect people as they access their places of worship, and make it a crime to display certain symbols in public.

Kate McKenna reports. We see it in our streets, we see it in our parks, we see it in our grocery stores. Frankly, we see it almost everywhere. Justice Minister Sean Frazier shared his government's response to a massive surge in hate. Since 2022, police reported hate crimes targeting Canadian Jews and Muslims have skyrocketed by more than 80 percent, according to statistics Canada. This behavior is not just morally culpable.

The impact has reverberations through the entirety of a community, and I would argue, tears at the seams of the social fabric of the nation. The bill seeks to make it a crime to intimidate and obstruct people from accessing places of worship and other community buildings like schools used by identifiable groups. It would also create a separate hate offense to be layered on top of other crimes. Richard Marceau speaks for the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs. It certainly is a step in the right direction. It sends a right message to a community that has been under siege in the last, certainly the last two years. The bill would also make it a crime to promote hate through the use of symbols, including symbols used during the Holocaust and those used by recognized terror groups.

The Muslim community has seen a massive upsurge in hate crimes in, you know, over the past decade. Stephen Brown is the CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims. He says he supports aspects of this bill, but has some concerns about what exactly will be considered a hate symbol. We just want to make sure that they're able, that in this legislation, we're able to make sure that people can make the distinction between what a hate symbol actually is and what it isn't. Those concerns are echoed by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. NIS Bousier-McNicol is the director of their Fundamental Freedoms Program. We are concerned that the government might move away from a strict public safety agenda and instead use the bill to criminalize unpopular, dissenting, and offensive speech.

But the Justice Minister says the bill was designed to protect the right to protest peacefully. Where it crosses into a criminal context is when your motivation is not to share information or to communicate an idea, but instead to specifically incite fear within the person who may be attending their institution. The governing liberals will need support to pass this bill through Parliament, where no government has had an easy time legislating the limits of free speech. Kate McKenna, CBC News, Ottawa. Canada has barred Irish hip-hop trio NICAP from entering the country. Neacap had been scheduled to perform in Toronto and Vancouver next month.

The group has faced criticism for political statements, appear to support groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, which Canada has listed as terror organizations. NICAT member Mo Chara is facing terrorism charges in the UK after allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag on stage. Canadian Parliamentary Secretary for Combating Crime, Vince Casparo, posted a video saying the group amplifies violence. Criticism of foreign governments is protected under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, advocating for political violence, glorifying terrorist organizations, and displaying hate symbols that directly target the Jewish community are not protected forms of expression and will not be tolerated by our government. NICAP has said they don't support Hezbollah and Hamas, they support Palestinians and oppose Israel's war and actions in Gaza. The group responded to Gasparo's video with a post saying his comments are untrue and they will start legal.

action against him. And the calls for action are getting louder in the U.S. over ABC's suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. Canadian actor Tatiana Maslani is the latest name on a growing list of celebrities who are outraged by the network's decision, accusing ABC and the Trump administration of censoring free speech. As Paul Hunter explains, the anger is also crossing the political aisle. Bring Jimmy back! Bring Jimmy back! The Chanting is to return to the air late-night comedy talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. The demonstration outside the offices of ABC in New York, the network that took Kimmel off the air this week. The move has brought widespread outrage in this country, and last night

from Kimmel's fellow late-night comedians. We have another fun, hilarious administration-compliant show. That's John Stewart, mocking the Donald Trump administration and the view that it's clamping down on free speech in America. Here's Stephen Colbert on his show last night. That is blatant censorship. Jimmy, just let me say, I stand with you and your staff 100%. He's a decent, funny, and loving guy, and I hope he comes back.

And from Jimmy Fallon, this take on perceived government pressure for networks to now not offend Donald Trump. Well, guys, President Trump just wrapped up his three-day trip to the U.K., and he looked at incredible. handsome. All of it on the continued fallout of comments made by Kimmel on his show earlier in the week on the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The Maga Gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it. Soon after that, the Donald Trump appointed chair of the U.S. broadcast regulator of the FCC made public comments disparaging Kimmel and seeming to pressure ABC to take action against him.

And the owners of some 200 U.S. TV stations said they'd pull the show. Then ABC made its move. But now, even staunch conservative, Ted Cruz is speaking out against what's happened. Jimmy Kimmel has mocked me so many times I cannot count. The Republican Senator from Texas on his podcast said he personally can't stand Kimmel's show. But I think it is unbelievably dangerous. for government to put itself in the position of saying, we're going to decide what speech we like and what we don't,

and we're going to threaten to take you off air if we don't like what you're saying. And it might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel. But when it is used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it. With protests continuing, says the FCC, it will continue to, quote, hold broadcasters accountable to the public interest. Paul Hunter, CBC News, Washington. Coming right up, getting cross about not crossing the border. Canadians are staying away from the U.S.

and the U.S. ambassador isn't happy about it. Plus, battles over vaccines in the U.S. have health experts in Canada shaking their heads and worrying about future supplies. And the fast and the furious, someone is vandalizing speed cameras across Ontario. Later, we'll have this story. Canada's women's rugby team has made history.

Can you believe it? Canada 34. New Zealand 19. Canada are going to the gold medal rugby world cup final. A call on TSN as Canada upsets the defending champions and qualifies for the gold medal game. An incredible win after an improbable journey to even make it to the tournament. I'm Jamie Strassion and I'll have the details on the game and the journey later on your world tonight. Some Canadians are firing back at comments from the U.S. Ambassador to Canada. Pete Hoekstra told a business crowd in Halifax yesterday he's disappointed in the anti-American sentiment in this country and he's frustrated over some of the rhetoric coming from politicians here. Tom Perry reports on what he said and the reaction.

Please welcome Ambassador Hoekstra. A friendly chat between names. U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra in Halifax yesterday for a talk with local business leaders. We have a phenomenal trade relationship with Canada. Talking up, a partnership that's lately been under strain. The U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, and auto parts. U.S. President Donald Trump for a while talking menacingly about Canada becoming America's 51st state, though Hoekstra doesn't see why Canadians are upset.

I'm disappointed that I came to Canada, a Canada that it is very, very difficult to find Canadians who are passionate about the American-Canadian relationship. What really gets under Hoekstra's skin is Canadian politicians and media outlets talking about a trade war between Canada and the U.S. When in his mind, Canada has it pretty good. Not only do you have the lowest tariff rate in the world, right? Yet, according to your prime minister, but relative to other people who are trying to sell into the United States, your competitors, you're roughly now 10%, at a minimum, 10% better than any of them versus when Donald Trump came and became president. But before Donald Trump became president, trade between Canada and the U.S. was virtually

tariff-free under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump renegotiated that deal in first term. It's now back up for review by Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. As for the ambassador's bewilderment over why Canadians might harbor some hard feelings toward the U.S., Flavio Volpe, the president of Canada's automotive parts manufacturers association, has some thoughts. Well, when you kick the dog, you can't blame it for snarling back. Volpe's industry has been hit hard by U.S. tariffs, but he says there are plenty of other reasons Canadians are upset. When you talk about annexation and you talk about 51st state and you treat your partner like a second class standing and then say, well, you know what, I think that when you say things like elbows up, it's anti-American. I mean, it's gaslighting 101. There are, however, real consequences. New figures from statistics Canada show Canadian travelers are continuing to avoid the states.

Canadian exports to the U.S. have dropped while exports to Europe and the U.K. are up. The U.S. and Canada. are still tightly bound together. But despite the ambassador's frustration, those bonds are loosening. Many Canadians still hold a grudge. Tom Perry, CBC News, Ottawa. As Tom mentioned, the Kuzma trade deal is up for review. Canada, U.S. trade minister, Dominic LeBlanc,

says it's time for Canadians to share their thoughts on the deal. It's a domestic process that our partners in Mexico and the United States are also undertaking. So you'll see over the coming weeks, activities and opportunities for Canadians and for those that are affected by the recent turbulence in the trading relationship to offer us views on how we should approach the review conversations with the United States and with Mexico. Formal negotiations for a new deal are planned for next year. And it's not just economic ties to the U.S. that are in the spotlight.

Health care experts in Canada are closely watching a key meeting taking place in Atlanta that could have a global impact. An advisory council is making recommendations about vaccines, but there are concerns about some of its members and their expertise. Jennifer Lagrasa explains why. We are rookies and there are many technical issues that we might not grasp as of yet. That's how Martin Koldorf, chair of a U.S. Vaccine Advisor, Committee started a second day of talks in Atlanta, focused on recommendations for childhood vaccinations and the COVID-19 shot. This is the panel's second ever meeting with its current members. This committee has enormous depth and knowledge about vaccines, about science.

The panel advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Federal Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 committee members in June, replacing many of them with vaccine skeptics. That has led to concern from scientific experts who worry changes to vaccine rules will further destroy trust in public health and reduce uptake. I'm a little worked up because this has been a long couple of days. Dr. Sean O'Leary chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics. He was monitoring the meetings and expressed deep concern after they wrapped today. What we're seeing is what happens when individuals who don't have a basic understanding about how vaccines are delivered are making these

crucial policy decisions for the American public, they don't know what they're doing. It also seems to be a bit of a chaotic meeting overall. Lenora Saxinger is an infectious disease doctor at the University of Alberta Hospital. While CDC decisions don't directly impact Canadians, recommendations from the leading global public health institute are usually echoed by Canadian health officials. But now, Saxinger says, there are too many red flags. Most people that I know, like in my field, infectious diseases and in public health, would no longer regard decisions coming from the CDC as being robust decisions.

So it really does kind of depose the CDC as a leader in public health. Outbreaks of communicable diseases don't stay within national borders. Angela Rasmussen is a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan. She worries that vaccination changes in the United States could mean diseases will spread more easily here in Canada. But she's also concerned with what it means for drug supply. Canada does not have significant vaccine manufacturing capacity. If demand for a certain vaccine drops, that could lower production from U.S.-based manufacturers, which Canadians rely on.

I believe that this is going to continue to escalate. The committee today voted to recommend doctors disclose all risks with the COVID-19 vaccine, but left it up to the public to decide whether they need the shot. Jennifer Lagrassa, CBC News, Windsor, Ontario. There is growing concern over Alberta's plan to preserve its controversial transgender laws. The strategy includes a rarely used provision that overrides charter rights. The province says it's about protecting children. Critics argue it's a blatant example of state-sponsored transphobia.

Anne-Marie Tricky has the details. The shockwaves are really permeating right now. Helen Kennedy is the executive director of 2S-LGBQ. Plus advocacy group, Egal Canada. She calls the potential use of the not-withstanding clause an attack because it would allow the Alberta government to override certain sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for up to five years when it comes to laws affecting transgender people.

It reduces access to gender-firming care. It reduces access to women and girls playing sports. Pronown use in schools, I mean, it disenfranchises a large number of people. The three laws set rules around students changing their names or pronouns in schools, ban transgender girls from amateur female sports, and limit gender-affirming health care. According to an Alberta Justice Department internal memo obtained by CBC News, the Premier's Office is preparing to invoke the charter provision. Advocacy groups, like EGAL Canada, are actively challenging two of the laws in court. It's really, really important to proceed

because I think these discussions, conversations need to be in the public realm. I think the courts have to make decisions, regardless of whether the clause has been invoked. or not. Premier Daniel Smith had said that the use of the not-withstanding clause was on the table as a last resort regarding the government's transgender policies, adding she was confident the laws would withstand a charter challenge. Eric Adams is a law professor at the University of Alberta, specializing in constitutional law. In the case of Alberta saying we want to use the notwithstanding clause in this instance, it's effectively saying it doesn't really matter to us that a court may find that there's a rights infringement. Adams says more

provinces have been finding ways to use the clause, like Saskatchewan. In 2023, it enacted a similar law in schools, requiring parental consent for children under 16 to use different pronouns. One Alberta parents group backs the move to use the notwithstanding clause. Jeff Park is the president of the Alberta Parents Union. We would see that as appropriate use of the notwithstanding clause to make sure that this wildly popular and necessary law protecting the rights of parents stay in effect in Alberta. It signals to me that the province is vigorous in its defense of parental rights, and we would applaud that.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that he opposes the preemptive use of the not-withstanding clause, as Ottawa is currently asking the Supreme Court to set limits on how it can be invoked by the provinces. Anne-Marie Tricky, CBC News, Calgary. They're set up across the country to target drivers who break the speed limit. But in Canada's biggest city, they're increasingly. the target for vandals. Three more speed cameras

were cut down in Toronto over the weekend. That brings the total to 20 in just a week. The cameras have the support of the police, but not the premier. Philip Lee Shanock explains why. We heard like a, what we thought was like a power drill.

Dylan Stavenior lives across the street from a speed camera in Toronto's West End that's been chopped down seven times, including one night in May when he saw it happen. We were all like, no way, No, wait, no, we rushed to get our phones out, try to record him. Since then, there's been an uptick in speed camera vandalism across the city.

Stavenior understands the backlash. I think it's a fight against, like, you know, government bureaucracy and, like, people getting taxed and getting tickets. Like, I think it's a symbol. The city of Toronto says so far this year there have been 47 cases of vandalism to permanent pole-mounted speed cameras. But there's no cost to the city or taxpayers. The company with the contract to operate them, Arizona-based Vera Mobility confirmed to CBC News it is their responsibility to repair and replace the cameras at no additional cost. Still, some Ontario municipalities have paused or ended their speed camera programs,

like the city of Vaughan just north of Toronto. Stephen Del Duca is its mayor. When an overwhelming majority of your residents, the people who have hired you to do a job are letting you know they are not comfortable supporting a particular approach. I think it does require you to go back to the drawing board. Yeah, they're terrible. It's nothing but a tax grab, and I'm proud of Mayor Del Ducca. Ontario Premier Doug Ford agrees.

They're raising hundreds of millions of dollars off the taxpayers. It's not fair. Ford says he favors other traffic calming methods like speed bumps and enforcement by police officers. Mark Campbell is the president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police. He says the automatic speed enforcement cameras are ASEs make roads safer. We're not asking and looking for ASEs to be posted in areas that don't and aren't supported by data so that it's not seen as a fishing hole or as a cash grab. A study by Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto Metropolitan University found the cameras reduced incidence of speeding by 45%.

Average speeds were reduced by 11 kilometers per hour. Linda Rothman is with TMU School of Occupational and Public Health. These are not attacks. These are, for people who are speeding and breaking the law, if people don't want to pay these fines, they just have to slow down a bit. While Vaughn has removed its 10 cameras, other Ontario municipalities like Windsor

have given them the green light. Philip Lyshanock, CBC News, Toronto. 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. Team Canada is on its way to the Women's Rugby World Cup final in England. Canada got there by beating the defending champions, New Zealand, in the semifinals.

It's a sweet victory for the Canadian women, but getting there has come with challenges. Jamie Strassion has that story. The rugby world is upside down with this score as for ticking toward half time. On the field, or pitch, as the British call it, the Canadian women's rugby team has become a force. Ranked number two in the world, the Canadian side steamrolled New Zealand to earn a place in the World Cup final next week. Can you believe it? Canada 34.

New Zealand 19. Canada are going to. Gabby Semt, a key member of the team, says they've earned respect on the field. off it is another story. There's still like some moments that people are like, oh, Canadians play rugby and we're like, yeah, we're number two in the world. So it's just a funny joke sometimes. Their success is remarkable. The circumstances they have overcome even more so.

We're never the home crowd, that's to say the least. We always are food against. It's always like if the other team gets the try, it's like the loudest thing in the stadium. And then when we get a try, it's like, did we actually get a try? Because no one's cheering. Fanfare aside, compared to most other nations,

in this 16-team tournament, Canada is operating on a shoestring budget. The team's head coach said it would take about $3.5 million to be successful at this tournament. But with only about $2.5 million from Rugby Canada, the team had to fundraise the rest. I believe that donations have come in to about the tune of about a million dollars. John Holmes is the chair of the Canadian Rugby Foundation that helped raise the extra money through corporate and individual donations. He spoke to CBC from a pub in England. ahead of today's game. France, England, and New Zealand, they're all on professional contract.

Their players are paid to play, essentially. Some of our players have professional contracts overseas, but many of them don't. So they have to pay to play, essentially. The team has gotten some celebrity help. The Tragically Hip contributed their name to a limited edition rugby shirt that quickly sold out, all proceeds going to the team, and it's paying off on the field, said Justine Pell. after today's huge win. It's not just one game.

It's three years of hustle in the dark and now we're in the light. Next up in the finals, either England or France, both teams with millions of dollars in support. But for Canada right now, it's about more than money. It's about the will and drive to be the best in the world. Jamie Strachan, CBC News, Toronto. Finally, we end with a story about always taking a closer look. Coleman family loves boating on the Alabama River and searching for fossils. Dad, Adam Coleman, says usually what they find is pretty small.

Every time we're on the river, we like to stop on the riverbank and take a break for fishing and walk around and see what we can find, sharks' teeth and shark brighter bray. But one day, a couple years back, daughter Tala saw something a little bigger. I was the one that pointed it out because I was like, that rock looks a little weird. And me and my dad went and checked it out because we thought it was just mud. And we got up closer to it. We were like, that's not mud. That's something.

Not a muddy boulder, but a huge, intact shell of an ancient leatherback turtle. But how ancient and how special took some digging, literally. Adam and Adrian Coleman approached a local research center, and together they started extracting the shell from the rocky shoreline. It was drill around it and then hammer spikes into it and hammer and hammer. Yeah, they were out there with the sledge hammers. And I was actually the one that made it move and busted it free. Yeah, right when you saw it actually shift, you knew it was free and everyone was just, it was just cheers.

The fossil weighed so much, it almost capsized the researcher's boat. Dr. Andrew Gentry is with the Gulf Coast Learning Campus. He says tests now show the fossil is more than 30 million. years old, and is from a never-before-discovered species. It is such an absolutely extraordinarily rare occurrence to get an intact fossil leatherback shell like this. It is beyond one in a million. The spot where the Coleman's found the shell is on Creek Ancestral Homeland. Members of the Porch Creek tribe helped name the species. We loja Colmannerum from the words for

water and turtle in the Muskogee language, and he may have also noticed the name Coleman in there as well. This has been your world tonight for Friday, September 19th. I'm Stephanie Skanderas. Thank you for listening.