Your World Tonight - Innovations in education, how climate change affects your wine, pro-quality hockey in small towns, and more

Episode Date: December 28, 2025

Looking back at more of our favourite stories from 2025:Putting truth and reconciliation into practice: a special program in Manitoba teaches teachers ways of integrating the concepts into their classroom. And a sacred pipe is returned to a Saskatchewan First Nation after 135 years.And: As climate change heats up the air and dries out the ground, wine makers turn to methods both high-tech and ancient to protect their vineyards.Also: In small towns in Ontario and Quebec, hockey is a big deal. The Northern Premier Hockey League boasts professional quality hockey — including retired NHL players — played not for money, but for the love of the game.Plus: Medical schools try new ways of attracting and training future doctors, the need to keep young people in a popular retirement destination, a hospital drama brings an overlooked group of medical workers to the screen, and more.

When Christy Lee started her podcast, she wanted to avoid the spotlight. But that's kind of become impossible. Canadian True Crime has over 70 million downloads and is constantly at the top of the charts. This week on Crime Story, behind the scenes with Canadian True Crime and Christy Lee. Find Crime Story wherever you get your podcasts. The CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Stephanie Skanderas, and this is a special edition of Your World Tonight. We're bringing you some of our favorite stories of the past year.

You'll hear about hotter summers changing your favorite Italian wine and what winemakers are doing to fight back. And how a Scottish paradise for retirees needs to hang on to its young people. We've also got the hockey teams you don't know, but should, and learn about saving the skill of moose cutting. Speaking of learning, we'll start by going back to school with a program to get young people interested in medical professions. And first, a way of bringing reconciliation into the classroom

by teaching the teachers. In Manitou, in Manitou, A special school was in session. It was all about ways of integrating truth and reconciliation concepts to teachers who could share this knowledge in their classrooms. Karen Pauls was there. This is part of a bundle. Our relative in the center, Maeghan.

Cultural carrier, Jeannie Whitebird, is telling a group of Manitoba teachers about traditional indigenous medicine. And just take a little bit, and even if it's just putting it on your arm. Her Inuit helper, Katie Mae Arawak-Dunford, says it's an honor to teach the teachers. I know the knowledge that I carry. I know the skills that I carry. And I know that I'm happy to share those. In another room...

The hand drum is one way of bringing community together. Not a performance, but a lesson on the significance of drumming. These teachers are learning about indigenous cultures and how to incorporate those teachings into their classrooms. Denise Gringwa teaches math and science in a French immersion middle school. It just makes you a little more aware of why certain issues may exist and how you can at least become knowledgeable so that we're all growing together as a cohesive and inclusive society. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission had several calls to action on education,

including developing a curriculum on the history of residential schools, treaties and indigenous peoples, providing culturally appropriate teacher training through indigenous communities, and giving students chances to learn from survivors. All three territories and at least six provinces have formal documented commitments to implement those calls to action, but it's still a work in progress, says University of Calgary Education Professor Yvonne Poitra Pratt. They're really fearful of teaching this material and then going into parent teacher interviews and having parents react very strongly, negatively, to the

teaching of indigenous perspectives. So they're hitting a lot of roadblocks, you know, that go well beyond the curriculum. Back at the professional development session, education student, Ria Semenovich says this will help her be a better teacher. So we want the students to start thinking outside the box, right? And I think by bringing that perspective in, they are like, oh, we're all connected. We have to respect the land because it's not going to be here. if we don't. Lanis Lissarchuk is planning to teach French and social studies. Her family is from the Caribbean, so she says she has a lot to learn herself. Things I don't know anything about, and now I'm curious to know more about and share that. And that's the whole point, says Kat Marsh, a Métis

middle school vice principal. So I think there's a lot of work to do, but I think that we're moving in a good way. I hope they walk away today feeling more confident in their ability to bring Indigenous programming into the classroom. The late Senator, Judge, and TRC Chief Commissioner Murray Sinclair grew up and went to school in this community. He often said, education is what got us into this mess, and it's the key to getting us out of it. Karen Paul's, CBC News, Selkirk, Manitoba.

A Saskatchewan First Nation has waited 135 years to be reunited with items taken from the community. A sacred pipe was returned to the Chief White Cap Dakota Nation earlier this year, and a repatriation ceremony was held to honor its homecoming. Helena Mahalik has that story. That's all quill work, and it's all colored with different designs. Frank Royal admires a ceremonial pipe, adorned with pink, purple, and orange beads. For more than a century, nobody from the White Cap Dakota Nation had seen the pipe.

Chief Whitecap himself gifted it to Dr. Gerald Willoughby in 18. After White Cap was charged with treason during the Louis Reel resistance and Dr. Willoughby testified on his behalf. And he got off. And so to pay him back on his deathbed in 1889, he asked Gerald to come see him and gave him this pipe. Nobody knew where it went and nobody knew where the family lived until last year. The Willoughby family returned the pipe to the White Cap Dakota Nation earlier this year. The community celebrated the return of the pipe, as well as other cultural tools. that were returned from a different family, including arrowheads and knives. It's very relevant for them to see what their ancestors used.

Roberta Bayer, an elementary school principal in the community, says these returned items can help the next generation connect with their history. These are the tools that we need in our community to not just honor, but for our children to understand and learn about what helped our people. It's really emotional work. It takes a lot of, like there's a lot of protocol that are involved as well. Stephanie Daniluk is a community engaged. manager with the Canadian Museums Association.

She says the repatriation process can be difficult. The onus is usually on the nations and the communities to look for and find within museum collections like one item at a time and bring those home kind of like often one by one. And so it's incredibly labor heavy. Frank Royal says there are more items the White Cap Dakota Nation hopes to bring back. Among them is a buckskin outfit that belonged to his grandfather. I would say it's part of reconciliation, do the right thing, and return these items to the owners. Royal hopes to hold another ceremony once the outfit comes home, which is currently a part of an exhibit in a small town museum.

Helena Mahalik, CBC News, Chief White Cap Dakota Nation. We know about the need for more medical professionals in this country. Well, two Canadian universities are taking another look at how they teach it and how they attract young people to the job. They're running programs that train future doctors to be aware of patients' culture, diet, and community as important factors in their health outcomes. Deanna Suminac Johnson explains. They're putting on scrubs and medical gloves,

looking at x-rays of human skeletons and asking questions of working medical professionals. The one-day event for these high schoolers is part of a special co-op course designed by the Peele District School Board and Toronto Metropolitan University. Students earn both a high school credit and a university credit, but most importantly, get to envision themselves in medical professions

serving people in their own community. Aisha Adebisi now wants to pursue nursing. The title of the course is equity in the future of health care, so I wanted to be a part of that. I love talking about equity. The event is taking place at Toronto Metropolitan University's newly opened medical school in Brampton. The rapidly growing city is one of the most diverse in the country with more than half of its population born outside of Canada.

The population boom has also meant that the health care needs of its citizens aren't being met. The new medical school could change that, says Dr. Teresa Chan, Dean of the Medical School at TMU. People have this momentum that they stay where they trained. So wouldn't it be nice if you came to a community, integrated in the community, and then stayed where you trained to be part of that community. TMU's medical school's founding principle is cultural sensitivity. and awareness that a patient's culture, diet and community are crucial factors in their health. In recent years, the lack of cultural instruction for medical personnel has come into sharp focus.

Just last year, a Brampton hospital made headlines after the staff shaved a sick man's beard without consent in violation of his religious beliefs. In British Columbia, Simon Fraser University is also about to open a new medical school based on cultural inclusivity and serving community-specific needs. Dr. David Price is the dean of the School of Medicine at SFU. He says the thinking behind the school is an evolution of traditional medical training where students were mostly exposed to hospital settings in large centers. Our students will be placed with a family doctor

and a family physician's office in the community very, very early on. What's unique about that is a lot of schools do place their students, but our students will stay with that family doctor, with that family practice for their whole three years. Back in Brampton, Harris Ahmed, first-year medical student at Toronto Metropolitan University, is excited about his studies and about spreading the message to high schoolers. And when they see someone like me and they see someone like the students at the school, then they're able to enter this program and they're able to be like, this is real. Like, I believe you.

As they tackle Canada's doctor shortage, One community, one patient at a time. Deanna Sumanack Johnson, CBC News, Toronto. Still ahead, we take another look at cultural representation in health care. But this time, on the small screen. An Emmy Award-winning medical drama that came out this year recognized a crucial yet often overlooked group, Filipino nurses. You'll hear what they think about their TV representation.

coming up on your world tonight. Italy's winemaking heartland is feeling the heat, literally. As summers grow hotter and drier and extreme weather, batters, vineyards, centuries-old traditions are being rewritten. Megan Williams reports from the hills north of Rome, where winemakers are fighting to preserve the soul of Italian wine. Under a blazing sun in the countryside north of Rome, wine-grower Massimo Tosone surveys the rows of vines

behind his farmhouse in Tarquina, once part of the ancient Etruscan civilization, now one of many Italian vineyards struggling to save a tradition. The soil beneath his grapes, Trebiano, Malvazia, and Verminino, is cracked and chalk dry, cooked by longer, hotter summers. The grapes that once ripened in October, now ripen late August. Last year, waiting too long to pick the grapes, cost Tosoni a third of his harvest, he says.

By his side is daughter Martina, part of a new generation of winemakers adapting fast. The biggest challenge, not heat, she says, but water. But they're not facing it alone. Instead, with nearby producers, they began rotating irrigation, building wine tourism to survive, and sharing tech. Like the app she uses to check the watering,

that's replaced Massimo's nighttime rounds. It's not only about new methods. There's also a return to old methods, like grafting grapes onto wild roots, which are proving the hardiest, and preparing to plant different varieties because the grapes that defined Italian wine for centuries may not survive in their traditional areas. There is huge, untapped biological diversity in the grapevine.

Climate scientist at Lund University in Sweden, Kimberly Nicholas, says Italy is not alone. Italy actually has a pretty high diversity of grapes, but the majority, something like 80% of global wine production, comes from 12 varieties of grapes. And those varieties are starting to struggle. Across Italy, grapes ripen earlier, sugar spikes, acidity drops, and flavors flatten. Producers are planting higher and on north-facing slopes, stringing shade cloths and

installing solar panels above vines, and experimenting with ancient grapes once abandoned. But even with adaptation, tradition is shifting. The tastes of Italian wine, the identity of the region, is already changing. In the shade of the Tozoni farmhouse, Martina hosts a wine tasting for tourists. As Massimant gazes out at the vines, he's tended for decades.

Italian wine has survived invasions, floods, and plagues. Now, in a warming world, producers are searching not just for body, flavor, and depth, but above all, for resilience. Megan Williams, CBC News, Tarquina, Italy. With their rugged landscape, white sand beaches and slower pace of life, Scotland's outer Hebrides are a retirees paradise.

And that's becoming a problem for the island chain where young people are leaving in high numbers. Freelance reporter Richard Baines reports from Stornoway on the efforts the islands are making to stem the demographic crisis. The Outer Hebrides are known for their beauty with golden beaches and rocky hills. But such scenery is a factor driving the demographic crisis here. The problem we have is the older people retiring up to the islands. The statistics expert for the island health service is Debbie Boskirt. The retirees are attracted by those views and by crime-free communities.

The numbers of elderly population have risen. You've got rural Lewis, which includes the West Side, and Ness is 28%. I probably will stay here because, I mean, I love the culture. I love the music, just the people and stuff. These stay-at-home school boys are busking for tourists in Stornoway Town Centre. Generations of my family's been living here, so I'd just love to stay. But more than half the island's youngsters leave after finishing school. Over 65s will make up 40% of the population by 2037,

and with the ageing population needing more medical help and social care, it's a double whammy for the health service. You haven't actually got the population to work, especially for the semi-skilled jobs and the unskilled jobs, which can range from domestics to healthcare assistance, to social care workers in care homes. Anybody looking to come live here just to give them a bit of guidance and support

to kind of make that process a lot easier for them. Christina Morrison from the local council runs a scheme aiming to rejuvenate the population. It can be quite handy for people who have never lived in a rural community, be able to talk through how the childcare works or where's the best places to find housing and things like that. The scheme also taps into government funding

for housing and infrastructure such as internet upgrades. 48 families have so far been helped to come here, some returning after moving away. So this is us just coming into the distillery now. Island-born Johnny Ingledew came home seven years ago and now runs a distillery here. I've got five washbacks, so they're wooden fermenters, which I can open up. But will he and his families stay? This is us for life. I hope and expect our kids will continue to live in the islands, but who knows, we left the island

and expect they'll leave the island for a period of time as well. It seems whatever the authorities do, there'll still be plenty more Mary Ann MacLeod. Richard Baines for CBC News in Scotland's Outer Hebrides. In the Northwest Territory's local people in the town of Anuvic are reconnecting with a traditional skill, moose cutting. The Anuvic native band held a community workshop

in the fall. Organizers say they particularly want to teach young people who are interested. But as Deslerene tells us, it's the elders who will benefit from the results. Moose al-flam. Holy man, I better watch out. I'm going to get bird here. That's Dennis

Allen, frying up freshly cut moose meat over an open fire. Alan was at the Anuvic Native Band, showing residents how to prepare moose. The animal was harvested by Allen and its meat is being donated to elders in the community. I got a moose and it's like 600 pounds of meat will take me about three years to eat it.

So the best thing to do is just to hand it out. They say when you do something good, it comes back to you. Every time you give meat away, your freezer will fill up. The Inuvic Native Band has hosted other traditional skill workshops this year. Shannon Bates is one of the organizers. So we did the hide camp probably about a month ago. and just being able to connect with the culture and getting back to that

because, again, not a lot of people get the opportunity to do that. The Inuvic Native Band's next event will be a craft fair in December in time for the holidays. But for many elders in the community, getting moose meat means Christmas came early. Deslorine, CBC News, Inuvik. There you go, this nice tender moose ribs. I'm sure everybody down in the soft.

You've heard of the leafs and the habs. But have you heard of the lumberjacks and the barn cats? Well, they play hockey in a league from small Ontario and Quebec towns, places like Halton Hills and Lindsay. It may not be the NHL, but as freelance journalist Denny Grignan tells us, with the caliber of hockey being played, it's the next best thing. Ladies and some of the boys and girls, let's make some of the boys and boys.

I've been coming to this arena since it's been built. It's the best hockey that's ever been in this arena. Kevin West is pumped. It's the home opener for his beloved barn cats at his local arena in Lindsay, Ontario. The first in a 20-game season with the Northern Pre-Free. year hockey league. In the small towns that host these teams, this level of hockey is a big deal. Just something to rally around. There's tough times out there. It's just something to feel good about. The NPHL features a kind of hodgepodge of players, ranging in age from early

20s to mid-40s, some who played major junior A or high-level university, to many who were once pros in Europe, the American Hockey League, and even the NHL. Yeah, we get the chance to play the way it's meant to be played, you know? At 36, Evgeny Petrenko is the oldest member of the Westport Lumberjacks. Tonight's Barncats' opponents. When we're out there, nothing else exists, and we want to win the game and give it everything we got. Giving it their all for no compensation, though travel is covered. So why not just stick to a more casual game of shinny with buddies?

Barncats forward Sam Dunn played pro in France last year. before that with the Quebec ramparts, coached by NHL Hall of Famer, Patrick Waugh. Pick up hockey situation, kind of just out there to have fun, float around, do a couple too many moves on defensemen, and coming out and playing a game like this, where it is really competitive,

that's a little more interesting for me. And the hockey is interesting, fast, exciting, with plenty of hits, and yes, even the occasional fight. Two of them on this night, in fact. Sherry Trumbull, sister to brother Steve, who co-owns, manages and sometimes coaches his Barncats, is the team's physiotherapist,

so she can vouch firsthand for the toll this game takes on players' bodies. They're bringing it every game. So, yeah, I do a lot of work on them before the game. It could be emergency stuff in between the periods. This is full on, and it's exciting. It's true hockey. Barncat's centerman, Darren Doherty, is on the sunnier side of 40, though his chiseled body would suggest otherwise,

By day, he sells barbecues. He speaks to the intensity that can lead to that emergency stuff between periods. There's lots of guys who don't like each other. Most of the times you can have a beer after and say, hey, let bygones be bygones. But there definitely is some hatred out there. Not quite the NHL, but arguably not amateur either. So says devoted Barncats fan and a kind of local legend in these parts, 60-something John Bucaboon, who won a Memorial Cup and played pro in the Detroit.

Red Wing system. They all can skate. They all can pass. I'd rather watch them the junior games. They have to go to work the next day. If this had been available to you, would you have taken it if they came to you and said, hey, John? I think so. If it was here, I had an opportunity. I was still in shape, yeah. Because it's in your blood, you're not playing for money. Denny Gringale for CBC News, Lindsay, Ontario. You are listening to your world tonight from CBC News. I'm Stephanie Scandaris. You can hear your world tonight and other CBC radio programs wherever you are

on your favorite podcast app. They're a familiar kind of TV drama. Doctors rushing around. Life or death situations, high stakes, drama, medical shows have been around since the 50s. But a new one this year looked different, more true to life, because it shines a spot. on an overlooked community, Filipino nurses, and it's a five-time Emmy-winning hit. Christine Pagulian spoke to Filipino-Canadian nurses who say the representation is long overdue.

Oh, they're always threatening to shut us down, but they never do. That's Tagalogu here in the opening scene of the pit. Filipino nurses, Princess and Perla flanked Dr. Robbie played by Noah Wiley right from the start. Toronto nurse Charlie Flores love seeing the chisemis or gossip in Tagalog. I love finally that they've incorporated Filipinos

in medical shows. It is reality. To anybody who's going on shift tonight or coming off shift tonight, thank you for being in that job. This is for you. And it's an Emmy winning reality, one that includes at long last

the appearance and inclusion of Filipinos in health care. The pit offers a compelling look at this sector where in Canada, a third of immigrants from the Philippines work as nurses or support staff. Despite their strong presence in health care, Filipinos have been overlooked in popular medical dramas like ER and Gray's Anatomy. But that's changing. We are seeing. They can see us now. They recognize us, which should have been. Yellowknife nurse Jennifer Begonovich was so proud to see the representation in another TV show, St. Dennis Medical. They are together a lot.

Because of the Filipino Mafia. What? The Filipino Mafia? Clips from the show went viral thanks to a storyline featuring a clique of nurses who gossip and strut, who are known as the Filipino Mafia.

The actors on these shows understand the responsibility that comes with these roles. Amelan Abelara, who plays Perla on the Pit, feels honored. What a gift for my daughter to be able to see a nurse on screen

and be like, oh, that's like Lola, because my mom's a nurse. I'm like, yes, it is like Lola. Kristen Villanueva, who plays princess, hopes these characters spark change. This is not a one-all. This is not special anymore. This is just what it is. It's a represent, it's an exact mirror of what is real life.

Filipinos are finally getting some recognition on screen, but they're still missing in leadership roles and are rarely featured as main characters. Winnipeg nurse, Rona Miller, wants mainstream shows to highlight the backstories of Filipino health care workers. She wants the community to see themselves as more than just one-dimensional characters. We can be more than what we are. And it might encourage younger generation, you know what, I'm not just going to be a nurse. I'm going to be higher up and I can probably dream big. Christine Pagulayon, CPC News, Toronto. That's all for this special edition of Your World Tonight. I'm Stephanie Skanderas. Thank you for listening. Good night.

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