Your World Tonight - Manitoba evacuations, flooding aftermath in Texas, and an AI fake targets immigrants and Tim Hortons, and more

Episode Date: July 9, 2025

Northern Manitobans are facing a second wave of wildfire evacuations. We look at the challenge of getting medically vulnerable people out of danger and somewhere safe – that can support their needs.And: Stories of survival and strength from Texas. One woman tells how her two children – both at camp – were rescued from the deadly flooding.Also: His name is Josh. He’s a white man who says he can't get a job at Tim Hortons because immigrants took them all. His video complaints about it went viral. He’s also fake. CBC’s Visual Investigations team tracked down his creators to get some answers.Plus: College employees say it’s the largest mass layoff in Ontario history, the RCMP says it's ready to take on more responsibility in Nova Scotia, and more.

I'm Joshua Jackson, and I'm returning for the Audible original series, Oracle, Season 3, Murder at the Grandview. Six forty-somethings took a boat out a few days ago. One of them was found dead. The hotel, the island, something wasn't right about it. Psychic agent Nate Russo is back on the case, and you know when Nate's killer instincts are required, anything's possible.

This world's gonna eat you alive. Listen to Oracle Season 3, Murder at the Grandview, now on Audible. This is a CBC Podcast. [♪ music playing, no lyrics for this part of the video. The audio is not available on the screen. Please check the description for the link.] Lots of smoke and we're scared that if the fire comes towards our community, we might get locked in our community because there's only one way out and one way in. At risk and still at home, with wildfire smoke choking their community and flames getting closer,

hundreds of vulnerable residents of a Manitoba First Nation are still waiting to be evacuated. But rooms and resources are hard to come by and leaders are looking for more help. Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Juanita Taylor. It's Wednesday, July 9th, just before 6 p.m. Eastern. Also on the podcast. I didn't know if my brother was okay.

I didn't see him. Once the water came into his cabin, they moved the boys from their lower bunks to then the upper bunk and then ultimately into the rafters. They scrambled to escape the deadly flood waters in Texas. Now they're looking for accountability. With hope fading for more than a hundred people still missing and crews still combing camps, cabins and trailer parks, survivors

are on a search for answers. And questions about what went wrong get louder. A second wave of wildfire evacuations is underway in northern Manitoba. With more than 80 fires burning, thousands of people are on the move, while others are still waiting for help as resources are running low and residents are raising safety concerns. Karen Pauls reports. In the air, water bombers work to douse the flames. On the ground, firefighters probe for hot spots, spraying water on flare-ups and creating fire breaks

around vulnerable communities. The bros at work, we're on the highway now. The air full of the sound of generators and thick with smoke. See you up there. Recent lightning strikes have ignited dozens of new wildfires. Major hubs like Thompson under states of emergency. The town of Lynn Lake under a mandatory evacuation order. 350 residents making the roughly 1,000-kilometer journey south.

Playing was scary. Lynn Lake was burning. 17-year-old Brayden Skowarowski has left his home for the second time. His dad stayed behind to battle two fires threatening the town. We just got done a 25 day evacuation in Thompson. Not even a week. We had to get sent out again. In Nisichawisikree Nation, 300 medically vulnerable people, elders and children are waiting to be evacuated. There's lots of smoke and we're scared that if the fire comes towards our community,

we might get locked in our community because there's only one way out and one way in. Marcel Moody is the deputy chief. He says the province has warned personal care beds and hotel space is limited. It means some evacuees may need to go to temporary congregate shelters, like the one at an indoor soccer field in the north end of Winnipeg. Moody says that's not acceptable. We don't want to be sending our people to have to sleep on floors and cots with soccer fields or areas especially with the health conditions, right? This is another part of our research. In his lab at the University of Manitoba, Chris Pasco and his team are studying the impacts of air pollution,

like wildfire smoke, on human health, particularly the lungs. He says Indigenous leaders have valid concerns. It's because you can't escape that wildfire smoke and you're right at the source, right, and at the very least providing primary mitigation things, so N95 masks and filtration systems to try to make it as safe as you can until evacuation can be prioritized. First Nations leaders have long said evacuees are targets of crime. They're young people vulnerable to negative influences. Today, Winnipeg police inspector Max Waddell announced two men are charged with drug trafficking around one of the evacuation centers.

It's very disheartening that people who have to evacuate from their own communities under a very stressful situation that they will be put in that situation. The priority for everyone keeping people safe out of the path of wildfires and protecting their communities so they have homes to return to. Karen Pauls, CBC News, Winnipeg. An emergency situation is still unfolding south of the border. Texas officials have now confirmed 119 deaths from last week's catastrophic flooding. And crews are still searching for missing people.

As the rescue and recovery work continues, the focus is shifting to questions about the response and how so many victims were caught with so little warning. Alexander Silberman reports. In thick mud and mangled trees, Javier Torres is continuing the grim search for his family. His grandmother went missing when a wall of water swept through her home. Torres is grandfather already among those confirmed dead. We found him with next to two little boy and a little girl. They were pretty much dug in the mud and just dug them out and he was no longer alive. Hope is fading for the more than 170 people missing in Texas Hill Country. Amid the heartbreak, there are also stories of heroic action.

As water began to engulf Camp La Junta, councillors moved children up to the rafters of their flooded cabins. So I wake up around 4 in the morning hearing kids screaming. Braden Raybon and his brother were among those who escaped. The cabin right next to my little brother's cabin, their wall fell over. When the water slowed, counselors slung children over their shoulders and swam them to higher ground. It was the only summer camp where everyone survived. Truly heroic and phenomenal.

Braden's mother, Kelly Rabon, is grateful her children are some of the lucky ones. But she's among those saying the government's response needs a closer look. It's tragic to know that authorities can send a message but that doesn't mean that a message will be received. Those emergency messages to cell phones have been a focus of

increasing scrutiny. We're not running, we're not gonna hide from anything. Kirt County Sheriff Larry Letha committing to reviewing how the disaster unfolded. I believe those questions need to be answered to the family of the missed loved ones. Kirt County relied on emergency alerts sent to cell phones but the area has pockets where signal is poor. The morning the floods hit, this blaring siren rang through nearby Comfort, Texas. Assistant Fire Chief Danny Morales pushed for the sirens after his grandfather was killed in a flood in the 1970s and he credits them with preventing anyone here from

losing their lives. It makes me feel good that I was able to do that. In Kerr County, officials have debated siren systems for the past decade. They estimated a cost of a million dollars and could never raise the money. Amid the mud of Texas Hill Country, the focus continues to be on the search for the missing. In hardest hit Kerr County, no survivors have been found since Friday. Alexander Silverman, CBC News, Regina. Still to come on the podcast, the human cost of human-caused climate change. Russia launches its heaviest air attack yet on Ukraine

as peace negotiations keep struggling to get off the ground. And his racially-charged complaints about trying to get a job went viral. The problem? He isn't real. More on the marketing trend called fake fluencing. There's been another escalation in Russia's war on Ukraine. Overnight, Moscow launched a record number of drone strikes, but there is good news for the embattled country coming in the form of a shift in tone from US President Donald Trump and pledges for more military support. Chris Clover has the latest from Washington.

Ukrainian firefighters extinguish flames shooting out of a residential building in the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk. Charred metal can be seen through the blown out windows, the remnants of yet another Russian attack. Overnight, Russia pounded Ukraine with firepower from more than 700 drones, the largest number fired in a single night in the war. 400 kilometers to the east in the capital, Kyiv,

war-weary residents are struggling to carry on. Thank God I don't have to study, this 18-year-old student says. Otherwise, I don't think to study, this 18-year-old student says. Otherwise, I don't think I could cope in these conditions. As Russia continues its unrelenting assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi met with the Pope today, thanking him for the Vatican's efforts to help return children taken by Russia and praying for an end to the violence, with help

from his Western allies. But this week, Ukraine has been getting a bewildering set of decisions from its biggest arms supplier, the U.S. Today President Donald Trump, confirming Ukraine, has requested another Patriot air defense system. It's a very expensive system. It's a shame that we have to spend so much money on a war that... And yet last week, an arms shipment was suddenly paused. Trump denies knowing who ordered it.

Well, I haven't thought about it because we're looking at Ukraine right now and munitions, but I have no... I have not gone into it. Sources tell U.S. media Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth paused the shipment, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries insisting it's time for Hegseth to go. And Donald Trump should fire him or Pete Hegseth should tender his resignation. That's been clear and apparent for months. Monday the Pentagon announced the shipment was being resumed under Trump's orders. And while Trump seems unable or unwilling to confirm the initial pause was Hegseth's

decision, his rage this week is at a different target. Trump taking a much harsher tone towards the Russian president he so often publicly admired. Today Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says Russia is calm amid Trump's shifting tone and moving forward with its war plan unfettered. Chris Glover, CBC News, Washington. Severely hot weather has always been dangerous, but scientists say that threat is getting worse. A new study suggests deaths during the latest heat waves to hit Europe

likely tripled because of climate change. Inaiet Singh has more. Temperatures climb up to 32 degrees Celsius through Sunday afternoon. The last day of June will be very hot again. Weather reports in France and the UK warning of soaring temperatures when a deadly heat wave hit Western Europe last month. Scientists say temperatures were up to four degrees higher than they would have been without added climate change causing emissions.

Researchers with the World Weather Attribution Group say that extra heat tripled the number of people who would have died in a normal heat wave. Frederica Otto is a UK-based climatologist who worked on the report. What it shows is that climate change is an absolute game-changer when it comes to extreme heat. Otto's group uses peer-reviewed scientific techniques to ascertain the role of climate change in weather disasters and the people who die in them. They analyze temperatures in 12 cities in Europe like Paris, Barcelona and Milan during this latest heatwave and say that of the 2,300 deaths, 1,500 were due to climate change.

These numbers represent real people who have lost their lives in the last days due to the extreme heat. And two thirds of these would not have died if it wasn't for climate change. They call heatwaves the silent killers, hitting the most vulnerable people hardest. The vast majority of those who died were seniors over the age of 65, or were people with underlying health conditions. Sameer Sinha is a Canadian geriatrician and has worked with the Red Cross on heatwave preparedness and happens to be in Italy right now.

You know, Europeans aren't generally well prepared for this, or at least in southern Europe and central Europe, not really well prepared for this because unlike in North America, we don't have the level of air conditioning that we would see. He says preparing for extreme heat before it hits is especially important when it comes to protecting older people who may live alone and don't have ways to cool off. As we get older, our bodies are not able to adapt as well to heat because our bodies aren't

able to regulate high temperatures as easily. We don't sweat as easily. The researchers warn that the burning of fossil fuels is going to make heat events hotter, more frequent and longer lasting, and that there is an urgent need to take steps to protect people when temperatures soar again. Inaid Singh, CBC News, Toronto. Alberta is now North America's hot spot for measles. Health officials say there are more cases of the disease in the province than anywhere else on the continent per capita.

1,200 people have been infected since March. Officials are concerned summer events, such as the Calgary Stampede, could cause cases to spike. The union representing college workers in Ontario is sounding the alarm. It says one of the largest mass layoffs in the province's history is underway because of a funding crisis. And without new money, more college staff will lose jobs. And college students will lose more opportunities to learn. Nicole Williams reports. It's worse than we thought.

The numbers are staggering. According to the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, more than 10,000 college faculty and staff are projected to be laid off by the end of this year, since April of last. JP Hornick is union president. This is bigger than the Hudson's Bay liquidation which laid off 8,000 employees across Canada. Terry Loreto in Ottawa is among those affected. She's a former CBC broadcaster who went on to work at Algonquin College teaching TV and script writing. This is my dream job, especially after 35 years in industry. That is until this February when the college cut 37 programs because of what it called

unprecedented financial challenges. It was shocking. Blindsided was the word a lot of us were using, but for me personally, it was also heartbreaking. The cuts also include more than 600 college programs suspended or cancelled in large part because Ottawa's cap on international students announced in 2024. The union says it's also because the provincial government has quote walked away from its responsibility to fund our college system and Ontario ranks last in the country for per student funding. Pair that with tuition freezes and it's all packed a punch to the institution's bottom lines. If you don't let colleges charge

what they need to in order to run programs you'll have fewer programs. Alex Usher is an expert in post-secondary schooling with higher education associates. And you'll have less choice for students and you will have, you know, fewer jobs in the sector. And it's not just colleges. Universities across the country are also up against major financial shortfalls in the wake of the international student caps. Gabriel Miller is president and CEO of Universities Canada. They cannot be relied on to cover up a deeper problem, which is that governments have been stepping back from their own responsibility to fund higher education for a couple decades now.

A spokesperson for the Ontario government says that's not true, at least in that province. In a statement it says Ontario has spent an additional two billion dollars over the last year on top of the annual five billion to publicly assisted post-secondary schools. But Hornick argues that without a new deal there could be more layoffs and program closures to come in colleges and even some universities. Nicole Williams, CBC News, Ottawa. Unions for federal civil servants are warning of mass layoffs. They say their members will bear the brunt of expected cuts triggered by the current government's plan to reduce regulations. Sean O'Reilly is with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada.

They do scare me to be honest and I think that you know really the government wants to look at savings. Let's have a deeper discussion and not just throw out some arbitrary numbers. Whenever there is look at reductions my concern is that we're going to be affecting the lives of Canadians. Unions say the government can instead save money by asking staff to work from home or scale back on third-party contractors. Federal agencies have 60 days to report on how they could reduce spending. The Carney government is eyeing cuts of 15% over the next three years. The role of the RCMP could be expanded in Nova Scotia after a review of policing in the province found major shortfalls among local police departments.

The RCMP says it's ready to take on more responsibility, but the potential shakeup comes with Mounties facing their own criticism. Shayna Luck reports. Nova Scotians have told us that the current model of policing is not working. Nova Scotia's Justice Minister Becky Druin says that's the conclusion of a third-party review of policing in the province. It gathered feedback from 7,000 citizens and found police services aren't consistent, coverage and response times aren't good enough, especially in rural areas. Now the province says municipalities that have their own police forces will need to meet a set of standards or switch to the RCMP.

The review grew out of the Mass Casualty Commission. The inquiry set up to examine how a gunman dressed as an RCMP officer was able to kill 22 people across the province. In 2023, it found major problems with policing in Nova Scotia, but those problems included the RCMP, which could soon take on even more responsibility. I do recognize that some people may be surprised with the direction that the department is going.

Dennis Daly is the RCMP's assistant commissioner in Nova Scotia. He acknowledges trust in the force was deeply damaged, but he says it's improved its public alert system and made additions to the emergency response team. We are always searching and trying to develop trust of Nova Scotians by doing excellent police work. And that'll be really the judge of how we're being judged. But not everyone agrees the RCMP are the right way to go. Liberal opposition politician Ian Rankin feels because of that lack of trust among some Nova Scotians he'd prefer creating a provincial police force. I think that there are culture issues within the RCMP that wasn't talked about.

And municipalities that could lose their local police are also skeptical. David Mitchell is the mayor of Bridgewater, a 9,000 person town with a police force of 24. I'm confused and again need clarification from the minister on how the report that says the RCMP rural model isn't working is now going to be the model that is pushed on municipalities with their own police service. But with RCMP already covering over 80% of the province, the Justice Minister says this is the best way forward.

We have trust that this is the right path for Nova Scotians and we'll deliver consistent high quality policing to Nova Scotians regardless of where they live. The RCMP says it's prepared to expand if needed. Within the past year, it recruited 70 new cadets and hired 40 experienced officers from other police forces. Shane Alux, CBC News, Halifax. Police in the UK are investigating two new deaths they say may be linked to Canadian Kenneth Law.

The Toronto area man is accused of selling substances online that people have used to die by suicide. British authorities are looking into whether those products were involved in a pair of recent cases along with more than 90 others. Law was arrested in his Mississauga home in 2023. He is charged with 14 counts of first degree murder in Ontario. A trial is set for January. He looks and sounds pretty real, wearing a hoodie and holding a Tim Horton's cup. A young man on social media with a shocking message, complaining he can't get a job in this country because he's white.

But he's no ordinary influencer, in fact, he's not even human. And the story is a reminder to be wary of what you see online. The CBC's David Michael Lam has the details. Tim Hortons just asked if I speak Punjabi. I'm whiter than their Boston cream. That's Josh, a social media influencer who appears to be in his early 20s. He's just out of school looking for work in Canada. A job search, he says, that hasn't been going well, because of immigrants. I can't believe I lost the job to someone who barely speaks English,

and I have a communications degree. But Josh isn't real. He's created entirely by AI, as are the videos he appears in. He's what's known as a fakefluencer, a generated persona who endorses a product or service. In this case, Nexa, an AI firm that develops job recruiting software for other companies. Some of the videos feature Nexa logos. The company's CEO is Divi Nayar, who made the videos with his team.

There's obviously all these fun things going around, how like, you know, it means they're taking over the job market and we wanted to have fun with it. We said, well, let's put it out there. And obviously people had different opinions. Some users on TikTok may have thought they were looking at a real person. They accused Josh of racism. Josh defends himself in the comments saying he isn't racist, further implying that he's real. Marketing experts say it's all deceptive and unethical. This type of content and highly polarizing storytelling is something that we would expect from far-right groups, maybe domestic political interest groups.

Marcus Giesler is a marketing professor at York University. For a company to use this kind of campaign tonality in order to attract consumers to its services is highly, highly problematic and unlike anything that I've ever seen. CBC's visual investigations team asked TikTok if the videos comply with its community guidelines. They require AI videos that show realistic-looking scenes or people to be clearly labeled. TikTok said they do not. It didn't comment on the racially-charged message, but it has removed all of Josh's videos from the platform.

The fact that it's not easy to tell is the crucial issue, according to Marvin Ryder, a marketing professor at McMaster University. How are we as consumers of social media, even if it's just for entertainment, supposed to discern reality from fiction? There are other AI videos on TikTok that aren't labelled, suggesting the platform isn't consistent in enforcing its own policies. Either way, expect more like this. We let in half a million people this year and posted like six jobs.

Love my immigrants, but Canada is to blame for this job-to-people ratio. AI makes it easier than ever to create these personas with nothing more than a few text prompts prompts and they will say anything you want. David Michael Lam, CBC News, Toronto. That's Inuk musician Beatrice Deer performing today in Iqaluit. It's a special day in Nunavut, a holiday that some say gets residents more excited than Canada Day. Today is Nunavut Day, celebrating the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act and the Nunavut Act. It was legislation 32 years ago today that set in motion a historic redrawing of the map of Canada. Today we recognize and celebrate our arrival. We the people of Nunavut have

regained control of our destiny and will now once again determine our own path. Nunavut's first premier, Paul Oukalaq, had a ceremony in 1999 marking the creation of Canada's third territory. The moment was the culmination of decades of work and centuries of history, the largest land claim ever in Canada. James Ituluk was part of a team of dedicated Inuit leaders who began negotiating with the federal government in the early 1980s.

It was fun in a lot of ways, but tough work in a lot of ways as well. We are lucky to have those people like late Pili Kapsi and Tegah Curly, and others, and Bobby Kullin, and them, and Taipana, and so forth. You know, a lot of guys, I can name. And Ittuluk says that work continues to this day. Recent legislation transferred control of crown lands and resources to the territory as Nunavut celebrates its history and looks forward to the future. Thanks for being with us.

This has been Your World Tonight for Nunavut Day July 9th. I'm Juanita Taylor. Kuvya su itsi Nunavut Ublungani. Happy Nunavut Day! For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.