Your World Tonight - MPs return to Ottawa, Five years since the murder of George Floyd, BC ostrich cull, and more

Episode Date: May 25, 2025

After a six month break from Parliamentary business...M-Ps are returning to Ottawa for the first sitting of the year. It's expected to be short, but busy. The Conservatives and Liberals both held caucus meetings Sunday. Also: Five years after George Floyd's murder by a white police officer, Minneapolis honours the man whose name and image inspired an international movement against police killings of Black people. And: RFK Jr. is sticking his neck out for a flock of ostriches on a BC farm. He wants the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to call of a planned cull of the big birds.Plus: Russia's largest aerial assault on Ukraine, the future of U-N peacekeeping and Rome's Baroque history, and more.

So lately, I've been really blown away by how locked in Canadians are to political news. I'm Jamie Poisson, host of the daily news podcast Frontburner. And while the election's over, that does not mean that people are done with politics. Quite the opposite, really. So if you're curious about how our country will navigate this divided and crucial moment in our history, listen to Frontburner. We've got you covered on that and a wide range of other top-of-mind stories as well. Follow Frontburner wherever you get your podcasts.

This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Stephanie Scanderis and this is your World Tonight. This is one of the most rapid returns of Parliament in Canadian history, and it will be one of the most busy returns to Parliament in Canadian history. Parliamentarians are getting back to work Monday. On the eve of the latest session, the Liberal and Conservative leaders rally the troops. You'll hear what they had to say. Also on the podcast…

A lot of people love him. A lot of people miss him. A lot of people still think of him every other day. And at the end of the day, George changed the world. Five years after his murder, George Floyd is honored in Minneapolis. Plus, how Saskatchewan inspired an Italian curator to reframe his view of Rome. After a six-month break from parliamentary business, MPs are returning to Ottawa for the first sitting of the year. It's expected to be short but busy. The Conservatives and Liberals both held caucus meetings today, discussions that are usually held in private. But as Olivia Stefanovic reports, the parties let the media in to get a peek at their strategies. I don't have to ask whether this room is ready. I know this room is ready.

Prime Minister Mark Carney rallying the Liberal caucus on the eve of one of the most rapid returns to Parliament since a federal election. We're going to have to do things previously thought impossible at speeds not seen in generations. Over the next few weeks, Carney says he plans to introduce several key pieces of legislation, including a middle-class tax cut, eliminating federal barriers to internal trade, and making bail tougher to get, the details to be laid out this Tuesday in the throne speech delivered by King Charles. It's my solemn commitment to work with all of you to seize this moment for Canadians.

The Liberals arranged this Sunday caucus meeting at the request of MPs who called for a vote on the Reform Act, a piece of legislation that gives caucus more power, including the ability to trigger a leadership review. We have full confidence in our leader, but I do believe in caucus accountability. Ryan Turnbull is one of the Liberal MPs who voiced support for the act, but the majority of his caucus members voted against it. I will not be supporting the Reform Act. Including Wayne Long, a new secretary of state who was the first Liberal MP to publicly speak

out against former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Should 30 MPs, 32 MPs, whatever that number is, have the trigger mechanism to enact a leadership review? I mean, we see the change that's happened consistently in the Conservative Party. The Tories indeed adopted the Reform Act at their last caucus meeting. The opposition also holding a caucus meeting of their own Sunday. Although he doesn't currently hold a seat in the House of Commons, Pierre Poliev remains party leader. We will present ourselves as a government in waiting to ensure that people know that that hope remains.

Polyev says the Conservatives are willing to cooperate with the Liberals to permanently end tariffs with the U.S. and secure a new trade deal. But they want government to loosen restrictions on energy projects. They have our word. Let's remove the obstacles. Let's harvest our resources. Let's remove the obstacles. Let's harvest our resources. Let's make Canada truly independent. Carney says he wants to fast-track infrastructure projects

deemed in the national interest. But whether that will satisfy the Conservatives remains to be seen. The new minority parliament gets to work Monday, first with the election of the new House Speaker. Olivia Stevanovic, CBC News, Ottawa. Five years ago today, a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against George Floyd's neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds.

Bystanders watched and filmed trying to get the officer to stop as Floyd, a black man, said he couldn't breathe and then died. But his name and image lived on as a symbol as waves of protests against the police killings of black Americans spread across the United States. Sarah Levitt is in Minneapolis and has more on the anniversary. I did this down here. Real Kings last forever. Maestro King points to a saying spray painted on the ground. The Minneapolis native says he comes to this intersection every couple

of days to help clean up. The intersection now called George Floyd Square, a memorial on the exact spot where the man was murdered by a police officer. The spot features photos of him, flowers and spray painted sayings and slogans. King remembers Floyd fondly. Strong, positive and I just know we used to chat for hours. He was, I don't got much family. So he was somebody to talk to. Sitting outside a convenience store five years ago, Floyd was pulled from a car and onto the ground by police.

After a cashier inside suspected he used a fake $20 bill. For nine and a half minutes officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck during the arrest. A video of the incident was soon seen worldwide as Floyd cried. Soon after he was dead. His murder led to major protests in Minneapolis with demonstrators full of hurt and rage. Rioting, looting and arson followed. The protests soon spread across the U.S. then worldwide. Philonius Floyd is George Floyd's brother.

A lot of people still think of him every other day. And at the end of the day George he changed the world. In 2021 police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of unintentional second-degree murder third degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. Efforts were made to reform police departments across the country first and foremost in Minneapolis. But in a blow to those efforts, this week the Department of Justice, instructed by the Trump administration, announced it was ending police reform agreements.

Known as consent decrees, they provided federal oversight on several police departments in an effort to monitor possible misconduct. We're going to move forward with that work, with or without the White House. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is speaking out against the decision. Here is the bottom line, we're doing it anyway. We will comply with every sentence of every paragraph of the 169-page consent decree that we signed this year. Many agree not much has changed.

According to an analysis by the New York Times, the number of people killed by the police has gone up every year since Floyd's death. In George Floyd Square, Maestro King reflects. Do you think things have changed five years later? Absolutely not. A strong rebuke in a city and country where many are still in mourning five years later. Sarah Levitt, CBC News, Minneapolis. Still ahead, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to stop an ostrich cull on a BC farm.

You'll hear why he's sticking his neck out for the big birds coming up on Your World Tonight. A London, Ontario judge will rule tomorrow on whether text messages can be entered as evidence in the trial of five former World Junior hockey players. The Crown says the texts in question are crucial to its case because its witness can't remember important details. Karen Paul's now on how memory plays a key role in testimony and what that might mean for the Crown's case. Vegas Golden Knights forward Brett Howden knows what to do in the hockey arena.

Howden is going to be the hero here in Vegas. But in a court of law via CCTV from Vegas last week, his testimony was under scrutiny. Howden is a Crown witness and not accused of any wrongdoing. We've heard Crown counsel saying that this particular witness has been feigning his memory loss. It's convenient that he doesn't remember particular details that mayigning his memory loss. It's convenient that he you know doesn't remember particular details that may damage his former teammates but he seems to have a clear memory about details that could be damaging for the complainant for example.

Sarah Lehman is a criminal defense lawyer from Vancouver. She's not part of the trial but is following it closely. Versus the defense who can say well he just doesn't have a good memory of this. He's not being purposefully evasive, he's not being disingenuous, he just simply doesn't remember it. Howden says he can't remember writing text messages to another teammate after the alleged sexual assault, in which he described Dylan Dubé hitting the complainant's buttocks. In one, Howden wrote he was happy he left the hotel room when he did because Dubay was

smacking the girls behind so hard it looked like it hurt so bad. Howden can't now confirm the details are accurate, but he told court he believes he was being truthful at the time. Memory is a very fallible beast. It changes every time we recall a memory. But says Morgan Berenz, a professor and glassman chair in neuropsychology at the University of Toronto, forgetting a central moment in an event is, if that event is important to the individual who's experiencing it, that

is unlikely. Under cross-examination, the complainant, who's known as EM under a publication ban, was also asked about inconsistencies in her testimony compared to previous statements she's made to investigators. Beren says memory in the real world is different than a court context, where a witness is expected to give an exact replication of what happened in the past without the context or understanding of what they may have gained about that event over time. If you're being repeatedly asked about that event over time. If you're being repeatedly asked about an event, that can change the event.

So in that sense, memory in the real world versus memory in the courtroom are often at odds. The challenge then becomes how reliable is the witness and their memories? Christopher Sharon is a law professor at Western University in London. If a witness can recount only part of an event or only pieces of an event, then there's always a risk that the trier of fact will be receiving a misleading picture and might be led astray even from the testimony of an entirely honest witness. If a court feels that a witness is feigning memory loss, in other words, they actually do remember but are claiming falsely that they do not,

that can have a more significant impact on the assessment of their credibility. Lehman agrees. I think this just demonstrates how complicated these kinds of cases can be. This is like human behaviour that we're looking at under a microscope years later and trying to dissect and figure out, you know, what is the culpability of these young men that are involved. Whether the alleged sexual acts on the night in question were consensual or amount to criminal acts may come down to what the witnesses remember and their credibility. Karen Pauls, CBC News, London, Ontario. A central Ontario community is holding a vigil tonight to mourn the loss of four high school students

and a popular teacher. They were killed in a car crash Friday. The four teenage girls and their 33-year-old coach had been on their way back to Walkerton from a softball tournament near London. Philipp Lee Shenok reports. Keegan Padfield looks at a growing memorial of flowers and teddy bears outside the front doors of Walkerton District Community School. Like many in the town he left shoes out on his porch as a tribute to the student athletes and a well-liked coach. He likes to make a lot of jokes and he's always really nice with the students.

33 year old teacher Matt Eckert was driving an SUV with four members of the school softball team when they were involved in an accident with a tractor trailer and another SUV. All five occupants of the SUV died. They were on their way home to Walkerton from a school softball tournament in Dorchester. Two of the girls were 16, two were 17. I think everyone would have gotten along with those girls. Padfield, a 15 year old in the 10th grade, said it would be a difficult week for the school and community. I think it's gonna be a struggle but I think with the school community and all of

Walkerton coming together I think it'll be a lot better to get through. Jamie Pettit of the Blue Water District School Board said counselors will be at the school to assist students and staff. Everybody's in complete shock. The grief is pretty intense. As the school week starts with students coming in that's going to be very heavy and intense as well. Chris Peabody, Mayor of Brockton, the municipality that includes Walkerton, said the loss of

Eckert, who is from Owen Sound about an hour's north, will be difficult. He was also the assistant coach of the Owen Sound Junior B North Stars Lacrosse Club. They've lost a great young mentor, a coach, type of guy that you really want in your community that's involved in community service as well as teaching. But driving many kilometers to get to school sports tournaments is a reality for rural Canadian students. The distance we have to travel

to get to the major centers for a tournament for example these these this team had to travel two hours. Sergeant Ed Sanchuk of the Middlesex Ontario Provincial Police said the accident was still under investigation. As a father I can't imagine what these families are going through. We're going to give these grieving families time to grieve no further information that's going be released at this time. While the Ontario Provincial Police has not released any identities, the Tara Twins U18 girls softball team

identified two of the victims as Rowan McLeod and Cadence Ford. Phil Schanock, 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. Germany's foreign minister is calling for tougher sanctions on Russia after it launched its largest air assault on Ukraine since the start of its invasion in 2022. Ukrainian authorities say more than 30 cities and towns across the country were targeted, including Kiev, on a day that is

meant to mark the city's founding in the 5th century. But as Erin Collins reports, there is little to celebrate. Ukrainian emergency crews sift through rubble in Kiev, struggling to get fires still smoldering in Ukraine's capital under control. The aftermath of one of the largest Russian attacks in this conflict, Ukrainian officials say roughly 370 drones and missiles were involved in the assault, killing at least a dozen people, including children. Honestly, I don't think that anyone in Kiev had any sleep this night.

Kira Rudik is a Ukrainian member of parliament. I personally spent this night under the stairs at home where we usually hide during such an attacks. It was terrifying. It felt honestly like Armageddon. The explosions were everywhere. The Ukrainian forces responded to those attacks, but it wasn't just missiles exchanged by the two countries over the weekend. Ukrainian soldiers chant glory to Ukraine, some of the hundreds of prisoners released in a massive swap with Russia. Irina Miltos' father, one of the Ukrainian soldiers, released.

I'm happy to see him, she says, but worried about the weight he lost while in a Russian prison. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking out on social media over the weekend, urging the US and European countries to impose sanctions on Russia, Democratic Congressman Jim Himes echoing that call. We can bring this war not just to a conclusion, but to a fair and just conclusion that will keep the Russians from invading countries in the future. It's Memorial Day weekend here in the US, the president speaking to graduating cadets

at West Point on Saturday. You will become officers in the greatest and most powerful army the world has ever known. On his way back to Washington, not ruling out tougher sanctions on Russia. And I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he's sending rockets into cities and killing people and I don't like it at all." This weekend's Russian offensive, the third major one in just a week. Ukrainian forces launching aerial attacks of their own. This conflict grinding on for more than three years,

seemingly no closer to end. Erin Collins, CBC News, Washington. In Toronto. Thousands of people draped in Israeli and Canadian flags walk below an overpass for the 56th Walk with Israel rally, organized by United Jewish Appeal. There was a heightened police presence at this year's rally because of planned pro-Palestinian counter protests. UJA's Sarah Leften.

I think this year more than ever our community is feeling increasingly isolated because of the drastic increase in anti-Semitism. And I think that more than ever it's important for us to come together to stand united again with people inside of our Jewish community but also those outside of the Jewish community to show us that we're not alone. Toronto police say there have been 43 reported hate crimes against the city's Jewish community so far this year.

On Sunday, Israel's National Security Council raised its travel alert for Canada, warning of threats against Israelis and Jews. And that statement comes after a tense week in Canada's relationship with Israel. Canada, France and the UK urged Israel to end its campaign in Gaza and let in more aid. That provoked an angry response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As Tom Perry reports from Jerusalem, Israelis are noticing the dispute. They gather every week, the families of Israeli hostages and their supporters demanding an

end to the war in Gaza and a return of their loved ones. This week, some at this gathering in Tel Aviv are welcoming a message from some of Israel's allies. It's a good step. It's a good step for ending the war. Yehuda Cohen's son Nimrod was taken hostage on October 7th and remains in Gaza, one of 59 Israelis living or dead still held by Hamas. Cohen's hope that a joint declaration by Canada, the UK and France urging Israel to end its military operations in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid to enter is a sign countries are prepared to put pressure on Israel's government.

Israel is a small country. Israel is not an island. Cannot survive by itself. It needs, especially the Western world, connection with the Western world. And the Western world pressing our government to go for a ceasefire, anything goes. Others are more cautious and more critical. Dalia Kusnir's brother-in-law, Etan Horn, is still being held hostage to her. Canada and its partners have their priorities all wrong. Kusnir's brother-in-law, Etan Horn, is still being held hostage to her. Canada and its partners have their priorities all wrong. It's not understanding that

when they condemning Israel they're strengthening Hamas. The Israeli government has faced months of domestic pressure to reach a permanent ceasefire with critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu staging their own regular protests. Adam Hamama, who has attended many of these gatherings, questions what impact, if any, the statement by Canada and its partners will have. I think it's not enough. I think it's rather performative. You know, it's just a way to make people in those countries think that the governments of those countries really care.

Israel is keeping up its attacks. Video from Han Younis shows rescue workers pulling bodies, some of them tiny, from a collapsed burning building. An Israeli strike Friday killed nine siblings, their mother a physician at a local hospital. The house was like a crushed can of sardines says Ali Al-Najr, the children's uncle. We looked through the rubble and called out names but no one answered. The Israeli military says it's reviewing the strike in Hanunis. Despite all the protests and strong words from foreign governments,

the suffering in Gaza continues. Tom Perry, CBC News, Jerusalem. Nearly 80 years ago, the Arab-Israeli war led to the first United Nations peacekeeping mission. That anniversary will be marked this Thursday, May 29, the International Day of UN Peacekeepers. But as Natalie Carney reports, UN peacekeeping is facing growing challenges. Peacekeeping is facing a struggle to remain relevant. Since 1948, more than 2 million peacekeepers from 158 countries have served in 71 different operations around the world, delivering mixed results. Rwanda has a very painful experience with peacekeeping.

In 1993, the UN launched a mission in Rwanda led by Canadian General Romeo Dillard to monitor a peace accord aimed at ending the country's civil war. But what followed was genocide. Ten Belgian peacekeepers were killed and over 800,000 Rwandans, mostly Tutsi, were murdered. Juvenal Marizamunda is Rwanda's current defense minister. Nothing was done by the UN or the international community in general to prevent that. But today the small African country provides one of the largest contingents of UN peacekeeping troops, with nearly 6,000 personnel taking part in five different peacekeeping missions across the African continent. We are committed to the Netherlands again. We don't wish to see what happened in Rwanda

happen anywhere else. Despite these failures, many still believe UN peacekeeping is one of the most legitimate and powerful tools for conflict prevention. But UN peacekeeping is facing unprecedented times, says Nick Birnbach, the head of strategic communications. And that's everything from a fractured international system, but also transnational threats once we're on the ground. So these are threats like transnational crime, like ails from environmental degradation, attacks from extremist groups,

peacekeeping itself is increasingly targeted. New threats require new tools, technology, training and funding, all at a time when national budgets are being tightly squeezed. And this appears to be affecting the priorities of some member countries, such as Canada, who are currently providing their lowest number of troops. The US, which funds 27 percent of the UN peacekeeping budget, has also threatened to withdraw its support. Aikihara Hunt is the co-author of a UN Commission study on the future of peacekeeping, which

dives into the challenges and offers possible solutions. Her takeaway, there simply is no comparative alternative. With all the challenges and all the problems, still a very, very viable means to address international peace and security issues. It's actually a very, very cost-effective mode compared to other, for example, bilateral or military interventions. And it seems for now, many countries still agree. A recent meeting

in Berlin to discuss the future of UN peacekeeping drew a high number of high level delegations indicating a willingness to overcome these challenges together. Natalie Carney for CBC in Berlin. This is your World Tonight. I'm Stephanie Scanderis. You can hear your world tonight wherever you are. Just subscribe to our podcast on your favorite podcast app or stream us live on the CBC News app. Just tap on the local icon. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says an invasive fish species has been found in a small waterway in Nova Scotia. It says the Oriental weatherfish, also known as a pond loach, was likely released from an aquarium.

That's a crime. The pond loach comes from East Asia and has been reported in BC before, but the DFO says it's the first time one has been reported in Atlantic Canada. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants Canadian health officials to spare a BC ostrich flock from a cull. The U.S. health secretary is joining a growing group asking Ottawa to step in. John Hernandez explains why. It's just resistance, resistance, resistance. The flightless birds peek over a wired fence as their caretaker confronts a group of RCMP officers. I've grown up with these big beautiful birds and they've grown up with me. Katie Pesitny's parents own Universal Ostrich Farm in Edgewood, a small community in BC's southern interior. It's become the front line in a fight over the fate of 400 ostriches.

The birds are subject to a mandatory cull. Pasitney and her family have vowed to save them. This isn't just about our farm, it's about the future of farming across Canada and the world. Last December, two of the ostriches tested positive for avian flu. Dozens died. But the farmers believe the herd is now immune to the disease. We just want an opportunity to retest these animals, bring all of our scientific data forward.

In a statement, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said all avian influenza viruses have the potential to infect mammals, including humans. And it has a duty to protect Canadians. It's a really tough one. UBC molecular biologist Fiona Brinkman says convincing the agency to reverse course won't be easy. She says the risk of a deadlier variant of the virus emerging could be too much to overcome. This is ultimately a tragedy of a pathogen that has evolved in ways that

is now a threat to multiple industries, to many animals. The farm lost a court challenge to stop the cull last month. Since then an outpouring of support for the birds including from the US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy jr. wrote a letter to Canadian officials asking them to reconsider the cull and study the ostrich's immune response. Dozens of supporters like Kimberly Brundle have set up camp at the farm. We're here to be peaceful. We're here to support the family. Officials have given no timeline on when the cull will happen. The farm intends to file an appeal on Monday.

John Hernandez, CBC News, Vancouver. —Rome's ornate churches and sculpted fountains attract millions of visitors each year, drawn to the city's distinct European grandiosity. But a new exhibit is shining a light on Rome's deep ties to Africa, Asia, and the Americas. And as Megan Williams reports, the curator says he was inspired by his years teaching in Saskatchewan. La Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, the Fountain of the Four Rivers, is a Baroque masterpiece in the heart of Rome's Piazza Navona. The elaborate fountain was

sculpted by artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1651 and features four river gods of the Nile, the Danube, the Ganges and the Rio della Plata, symbols of the Catholic Church's global reach. But one figure stands out. Instead of depicting an indigenous South American, Bernini sculpted an African man to represent the Rio della Plata. It wasn't ignorance, says historian Francesco Fredolini. It reflected what Catholic missionaries were reporting back to Rome about how the Atlantic

slave trade was reshaping South America's population and culture. Missionaries at that time, middle of the 17th century, were writing about African communities, especially in South America. Wooden draughts of the fountain are part of Barocco Globale, a new exhibit Fredolini co-curated. Fredolini is a prof at Rome's Sapienza University, but before that, spent a decade teaching

at the University of Regina, an experience, he says, that reshaped how he approaches global art history. And that helped spark the idea behind the exhibition. My experience and my time in Canada was an eye-opener in terms of how to consider, include and investigate Indigenous perspectives. The show is the first to reframe 17th century Rome, not just as an artistic and religious capital. What we wanted to do was to investigate how Rome during the 17th century was part of a much larger network of cross-cultural relations that really spanned the entire globe.

Echoing French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, who wrote at the time, Rome is the only place where every foreigner feels at home. This Rome visitor says the exhibit's anthropological lens is refreshing especially for a period so deeply shaped by Catholic colonialism. Yes there are depictions of slavery and conversion, says this visitor, but what struck me was how Africans, Arabs and others were also shown with dignity and humanity.

The show ends with a dazzling feathered papal mitra investment, woven in 1600s Mexico, using intricate indigenous techniques. A final tribute to the global artistry that flowed into Baroque Rome. Megan Williams, CBC News, Rome. And that's your World Tonight for Sunday, May 25th. I'm Stephanie Skanderas. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.