Your World Tonight - Nation-building projects, manhunt for Kirk shooter, Canadian stablecoin, and more

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney says it’s time to build big, and build quickly. Today he revealed a list of five “nation building” projects, including LNG production, and small nuclear reactors. We��ll look at two of those projects in a bit more detail — mines in Saskatchewan and B.C. More on the plans, the people and the pushback.And: The hunt is on for the person who shot Conservative influencer Charlie Kirk in Utah. Kirk was killed yesterday at an event on a college campus.Also: A Calgary company is banking on a big venture to digitize the dollar. It plans to launch a Canadian stablecoin next year.Plus: Canadian views on immigration, political violence in the U.S., 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. We used to build big things in this country and we used to build them quickly.

It's time to get back at it and it's time to get on with it. It's not yet shovels in the ground, but Mark Carney is putting pen to paper and officially releasing his list of major projects from mines to modular reactors. The big builds the Prime Minister wants a problem, proved to create jobs, new markets, and a more resilient Canadian economy.

Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Susan Bonner. It is Thursday, September 11th, just before 6 p.m. Eastern, also on the podcast. After the shooting, we were able to track his movements as he moved to the other side of the building, jumped off of the building, and fled off of the campus and into a neighborhood. The shocking campus shooting of Charlie Kirk and a killer who slipped away, police In the United States have photos and a potential murder weapon, but the search for the suspect continues as fear about a new wave of unrest grips, a country that has a long and traumatic history of political violence. It's a high-stakes plan to create thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in economic activity, and it starts with a list of five major infrastructure projects. But there's early pushback, including concern about environmental protection and indigenous consultation.

We have full coverage on this story tonight, beginning with Olivia Stefanovic, who was at the Prime Minister's announcement in Edmonton. We will create economic opportunities that help Canadians not just manage through this crisis. We will manage through this crisis. Our goal is to prosper from it. Faced with a slowing economy and a never-ending trade war with the U.S., Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada has no choice but to turn its fortunes around itself. We used to build big things in this country and we used to build them quickly. It's time to get back at it and it's time to get on with it.

Standing in a carpenter's training center in Edmonton, Carney revealed the first five major energy and infrastructure projects he's greenlighting. He expects them to generate more than $60 billion. They include the second phase of LNG Canada in northern British Columbia, a new nuclear project in southern Ontario and expansions to the port of Montreal. When I looked at the first five projects, I thought finally they get it because it's all the projects that have been difficult to build. Alberta Premier Daniel Smith met with Kearney just before the announcement.

And even though there's no oil pipeline on the list now, Smith says that doesn't mean that one can't be added later. And I would just ask people to be patient. I mean, we went from having chased away, what, half a trillion dollars worth of investment over the last 10 years. You can't turn that around immediately. I think it's a really exciting period. Manitoba Premier Wob Canoe doesn't have a project on the initial list,

but upgrades to the Port of Churchill are listed on the second wave of projects up for consideration. To see the prime minister of Canada, to see our federal government in Canada talk about, Manitoba having a potential project of national importance. I don't know if we've had that since Manitoba entered Confederation. But it's not all praise for Carney. This is pathetic. Conservative leader Pierre Pahliav says the Prime Minister is moving too slow for the urgency of the moment. What he's done today is announced that he's going to send an email to an office that isn't even fully staffed up yet,

which will one day consider possibly a person. improving five projects. The projects Carney is recommending to the major projects office are already quite advanced and have gone through indigenous consultation. And that's part of the reason why we're able to be in a position to identify them as the federal government and passed to the project's office to shepherd them for it. Carney says the projects will require federal dollars to spur private investment but isn't yet saying how much. Carney says that second set of major projects will be announced by the Grey Cup in mid-November. Olivia Estefanovich, CBC News, Edmonton.

Two other projects on Mark Carney's list involve Canadian copper mines. The metal is in high demand. From military needs to the components that power big tech, copper is having a moment on the world stage and the Prime Minister wants Canadian production in the spotlight. Alexander Silberman has more. in flin flan manitoba a mining city a much-needed economic boom is on the horizon some copper and zinc is

already coming out of the ground in this region but mining activity with hundreds of jobs in the pipeline is expected to get a lot busier it's an incredibly positive thing corey eastman is president of the flin flan chamber of commerce he's welcoming news that the federal government will fast track a massive local copper mine. The McElvena Bay Project, five kilometers away in Saskatchewan, is one of five nation-building projects Ottawa plans to prioritize. These 400 direct jobs then lead to, obviously, more population. The expansion of the Red Criss Copper and Gold Mine in northwestern BC is also on the list, signaling a push to turn Canada's $9 billion copper industry into a larger global player.

It's encouraging. Over the last decade, we've... We've seen approximately 25% decline in copper production in Canada. Votini Kutavlis is with the Canadian Mining Association. She says there's big global demand for the metal in a range of rapidly growing industries, including artificial intelligence data centers, electric cars, and military spending. New technologies will demand much more power and copper is central for electrification. The world's biggest mining deal of the past decade recently turned attention. to the metal. Vancouver-based tech resources and Britain's Anglo-American agreed to merge,

creating a copper-focused giant worth about $70 billion. Danita Silva is a senior portfolio manager at Middlefield Limited. It just highlights the dearth of kind of shovel-ready projects. But the effort to fast-track some mining projects could face some roadblocks. In BC, the Red Chris Mine expansion has faced opposition from a near-ne. nearby First Nation. And there are also concerns over environmental risks. In northeast Saskatchewan, the McLevina Bay Mine Project is making indigenous engagement a priority and expects to start commercial production in the middle of next year. Foran mining, the company behind the project, signed in agreement with the nearby Peter

Ballantine Cree Nation on economic development. Jonathan French is vice president of capital markets and external affairs. Our big focus there was building these relationships. Copper demand is projected to keep growing rapidly over the next few years. But the mining industry warns that the slow timeline to permit and build mines means a looming supply crunch. Alexander Silberman, CBC News, Regina. Catherine Cullen is the host of CBC Radio's The House.

She's in our parliamentary bureau. Catherine, Mark Carney has really built up these projects as an important part of Canada's economic future. How can we assess the process? Well, Susan, at first blush, there's positive news here. More energy for well over a million homes, critical minerals, natural gas that is less polluting. And as we look to future projects, high-speed rail. But one question that is emerging here is how much the federal government is really getting these projects over the line, particularly that first tranche of five. Look at the Darlington-Ontario nuclear project. It seems many. Perhaps all of the approvals are in place. It's not

clear what financing is missing. So in that case, how much credit can the federal government claim? Now, the flip side is that they are seeking projects that can be completed quickly, but I think it points to the fact that this process still isn't quite clear. You mentioned natural gas emissions. What does today's announcement tell us about where Mark Carney is curbing Canada's emissions? On the one hand, there's certainly a big emphasis on more sustainable forms of energy. Nuclear doesn't result in carbon emissions, so yes, it creates nuclear waste, but critical minerals, carbon capture, the Prime Minister certainly tried to put the emphasis on picking projects that have some environmental cred. But liquefied natural gas, for instance,

does create carbon emissions, even if this project is supposed to be much lower emitting. So there's division amongst some in the climate community over this choice. And of course, Carney has signaled that he's willing to move ahead on a new oil pipeline, but that it would have to be tied to a carbon capture and storage project. So again, there's an effort to strike a balance, but it would still lead to more emissions. Okay, on the pipelines front, there's no ironclad commitment yet, but Alberta's premier seems pretty happy with what she heard today. Well, conservative leader Pierre Pauliev is highly critical.

What's going on there? Smith still has plenty of criticism for Mark Carney on other issues like immigration, but she is remarkably positive about the major project. Now, recall, there is no private company that has publicly come forward to say it wants to build a new pipeline for Alberta oil, though Smith has said she's aware of one. She said today she feels like Albertans are, quote, finally being heard by this federal government and that the changes she is seeking to other resource laws like the oil emissions cap. Well, she says those things are being worked out. So certainly there are some questions about what all of that is going to look like. It does, though, make Pierre Polyev's case that Carney is getting nowhere a bit harder to,

prosecute when one of his political allies to some extent is so positive. That said, Saskatchewan expressing some disappointment about the list but several other premiers are cheering on today's news. Thank you, Catherine. Thank you. The host of CBC Radio's The House

Catherine Cullen in Ottawa. Coming right up, photos and video footage, even a rifle linked to the killing of Charlie Kirk, but still no suspect as a manhunt continues. And the political influencers shocking death is just the latest incident to rock America. And there's concern about a surge in political violence.

Later, we'll have this story. Stablecoins are a kind of cryptocurrency that advocates think will revolutionize the way we exchange money. Now, a Calgary-based company has raised $10 million to create a stable coin backed by the Canadian dollar. That's why we're launching this business. We see an opportunity. A Canadian effort in the global race to digitize money. I'm Jenna Benchitred in Toronto. I'll have that story for you on Your World Tonight.

There were hundreds of witnesses at the crowded campus event. Millions have watched it online. But the suspect in the fatal shooting of American activist Charlie Kirk is still at large. Police continue to scour the area around the Utah University where Kirk was speaking, and they believe the shooter was perched on a rooftop more than 100 meters away. Aaron Collins has the latest. We have recovered what we believe is the weapon that was used in yesterday's shooting. The FBI may have the gun used to kill Charlie Kirk, but not the shooter.

Still, Special Agent Robert Bowles says investigators do have a person of interest, releasing a photograph of a young man dressed in black, wearing sunglasses and a hat. We're doing everything we can to find him, and we're not sure how far he has gone yet, but we will do our best. All I can say is that we're working in the investigation, the best we have with the environment we're given. So thank you. Wednesday's shooting came as Charlie Kirk spoke to students at Utah Valley University, promoting the event on his radio show. It is the American comeback tour. We have thousands and thousands of tickets that have already been facilitated.

The political activist holding the event to drum up support for his brand of conservatism. Kirk sitting under a tent taking questions from the crowd when a single shot rang out. We didn't know that this was a single shot event. There's been so many mass shootings. After that single shot from a high-powered rifle, Kirk fell back and the crowd ran. And in my head, I was thinking, we got to get out of here. So I started yelling, we got to go. we gotta go. The FBI says it has tracked their suspects movements before and after that event, believing he may have jumped off of a roof fleeing into a nearby neighborhood. And as the hunt continues, the grief mounts. Kirk, a major supporter of Donald Trump, the president weighing in on his death.

I have no doubt that Charlie's voice and the courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on. and on the need to find his killer. And let me express the horror and grief. So many Americans at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk have felt. Trump announcing Kirk would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom that as the hunt for his killer continues and political tensions in an already polarized America mount. Aaron Collins, CBC News, Washington.

from the assassinations of presidents to the killings of civil rights leaders America has a troubling history of political violence and with the killing of Charlie Kirk being added to a growing list of more recent incidents there's concern the country is headed in the wrong direction Paul Hunter has that part of the story be it the funeral for Minnesota's former Speaker of the House

who along with her husband was shot to death in June or the arson attack at the residents of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro in April. What was it about Shapiro you don't like? Let alone last summer in Pennsylvania. Take a look at what happened.

And the attempted assassination of then candidate for the White House Donald Trump, one of two such attempts on Trump's life last year. This Charlie Kirk killing in Utah and all the other examples of political violence in this

country lately has left Americans stunned, not least because it's so quickly getting worse. As Democrat Senator Dick Durbin soberingly put it today, In 20 years leading up to 2015, we had two incidents of political violence against elected officials in the 10 years since we've had 25. The numbers tell the story. The nation is sick. We're afraid. We're fragmented. Political talk show host Michael Schmerkanish today on CNN. Each one of these incidents, I think, was perpetrated by an individual with mental health issues. That seems obvious, but we've got to get it together and not provide so much

incitement for those who are among us who are prone to do something heinous. I think we're at a pretty dangerous point right now, inflection point in the United States in terms of political violence. Amy Pate, acting director of the U.S. National Consortium for the study of terrorism, told CBC of terror and targeted violence in the U.S. are more than double this year over last and trending higher. She cites ever more heated political rhetoric and polarization as a factor, but also access to weapons and a gutting of prevention programs as among the key factors. There is a heightened risk for this type of violence that requires some sort of a variety of policy responses. For now, as they have in the past, U.S. politicians talk. Democrat Amy Klobuchar

saying there's no place for political violence in this country. It has to end, and we have to join together to condemn it. Likewise, Republican Senator Katie Britt. The time for unity, the time for peace, it is now. But whether the talk leads to change is the forever question. Trump himself already criticized for more rhetoric, blaming, as he put it, the radical left for the Kirk shooting. I will not be doing any outdoor events anytime soon.

And South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace has her own plan of action in her home state going forward. I will have a firearm on my person all the time. Paul Hunter, CBC News, Washington. New changes are coming to Canada's immigration targets. The already shrinking quotas are coming down even further. And it's happening as something else is on the decline. Public support for immigration. J.P. Tasker has that story.

Now it's clear that we have to work to continue to improve our overall immigration policies. Outlining his priorities before Parliament's return, the Prime Minister says more changes are coming to an immigration system he calls unsustainable. So we're working on that, setting those goals, adjusting, and working to ease the strain on housing. This shift comes as recent polls suggest a dramatic change in public opinion. According to a new survey from Nanos Research, nearly three-quarters, of Canadians now favor cutting back on immigration. It's almost like a whiplash in terms of how fast public opinion changed on that. Polster David Coletto is tracking the drop in popular support for

immigration. The about face is stunning, he says. The Canadian consensus that adding more newcomers is generally a good thing appears to be collapsing amid the post-pandemic surge and new arrivals. We went from Canada welcoming Syrian refugees almost with like open arms and a very outwardly, you know, welcoming kind of posture to one today, which is very close. The country added roughly a million people a year for three years in a row, an influx that is testing housing and health care capacity, and Canadians' patience for explosive growth. It's too high. They've brought in too many people in too short a period of time.

The conservatives are taking a harder line than they have in the past. The party's immigration critic Michelle Rampel-Garner is demanding the temporary foreign worker program be scrapped altogether. We have a state-sponsored intervention that supports an indentured underclass. Instead of promoting policies that employ Canadian workers. Even in Carney's caucus, there's pressure to curb the program, including from Mark Miller, the former immigration minister. We also have to have a conversation, I think, with industry that has gotten addicted to temporary work in Canada.

Immigrant rights groups are pushing back, saying population growth has already stalled after cuts to foreign students, and workers by the last government. This sort of idea of runaway immigration never existed to begin with, but it is most certainly not the case in 2025. Karen Koch speaks for the Migrant Workers' Alliance. In times of economic crisis, anti-migrant sentiment really rises because it is used as a useful scapegoat and a distraction. Canada's large immigrant population has long been regarded as a virtue

and necessary for economic growth as the birth rate falls. But now it's fair game, as the two major. parties clamored to cut back, even if there may be unintended consequences. J.P. Tasker, CBC News, Ottawa. Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro has been convicted of plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election. The far-right politician governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022. He was found guilty of five crimes by three members of a five justice panel. The justices are expected to decide on a prison sentence by Friday. Israel's Prime Minister is pushing ahead with a settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

Benjamin Netanyahu visited a settlement to sign an agreement on the expansion and to insist there will not be a Palestinian state. The project, known as E1, will bisect the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority and its allies say the plan is illegal and would rip up any peace plans for the region. NATO is strengthening its defenses after Russian incursions into Polish airspace. Poland shot down multiple drones earlier this week. Russia said it did not intend to hit any targets there. The Czech Republic is sending helicopters and troops to Poland and France and Britain are sending extra aircraft to secure NATO's eastern flank. Germany says it will permanently station a brigade in Lithuania.

The National Hockey League says five Canadian players acquitted of sexual assault can play again. The professional status of Dylan Dubay, Cal foot, Alex Frementon, Carter Hart, and Michael McLeod had been up in the air. They were suspended from the NHL during legal proceedings, but all were found not guilty earlier this summer in connection to an incident dating back to 2018. The NHL says after careful evaluation, the players will be eligible to sign contracts with teams on October 15th

and begin play by December 1st. A Calgary company is banking on a big venture to digitize, our dollar. It plans to launch a Canadian stable coin next year, pitching it as a safer type of cryptocurrency. Advocates call it the future of finance, but critics say, despite the name, the currency can still be volatile, and the reward may not be worth the risk. Jenna Benetrit explains. There's massive appetite for this product. Imagine this, a digital version of the Canadian dollar, an e-coin you can exchange for real-life money. at any time, in any place, for no extra charge.

That's why we're launching this business. We see an opportunity. That's Dijé Lavalle, the CEO of Tetra Digital. The Calgary company raised $10 million to create a Canadian stable coin, a type of crypto that mirrors the value of a national currency. The idea is that one stable coin equals $1, and that Canadians can eventually use them to pay for, well, anything. They're meant to be fast and easy to exchange.

Without crypto's ups and downs, advocates like Lavalese, here's a product that's built for institution by institutions, essentially to help automate, reduce friction, reduce costs, and increase speed of transaction and transparency. Tetra's project is backed by heavyweights like Shopify, wealth simple, and national bank. Bigger Canadian banks are still weighing the benefits and risks of digital currencies. Stable coin transactions bypassed traditional banking infrastructure and the fees that come with them. Critics argue that's part of the problem.

Proof to me you actually have golden fort Knox. Prove to me you actually have the assets to back this and that they are liquid assets and that they're stable assets. Brent Arnold is a cybersecurity lawyer in Toronto. He's skeptical that stable coins are as safe and stable as their champions believe they are. If those conditions aren't in place and no one's making sure they're in place, you could still end up in a situation where everyone realizes the token's worth nothing. There's a run on the bank and you have a collapse. Still, the global race to digitize money is speeding up. The U.S. passed a new set of rules to regulate stable coins earlier this year. China plans to do the same,

fearing that the U.S. dollar will dominate digital currency. Right now, Ottawa regulates stable coins as securities, like stocks or other investments. Some advocates say that's a mistake that puts Canada behind other countries. Lucas Matheson, the CEO of Coinbase Canada, wants the federal government to streamline those rules. Currently, we do not have an elected official with a mandate to coordinate across the government. A spokesperson for the finance ministry told CBC News

that it's actively measuring the risks and rewards of digital money. With a federal budget on the horizon, stable coin advocates are holding out for a regulatory breakthrough. Jenna Banchichit, CBC News, Toronto. We end tonight with a Montreal soccer player back on the field and back on his feet after some tough times. Soccer is one of my favorite sport. It's easy to play pretty much everywhere.

Daniel Teberge makes a lot of saves as a goalkeeper, but he credits the sport he loves for saving him. Teberge was homeless for about three years, struggling and seeking help. It was a difficult situation where I tried to forget my daughter. I pay a lot for that, you know. I cannot pay my apartment at this time, and I get homeless. Teberge says it was a turning point last year

when he connected with the Canadian Street Soccer Association, an organization that uses sport to help people living on the street. Teberge earned a spot on the team that competed last month in Norway at the Homeless World Cup, an international tournament for players experiencing homelessness run by a charitable foundation. Karina Naim with the Canadian Street Soccer Association says the tournament helps players by inspiring them to reshape their lives. When you say life-changing, I feel like almost everybody in the program was very involved on a long-term scale. And for our players, it was a really cool experience to just see them get out of this bubble.

It's very special because that stabilizes your life a lot. When we re-get something that we lost, it's the best thing of the life. Tiberg credits the experience with helping him get his life back on track. You can only participate in the Homeless World Cup once, but even if that rule didn't exist, Tiberg would not be eligible to play next year because he's no longer homeless. Thank you for joining us. This has been your world tonight for Thursday, September 11th.

I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again. For more CBC podcasts, go to CBC.ca.com slash podcasts.