Your World Tonight - PIFI report, tariff bailout, Ontario election and more

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

No evidence of “traitors” in Parliament. The report of the public inquiry into foreign election meddling describes the involvement of outside countries in Canada’s electoral process as “marginal”. Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue says she’s found no proof that any elections or federal legislation have been affected by foreign interference. Hogue says there is an existential threat to democracy: disinformation.Also: The federal government is ready to pull the trigger on pandemic-style financial help for people and industries affected by a tariff war with the United States.And: Ontario Premier Doug Ford calls a snap election. Ford says he needs a new mandate to protect the province from tariffs. The opposition parties are also drawing attention to other issues like healthcare.Plus: ICE raids in the U.S., fracking and earthquakes, climate change and the LA fires, and more.

When a body is discovered 10 miles out to sea, it sparks a mind-blowing police investigation. There's a man living in this address in the name of a deceased. He's one of the most wanted men in the world. This isn't really happening. Officers are finding large sums of money. It's a tale of murder, skullduggery and international intrigue. So who really is he? I'm Sam Mullins and this is Sea of Lies from CBC's Uncovered, available now.

This is a CBC Podcast. While I saw evidence of some concerning behavior, the evidence does not show any MPs plotting with foreign states against Canada's interests. Problematic relationships, poor judgment and questionable ethics. A public inquiry looking into foreign interference in Canadian democracy and finding the conduct of some politicians troubling, but none of it rising to the level of treason. Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Susan Bonner.

It is Tuesday, January 28th coming up on 6 p.m. Eastern. Also on the podcast. The threats coming from President Trump would have the potential to have significant negative economic impacts on Canada if he follows through. People should get ready for a bit of a bumpy ride. The federal government telling Canadians to buckle up while it prepares to bail them out. With a potentially devastating US tariff threat set to become reality as soon as this weekend, there are plans for a multi-billion dollar aid package to prop up the Canadian economy

if the Liberals can find support in Parliament to prop up the Canadian economy if the Liberals can find support in Parliament to prop up the minority government. In the latest signal from the White House, Donald Trump is not backing off his tariff threat and the response from the federal government could be pandemic level spending. As Kate McKenna explains, the measure might deliver a potential reprieve for both Canadians and the minority Liberals. He said that the February 1st date for Canada and Mexico still holds. In her first briefing as White House press secretary, Caroline Levitt says the president hasn't changed his mind on Canadian tariffs.

As far as I'm still tracking and that was last night talking to the president directly, February 1st is still on the books. Donald Trump said he'd slap 25% blanket tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods starting Saturday. Business leaders and politicians are bracing for impact. Three quarters of Canadian exports go to our southern neighbor. More than two million Canadian jobs are tied to trade with the United States. People should get ready for a bit of a bumpy ride. Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says he's part of a team trying to dissuade the Trump administration,

warning this will be bad for Americans too. The result will be that food will be more expensive in the United States because potash needs to be used by American farmers in order to produce crops. In the Midwest, gasoline prices will go up by about 75 cents a gallon. But he says they've hit roadblocks. They're not able to lobby some members of the new administration. Part of the problem that we've had to date is a lot of President Trump's nominees have not been confirmed and there is legislation that requires them to be confirmed before they can actually engage formally with other governments.

Canada has vowed to retaliate with counter tariffs and sources say Ottawa is preparing a multi-billion dollar aid package for workers and businesses. But the bulk of that spending would have to be approved by Parliament. It's prorogued until March 24th and the opposition parties have said they're eager to vote against the government and trigger an election. There are hundreds and thousands of Canadian jobs at risk.

Think about what that means for those workers. Today NDP leader Jagmeet Singh opened the door to supporting the government to get a bailout package through the House of Commons. If there is any desire to move forward, the government should call us together, like we did during COVID, and discuss a plan that supports workers. British Columbia premier David Eby says his government supports the idea of financial aid and is willing to step in with more money if necessary. We will fill in the gaps to make sure that British Columbians are protected.

But for all the planning, there are many unanswered questions like whether Trump will start small and ramp up tariffs over time or whether there will be Carveouts for major exports like oil the only person in North America who knows what's gonna happen And he may not even still know what's gonna happen because it's he hasn't decided in his head is Donald Trump Consultant Tyler Meredith used to work with the Trudeau government And obviously the scale and the design of that plan is gonna really really much depend on what the president does. And his plan may only become clear four days from now, with the Canadian economy and government waiting in suspense. Kate McKenna, CBC News, Ottawa.

After months of suspicion and a shadow of doubt cast over Canadian democracy, the public inquiry into foreign interference says there is no evidence of parliamentarians committing treason or any serious election meddling. But the long-awaited report has ominous warnings about emerging threats. Rafi Boujikhanian has the details from Ottawa. The evidence does not show any MPs plotting with foreign states. Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogg dispelling a concern looming over Ottawa for months.

Nor have I seen any evidence to suggest that they are currently so-called traitors in Parliament. Her public inquiry into foreign interference studied 47,000 Canadian government documents, mostly classified, and interviewed more than a hundred witnesses, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, members of his cabinet, and the head of Canada's spy agency, CSIS. One major takeaway for OUG is how foreign actors are manipulating the facts.

The greatest threat, the one that I believe threatens the very existence of our democracy, is disinformation. Because the means available to counter it are limited." Her report names countries like India, Russia and China, saying meddling may have affected individual writings or candidate nominations, but did not influence the outcome of who formed government in the last two federal elections. Pressure from leaks by national security sources to the media about Beijing's meddling pushed

the government to strike this inquiry. A committee of parliamentarians with national security clearance also looked into foreign interference last spring. Its findings were more alarming, saying some of their peers semi-wittingly or wittingly helped foreign powers. She was careful to say look intelligence is fragile. Wesley Wark is a national security expert who has previously advised federal governments. He points out Ogg had access to more evidence than the authors of that report. He says their work is reassuring. Government has put a

lot of measures in place. The government itself says it is putting some $80 million toward fighting foreign interference. More than half of that to boost elections Canada's investigative powers. But for the opposition, today's report is not just news. They are called useful idiots and they are not criminals. They are somewhat idiots. Yves-Francois Blanchet is the leader of the Bloc Québécois.

He claims MPs can be manipulated without betraying the Canadian Parliament on purpose. True, soft, spying initiatives. Having a drink tonight with a beautiful lady. In a statement, Pierre Poliev's conservatives conservatives who led much of the push for this inquiry say it shows the Liberals failed to protect democracy during the last two elections. OGG has 51 recommendations including providing Elections Canada more power over leadership contests and candidate nominations. But with parliament currently suspended while Liberals pick a new leader and Canadians likely headed to the polls after it returns, it's unclear if any could be implemented before the next

federal election. Rafi B. Jekani on CBC News, Ottawa. Coming up on the podcast, deportations on display, migrants rounded up and forced out of the US with cameras rolling. Fallout from the LA fires. What made it worse? What comes next? And fear of fracking, a BC community shaken by expanding production.

Donald Trump's pledge to deport all illegal immigrants has moved to the country's biggest city. Heavily armed immigration enforcement officers began raids early this morning in New York. The administration says they are getting lawbreakers out of the country. As Paul Hunter reports, cities that have called themselves sanctuaries are the first targets. Video showing an arrest by U.S. immigration authorities this morning in New York City posted online by the new Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, who joined the raid as an observer.

You're in New York City this morning. We are getting the dirt bags off these streets. To get these dirt bags off these streets, she said. It's a scene playing out throughout the U.S., Buffalo, St. Paul, Minnesota, Boston, and beyond. President Donald Trump has promised the biggest mass deportation in U.S. history, targeting America's 11 million undocumented migrants. He's emphasized the immediate goal, criminals.

The move has widespread support in this country, though it's by no means universal. I voted for him, says this woman in New York, because he's a businessman who cares about our well-being, but we are not all delinquents. In Bogota, Colombia, freshly landed deportees from the US consider their new future. As yet another jet landed in San Diego to pick up more.

Good afternoon everybody. How are we? At the White House, Donald Trump's first week in office took center stage. On day one, President Trump declared a national emergency. With press secretary Carolyn Levitt highlighting America will no longer tolerate illegal immigration As for whether authorities are indeed going after criminals right off the bat said Levitt they're all criminals

All of them because they illegally broke our nation's laws and therefore they are criminals as far as this administration goes And yet push back in Chicago, a so-called sanctuary city which promises shelter and protection for migrants in need. Mayor Brandon Johnson. We stand together firmly in our welcoming city status as well as our commitment to protecting all residents of the city of Chicago no matter where you come from or how long you've lived here. But with Trump having declared the migrant crisis a national emergency, the U.S. military is now helping enforce his directives.

Armed forces now adding more razor ribbon along the U.S.-Mexico border wall wherever it stands and strengthening it wherever possible as Trump's push continues. Paul Hunter, CBC News, Washington. Aid officials in Goma say the situation there is catastrophic. The M23 rebel group stormed Goma yesterday. It's a major escalation of a conflict going back decades. The group claims to control all of the city but witnesses on the ground say some Congolese troops are still fighting. UN humanitarian affairs

spokesperson Jens Lerke says there is shooting and bodies are lying in the streets. We have reports of rapes committed by fighters looting of property including of a humanitarian warehouse and humanitarian and health facilities being hit. Hospitals in Goma are reportedly overwhelmed, struggling to manage the influx of wounded people. Electricity and water supplies are compromised, and yesterday internet services were cut off and Goma is still offline. The city was already sheltering a million people displaced by fighting. Now hundreds of thousands of people have fled. Ontario voters will be going to the polls at the end of February.

Doug Ford is seeking a stronger mandate despite his progressive conservative party already holding a majority. He's campaigning on Donald Trump's tariff threat while the opposition says there are also other important issues. Lisa Shing reports. It's now official. Voters will go to the polls February 27th. Premier Doug Ford made the formal request to the province's Lieutenant Governor that dissolves Parliament and kickstarts the election campaign.

I'm the Premier and I'm going to work hard, which I have been, 18 hours a day to make sure our province is prosperous. And even though that campaign starts tomorrow, Ford and several of his ministers already fanned out today, including a funding announcement to develop electric vehicle technology. Which is why our government is proud to support this expansion with a further 100 million dollar investment. More commitments in the last week. The PC's say they'll spend more than a billion dollars to fix a growing doctor

shortage as more than 2 million people in Ontario don't have a family physician. Something the opposition has long called on them to fix. In a statement the province's Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie slammed Ford for spending money on an election instead of fixing health care and making life more affordable. NDP leader Marit Stiles says Ford is not working for Ontarians but for himself. And it's going to cost Ontarians almost $200 million to hold an early election.

So nobody wants this but he sees this as an opportunity. Despite already having a large majority, Ford has repeatedly said he wants the authority to spend billions in response to the potential economic devastation that would come with Donald Trump's threatened tariffs. But this is going to be a battle for the next four years and I want to make sure that I have a strong mandate to outlast President Trump. His party is leading in the polls and there's a federal election looming, giving Ford an advantage, according to Laura Stevenson, a political science professor at Western University. Given that there is the option to go to an election now when things are somewhat stable and understood and known,

it's a much more advantageous time for the current government. Something that might not be the case more than a year from now if Trump levies those tariffs and Ontarians suffer as a result. Lisa Sheng, CBC News, Toronto. The Canadian Medical Association is criticizing a new report about Alberta's pandemic response, adding to prominent voices in the province who say the recommendations go against science. Some doctors say they're concerned the information poses a threat to public health. Josh McLean reports. The contents are very troubling.

Masks and vaccines, symbols of the COVID response, called into question by a new report released by the Alberta government. That report drawing criticism from many medical experts like Dr. Shelley Duggan. Many things are simply not what we see in the scientific literature. The president of the Alberta Medical Association says the report is misleading. Misinformation is a huge problem and misinformation kills people and that's why it's important that we're speaking out about it.

Those concerns relating to claims in the report, among them that masks were ineffective in limiting the spread of the virus and that drugs not authorized for treating COVID like ivermectin showed promising results. The report also recommends ending COVID vaccines for healthy children.

I'd like to see, at the very least, a pause on mRNA vaccinations for children immediately until we find out more. UCP MLA Eric Bouchard hopes his government does just that. The province hasn't committed to implementing any of the report's recommendations. Nahed Nenshi, leader of the provincial NDP, also finds the report

alarming but for different reasons. This report is shocking. It would take away life-saving vaccines from Albertan citizens. Take away your medical choice on whether or not to get a vaccine. Nenshi says the report was a waste of time and money. We spent $2 million to throw taxpayers' money at every anti-vax extremist around the world, not Albertans, not experts. Some experts are distancing themselves from the report. One doctor interviewed for the report was listed as a contributor without his permission.

His name has since been removed. Dr. Lenora Saxinger is an infectious diseases specialist based in Edmonton. So, I mean, that process is pretty flawed and you would expect better from a government commissioned report. All the authors should sign off on it. The Canadian Medical Association has also weighed in saying the misinformation in the report is dangerous and creates mistrust of doctors and scientists. We reached out to Premier Danielle Smith's office for comment. They said she was not available. Josh McLean, CBC News, Calgary.

– PV Mart is closing all its stores in Canada. The local farm goods chain is a one-stop shop for many in rural regions across the country. The move comes after the company announced store closures in Ontario and Nova Scotia last week. Its parent company, PV Industries LP, says closing sales will begin immediately in all 90 PV Mart stores and six Main Street hardware locations. It has also obtained an initial order for creditor protection. PV says it's faced unprecedented challenges including pressures from inflation, rising operating costs and ongoing supply disruptions.

In the fires burning through Los Angeles for the past three weeks, 29 people have lost their lives. And although the fires are now contained, new research is painting a bleak picture about the likelihood of this kind of disaster happening again. And money to pay for rebuilding after it may not be there. Anand Ram reports. Pasadena needed this. Rain fell over the weekend and into the start of the week, but can't wash away the scars left behind from the devastating fires around Los Angeles. Weeks of flames and smoke, now most of the fires are contained. But new research suggests our warming world will bring them back.

Peak January fire weather, this extreme, is about 35 percent more likely to occur in the current climate. Claire Barnes is a statistician with World Weather Attribution, a group that studies climate change's impact on weather-related disasters. She says climate change helped create those hot, dry, windy conditions and models show it could get worse. They do simulate a similar trend with a further increase of about 35 percent if warming continues into the future. So California is not alone sadly in this. There's no get out of climate free card anywhere in the United States or across the globe.

Dave Jones is director of the Climate Risk Initiative at the University of California, Berkeley. He's an expert on the very industry that's supposed to help people after disasters, insurance. And Jones says climate change is pushing the limits. Rates have gone up dramatically and insurers are declining to new insurance or right new insurance. We're starting to see some evidence that folks are defaulting on their mortgage. In other words, insuring houses against disaster is getting too costly for people and too risky for insurance companies. Experts estimate the insured damages from the Los Angeles fires are north of $30

billion U.S. and total economic damages as much as $250 billion. We are all paying for these disasters, but there is one stakeholder that is not paying. Which is why California State Senator Scott Weiner introduced a bill to let insurers and homeowners sue oil and gas companies as the burning of fossil fuels continues to drive up global heating. The industry dismissed the bill as theatrics. We're just marching steadily towards an uninsurable future because we're not doing enough to address the underlying cause, which is fossil fuel emissions and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Meanwhile, people in California are still waiting for the money to come through, and experts warn premiums will go up for them and everyone else to cover the costs of rebuilding from these ever more frequent disasters. Anand Ram, CBC News, Toronto. In northeastern BC, a boom in gas production through fracking is leading to seismic events. Earthquakes, more often and more intense, are rattling nerves. Some residents worry their homes may be at risk. Senior international climate reporter Susan Ormiston has the story. We are bearing the risk and they are saying don't worry. But Richard Cabsims is worried with new gas fracking wells being built just over a kilometer from his home in Farmington, BC.

There'll be a drill tower much taller than those trees and lights and noise and flaring. The company OVNTV will drill deep and then horizontally fracking the rock with high-pressure liquids to release gas deposits up the hill from 50 homes in a rural subdivision. To build that close to us and then directionally drill underneath our houses in this area just didn't seem to be a good idea. Fracking for gas and oil and disposing huge volumes of water involved are linked to seismic activity. 2024 set a record for quakes at magnitude 3 or higher in the Montney Formation where CABZOMS lives. Gail Atkinson is a foremost seismologist.

Because we're seeing about 10 times as many earthquakes every year as we saw up to 2010, we'll be seeing 10 times as many at every magnitude. Does that mean that we're more likely to see a four or five? Yes exactly, that's exactly right. Cabsims and his neighbors have felt tremors before. It felt like a truck was hitting the side of our house and the engine rumbling so this deep low rumbling and things would shift. None of them, including Susan Fincke signed a letter of protest to the provincial regulator. If there is ever any damage, we don't know what our recourse would be.

I know there's no insurance. O'Vintov has met with the homeowners to lay out safeguards including provincial seismic monitoring. In a letter it told cabsims these events have no impact on health safety or the environment. The more fracking we do, the more oil and gas we take, the more earthquakes we will have and the larger is the chance that one of those earthquakes will have an undesirable consequence. BC regulations do impose a warning system. With quakes at magnitude three or higher, operators have to pause fracking and investigate.

But some erupt stronger with no warning. It's a trade-off. A trade-off for jobs and investment with a new pipeline in this area, hungry for gas, flowing to Kitimat, BC and once liquefied for export. What people don't realize is that there's a human cost to this gas. They see a reward, we see risk. Production is expected to double over the next two decades. Susan Ormiston, CBC News, Farmington, B.C.

Finally tonight, a long-awaited answer to a mystery lighting up the night sky. Tonight, an aerial mystery that's been described as unnerving is growing. Finally tonight, a long-awaited answer to a mystery lighting up the night sky. Tonight an aerial mystery that's been described as unnerving is growing. The lights are coordinated. That's not a plane. From Connecticut to New Jersey, new videos emerging once again. Unexplained sightings of large drones over New Jersey and other parts of the eastern US. The puzzling phenomenon led to international news coverage late last year

and quite a bit of panic. In one case an airport had to be shut down and a member of congress said the drones were sent by a foreign government. Some officials insisted there was no threat but as the demand for answers grew no one could explain exactly what was going on until today. After research and study the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons. This was not the enemy. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt this afternoon providing the most definitive answer yet to the drone confusion.

She added that as curiosity about the sightings took off, so did many other drones, flown by recreational hobbyists that helped fill up the skies and the imaginations of many Americans. Thanks for joining us. This has been Your World Tonight for Tuesday, January 28th. I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again.