Your World Tonight - PR for foreign doctors, Air Transat strike looming, social media ban for kids, and more

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

The federal government is promising more spots for permanent residency for foreign doctors working in Canada. The goal – keep them in the country, and boost Canadians’ access to family doctors.And: Canadian travel plans are in jeopardy again this year. Air Transat pilots have issued a strike notice. The airline says if there’s no deal by tomorrow, it will start grounding flights. Without a deal, those pilots could walk off the job Wednesday morning.Also: Australia is the first country trying to ban children from using social media, but the rest of the world is watching. The ban goes into place on Wednesday.Plus: Paramount launches a hostile bid for Warner Bros., anti-hate bill stalls after a deal is brokered without PMO approval, Thailand-Cambodia tensions, alleged hate crime investigated at Toronto seniors' building, and more.

This ascent isn't for everyone. You need grit to climb this high this often. You've got to be an underdog that always over-delivers. You've got to be 6,500 hospital staff, 1,000 doctors, all doing so much with so little. You've got to be Scarborough. Defined by our uphill battle and always striving towards new heights. And you can help us keep climbing.

Donate at lovescarbro.cairbo. This is a CBC podcast. We don't want to go on strike. Pilots want to work. A good collective agreement that's bargained in good faith at the table that is very stabilizing for an airline. A Canadian airline is fastening its seatbelt for labor turbulence. With the clock now ticking on a potential pilot strike,

Air Transat could start canceling flights by tomorrow. Ahead of the busy holiday travel season, the company and the union can't agree on a proposed pay raise. Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Susan Bonner. It is Monday, December 8th, just before 6 p.m. Eastern, also on the podcast. New measures to recruit the doctors we need, to retain the ones we have, and to cut processing times to ensure it all go. gets done quickly. In a bid to attract more family physicians to Canada and speed things up in

the health care system, the federal government wants to cut a different kind of wait time, shortening the immigration process for foreign doctors with a new pathway to permanent residency. Canadians looking to escape winter weather could be. be in for a change of plans. The union representing pilots at Air Transat has issued a strike notice. It would be the second major work stoppage at a Canadian airline this year, following Air Canada flight attendants walking off the job in August. Jennifer Lagrasa has the latest. This was actually a Christmas present to us. Paula Baker is hoping she and her grandkids will be soaking up the sun in the Dominican Republic by Friday. But a possible strike by Air Transat

pilots has put our all-inclusive trip in limbo. To be honest with you, I'm very stressed. I've already booked the time off. Now I've got to see if I can change it. Early yesterday morning, the Airline Pilots Association, the union representing Air Transat's 700 pilots, issued a strike notice. The union and the company have been in contract talks for almost a year to replace their 2015 agreement.

There are still some significant issues. Despite that, Captain Tim Perry, president of the pilot's union says his team is making progress at the bargaining table. Wages, benefits, and job security are the union's top concerns. Air Transat says it's offering a 59% wage increase over five years. But Perry says that's not true. That statement is just flatly inaccurate. I'm not going to get into what's on the table. That's inappropriate and it's not how bargaining should happen. Overall, the 59% average does stand and we stand by that.

Dave Burdage is Air Transatz Vice President of Flight Operations. The company says it's an average increase, so it will be slightly less for some pilots, but that most of their pilots will see an increase of more than $100,000 per year by the end of the contract. We are a leisure airline. Our goal is to offer affordable prices to our customers, and we want to keep growing. There's a recognition that there's a shortage of pilots in Canada. So we've got to step up to the plate and pay them well. Carl Moore is an airline industry analyst in Montreal.

He says Air Transat pilots don't make as much as those with Air Canada or WestJet, both of which have given workers big pay boosts in recent years. Air Transat says today's flights are running as planned, but if a deal isn't reached by tomorrow, it will start canceling them. Passengers with trips booked through the company on or before Friday can change or cancel and receive a credit. For customers with an all-inclusive, Air Transat says those will be canceled and refunded. But that hasn't happened to Baker just yet, and until Friday, she has plans. Pray that they come to, you know, a good contract that the pilots accept and everything goes back.

Air Transat has been losing millions of dollars in recent years, and this potential strike is coming at a time when airlines make the most money. If a deal isn't reached, pilots could be off the job as early as 3 a.m. Eastern. on Wednesday. Jennifer Lagrasa, CBC News, Toronto. The federal government wants to help fix a problem that has dogged Canada's health care system for years. It's a plan to fast-track immigration for foreign trained doctors. Coming as new numbers show nearly 6 million Canadians don't have a family physician. Helena Mahalek has that story.

Because we know access is just scratching the surface. Toronto family doctor, Tara Kieran, says people are struggling to find a family physician, or book in an appointment if they do have one. But according to a survey she led, things are getting better. 81% of Canadians surveyed now say they have a family doctor or regular provider. That's up from 77% in 2022. We see governments really recognizing that access to primary care is a huge challenge for people. To address a national family physician shortage, immigration minister, Lena Metledge,

announced a policy shift Monday to keep doctors in the country, promising to open up 5,000 permanent residency spots for foreign doctors who have already been practicing in Canada for at least a year. It signals to every doctor here temporarily that we value you and we want you to stay. In a statement, the Canadian Medical Association says it's a step in the right direction, stating that more than 13,000 internationally trained physicians in Canada are not working in their field. And this program can make a dent in the access to care crisis. Minister Diab says foreign trained doctors will be able to work while they wait for permanent residency.

A doctor will be able to secure a job, get nominated by a province or territory, and have their work permit processed in just 14 days. The president of the Ontario Medical Association, Zainab Abdurakman, says the initiative is a good first step. Now we just need to make sure that, you know, the licensing and the training pathways are clear so that these physicians have the best start and can actually start seeing patients as soon as possible. These nominations will be in addition to the existing annual provincial nominee spaces. We have many remote communities that don't have access to a regular health care provider, a regular family physician, and that causes a lot of challenges.

Family doctor Sarah Cook in Yellowknife says she hopes there's an emphasis on hiring people in remote areas. In her community, she says steady access to a regular family doctor is difficult to come by, a connection that's needed to have a trusting patient doctor relationship. She also hopes that physicians can get help for hours spent filling out paperwork and forms. So efforts to reduce the administrative burden are going, going to free up family physician time to see patients. The government says the fast track to permanent residency for some foreign doctors

will begin early next year. Helena Mahalik, CBC News, Saskatoon. U.S. President Donald Trump has unveiled a $12 billion aid package for farmers hard hit by his trade policies. Farmers groups say they need the money for seeds, fertilizer, and other expenses for next year's growing season. Trump says he wants to increase domestic fertilizer. production, and that could mean more tariffs on Canada.

A lot of it does come in from Canada, and so we'll end up putting very severe tariffs on that if we have to, because that's the way you want to bolster here, and we can do it here. We can all do that here. But I would say what you do, you put very severe tariffs from coming into other countries. You'll be making your own fertilizer. Coming right up, federal hate crime. legislation is in peril in a fight over religious freedom. And a Jewish community in Toronto on edge after Jewish religious symbols were taken off the

doors of a senior's apartment building. Later, we'll have this story. Australia's approach is just so, so blunt. You know, historically, forbidding teenagers from doing something isn't a great way to get teenagers away from it. I think we're at risk of creating a bit of a forbidden fruit aspect to social media. Australia's ban being watched around the world. With concern rising about the harm social media is having on young people, a strict new system comes into effect. As policy makers in Canada look for lessons, that's later on your world tonight. Hate crimes in Canada have been on the rise for years. The federal government's anti-hate bill

is supposed to be a response to that. But now, Now the legislation has stalled with CBC news learning, a deal the Liberals made with the Block Quebecois did not get the approval of the Prime Minister. Olivia Stefanovic explains. The Block Quebecois accusing the Prime Minister of sabotage in question period, leaving the federal government's proposed anti-hate speech legislation hanging in the balance. Bill C9 proposes to make a group who are menacing. to make it a crime to promote hate

against identifiable groups in public, such as using Hamas Flags or Swastika signs near a synagogue. It also aims to crack down on willfully intimidating and obstructing people outside all places of worship. Jewish groups are

calling for the bill to pass, but in this minority parliament, the liberals are struggling to find support from the opposition. For me, it doesn't make sense. Reale Fortin sits on the House of Commons' Justice Committee, where he and other block members backed Bill C-9 in exchange for a criminal code amendment arranged by Justice Minister Sean Fraser's office. The change would remove a religious

exemption from hate speech laws, but CBC News has learned the Prime Minister has not approved it. You know, when you have a deal with the minister, that minister represents the government, and you should normally be safe with it. Fortin says the proposed amendment is necessary to ensure religion cannot be used as cover to promote hate, including anti-Semitism or homophobia. But it's angering religious groups. Canada must not go down the road of censorship. Haseep Hassan is the Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy for the National Council of Canadian Muslims. He says the removal of the religious exemption would expose ordinary religious activities to criminal investigations. We've already heard block MPs argue in the

House that various kinds of religious speech should not be acceptable, including even mainstream references to the sacrifice of Abraham's sons, for instance, a major story, not just for Muslims, but for Jews and Christians. The conservatives are seizing on that outrage. I can't say I'm surprised that the liberals are wanting to backtrack after this. Conservative MP Andrew Lawden says his party opposes the proposed amendment and the bill as ridden. With this amendment, it is an outright assault on religious freedom and freedom of expression. Fraser's office says the minister is in constant contact with the prime minister and their offices working together as they should. It's essential that we continue to do what we can to fight

crime in this country. Fraser himself says he looks forward to the recommendations from the House Justice Committee on potential amendments to C-9, a committee that's scheduled to go through those proposals, Clause by Clause, during an extended eight-hour meeting Tuesday. Olivia Stefanovic, CBC News, Ottawa. Toronto Police have opened a suspected hate crime investigation at a seniors' building with many Jewish residents. An important symbol of their faith, the Mazusa, was ripped off of doorways, leaving people feeling unsafe in their homes. Clara Paseka reports.

Confused what the means. who did it? No idea. 89-year-old Miguel Camacho is still overwhelmed looking at the door of his Toronto apartment and seeing his Mazuzza gone. Approximately 20 of the tiny covered scrolls affixed to doorways with verses from the Torah were stolen in the high-rise.

We in Russia had to hide that we were Jewish and had to hide our practice of Judaism. Rabbi Yosef Saltsman serves this community. I was 15 in 1971. We came here to Canada in a free country where we could practice whoever we are. And all of a sudden, over here, no, you can't put a Mazuzza on mine door. What is that?

He affixed several of the very Mazuzas rift from these door frames decades ago. It's shocking and disgrace, and I hope that all levels of government will make sure that everybody will know this is not accepted. The Toronto Police Hate Crime Unit is investigating, given the nature of the item stolen. Media relations officer Lori McCann says at about 10.30 on Sunday morning, they received a call about thefts. In each instance, the stolen item was determined to be a Mazuzza. which is a religious item traditionally affixed to a door frame in Jewish homes. This high rise is run by a city agency providing subsidized support of rental housing to seniors. Several residents are Jewish and Holocaust survivors.

Local politicians are condemning the act. Mayor Olivia Chow put out a statement calling the thefts an outrageous and vile act of anti-Semitism. She also shared safety protocols are being reviewed at the building. There are special constables and special safety advisors at the site right now. They are also staff there to offer assistance to the tenants. But some Jewish organizations who gather to speak to media just outside the building today say such statements are not enough. This is not isolated. This is part of a pattern of increased anti-Semitism that we have seen not just increased, but drastically increase, over the last couple of years.

Sarah Lefton is with the Jewish organization UJA Federation. There needs to be increased protections around sort of vulnerable centers, so either seniors, children, schools, things like that. Toronto police have remained on scene and have been in and out of the building talking to shaken residents and staff. Inside, Rabbi Saltsman and others came to the building today with dozens of Mazuzas ready to offer to anyone who had their stolen. But community groups tell us some residents rejected the offer.

Too afraid to display the symbol meant to protect their home again. Clara Paseka, CBC News, Toronto. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he will have a response to a U.S. proposed peace plan tomorrow. Zelensky was in London today, meeting with the leaders of France, Germany, and Britain. It was a show of support as the U.S. pressures Zelensky to agree to its plan. Zelensky says the plan has been whittled down after several anti-Ukrainian points were removed, but it still calls for Ukraine to cede some territory, something Zelensky has refused to do.

In Southeast Asia, a shaky ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia appears to be unraveling. Gunfire and an airstrike along the border have left multiple people dead on both sides. As each country blames the other for the flare-up, after U.S. President Donald Trump helped broker a truce. Sasha Petrissik has more. In a video released by Thai officials, an explosion rocks the jungle near the Cambodian border. Soldiers are heard saying, Our base is under. attack, they've started it. On the Cambodian side, a government video shows children screaming.

Running from classrooms in panic after Thai fighter jets strike nearby. Two official versions of events overnight, with both Cambodia and Thailand insisting the other side provoked border fighting, breaking a fragile ceasefire in a dispute that's been simmering for months. Cambodia is the one who trampled the ceasefire agreement. Bangkok, accusing Cambodia of massing troops, says Thai government spokesmen Nikodai Balankura. Our military action will continue until Thailand's sovereignty and territorial integrity are not being compromised.

Cambodia says it's Thailand that's the aggressor. Thailand is showing its plans to invade, says Cambodian Defense Department spokeswoman Mali Socheta. Fighting was supposed to stop in October when U.S. President Donald Trump boasted of imposing a ceasefire by threatening both sides with trade sanctions. But religious and political forces here have proven with both countries claiming Hindu and Buddhist temples near a border

that's been disputed for more than a century. This also comes at a time of heightened nationalism in both countries. It's being harnessed in Thailand by parties preparing for an election, says Greg polling at Washington Center for Strategic International Studies. So there's a lot of political incentive not to appear weak, not to appear to be browbeaten by the Americans. And so I think that encourages a cycle of escalation that's pretty hard to get out of. Experts like Thomas Popinski at Cornell University say, flare-ups are likely to continue. I don't believe that this is going to escalate into like a full-scale war.

And I think that probably cooler heads will eventually prevail. But we're not there yet. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of civilians are being moved from the tense border area. While the White House says Trump expects both sides to honor their ceasefire agreement. Sasha Petrissick, CBC News, Toronto. About 100 school children have been released in Nigeria after being held captive for two weeks. Kidnappers took more than 300 children last month from a Catholic school in Niger state. State Governor Mohamed Umar Bago says he expects the other children to be recovered soon.

We wish to recover the remaining students that are still in captivity. I want to reassure parents and guardians of just. children that they will be safely delivered to them very, very soon. We have called on medical health workers to come and look at them. They will be checked properly and before taking them back to the parents. It's not clear whether the children were rescued or ransomed. Nigeria has been plagued by mass kidnappings of students in recent years with armed groups holding them for ransom. Authorities have said this school ignored an order to close its boarding facilities after a warning of the dangers.

This is Your World Tonight from CBC News. If you want to make sure you stay up to date and 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. Just days after Netflix announced plans to take over one of Hollywood's biggest students, There's a competing offer coming from another showbiz giant.

Paramount is launching a hostile bid to take over Warner Brothers. The proposal is worth the equivalent of about $150 billion Canadian. It has some reaching for the popcorn and others worried about what this could mean for jobs and Canadian. Alexander Silberman reports. Warner Brothers, one of the oldest legacy film studios in the United States, the world, now at the center of a hostile takeover, with all the ingredients of a Hollywood drama. Days after Netflix appeared to have won its bidding war with a $72 billion U.S. blockbuster deal, Paramount Skydance is launching a whopping $108 billion offer, a last-ditch

effort that would create a massive entertainment powerhouse. And our deal is pro-consumer. CEO David Ellison says his bid, taken directly to... to shareholders would be better for the industry than the one offered by Netflix. It's pro-creative talent. It's pro-competition. The deal would give Paramount access to Warner Brothers' vast catalog of films and TV shows. You're a wizard, Harry. I'm a lot. From Harry Potter.

To Game of Thrones. Paramount is also moving to buy its traditional TV channels, including HBO and CNN. It's pretty significant. part of me was shocked in a sense that I was very surprised by the number. Dave Stern is an entertainment industry lawyer based in Toronto. He expects any merger to be extensively reviewed by U.S. regulators. Stern says there are major concerns a Netflix deal would create too large of a firm in the streaming market

and hurt movie theaters. If there's one entity that owns that large share of the market, there is a real concern that consumers are concerned that consumers are going to suffer. The paramount offer is also tangled up in politics. Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, is also part of the bid. Both proposed mergers are drawing sharp criticism from lawmakers. Been the death of a thousand cuts for many years now with these consolidations. U.S. Congresswoman Laura Friedman of California is a former film producer. She says there are concerns around job losses at a time when Hollywood is already struggling. Is this an attempt

to gobble up other streaming services and intellectual property libraries, or is this a real attempt to be able to do more production in-house for these streamers? For Canadians, the deal could hit Bell Media's crave streaming service, with HBO content among its top offerings. Many working in the industry say they're treating any merger with heavy skepticism. Less competition means fewer jobs and places to sell their stories, as they try and keep the art of filmmaking alive. Alexander Silverman, CBC News, Montreal.

Australia is the first country trying to ban children from using social media. But the rest of the world is watching. By Wednesday, kids in Australia will be shut out of Snapchat, TikTok and the rest. As Deanna Suminac Johnson tells us, some platforms have already started cutting them off. For me, it was my community and my lifeline. Social media was the place that I went to when I needed people to talk to who understood me. An emotional few days for many teenagers in Australia as the rollout of the country's social media band begins. META has started deactivating half a million Instagram and Facebook accounts for people under 16

ahead of the full shutdown on December 10th, which will also include teen-favored platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube. Australia really is a litmus test for the world. That's tech analyst and journalist Carmen Levy. He says that while age verification process may be tricky, there's no understating the significance of the ban. If Australia can pull it off, you can bet that Canada is going to be pushing a similar agenda here at some point in the new year. We've already seen for lesser instances, for example, school boards across the country in different provinces have enacted bans for smartphones in schools. In Vancouver, Jenny Perez agrees. Perez, mom to a 10-year-old girl, is the founder of Unplugged Canada,

a grassroots organization advocating for both individual and government action to curtail the access to social media. Australia leading this international movement is giving hope to everybody. Many parents felt defeated. They felt that it was too late to change the norm. Yet others, like open media's Matt Hatfield, say that the Canadian approach should be different. Australia's approach is just so, so blunt.

But I do think historically forbidding teenagers from doing something isn't a great way to get teenagers away from it. I think we're at risk of creating a bit of a forbidden fruit aspect to social media. Some advocates would like to see the Trudeau-era online harms bill revived with added measures around social media and youth. That bill died on the table, but in an email to CBC News, a spokesperson for Justice Minister Sean Fraser said an updated bill a priority for Mark Carney's government. It says we will have more to say as we finalize the legislation

and move to introduce it before the end of the year. In Montreal, teens have mixed feelings about social media restrictions. I use social media a lot for sports. A lot of coaches can like find you and scout you through Instagram and stuff. They're on screens a lot like younger kids and I feel like it's not really good for them. As Canadians look at Australia's bold move and contemplate whether banning social media for teens could end up a reality here too. Deanna Sumanek-Johnson, CBC News, Toronto. We close tonight in Stockholm, Sweden, with a festival of light happening during the darkest time of the year, inspired by award-winning contributions that have illuminated science, culture, and creativity.

We crossed the bridge here, and this lady came up to us. And she just passed us, she said, you have to get down there. It's great. It's very entertaining and very beautiful thing. Locals and tourists enjoying Nobel Week lights, dazzling installations, brightening up the city during a big week in the Swedish capital. The Nobel Prizes in Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Literature and Economics will be presented on Wednesday. The Peace Prize will also be. award at the same day at a separate ceremony in Oslo.

People keep to themselves around this time of year, so there's not much going on, and this gives you something to look forward to, and it gives people an excuse to go outside and, you know, just spend some time together. Yeah, let's have a very space. Actually go outside, because you don't go outside when it's dark and cold. Since 2020, Stockholm has marked the occasion with a week-long light show, colorful and interactive installations on public buildings and spaces, honoring previous Nobel winners, one of them, Tetra, is the work of the Montreal studio, Automatta. It features illuminated screens that move when touched, representing gravitational waves

that were measured in a groundbreaking study that won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics. Thank you for joining us on your world tonight for Monday, December 8th. I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again. For more CBC podcasts, go to CBC.ca slash podcasts.