Your World Tonight - Que. Lib leader quits, Carney on floor crossing, U.S. lures Canadian skiers, and more

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

Quebec Liberal Party Leader Pablo Rodriguez has resigned, CBC News has learned. Sources say Rodriguez felt he had become too great a distraction for the party. The party has been investigating allegations of illegal campaign donations.And: The federal Liberals have been gaining MPs after two crossed the floor from the Conservatives. In a year-end interview with CBC’s Rosemary Barton, Prime Minister Mark Carney says more MPs could cross the floor to join the government.Also: U.S. ski resorts are bracing for a holiday season without the typical boost from Canadian travelers. Canadians have been avoiding travelling to the United States since President Donald Trump launched a trade war and joked about Canada becoming the 51st state.Plus: Severe weather in B.C., Trump speech to the nation, Minnesota ICE crackdowns, Italian women’s hockey team trains in Canada, and more.

Choose clicks, choose the algorithm, choose doom scrolling at 3am, eyes tired, brain rewired, choose headlines that scream, choose fake friends, deepfakes, bots, and comment wars that never end. Choose truth bent and broken until you can't tell up from down or right from wrong. Choose the chaos, choose the noise. Or don't. Choose news, not noise. This is a CBC podcast. Our new chef is the next premier minister of Quebec, Pablo Rodriguez.

Just six months ago, Pablo Rodriguez wanted to move fast, but this isn't what he had in mind. Taking over a party and planning a rapid rebuild, now Quebec's liberal leader is stepping down, leaving his party in crisis and even less time to prepare for a critical election. Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Susan Bonner. It is Wednesday, December 17th, just before 6 p.m. Eastern, also on the podcast. There is a spectrum of MPs with varying degrees of recognition of the serious situation the country is in. Then those individuals face their own decisions.

After struggling to pass legislation in a minority government, Prime Minister Mark Carney says he wants another floor-crosser for Christmas. and hints, there may be other MPs thinking about it. Plus, we know we can triangulate on cell towers so that only locals are warned that there's a flood coming. We have the technology for crying out loud, let's use it. Calls for a better warning system as British Columbia braces for more severe weather.

We begin in Quebec with political upheaval, Liberal leader Pablo Rodriguez has resigned just six months after the former federal cabinet minister took on the role. It follows allegations of vote buying in the leadership race. Alexander Silberman is unpacking the turmoil and what it could mean for the future of the province and its place in Canada. Quebec's beleaguered Liberal Party leader Pablo Rodriguez

insisting just days ago in the face of an investigation by anti-corruption police. Absolutely, he'd stay on the job. Now, Rodriguez is resigning, telling members of his caucus he's stepping down. Perceptions are everything. Andre Pratt is former chair of the Quebec Liberal Party Committee. He's convinced Rodriguez himself did nothing wrong. But the negative view of the party was damaging, after weeks of political turmoil.

Our goal has to be to convince Quebecers that this is the deed of very few bad apples. Reporting by the Journal de Morial alleges some donors at an event for Rodriguez's June leadership campaign were reimbursed $500 with cash-filled envelopes. The practice is illegal under Quebec law, and Rodriguez insists he had no knowledge of it. The Journal also suggested some members of the party received $100 to vote for Rodriguez in the party's leadership race. That's a lot of allegations and stories in a short period of time. Daniel Belin is director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. It basically took a month for the leadership of Parole Rodriguez to basically unravel and collapse. That collapse also follows the suspension of two members of the Liberal Caucus.

Then last week, Quebec's anti-corruption police launched an investigation into the party. It all comes at a time when the Liberals are struggling to build back support. The Quebec Liberal Party is obviously facing a major. crisis and that should be of concern, frankly, to all Quebecers, if not all Canadians. David Burnbaum is a former liberal MNA and a former parliamentary assistant to the Premier. He says the state of the party is disappointing for Anglophones and other voters looking for an alternative to separatism. It'll be essential for Quebecers to have a meaningful and solid federalist option in an election

that promises a referendum of the current leading party, the Palzibiqua. Rodriguez promised to be a leader who would fight to stop that outcome. The Partsique Quebecois is surging in the polls ahead of the governing CAQ, pushing for another vote on independence. And the Liberals are trailing, struggling to find support beyond Greater Montreal. Pratt says the party needs to focus on improving its image. We simply cannot afford any vulnerability. The Liberals will now hold another leadership convention or appoint

someone to take on the job. Whoever takes the role faces a short timeline to turn the tide. With an election 10 months away. Alexander Silberman, CBC News, Montreal. Quebec liberals hoping to rebound could look to their federal counterparts to see how quickly things can change. A year ago, the party was on the verge of an election wipeout. Today, it's one seat shy of a majority. And the Prime Minister believes the party can get there. without going to the polls. In an interview with CBC News, Mark Carney suggests there could be more floor crossing.

Kate McKenna reports from Ottawa. MPs are attracted to what we're doing. Prime Minister Mark Carney is not ruling out the possibility of more MPs crossing the floor and joining his party. Carney sat down for a year-end interview with CBC's chief political correspondent, Rosemary Barton. Are you comfortable getting a majority government through people crossing the floor?

I am comfortable commanding the confidence of the House of Commons and getting through the House of Commons, getting support in the House of Commons and votes, obviously votes and support in the House of Commons for legislation that is going to protect Canadian communities that's going to build this country, is going to make our country more independent, more sustainable. Over the last few weeks, two MPs,

Chris Dantremont and Michael Ma, left the Conservative caucus and joined the Liberals, leaving the government just one seat shy of a razor-thin majority. When Carney was asked whether he's actively trying to recruit other opposition MPs, he hinted more may be coming but didn't share any names. I think that there is a spectrum of MPs with varying degrees of recognition of the serious situation the country is in, varying degrees of recognition that we need action, not slogans, that we need cooperation with the provinces, we need to come together

and work together. Then those individuals face their own decisions about how they can best support that agenda. In a minority parliament, Kearney has struggled at times to advance his agenda, with bills getting caught up in committee or stuck without any opposition support. A vote on the budget narrowly passed. Having majority control of the House of Commons would make the Prime Minister's life easier. We're in a parliament, and when we pass legislation, we need more people voting for it than against it. But conservative leader Pierre Pauliev is accusing the Carney liberals of trying to manipulate their way to a majority. My message to Mark Carney is that if you want a costly majority government to drive up taxes and deficits, then you have to go to the Canadian

people and have them vote for it, not do it by a dirty backroom deal. Polyev goes into the new year under renewed pressure to stop the bleeding, ahead of his leadership review in January. Carney says his focus now and into the next year is to advance his agenda. He says he's open to compromising with the opposition on legislation, but if other MPs want to join the governing party, then they're welcome. Kate McKenna, CBC News, Ottawa. Coming right up in a prime time address, Donald Trump will talk about the past year in America, at least how he perceives it, and how the divide over one of the U.S. president's most controversial policies is playing out on the streets of Minneapolis. Later, we'll have this story.

Hockey team is in a month-long training camp in Montreal right now. No, not Canada, but Italy. No one expects us to reach the levels that the Olympics have, but we are very confident that we're going to shock the hockey world. I'm Sarah Levin in Montreal. Later on your world tonight, why the Italian women have come to the mecca of hockey and what they hope to achieve on Italian soil at the Winter Olympics in February.

prices are up, his poll numbers are down. There's mounting pushback on his policies at home and abroad. But U.S. President Donald Trump says it's been a great year for Americans and the best is yet to come. He'll make that case in a national address later tonight. Katie Simpson is in Washington and joins us now. Katie, what message does Donald Trump want to say? sent. Donald Trump's address to the nation is being billed as a moment to celebrate what the president views as the accomplishments of the past year, while also taking some shots at his predecessor. We are told to expect an emphasis on gas prices, which have gone down, and changes to immigration policy and how the number of people trying to illegally cross into the U.S. has dropped dramatically. This is all familiar territory for Trump, who appears almost daily before news cameras and aggressively promotes his agenda, well also a attacking his opponents. All three major TV networks plan to break into their prime time programming to carry the address,

meaning Trump will be speaking directly to millions of Americans. And he'll be doing so at a time when the president is facing significant backlash over a wide range of issues. Yeah, and where to start on that one in this moment? There is a cost of living crisis. Even if gas prices are down, some groceries remain expensive, as are housing and health care costs. There are some cracks in his MAGA base. Concern he's spending too much time focusing on foreign affairs rather than domestic problems. And there's some anger over Trump's handling of the Epstein files. The timing of this speech is notable as it happens before the Friday deadline

when all documents connected to the investigation into the late sex offender must be released. We already know Trump is in the files, though he's adamantly denied any wrongdoing. And Katie, then there are the drum beats of war. So when Trump announced he'd be making this address, my phone lit up with questions from Canadians about whether Trump is going to use this moment to escalate tensions with Venezuela. And with good reason, Trump posted on social media yesterday, he's ordering a total and complete blockade of sanctioned oil tankers leaving Venezuela, which he was asked about today. Just a blockade. We're not going to let anybody going through that shouldn't be going through.

You remember, they took all of our energy rights. They took all of our oil from not that long ago. and we want it back. This comes as the U.S. military has killed dozens of people targeting alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean. Trump has said this is about saving American lives. It's about stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S. But his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, revealed this is actually about regime change in Venezuela. She told Vanity Fair Trump wants to keep on blowing up boats

until Nicholas Maduro cries uncle. Thank you, Katie. Thanks. The CBC's Katie Simpson in Washington. Tension surrounding one of the president's major domestic policies is on full display in Minneapolis. A controversial immigration crackdown continues in that city, sparking rage and resistance from some residents.

Katie Nicholson has a look at the conflict from Minneapolis. Muhammad Ali's Somali coffee shop is usually packed this time of day, but lately it's empty. With the operation that's going on, the people are fearing, nobody's keeping outside. So that has really greatly affected our business. That operation is Metro Surge, which started on December 1st. Around the same time, the U.S. President unleashed several tirades against Somalis, calling them garbage. An influx of immigration and customs enforcement or ICE agents started sweeping through the state,

arresting more than 400 people from Somalia and other countries. They're being met with fierce opposition. Just blocks from Ali's deserted cafe in a Somali business district, a squad of ice agents is surrounded by people recording them, hurling insults and even the odd snowball. An agent has someone pinned on the ground. A woman lunges at the ice agent. He raises his baton.

Protesters crowding the street erupt. At one point, an ice officer called the henip. and County Sheriff's Department. Yes, we need assistance immediately. I got officers getting attacked. The Sheriff's Office posted on social media that its deputies didn't witness any attacks or agents meeting medical attention

and noted it doesn't take part in civil immigration enforcement. Minnesota's governor and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul made it clear they didn't welcome this enforcement surge. But some Republicans in the state have voiced their support and eight county sheriff's departments are working with ice. Not so in the more left-leaning Twin Cities. Some citizens are signing up for rapid response training, a crash course on their rights and how to document ice. There's a community of people

who are ready to defend their neighbors. You do as a rapid response trainer. She says the network is putting pressure on ice. They know they have to be really quick about their pickups because if they take longer and folks start noticing and the community starts showing up, they will back down. On this Monday confrontation, more than 70 people showed up blocking a residential street and jamming traffic. You know, I've been pepper sprayed twice today. I'm not deterred. Including state representative Aisha Gomez. I know that this community is saying no. They're saying that our neighbors are important to us, and we're not going to stand for their rights to be violated. In a statement to CBC News, ICE called the altercation a riot and said the crowd through objects and shouted death threats at agents.

and that it arrested two U.S. citizens for assaulting their officers. Kitty Nicholson, CBC News, Minneapolis. Trump's policies are also creating problems in nearby Montana. 60% of the state voted Republican in the last election, but the president's tariffs and trash talk have many Canadian tourists steering clear, and the boycott is putting a big dent in business. Paula Duhatchik has the details. A few weeks into the season, the Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana is quiet,

the calm before the storm of Christmas and New Year's. It's all hands on deck. Really busy time for us. Resort spokesperson Chad Sokol hopes that will be the case again this year, but there's still a big question mark about just how many Canadians will actually show up. We are looking at the economic trends. We're looking at the environment that we're in and encouraging folks to continue visiting. Canadians, especially Albertans, are typically a common site around town.

They come in the winter to ski, in the summer, to boat, and at all times of year for shopping and for medical tourism. Diane Medler, with the local Chamber of Commerce, says that all changed this year. Canadian credit card spending in the region is down 39%. It's disappointing and sad. I mean, we respect the feelings. The impact is being felt beyond just Montana. The U.S. Travel Association predicts a big loss in international tourism spending. compared to last year, nearly $6 billion. Locally, several businesses are hoping they can change people's minds,

offering discounts and perks to customers if they're from north of the border. If you look at a Montana and an Albertan, we have a lot more in common than we have different. Gabe Merriman owns Bias Brewing in Calispell and will sell you two beers for the price of one if you're Canadian. He says he misses Albertans for personal and professional reasons. We see the impact of Canadian tourism. Canadians are our customers, right? Tourism isn't just suffering because of politics. The weak Canadian dollar means a trip down south right now is a pricey proposition.

It's also been a rainy start to the Montana ski season, while the Canadian Rockies have been blanketed with powder. Amir Alon, with tourism research firm Longwoods International, says right now Canadians might just think a trip down south isn't worth the trouble. When presented between two destinations and one appears more hassle-free, maybe more affordable, the traveler may choose in that direction. But Alon says times may be changing. His research suggests while many Canadians are still avoiding U.S. travel, a growing number

are feeling more indifferent. The border doesn't mean much to us when it comes to our skiing buddies. Weather Canadians ski Montana this winter could come down to the weather. Snow is in the forecast for the weekend and Sokol with Whitefish Mountain Resort is hoping it sticks around. Paula Duhatchek, CBC News, Whitefish, Montana. The man accused in the mass shooting at Australia's Bondi Beach has been formally charged with 15 counts of murder.

The 24-year-old also faces terrorism charges and 40 counts of assault with intent to murder. Two gunmen killed 15 people on Sunday. They targeted people celebrating Hanukkah at the beach. All of the victims identified so far were Jewish. The father and son's suspects were shot by police. The father died. The son has been in hospital since the attack.

The son of actor-director Rob Reiner made his first court appearance in Los Angeles today on two counts of first-degree murder. Nick Reiner is accused of fatally stabbing his parents in their home on Sunday morning and then fleeing the scene. The 32-year-old did not enter a plea. His arraignment was delayed until January 7th. In a statement, Reiner's two siblings have asked for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity. Reiner's attorney, Alan Jackson, also asks people not to rush to judgment. There are very, very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case.

There's need to be thoroughly, but very carefully dealt with and examined and looked at and analyzed. Reiner is being held without bail. People in BC's Fraser Valley are still assessing the damage one week after destructive flooding hit. Now more stormy weather is causing chaos and added stress as residents deal with fall. and trees and widespread power outages. Tanya Fletcher reports. It's kind of digesting all the damage. Pretty messy.

A messy reality for hundreds of residents and business owners in the Fraser Valley. Suki Dami co-owns the Fraser Glen Golf Course. They purchased the property two years ago and had been in the process of renovating when the floods came. It's going to take weeks, right? It won't be an overnight thing.

So it's going to have to kind of be making a proper game plan. We're just scared the water's going to come again. Those fears follow another deluge of rain and a blast of wind overnight. Environment Canada meteorologist Brian Proctor. So we really saw a fairly significant frontal system come through. Very, very blustery condition. Power was knocked out to upwards of 120,000 properties.

Not just in the lower mainland, but into B.C.'s interior as well, including the Okinawagon and the Kootenies. Well, my balcony is right there, so I could see it immediately when I woke up. Vancouver resident Ainslie Klassen is talking about a massive tree that came crashing down right onto a car outside their apartment complex. We have a group chat going on in the building, and I saw someone say something at 4 a.m. about a flash and a bang. But I didn't know about the tree until I woke up at 7.30 this morning.

Clean up from this latest storm, yet another punch for those still recovering from the flood disaster that hit last Wednesday. And as the picture of the damage becomes clearer, so too the criticisms. We have the technology for crying out loud, let's use it. We know we can triangulate on cell towers so that only locals are warned that there's a flood coming. BC Conservative MLA Bruce Banman represents Abbotsford South. He questions why the provincial government did not use emergency text alerts to warn residents ahead of time. What we really need to do is make sure that those that are in low-lying areas

have every single second of available opportunity to move animals, to bring their goods up to higher ground. Premier David Eby says it's a balance. between not wanting to panic people and giving people plenty of notice. He calls it an imperfect science. When we make decisions about sending out a text or other alert, it's not just us. We're in partnership with the local governments

who are leading the emergency response. We rely heavily on that local knowledge, and that was the case in this emergency as well. In the meantime, back at the golf course, the scary part is rebuilding. We don't want to go through his mess again. We can't just keep putting time and finances here and then just have it destroyed by a flood again.

For many, the long-term threat will remain well beyond the latest forecast. Tanya Fletcher, CBC News, Vancouver. Italy is getting set to host the Winter Olympics in February. The country isn't exactly a hockey powerhouse, so in order to get ready, its women's team is studying abroad and learning from some of the best. The CBC Sarah Levitt checked in on Italy's Canadian training camp. On the ice, drills have the players working up quite a sweat

while proudly showcasing the green, white and red of the Italian flag. Just two months away from the Winter Olympics in Milan and the Italian women's hockey team is in Montreal for a month-long intensive training camp. As the host country, the team wanted to be sure they'd be ready to take on powerhouses like Canada and the United States. Nadia Mati is the team captain. Being able to be here in Montreal and training in such an environment

in Canada, you know, the motherland of hockey. It's been great. But why specifically, Montreal? The team's general manager is none other than hockey hall of famer Danielle Sauvajot, the woman behind the bench for Canada's first hockey gold in 50 years at the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002. But that's not the only Quebec connection. At a pre-practice team meeting, Eric Bouchard gives a pep talk.

If we believe, if we have a plan, yes, we're in if you really have a lot. hard to play against. He came in as team coach in September. Bouchard's been juggling this role at the same time as being an assistant coach of the Chewinigan cataract in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. It's an opportunity of a lifetime, so having a chance to work with elite hockey players like that, having a chance to build something special with the team, really resonated with me. The Italians look to clear, this is Florian. The last time the Italian women's team played in the Olympics was in 2006 again as hosts in Torino. That year they finished eighth out of eight teams and were outscored 48 to 3, including losing 16 to zero in their first

game to Canada. For these players, the chance to play at home is exciting, but also nerve-wracking. Defender Francisco Stoker says they're ready. No one expects us to reach the levels that the Olympics have, but we are very confident that we're going to shock the hockey world. The Italians have a veteran amongst them. Laura Fortino was on the Canadian Olympic team, that won gold in Sochi and silver in Pyongchang. Now she's playing for Italy. Experiencing this journey is very special to me. This is representing my family and my roots.

Fortino also says the Olympics can serve as inspiration for others. To show those little girls, you know, that they can be a professional women's hockey player coming from a country that maybe hockey is not the number one sport like Canada. These women are giving in all they've got and say they can't wait to hear Forsa Italia yelled loudly. and proudly in the stands in Milan. Sarah Levitt, CBC News, Montreal. We close tonight on the sea ice in Hudson Bay, where animal researchers made a rare find

thanks to a dedicated mama bear. We really think it's just because they're so maternally charged and such good mothers, and they just can't leave a cub crying on the tundra, so they pick them up and take them along with them. Evan Richardson is a polar bear research scientist with environment and climate change Canada, part of a team that monitors the animals using GPS collars and field surveillance. Last spring they found a mother and her cub near Churchill, Manitoba. Both were tagged with callers.

Fast forward to the fall when the team observed the same bears, but the mother had another cub in tow about the same age as the other with no tracking collar. The family had grown by adoption. When we got confirmation that this was an adoption, I had a lot of mixed feelings, but mostly good. I mean, it's just another reason why the species is so incredible, why they're so fascinating and interesting. And it gives you a lot of hope when you realize that polar bears

maybe are looking out for each other out there, which is pretty neat. Alyssa McCall is with polar bears international. She says cub adoption is not common among the bears, and this is just the 13th time it's been observed since scientists started tracking the Hudson Bay population five decades ago. It isn't clear what happened to the biological mother, but the Cubs new stepmom likely saved its life.

It's nearly impossible for young polar bears to survive on their own and with habitats and food sources threatened by climate change. Researchers say the little cubs need all the help they can get. Thank you for joining us. This has been your world tonight for Wednesday, December 17th. I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again.