Your World Tonight - Tariff turmoil, Ukrainian rare earth minerals, mortgage defaults up, and more

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

They’re on, they’re off, they’re now, they’re not. Canadians are trying to figure out what’s happening with tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump. There is more confusion today, as he claims they are full steam ahead, but his commerce secretary says there is still a chance to avoid them.Trump says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be in Washington on Friday to sign an agreement on rare earth minerals. Trump says the deal is payback for the aid the U.S. has provided during the war. But what is it Trump is so keen to get from Ukraine? The CBC’s Chris Brown visits mines there to find out.Mortgage defaults are up across Canada, with BC feeling the worst of it. Mortgage holders who are falling behind in their payments are also carrying substantially higher balances, likely because of pre-pandemic interest rates.Plus: Ontario election tomorrow, Carney accused of lying, and more.

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But it's time to imagine what we can do with more. Join Scarborough Health Network and together, we can turn grit into greatness. Do need at lovescarborough.ca. This is a CBC podcast. I have to tell you that, you know, on April 2nd, I was going to do it on April 1st, but I'm a little bit superstitious, so I made it April 2nd.

The tariffs go on. Not all of them, but a lot of them. When it comes to the U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, when is still the key question? March? April? Never? Donald Trump holds his first cabinet meeting and sends conflicting messages about the timing of the moves. Welcome to Your World Tonight.

I'm Susan Bonner. It is Wednesday, February 26th, coming up on 6pm Eastern, also on the podcast. Hand over all your resources. In return for all the aid we previously offered you unconditionally, which we retroactively decided to declare a debt. Economic agreement or extortionist diplomacy. Both Ukraine and the U.S. say they have an agreement to provide precious minerals to the U.S. In return for, well that's not 100% certain. But the presidents of both countries will meet in Washington this Friday to seal the deal. Donald Trump has Canadian exporters, politicians and ordinary citizens scratching their heads

about the looming threat of punishing tariffs. Trump says they are coming in five days. The official he appointed to impose them is saying something different. As Evan Dyer reports, that's adding to the anxiety over a possible trade war. I'm not stopping the tariffs. Canada and Mexico have been working toward a March 4th deadline for a blanket 25% tariff to kick in. At his first cabinet meeting today, Donald Trump appeared to some to be suggesting that Canada and Mexico might have an extra month's reprieve. And I have to tell you that, you know, on April 2nd, I was going to do it on April 1st, but I'm a little bit superstitious, so I made it April 2nd.

The tariffs go on. But White House staff soon clarified that Trump was talking about a different set of tariffs that the U.S. still hasn't drawn up. Those tariffs would aim to retaliate against individual countries for specific trade barriers that the administration is still studying. They had been scheduled for April 1st. Trump was merely putting them off a day out of a superstitious aversion to that particular date.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says it's typical of how Trump operates. This guy's classic every single day he's changing his mind he's putting uncertainty you know out there. There's a lot of speculation so I won't speculate we'll work on the basis of what we see in the executive orders. Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne says it's another example for Canada of why it's unwise to jump at Trump's every pronouncement. One thing we have learned is to take it step by step, to listen to what the president says very carefully, but at the same time the only way you can operate like that is to make sure

that you act on the basis of signed executive orders. Meanwhile, the NDP's Jagmeet Singh today called for Canada to disinvite the US president from an important summit due to take place in June in Alberta. And given that Donald Trump has threatened our very sovereignty, threatened our economic security, we should not invite Donald Trump to the G7. But that idea was dismissed by Liberal Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson. I don't think that simply trying to throw the president out of the G7 is a particularly constructive approach. What does appear more or less clear is that Canada is not getting an extra month.

March 4th is still the crunch date for the Canadian economy. Evan Dyer, CBC News, Ottawa. Regardless of when or if tariffs come, the threats are already affecting some Canadian businesses, including grain farmers. Some live near the U.S. border and ship directly to American buyers. Tariffs could mean less demand and less money for their crops. Anis Hadari reports on what one Manitoban is doing to send his grain south before that happens. It's just past 8 a.m. on a grain farm near Crystal City, Manitoba, a little under 200 kilometers southwest of Winnipeg,

where several truckloads of wheat are getting ready to cross the border to North Dakota. Just pushing hard to get as much across as we can before the potential terrain. Landon Friesen is the co-owner of this grain farm and he's driving the truck we're in too. He's been making multiple trips a day delivering his Canadian wheat to American buyers. Why is there a rush to get all this grain delivered? The grains not going anywhere right? It's not like it'll go bad. Correct. The grain won't go bad but

our markets are gonna close down or the tariff will hurt the markets and that's what we're we're racing against the time. Canada exports a lot of wheat to the US. One billion dollars worth in 2023. Around seven thousand dollars of the grain is in the truck with us on this trip at least by late February's pricing. A threatened 25% tariff could lower American demand and that could lower the price Canadian farmers get. That's why farmers like Friesen are rushing to get crops across the border now. We would have done the same amount of work to spread out over quite a few months.

Here we condensed it to two months and which is fine. It's frustrating. This is just one Canadian business trying to lock in a pre tariff price And it's not just grain there are reports that Manufacturers and warehouses are moving goods in advance to many are trying to hedge their bets against a potential tariff by crossing the border early I guess we're coming up here. So yeah If it gets more expensive to sell across the border There's trouble for everyone says economist JP Gervais the consequences of tariffs are going to to sell across the border, there's trouble for everyone, says economist J.P. Gervais. The consequences of tariffs are going to be felt across the supply chain.

The chief economist for Farm Credit Canada also says even avoiding the U.S. entirely can increase costs because changing where and who you sell to isn't free either. The fact is that diversification and all of the impacts are going to raise costs of doing businesses for Canadian businesses and that's going to have an impact for Canadian consumers. For grain farmer Landon Friesen, there's frustration at all the unknowns, but living close to the border means he's not upset with Americans. We've done life with them, right? This boy's been a lot of respect for each other, I think. We all need to get along. We can't pick up and move.

All he can do for now is keep moving grain. Anis Haidari, CBC News, near Crystal City, Manitoba. Coming up on the podcast, Zelensky set to visit Washington to sign a critical minerals deal. We look at what Ukraine could be signing over and how much say the leader really has in the agreement. Plus, did Mark Carney have a role in moving a Canadian company's head office to the US? And did he tell the truth about it?

The US has been a major partner in the US-China deal for the last three years. Donald Trump says he has struck a deal with Ukraine that will see it repay the US for the weapons it provided to repel Russia's invasion. Details of the draft agreement are still vague. But two things are clear. The Americans stand to profit handsomely without making a solid commitment to prevent another Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Paul Hunter reports from Washington. I've had very good conversations with President Zelensky. To hear it from US President Donald Trump, the sides are very close, close to a deal with Ukraine that would allow US access to its critical minerals, bringing, as Trump puts it, great wealth to the U.S. And as Trump sees it, payback for U.S. military aid to Ukraine in defending itself from Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump now confirms,

will be in Washington Friday to sign off on all of it. We'll be able to make a deal, and again, President Zelensky is coming to sign the deal and it's a great thing. The still unanswered big question, what does Ukraine get out of the deal and what does it mean for the war? We are preparing for negotiations on Friday, says Zelensky in Kiev. Guarantees of peace and security against future Russian aggression are the key, he added. It's important to me and to all of us in the world that America's aid should not be stopped.

But back at the White House, Trump said, when it comes to Ukraine's security, that'll be mostly up to Europe, not the U.S. Well, I'm not going to make security guarantees beyond very much. We're going to have Europe do that because it's in, you know, we're talking about Europe as their next door neighbor. But we're going to make sure everything goes well. Trump added, if indeed American mining interests are allowed into Ukraine, that unto itself is, as he put it, automatic security.

Because nobody's going to be messing around with our people when we're there. And so we'll be there in that way. And as for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He's a very smart guy. He's a very cunning person. Trump said in the US push for an end to the war, Putin will have to make concessions, but he gave no details. Yeah, he will.

He will. He's going to have to. When pressed on whether Putin will have to give back land it's taken from Ukraine, some of those in Trump's cabinet sitting with him, including Vice President J.D. Vance, listened and laughed. Well, you try and take it away, right? We're going to do the best we can to make the best deal we can from both sides. We want to get as much back as possible. Trump said one assumes there will be peace peace but added it might not work out.

There is the possibility, he said. Paul Hunter, CBC News, Washington. There are hundreds of billions of dollars worth of rare earth minerals inside war-torn Ukraine. Harnessing and sharing them with the US has been a hot topic of debate there. Some are encouraged by the possibilities of the deal, others deeply suspicious of Donald Trump. Chris Brown reports from Ukraine. An excavator stretches out its huge bucket and scoops up tons of earth rich in titanium ore. It's then rinsed and propelled by pressurized water to a processing plant.

This operation is in central Ukraine, not far from Zhytomyr. Titanium is extremely strong, durable and yet lightweight. This operation produces it for electronics and engineering components. The manager here, Dmitry Holik, says his country could be a world hub of titanium. The manager here, Dmitry Holik, says his country could be a world hub of titanium. Ukraine possesses approximately 20 percent of the world's titanium reserves, he said. The reason Donald Trump has pushed so hard to get Ukraine to agree to share it with the U.S. is part of Trump's grand plan to convince Russia to end the war. It remains unclear how much the deal might be worth or what Ukraine might ultimately have to give up. But many in the country's mining sector are welcoming it nonetheless because Ukraine faces big challenges

attracting outside investment while it's at war. Our CBC News team also visited a facility 200 kilometers south of Kyiv. It processes graphite, used in automotive parts and pencils. It's been going since Soviet times and looks it. The equipment is outdated and badly in need of an upgrade. With investments, there will be life. The enterprise will operate, said the chief here, Valery Kharkovets. But Kyiv geologist Andrei Laktiev says if Trump is looking for a fast return on his

minerals deal, he'll be disappointed. The very quickest way for a new project is from three to five years. It's when you will be willing to push very fast. The wisdom of such a pact with Trump has been divisive in Ukraine. We met with some war veterans who've lost limbs in the fighting. Some of their artificial ones

are made of compounds such as titanium. They need something, that's why I count them. I don't believe there's any reason to give the Americans our natural resources because I don't believe there's any reason to give the Americans our natural resources because I don't trust them considering the propaganda in the U.S. about Putin, said Bogdan Kovbiasak, a 27-year-old who lost his leg in a Russian missile strike. Trump's refusal to commit to security guarantees today is a big concern, and Zelensky will need to push for it when he meets with Trump Friday in Washington.

Chris Brown, CBC News, near Ishtomer, Ukraine. Hamas has handed over the bodies of four hostages tonight and there was no ceremony. Israel has complained about Hamas parading hostages or coffins in front of jeering crowds. The Red Cross has called the practice abhorrent. In return for the handover, Israel is releasing some 600 Palestinian prisoners. This is the final swap of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which ends on Saturday. The remaining 57 Israeli hostages are expected to be freed during the second phase. That phase is supposed to include a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. A child in West Texas has died of measles. It is the first death in an outbreak

that began late last month with 124 confirmed cases and 20 hospitalizations. Health officials say the child was unvaccinated and had been admitted to hospital last week. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says they are monitoring the situation but downplayed the severity of the outbreak. We are following the measles epidemic every day. We're watching it.

We put out a post on it yesterday and we're gonna continue to follow it. Incidentally, there have been four measles outbreaks this year in this country last year that were 16. So it's not unusual we have measles outbreaks every year. The last confirmed measles death in the U.S. was in 2015. 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. Mark Carney is facing scrutiny for his part in the decision to move an asset management company's head office from Toronto to New York. The Liberal leadership frontrunner says he had nothing to do with that decision and that it was taken after he resigned his position as chair of the Brookfield board. Conservatives say this isn't true and are questioning his commitment to Canada. Tom Perry has more on that story. I know how to manage crises. I know how

to build strong economies. Mark Carney has used his background in the world of finance as the main selling point in his campaign for the liberal leadership but his political opponents are trying to use that background against him. Federal conservatives have been demanding answers from Carney about his role as chairman of the board at Brookfield Asset Management, a multi-billion dollar investment firm. Late last year, the firm decided to move its head office from Toronto to New York City. A reporter asked Carney about it last night, after the Liberal leadership debate. The decision, the formal decision of the board, happened after I ceased to be on the board. I do not have a connection with Bloomberg Asset or Brookfield Asset Management. No longer have a

role obviously as I resigned in the middle of January. Records show shareholders at Brookfield voted to approve moving its head office to New York in January after Carney's departure. But the company's board announced, approved, and recommended the move in October while he was still there. Mark Carney lied to Canadians. Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett today went on the attack. We now know that he will put profits for himself and for well-connected insiders on Bay Street

and now on Wall Street ahead of Canadians." Barrett presented a letter sent to Brookfield shareholders on December 1st of last year, signed by Carney. It says the decision by the board to move the firm's head office was unanimous, urging shareholders to back it. Marvin Rider is an associate professor of marketing at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University.

He says there would have been a strong business argument for Brookfield moving its head office to New York. They had been in Toronto for years and there is great access to capital in Toronto, but increasingly there's more money south of the border so to have your head office on wall street near the center of all the capitalism of the United States makes good strategic sense. A spokesperson for Carney says the changes at Brookfield were technical in nature and that the company has said with respect to jobs, its Canadian operations were not affected. The spokesperson adds, this is all a desperate attempt by the Conservatives to misrepresent

Carney's business experience and play down the fact their leader, Pierre Pauliev, has none. But Conservatives say what this all comes down to is that Carney can't be trusted. Tom Perry, CBC News, Ottawa. can't be trusted. Tom Perry, CBC News, Ottawa. Voters in Ontario get their say tomorrow. The election was scheduled for next year but the ruling progressive conservatives called it early looking to secure another majority. The campaign has seen some twists and turns and the main party leaders are crossing the province today making their final pitches to voters. Mike Crawley is here to break it all down. Mike, Duckford has faced both criticism and support throughout the campaign on the big

issues like affordability, health care, and his controversial plans for developing a green belt area. How has his campaign strategy worked? Susan, his campaign strategy has been all about one thing and that's tariffs. He has taken a single-minded approach to this issue. He has turned tariffs into the ballot question and really his focus has been about pitching himself as the premier who is best placed to defend Ontario against the threat of tariffs and in fact the best person to stand up against Donald Trump.

You have to outlive and outlast the Trump administration for four years. We need a strong mandate from the people of Ontario. And by doing this Doug Ford has basically avoided talking about many of the other important provincial issues that he doesn't really want to talk about. Things like healthcare, things like education, things like that Green Belt controversy. He has always tried to steer the conversation back to the threat of the economy. He's even put forward this promise, which is quite likely the single most expensive election promise ever made in Ontario history, to build a tunnel under the 401, and he's pitched that as a way of protecting the economy by providing jobs.

At some point in time during the campaign it kind of felt like Doug Ford was campaigning more against Donald Trump than he was against the opposition leaders, Myron Stiles of the NDP, Bonnie Cromby of the Liberals. Didn't run a perfect campaign, there were gaffes. He actually said he was 100% happy when Trump won the presidential election back in November, and he also put out this statement that seemed to support capital punishment. You know, someone breaks in your house, uses a gun,

10 years automatic. They discharge that gun to get 15 years automatic. They discharge that gun to get 15 years automatic. God forbid they shoot someone and they survive 20 years automatic and God forbid they kill an innocent person. I don't even go 25 years, I send them right to Spartan and they will take care of everything from there. And yet despite all of those gaffes, Susan, it didn't seem to affect him one iota in the polls. All right, so what are you watching for tomorrow then? All of the publicly available polling suggests that Ford is on his way to another majority and that would make the first time that an Ontario premier has won three straight majorities since the 1950s. Looks like

the Liberals and the NDP are going to be fighting for second place. That race is quite close. I'm going to be looking to see where in the province the PCs are able to pick up seats, in particular places that have been strongholds for the NDP, Northern Ontario, Hamilton, St. Catharines. The PCs take these kinds of writings. It's going to show you that Doug Ford's progressive conservatives have really managed to appeal to working class voters. Thank you, Mike. You're welcome. The CBC's Mike Crawley in Toronto. Thousands of Canadians are defaulting on their mortgage

payments as they renegotiate new mortgages at higher rates. The steep cost of living is straining household budgets. The trend is hitting especially hard in Ontario and BC. Nisha Patel reports. It was becoming difficult and difficult. Inderjeet Singh bought a home in Toronto in 2021. From mortgage payments to groceries to childcare for his new baby, the costs kept piling up. It's like people are stuck and we are one of those who are stuck. Over the past seven months, the Bank of Canada has aggressively cut interest rates and that's provided some relief.

Still homeowners are facing significantly higher mortgage rates upon renewal compared to when they first took out their loans. Singh is doing everything he can to hold on to his property, but other mortgage holders haven't been as lucky. We're seeing those mispayments levels really rising on mortgages in Ontario. Rebecca Oakes, a vice president at Credit Bureau Equifax, says the mortgage delinquency rate in Ontario has jumped 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Financial stress is also showing up more for those in BC.

Mortgage holders at a high balance or maybe some of the younger lower income where, you know, the higher cost of living is still continuing to impact that group. More than a million mortgages are coming up for renewal this year. Oakes expects many homeowners to face a financial shock. There are going to be some payment increases likely to happen and that's putting some additional stress. Mortgage agent Dhuli Parubetz has been fielding calls from nervous clients. What's my rate now? What does this mean for me?

This is to be a constant cry for help when it comes to their mortgage payments. It's one of the largest expenses in our lives. She urges anyone who needs to renew their mortgage this year to find out early how much payments will jump and ask about options like stretching amortization. This is a moment to review not put our head in the sand and just plan, budget, plan, budget, you know, know what's coming your way. That's especially crucial as unemployment in Canada is on the rise

and the risks of U.S. tariffs could weigh on the economy. Inderjit Singh says that keeps him up at night. It is a bit unstable right now and there are some kind of I would say nervousness or doubts how it is going to be going forward. For now he's cutting costs preparing to face any uncertainties in the months ahead. Nisha Patel, CBC News, Toronto. Finally picture the scene a young couple from Saskatchewan out on horseback. The sun setting over the distant horizon. He stops and says he has something to say.

And I was just like in shock and I didn't even know like what he was doing until he pulled out the ring and I saw he was like tearing up and that's when he had asked me if I would marry him. Bryce Sharing said yes and her now fiance Dawson Liddall put a ring on her finger. It's that ring that has made this particular proposal story go viral. Because the ring was crafted, forged in secret in fact, by Sherring's father. Lidal posted a video of her dad making that ring at his shop in Yorkton, which has been viewed millions of times. We went there for Christmas and that's when I asked him for permission

and then I asked him to help me start getting a ring. I would just say like the uniqueness of it there's not really many other rings that look like it and then just the fact that it's also just made from her dad I think it makes extra special. The ring is looped gold twisting around the finger holding an oval diamond from a Canadian mine. Sharing's father father, who is also named Bryce, has been making rings for years, but not like this one. Now I get to see all the love that is behind the scenes that I never saw before. Like in a jewelry store, now I feel good about being a part of it.

Being a part of my daughter's, over the moon. Over the moon. Big time. Sherring's mom is also a jewelry maker and you might be wondering why we haven't heard from her. Well, her daughter says she can always tell when her mom is lying, so her dad and fiance, who know that too, never told her what they were up to. Thanks for joining us. This has been Your World Tonight for February 26th. I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again.

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