Your World Tonight - Toronto storm cleanup, Canadians avoiding U.S. travel, Gloria Steinem dies, and more

Episode Date: September 3, 2026

Downed trees. Damaged homes. Drivers rescued from submerged cars. Major damage to an outdoor concert venue. Toronto and other southern Ontario cities are cleaning up after severe thunderstorms.And: Business owners in Vermont talk about the effect of Canadians refusing to travel to the U.S. — and their fears that the problem will only get worse.Also: Celebrated activist and writer Gloria Steinem, one of the most visible symbols and powerful voices of the U.S. women's movement, has died at the age of 92.Plus: Ottawa’s guidelines for data centres, B.C.’s Conservatives in turmoil, Ontario changes its student financial assistance, and more.

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Find it on the CBC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. We have about seven holes in the roof, including a new skylight in my upper hallway, where one of the, like about a six-foot branch punctured right through the roof. Downed trees, smashed houses, drivers rescued from cars trapped in high water, major damage to an outdoor concert venue in Toronto, and the second highest number of emergency calls in the city's history. Southern Ontario cleans up after what's being called a once in a hundred years summer storm.

This is Your World tonight. It's Thursday, September 3rd, just before 6 p.m. Eastern. I'm Salima Shivji. Also on the podcast. Everything just kind of came to ahead over the last couple of days, and I just thought, you know what, my constituents expect a little bit better than this. And, you know, I just made the decision to step away in citizen independent for now. Only months after choosing a new leader,

nine members of the BC Conservative Party have now That leader, Kerry Lynn Finley, is preparing to run for a seat in a provincial by-election and says the resignations are an attempt to sidetrack her campaign. Whatever the reason, the tempestuous squabbles are hurting the party's polling numbers. Toronto is recovering from a series of fierce thunderstorms. They hit the city and much of southwestern Ontario Wednesday, causing massive flooding, wind damage and knocking out power to tens of thousands. She and Dejaldé has the latest on the aftermath.

Clean-up crews in Toronto facing days of work this week. Picking up after one of Southern Ontario's worst storms of the summer ripped through Wednesday at rush hour. The storm toppled trees onto cars and houses, ripping up gas lines and downing power lines. In this beach hill neighborhood, branches scattered and trees uprooted. Now being cut up and tossed in a wood chipper. I've never experienced this before.

Roberta Gray has lived in the area for some 50 years. Her house is okay, but her neighbor's property covered in down trees. Everything got so black and everything, so I came out to the veranda. That's when I saw the tree egg come down and the pole and everything. The storm dumped more than 100 millimeters of rain. Winds reached up to 85 kilometers an hour, so strong it tore the roof. off a building in Brampton, Ontario. Mangled rows of bleacher seats at Rogers Stadium.

It washed away chunks of road in Vaughan, north of Toronto, and flooded others. I never experienced something like that, and it's horrible. Mehmet Dutal's car was nearly submerged. He escaped crawling out the window. Luckily, you know, my window was open and I get out from the window. Toronto Fire Chief Jim Jessup says they responded to nearly 1,500 calls in 24 hours. That is the second largest call volume day in the history of Toronto Fire Service. Including water rescues and even workers trapped on scaffolding.

More than 50,000 hydro-1 customers across Ontario were without power Thursday morning. On top of that, the 65,000 customers who lost power at the storm's peak in Toronto. I've heard some reports from our crews coming across instances where there's trees eight feet in diameter resting on our lines. It's a significant amount of work to clear the tree and then ultimately make the repair. Dan Smart is Toronto Hydro's a vice president of distribution operations. If you come across the down wire, stay 10 meters back and treat everything as if it's energized. One environment Canada climatologist is calling it Ontario's worst storm of the summer. The GTA, it's bull's eye.

We call them rinse and repeat storms. According to David Phillips. Lined up there like jumbo jets on the airport tarmac and just coming in one after another and dumping their load and then moving off and just absolutely creating. creating disaster for the largest city in Canada. Now drying out on a sunny day ahead of the long weekend. But still, lots of cleanup left to go. Shian De Chaldez, CBC News, Toronto.

More extreme weather is on the way thanks to El Nino. The World Meteorological Organization says the atmospheric phenomenon is likely to last into February. It will bring warmer than average conditions. The last El Nino, three years ago, helped make 20, 24, the warmest year on record. Celeste Saolo is the organization's secretary general and says this time could be worse. So many sectors will be affected. Agriculture, trade, fisheries, health, energy, transport, water resources, disaster management, to name but a few. We are already seeing disruption and devastation from droughts and floods and extreme weather.

Saolo says El Nino should peak by the end of the year. A political storm is brewing in British Columbia. Nine conservative MLAs in the province have quit caucus in recent weeks. Many of them say they're concerned about the direction of the party under Carrie Lynn Finley, who they chose to be their leader just three months ago. Tanya Fletcher reports. But I reached this point and I believe that under Carrilyn Finley's leadership, that I couldn't continue.

In a wave of departures, M.L.A. Donagal Wilson announcing yesterday she's joining the exodus out of the BC Conservative Caucus. I couldn't look British Columbians in the eye and say, yes, I support this leader. I felt like it was the honest thing to do. Then, hours later, another. Everything just kind of came to ahead over the last couple of days. MLA. Scott McKinnis now the ninth MLA to quit in the past 19 days. The conservative party of BC has, in my view, shifted what their priorities are. All of it coming only three months after Findlay was elected as party leader. It's very unusual. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it in Canadian politics before.

Hamish Telford is a political scientist with the University of the Fraser Valley. She wants to have a more ideologically pure conservative party. Taking that into account, it's not really a surprise that the more liberal-minded members of her caucus are leaving. Finlay is a familiar name in federal politics. She served as a conservative MP in BC for six years before moving to provincial politics. Since taking over as BC conservative leader in May, some MLAs claim she's steering the party too far to the right through some people she's hired in her inner circle. The party has since lost key staffers and some of her own caucus members allege she dangled

the prospect of advisory rules to any who would give up their seat for her in a by-election that she needs to win to land a seat in the legislature. Findlay denied it. In her latest statement, calling it a coordinated political attack designed to sidetrack our campaign for that by-election. Adding the criticisms by departing members of her caucus are baseless. I don't know what's happening with the conservatives. The party's implosion is good news for Premier David Eby, who just months ago was grappling with a plummeting approval rating. When asked today whether his NDP government is considering calling an election,

it's an incredibly volatile time. I won't rule anything out. Two now ex-conservatives say they intend to, form a new party. Telford pointing to yet another potential name change in recent years, from the BC Liberals to the BC United to the BC Conservatives, not to mention the offshoot parties of one BC and center BC. With the collapse of the BC liberals, people are having trouble putting Humpty Dumpty back together again and I'm not sure it's going to happen because I don't see the basis of unity there anymore. A sign he says of the center right in this province struggling to find an identity.

Tanja Fletcher, CBC News, Vancouver. The Prime Minister has announced a $4.7 billion contract to build new passenger cars for via rail. Mark Carney was in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and vowed the cars will be built in Canada instead of the U.S. as they were in the past. Carney was also asked about claims from the Trump administration that Ottawa walked away from a trade deal because of domestic political ambitions. I don't think, with all respect, appointed, unelected cabinet members in the United States are experts on Canadian politics. Carney repeated that Canada is ready to sit down and make a deal when the Americans are ready. The deal that's possible that's in the interest of Canadian workers, families, and businesses is also the deal that is in the interest of American families, American businesses, American consumers.

Amid the escalating trade tensions, there are renewed calls for Canadians to boycott U.S. products and travel. As Alexander Silberman reports, tourist towns are once again worried about how that could impact their financial future. In Burlington, Vermont, less than an hour's drive from the Canadian border, the usually bustling downtown is noticeably quieter. Restaurants are empty as Canadians angered by U.S. tariffs. Stay away with renewed conviction. For restaurants and hotels, it's devastating. Mark Bouchet is owner of Homeport, a home gun. goods and souvenir shop. He sees firsthand how Vermont's tourism industry is struggling.

In a typical year, 750,000 Canadians visit the state, many from nearby Montreal. But since 2025, Canadian credit card spending has plummeted by more than 40 percent, according to data from Visa. And then all of a sudden we're dealing with an additional hit to our economy, so it's definitely we feel it. On the city's waterfront, a scene. boat tour is heading out on Lake Champlain with just a trickle of passengers. The drop in tourism means some of the cruises are getting cancelled. It's just crazy. It's really hurting our community here. Owner Mike Shea says his boat, the spirit of Ethan Allen, saw almost no Canadians on board last year and only a small uptick this summer. And he worries efforts to lure visitors back

could get derailed by the latest escalation in the trade war. It just seems to be a explosive almost every other day back and forth between our two countries, just needlessly. In downtown Burlington, business owners like Bouchette are placing Canadian flags in their storefronts. Some are offering Canadian discounts. The main shopping street was even briefly renamed Canada Street, all part of an effort to make Canadians feel welcome. I don't want to be in a fight with my family. My wife's French Canadian. Her family all lives in They know very well that Vermont is nothing like what they're hearing on the national political front, but it's difficult to separate it.

Jeff Lawson is vice president of tourism for the Lake Champlain Region Chamber of Commerce. We're far closer to Montreal than we are any major American city. In Greater Burlington, that's been a really painful loss. Lawson says officials are accepting. There might be no convincing most Canadians to return. The message now, that for... Vermont is ready to welcome them back when they're ready. We really don't know that we can market our way through somebody's moral decisions.

For now, the politics, simply too much for many Canadians to put aside. Alexander Silverman, CBC News, Burlington, Vermont. Coming right up, Israel's defense minister says all Palestinians should be moved out of Gaza, and he's claiming the U.S. will back the controversial plan. Also, Ottawa pushes back on the pushback against AI data center. announcing new rules for what it calls responsible building for the future. Later, we'll have this story.

She was a journalist, activist, and a feminist icon. Gloria Steinem was involved in some of the most significant gains for women's rights of the last 70 years, remembered also as a friend. You built the foundation that I have built my life and career on. I'm Magdekebri Salasat in Toronto. I'll have more on the life and career of Gloria Steinem, Coming up on your world tonight. Israeli elections are just two months away with Gaza and its future major issues on the minds of voters.

Some of Israel's right-wing politicians are upping their rhetoric, hoping to energize their base, also hoping to re-inject momentum into U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to get the Palestinians out of Gaza. Sasha Petrissik has more. As near daily, Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza, Killing Palestinians, including children this week, as food shortages continue and houses are flattened by advancing Israeli forces. Palestinians like Muhammad Abu Jibet say Israel is deliberately trying to push them out, to steal Gaza, he says.

Some Israeli politicians, once coy about their plans, are becoming increasingly vocal, as national elections approach in October. 70% of Gaza is destroyed with no residence or housing, says Defense Minister Israel Katz. He told a conference that Israel supports emigration of Gazans by every way possible and that it's ready to do that. Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump also suggested

sending Palestinians to third countries and turning Gaza into a resort. If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people permanently in nice homes. He later seemed to abandon that idea after pushback from Arab allies. Kat says Trump's plan is simply on hold. Israel's increasingly assertive settler movement has been pushing hard to build in a reclaimed Gaza, marching to the border with their demands. And hardline nationalist politician Itemar Ben-Gvier, part of Israel's ruling coalition,

is now laying out an active plan for emptying Gaza with a budget and quotas. A quarter of a million Palestinians to be removed in the first year, he proposes. Everyone, within seven years, sent to countries Israel would pay to accept them. In Gaza, the plans are met with outrage. This talk is so frustrating, says Mariam Dhabli. They confront us with guns and try to force us to leave. We won't. As for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,

he's neither endorsing nor rejecting his minister's plans. But on a visit to Israeli military bases, inside Gaza yesterday, he says Israel's army is not leaving the territory. Sasha Petrusik, CBC News, Toronto. The Shed Aquarium in Chicago says two of its beluga whales died yesterday. One of the whales arrived at the aquarium several weeks ago. She was relocated as part of an international effort to rehouse 30 whales from marine land in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The other beluga had lived in the aquarium for decades.

Shed said it does not know if the two deaths are related and it's investigating. AI has become a divisive issue across Canada. Critics worry about the tech and the data centers needed to run it. The federal government has made AI a priority and says it hears the concerns. Now Ottawa has unveiled a framework that it says will help provinces and municipalities plan and build responsibly. But some argue the plan doesn't have many teeth. Morgan Black has the details. It is a pinky promise framework.

Beck McIntosh is not impressed with Ottawa's new guidelines for AI data centers. She is behind Little Town Big Data, a nonprofit working with communities that oppose major data centers moving in. As she watches the battle unfold in her hometown of Olds, Alberta, Canada's responsible data center development principles give McIntosh little comfort. It's a giant public soother hoping that that is sufficient to, to ease fears and concerns. AI and Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon says there is no avoiding the infrastructure that backs our digital lives.

And if we don't innovate here, we will rent that from someone else. And if we don't make the rules here, we will have to follow someone else's. On Thursday, outlining the expectations for tech companies. What we're saying is there should be a baseline that they don't go down from to give people the confidence

that when these centers are being built, they will be built right. The guidelines ask that tech companies create lasting local benefits, do not shift electricity costs to Canadians, and limit water use. It's a bit more of a wish list, ask very nicely. Vass Bednar is the managing director at the Canadian Shield Institute. She says guardrails are important,

but the country needs to take a tougher stance. Our ability to hold large foreign actors accountable has always been a little bit weak in Canada. Minister Solomon says 23 companies have signed on to follow the principles. In statements provided to CBC News, TELUS says it is proud to commit to this framework alongside the industry and government. Meta writes the principles reflect its handling of its first AI data center in progress in Alberta. We agree that Canadians will have benefit from this if we do it the right way. Alberta Minister of Technology and Innovation, Nate Globusch, says the Alberta government recently courted Meta to

build near the provincial capital. He notes provinces remain in control of the projects. At the end of the day, it's the provinces that make the rules. It's the provinces that enforce the rules. As Ottawa makes building AI infrastructure a priority, many Canadians, like a critic, Beck McIntosh, want to see stricter guidelines made an urgent matter, too. Canadians are not opposed to progress, but we are opposed to reckless endeavors at the consequence of our future. And right now, that's what the government is proposing and telling us, we have to like it. A call from Macintosh for Ottawa to add some penalties to its new framework. Morgan Black, CBC News, Edmonton. Ontario's post-secondary students are heading back to classes next week

with a crash course in government economics. The province has changed how money is handed out through OSAP, its student assistance program. As Michelle Song reports, that has many scrambling to figure out just how they're going to pay for their schooling. It's very little from the Ontario grant. When O-CAD University student, Kieran Riley Gill applied for the Ontario Student Assistance Program, OSAP, this year, he found out his grants were reduced. And to cover his tuition, he has to take on thousands of dollars in loans after Ontario made changes to the program. I mean, my income is already currently way below the poverty line. Last year, Riley Gill's OSAP completely consisted of grants. Money, he didn't have to pay back.

It was a lifeline for his low-income family. Now he's worried he may never be able to pay this debt off. When it's just in grants, it means I don't have to worry about where my money's coming from, if I'm going to be able to afford school, if I'm going to be able to improve my education to be able to reach a point where maybe one day we'll be able to be financially independent. OSAP is made up of both provincial and federal funds. Starting this school year, the province has changed the amount of grants students could get, from a maximum of 85% to now, 25%.

With the rest being loans. Over the weekend, Premier Doug Ford defended the change. And the auditor general said what we were giving before was unacceptable, unsustainable. Ontario also lifted a seven-year-long tuition freeze, allowing colleges and universities to raise fees by 2% annually for three years after institutions warned they're in financial crisis. The announcements were met with widespread pushback. student groups saying this will harm young people long term. Rory Norris is the president of the

Ontario undergraduate student alliance. The ability to afford those life milestones that most people would think about, you know, ability to start a family by a house. Those sort of things are being delayed, or at least that's what students are worried about is going to take place in order to be able to start making payments on these loans once they graduate. Political economist Ricardo Tranjan says he's also concerned these changes will disproportionately affect those who live paycheck to paycheck. They might be second-guessing whether or not that investment, that potential level of high indebtment will be worth it.

And of course, if they give up, that will have a negative impact for themselves and their ability to get better jobs and make more money, but also has a negative impact for our economy and for our workforce. The province says low-income students will have access to other financial aid programs, and it plans to invest billions into Ontario, universities and colleges to elevate the quality of education. Michelle Song, CBC News, Toronto. Gloria Steinem has died.

As the face and voice of the modern feminist movement, Steinem challenged discrimination against women at home, at work, and under the law. She inspired generations of women to demand their rights and transformed the landscape of women's equality forever. Magta Gabrasalasa looks back on her life and her legacy. What we are talking about is a revolution and not a reform. Her voice, soft but mighty, a champion for women's rights starting in the 60s. Gloria Steinem took the fight from the home to the workplace to the White House.

On Wednesday, she died in her home in New York City, leaving mentees like Shelby Knox in mourning. You built the foundation that I have built my life and career on, and there will not be a day that I don't think about how grateful I am. for what you taught me. Steinem got her start as a journalist. Going undercover as a playboy bunny, she exposed the conditions at Hugh Hefner's clubs. A move, she said, harmed her career.

Rising up as an activist, she became a leader of the second wave of feminism. We are the women that our parents warned us about. Fighting for everything from equal pay to reproductive freedom. The bottom line of a male dominant system, of a patriarchal system, is to control women's bodies as the most basic means of production, the means of reproduction.

She fought for other causes, including civil rights. She co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus and Ms. Magazine, too. Over the years, she's been honored in many ways. In 2013, President Obama gave her the Medal of Freedom. Her one piece of advice to young girls is, do not listen to my advice. Listen to the voice inside you and follow that. But she's also been criticized many times,

including facing accusations of working with the CIA, which she denied. Whether and when to give birth without government interference. She kept fighting in her final years, protesting U.S. President Donald Trump's policies, and paved the way for the future, showing up for students at alma mater Smith College. Sarah Wiley LeBretton is the college president. I think her legacy is really that one need not choose between activists. and scholarship, or a life that is more pragmatic and a life that is aspirational. Today on social media, the tributes kept coming.

Jane Fonda said Steinem was graceful, kind and deeply intelligent. Oprah Winfrey wrote, we as women owe her so much, and Hillary Clinton told people to be like Gloria, embody possibility, and extend it. One thing is clear many hope Steinem's life lessons live on. Gender is a prison, race is a prison. We all men and women get to be unique individual human beings. Magde Geberra Salasas, CBC News, Toronto. Finally.

He was a lovable rogue and a pirate at heart. That's Stephen Reed talking about the late great Eric the Red, a name that for years struck fear in the hearts of Halifax birds and rats. You see, Eric was a tabby cat who spent years on board Reed's ship, The CSS Acadia. Reed says he was the unofficial RCO, rodent control officer. He patrolled the ship's decks, kept seabirds away, kept their awful off the tourist shoulders. I once saw him wrestle some food scraps from a ferret underneath the wharf cap.

He was just fearless. Eric died a few years ago and has now been immortalized with a life-sized statue sitting on his favorite bench overlooking the harbor. Reid says he loves the details, including a replica of Eric's collar. People would often pick him up thinking he was astray. And within a month of him joining the ship, I had a tag like this made-up. And on the following side, I engraved my mobile phone number, as well as the instructions. I live at the Maritime Museum in the Atlantic. I know my way home. Please put me down.

Reid says vets estimated Eric was close to 20 when he died. He'd lived as a stray before following Reed home one night. Now people have been posing with the statue the way they used to snuggle with Eric when he was alive. Reed says that's appropriate. It takes him back to lunchtime when Eric would troll the wharf for treats. He had come down the gangway of the ship, leapt into someone's lap, took a couple of chin scratches, no treats he moved on to the next person. The third person gave him a couple of treats.

He took a couple of stretches and then left. He walked up the gangway right beside me and stopped halfway and turned to look at me. And I swear, I thought he was saying, that's how you do it. Always leave him wanting more. This has been your will tonight for Thursday, September 3rd. I'm Salima Shivji. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.