Your World Tonight - Trade talk progress, decade-high debt crisis, Trump’s secret flight, and more

Episode Date: August 11, 2026

CBC News has learned Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and his American counterpart could present President Donald Trump with a path to a potential trade deal as early as Monday.Also: Canadians are filing for insolvency at levels not seen in more than a decade. We’ll have more on what’s behind the economic pressure, and why it’s happening now.And: A secret flight, a catering truck switch, and an assassination threat. Inside the high-stakes security operation around Donald Trump’s exit from the NATO summit.Plus: Searching for survivors in Colombia, explosive wildfire behaviour in B.C., Canadians using AI on the job, and more.

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I always feel good. Inching toward a possible deal, the Minister for Canada-U.S. trade back in Washington, making Canada's case in trade talks, Dominic LeBlanc is saying little about the state of negotiations. LeBlanc and his U.S. counterpart are working on a new trade plan to present to Donald Trump. This is Your World Tonight. I'm Colin Butler.

It's Tuesday, August 11th, coming up on 6 p.m. Eastern, also on the podcast. More homeowners are contacting us because mortgage rates have gone up. There's a lot more renewals going on right now. Insolvency rates on the rise. The latest data shows more Canadians. are having trouble paying their debts. The warnings about what a downturn in the economy could mean for people's finances as they try to dig themselves out of debt.

Another round of talks. The third meeting in three weeks between Canada U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and U.S. trade representative Jameson Greer. Sources tell CBC LeBlanc and Greer aimed to pitch a trade proposal to Donald Trump early next week, racing against a looming August 19th tariff deadline. Kate McKenna is following this story from Washington. We'll have something to say when the moment's right.

U.S. Canada Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc kept his comments to a minimum as he left a key meeting with U.S. trade representative Jameson Greer. Sources who have been briefed say both sides are working to hammer out a proposed deal for the president to review early next week, just days ahead of August 19th when a new wave of tariffs are set to kick in. Louise Blay is Quebec's representative for the Kuzma Review. It's quite possible that things will get tougher this week. That often happens near the end.

And that sometimes can be a good sign. It means that we're finally getting to those issues where both sides are not yet in the same space, but both want to find a way forward. This marks the third meeting between Greer and LeBlanc in three weeks. The end of an impasse after a fresh threat of new tariffs from the U.S. and an agreement from Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump

to intensify talks. Although the list of complaints from the U.S. seems long and growing. Today, Trump advisor Peter Navarro targeted Canadian scallop fishing off the coast of Maine. Federal regulations have limited U.S. fishing in that area, something this administration wants to change. And under the Biden rules, the Canadians could go and harvest scallops on their side of the Georgia's bank on the northern edge. and they get, if they can get the numbers right, I think it's about 7 million pounds or tons.

Canada wants to find a way to bypass new 50% tariffs on about $28 billion in exports. It also wants a comprehensive deal to at least lower existing tariffs on steel, aluminum, auto, and lumber. Chetan de Silva is Alberta's former senior representative to the U.S. Well, we won't know until we see what has actually been proposed, but I would be surprised if our Canadian Fedrigaum is prepared to make further concessions without getting something in return.

De Silva says some potential options on the table include putting American liquor back on the shelves, which ultimately is up to the provinces. For example, if the Americans are pushing to return American liquor to shelves across Canada, the Prime Minister will only be able to convince primers to do that if we're seeing major movement on those steel aluminum auto lumber tariffs in return.

The push for a deal continues. LeBlanc and chief negotiator Janice Charette are set to stay in D.C. for at least one more night as the clock keeps ticking. Kate McKenna, CBC News, Washington. Nearly 30,000 Canadians have expressed their unhappiness with a U.S. import. Trump's representative in Ottawa. They've signed a petition calling for Pete Hoekstra to be kicked out of the country. The petition accuses Hoekstra of making statements that undermine the relationship between the two countries

and of intervening in Canadian politics. The online petition will be presented to the House of Commons in the fall by Green Party leader Elizabeth May. Canadians have been declaring insolvency at levels not seen in more than a decade. The latest data showing how the cost of living has been taking a toll across the country. Tens of thousands declared insolvency in the second quarter with high credit card and mortgage debt largely to blame. Nisha Patel has more. Gas prices, it's groceries, it's rents. Linda Paul says the high cost of living is pushing.

many Canadians to a breaking point. She's a licensed insolvency trustee in Abbotsford, BC, and she's getting more calls from people who can't make ends meet. If there's something that comes up that's unexpected, an expense, like a car repair or something like that, then folks don't have the wiggle room in their budget that they used to have. The latest data shows nearly 40,000 consumers filed for insolvency from April to June. That's up almost 7% compared to the same time a year ago, and the highest quarterly volume since the 2009 financial crisis. More homeowners are contacting us because mortgage rates have gone up. There's a lot more renewals going on right now.

Charles St. Arnault, Chief Economist at Service Credit Union in Calgary, says adjusted for population growth, the numbers are less dramatic than they appear at first glance. The rate which compares consumer insolvencies to population is still lowered nationally than it was before the pandemic. There are some households that are having some issues and facing some financial stress, but it's not widespread, it's not yet concerning, but we still need to be, in some ways, we still need to track it and be attentive.

But people are still struggling amid a deep real estate downturn. Some consumers are having a harder time, with balance sheets deteriorating faster for households in Ontario and BC. Those two provinces have households that have the highest, level of debt to income in Canada. So that's obviously puts them more vulnerable to change in financial conditions. While Canada's economy has shown surprising resilience more than a year into a difficult trade war, our note says a labor market downturn remains a big risk.

Some lost income would create a new wave of increase in insolvency because a lot of households required probably two income to actually be able to repay their. Paul, the insolvency trustee, says some people are turning to the wrong place for advice. A lot of people are talking to chat, GPT, and looking for solutions from AI. So I've encountered a lot of people that have information from AI that is not accurate. She says human professionals are better suited to help. Nisha Patel, CBC News, Toronto. Coming right up, dramatic rescues and heartbreak.

The race to rescue people trapped after Colombia was rocked. by a major earthquake. Plus, the calls to stay on alert in parts of British Columbia as firefighters get some relief. And later, we'll have this story. Donald Trump, on the run, how a newly revealed plot to target the U.S. president had him whisked from plane to plane

on an airport food truck in Turkey. There was a series shell game of sorts that occurred there, you know, to keep the president safe. Leaving Trump playing hide and seek, swapping jets to avoid a row. Russian missiles over Europe last month. I haven't read all the time.

I'm number one on their list. I'm Sasha Petersig, and I'll have that Secret Service story later on your world tonight. Emergency responders have been celebrating with each life saved in Colombia. Every minute is crucial in the search for survivors after Monday's magnitude 7.4 earthquake. More than 240 people are confirmed dead.

Thousands more are still missing, and those who survived the initial earthquake, make worry about the possibility of aftershocks. Karen Paul's has the latest. Bystanders watch a dramatic rescue of two women trapped on an upper floor of a Pereira office building, brought down safely in a metal cage lowered by a massive crane. One was carried off, the other, stumbling but upright and emotional, thanking her rescuers. Relief and hope, as a woman and two children are pulling.

out safely from another damaged building in Pereira. This red cross worker says, while time is running out, there may be air pockets or spaces that can allow people to stay alive, longer. The Colombian military has been deployed to Pereira, Cali, and Manasalisalis bringing medical equipment and emergency supplies. They're joining residents and canine search and rescue teams as they scramble through the rubble of pancake

buildings looking and listening for signs of life. Large areas around the quakes epicenter are accessible only by airplane or boat through the jungle. One indigenous leader says they have yet to receive any help. Nils Greta is the country director for Columbia at the UN World Food Program. We can get to the capital city, Kibdo, but then to transport food assistance and other items of need to those communities will take time and it's costly. Columbia has a lot of seismic activity because of its position on the Pacific Ring of Fire and the confluence of three tectonic plates.

Stephen Hicks is a seismologist at University College London. Because this is a deep earthquake, it's caused fairly strong shaking over a very wide area. A substantial proportion of those buildings are not built to withstand the shaking in there. You're going to see a lot of damage. He says there will be thousands of aftershocks, some that won't even be felt. But... They can cause an already damage building to make. be collapsing.

The mayor of Maniselaus says many residents are in shelters and officials have received thousands of requests to assess homes. Maria Campo is from Manasales. She and her mother stayed at her brother's house last night, afraid to return home. We couldn't go into the building where my mom lived. It has some damage. They are checking with engineers who knows about it to see if the structure is affected or not.

She's grateful her family is safe. We are alive, so we have a lot of things to be grateful right now. And as they watch the rescue efforts, praying for more scenes of joy. Karen Paul's, CBC News, Winnipeg. Officials in British Columbia say residents need to remain vigilant of ongoing wildfires, despite weather conditions improving in some parts of the province.

More than 20,000 people remain under evacuation. with half of those having evacuated from Summerland alone. Jessica Chung has the latest from Penticton. So this is everything from the safe, and here's some of my photo albums. Only important documents and sentimental things. That's all Raylene Park was able to take when she fled her home in Summerland. Like this. How can you replace something like this? What is that?

It's my son, and it's his first birthday. Now it's been days of living out of her RV, and Park says she's running out of everyday items. I want shorts. I'm in bathing suit bottoms right now, and I'm in the same top. My husband doesn't have any underwear. Her home in Summerland is safe for now, and from here, it's just a waiting game. The fire can shift any time. We're hearing about hot spots all the time. So, I mean, today, it's, yesterday it was standing. Anything could happen. But yeah, I'm ready to go home. I'll be like E.T. Home. All 12,000 residents of Summerland, plus thousands more from neighboring communities remain under an evacuation order. The mayor of Summerland, Doug Holmes, says there's no timeline on when folks can go back.

We're not going to be going home anytime soon. The fire is still out of control. And we can't start that process until that fire gets under control. And when we do get back, we need to brace herself for what's there or what's not there. It's going to be hard. It's going to be really hard. Emotions running high. Beth McAndy with the RCMP says a criminal investigation has been launched into the cause of the fire. We are following up to see if there is any criminality involved in this because there is an associated death and a significant amount of property damage. We have crime fire investigators on where we believe the origin is. The Bald Range fire has now grown to 170.

28 square kilometers, mainly on the western flank, as clearer skies overnight caused increased fire activity. Officials are warning people to be vigilant, as any sparks in these bone-dry conditions could potentially cause more fires to erupt. Cliff Chapman is with the BC Wildfire Service. The conditions are so extreme right now that we cannot afford another unintentional human-caused wildfire. We are extremely concerned about intentionally set wildfire. wildfires anywhere in the province at any time. But given the conditions that we continue to speak of, we are obviously more concerned right now. A hundred firefighters from Mexico just got on site to help with the efforts. Gusty winds and lightning in the forecast continue to be concerns as

potential factors that could either fan the flames or trigger new ones. Jessica Chung, CBC News Penticton. Ontario's Natural Resources Minister says the province is making progress in its wildfire. fight. There is still more than 150 burning. Mike Harris says better weather and the work of fire crews are helping and he says the province is working with First Nations and local communities to try to be more fire resilient in the future. Folks on the landscape that are living in these communities know their communities the best. So we're consistently working with them to build out better values protection, look at sprinklering systems. I think that's something that's going to be quite evident as we come out of

we'll say this year's fire season, looking at ways that we can partner with communities to build that a little bit better. Heavy equipment, fire breaks, how do you utilize lakes or natural features to be able to slow the fires down? So I think there's a lot of great things that have come out of the conversations that we've been having. Firefighters from multiple provinces helped out in Ontario. Some of the Albertans have now been deployed to British Columbia. For millions living downwind of the wildfires, summer plans now include a daily check on air quality, and as wildfire smoke becomes a seasonal reality. New forecasting tools are helping Canadians stay one step ahead of the haze.

Morgan Black reports. It really does get in the way of plants. 15-year-old Wayland Sabarin is sick of the smoke. From soccer game cancellations to missed vacations, he and his family have adjusted to smoke wafting in to Edmonton, Alberta. His mom, Aresa Sabarin, knows it can make summer travel complicated. So we've certainly had to change. plans before. We've had to turn around. Across the country, Canadians are navigating the impacts

of wildfires. The Sabarin family has made it a routine to check in on the smoke forecast. You have to start looking up the air quality index every day, right? Whale and I both have asthma, so you have to start taking extra medication and you just kind of have to plan around it. More Canadians are paying attention to how wildfire smoke impacts them. That's why Blue Sky Canada Project was created. The University of British Columbia's Roland Shiggis is a program manager. We try to predict the best smoke concentrations at ground level because it's the biggest risk to people's health due to air quality.

The system combines satellite imaging of forest fires with its own weather modeling. The model creates a smoke forecast. It's able to predict about 48 hours in advance. The site, firesmoke.ca, is meant to help inform health decisions. Whether they should stay indoors, whether they need to avoid strenuous outdoor activity. Though if you want to know where fires are burning, Shigas says it's best to consult provincial fire management websites because those programs use ground and aerial mapping for more exact fire locations.

We have had people sending us emails and inquiring about certain fires on routes they're planning to travel on. We've had visitors from outside of Canada, ask us these questions. During the historic 23 wildfire season, the website had 2.5 million visitors in a single day, the most ever. This year, the site's forecast map had a peak of about half a million page views between July 15th and July 21st. Arisa and Wayland Sabarin feel for Canadians experiencing intense wildfires. It's sad for the people who are dealing with the fire more than the smoke, you know what I mean? So you have to be compassionate too and just try to manage the rest. Yeah, it sucks. And they are keeping a close eye on wildfires hundreds of

kilometers away and the smoke that often comes too close to home. Morgan Black, CBC News, Edmonton. More than 2,000 people have now died from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Officials say the death toll has doubled in less than a month. The number of confirmed cases has surpassed 4,000 since the outbreak was declared in the spring. It is the fastest spreading Ebola outbreak on record. Conflict and strained health services are slowing efforts to contain the spread. AI adoption in Canadian workplaces is increasing steadily, but is still sporadic. That's according to a recent report from Statistics Canada.

Around 30% of Canadians say they use AI at work, but as Stephanie Kramm reports, the fast-evolving technology is leaving some people behind. It's a trusted advisor in your pocket. That's Mark Redmond with results-driven agriculture research or Ardar. In collaboration with Farm Credit Canada, his company helped develop Root, a generative AI tool for farmers. Farmers today are besieged with information, and the root system helps them make sense of the massive data that they're dealing with on a daily basis. Redmond says the program can monitor weather, identify weeds, and even help farmers figure out the most optimal set. up for their fields. If you have potatoes, you have wheat under irrigation, where should I be putting

the irrigation today? Becomes your trusted partner in making those decisions. Redmond's company is bucking the trend, introducing AI in an industry that Statistics Canada says is slow to introduce the technology. New data says the majority of working Canadians are aware of generative AI, and many of them are using it at work. In Canada, there's a lot of talk about productivity issues. Now, we're not able to be competitive on the global stage. That's Francis Sims with Humber Polytechnic in Toronto. One thought is that leveraging AI in the workplace can help those businesses actually become more competitive.

According to the report, the technology is being embraced by several industries, including real estate and design. We are still as humans developing the floor plans and then we're using AI to make that look pretty. Alicia Cantafio with Ellurgott design in Calgary, says AI allows her team to offer services to clients they would typically outsource, and it's being done in record time. Instead of somebody taking three to five hours to make a render,

we're putting it into an AI and it's doing all of that in a minute and a half. The report highlights that the group falling behind in adopting AI are those over 55 years old. Cam Linky with Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute or Amy says the industry is moving quickly, but companies are finding success by training success. staff how to use the technology properly. Once you kind of understand the base level of it, then it's easy to deal with any new thing coming out. But Chavon-Vipon, with the Canadian Labor Congress, cautions that outsourcing tasks might threaten some people's job security.

We cannot be outsourcing the human element of jobs. We cannot be using AI so that people are out of work, especially now we need to be investing in jobs. According to Stats Canada, the majority of the people surveyed, are only using AI for some. some tasks, and even then, only three and ten people are using it every day. Stephanie Cramm, CBC News, Edmonton. An associate of Ryan Wedding has agreed to be extradited to the U.S. to stand trial. Roland Sokolovsky is a Toronto jeweler and former professional poker player. U.S. prosecutors describe him as third in command in Wedding's alleged criminal network.

They say he acted as a chief money launderer for the cocaine empire purportedly led by the former Canadian Olympian. A Syrian court has sentenced ousted President Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes. They were convicted of crimes including killings, torture, and arbitrary arrest during the country's nearly 14-year civil war that left about half a million people dead. Today's sentences are mostly symbolic. However, because Assad and his brother fled to Russia after their government's fall in December 2024, Syria's new rulers have requested their extradition. The White House is facing questions after it was revealed that President Donald Trump secretly switched planes last month during a trip to Turkey.

Trump pulled the switcheroo using a catering truck on the tarmac, leaving some staff and reporters on board Air Force One in the dark. The bait and switch came amidst credible assassination threats from Iran. Sasha Petrissik tells us more. As U.S. President Donald Trump wave good. to the NATO summit last month, climbing aboard his pale blue jumbo jet. Few guests the Secret Service plot to protect him. Trump was whisked out another door into a food service truck, then driven across the anchor at tarmac to a less conspicuous Air Force plane. An extraordinary measure, says military analyst, retired Colonel Cedric Layton. They clearly thought that

something bad could be happening, and they thought the threat was imminent. The Washington Post says U.S. intelligence had found a credible Iranian plot to fire a missile at Trump's new Air Force One, a jet that had just been adapted and rushed into service after being gifted to Trump by Qatar. Candidly, this was a surreal story to cover. Washington Post reporter Dan Lamoth. As we've seen Iran and a number of other countries take on aerial drones and a variety of other kind of munitions, the United States as a nation, is just facing simply more kinds of threats. White House journalists and staff boarding at the back of Air Force One had no idea

Trump was no longer at the front. They'd been told to keep their window shades down. CNN reporter Kevin Liptack. So if you were looking out of the window, you probably would have seen a catering truck with the president on board being spirited away to a different aircraft. Former Secret Service agent Robert E. McDonald says it's part of their toolkit. So we call those shell games. We do different movements, different looks, to give us a slight

advantage in those negating of nefarious activities by other folks. A shell game that then played out over Europe. The new 747 took off from Anchor first, heading northwest without the president as announced. The old Air Force one was next with media and White House officials, but also without Trump. He was reportedly in the third. third, smaller Air Force C-32A, whose flight path was kept secret. All three landed at RAF base Milden Hall north of London. Trump then switched back to his new jet for the flight from Britain to the U.S., denying there was any threat that day. But the U.S. government has detected ongoing Iranian plots against him, he told reporters.

I'm number one on their list. U.S. officials would not comment publicly on the evasive action today, but the White House didn't deny reports of the security shell game. Sasha Petrosic, CBC News, Toronto. And finally. Hey, little guy. Big guy. That's Keith Ranville feeding dogs in the Wasagamak Anishininanian Nation in northeastern Manitoba.

Some are strays, others have homes, all are in need of food. food. They're happy. They're happy. They know when I'm coming and they know when I stop in front of their place. They know that they're going to get fed. Ranville works as a high school science teacher and often runs adult education courses at night, but he still finds time to feed the dog so often that he's become known as the dog father. He's been doing it for about two years, ever since seeing dogs scavenging for food. I was riding down the road going to the nurse, uh, band office one day, and I saw a hungry dog. I'm like, oh man, I wish I could feed that dog.

So he got in touch with the Winnipeg Humane Society, about 470 kilometers away. It agreed to provide food through its veterinary outreach program for remote communities. Randville says the dog kibble is flown to a First Nation across the lake and then brought over by helicopter as needed. He says the cost of food is a big factor and why the dogs go hungry.

Probably because of the price, I would say so. Yeah. And some just can't afford it, you know, and can't go get it. No means of vehicle, no means of getting around. Randville says the Humane Society has flown up to spay and neuter dogs twice, and he'd like to see more of that done to control the population. But for now, he'll do what he can to keep the dogs out there happy and fed. Good. It makes me feel good.

Makes me feel warm inside. Thanks for being with us. This has been your world tonight for Tuesday, August 11th. 11th, I'm Colin Butler. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca.ca slash podcasts.