Your World Tonight - U.S. stops trade talks with Ottawa, Iran official in Canada, Portage & Main reopens, and more

Episode Date: June 27, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump says trade talks with Canada are off. He announced the suspension on this Truth Social site, sending Canadian officials scrambling. He complained about a tax on big tech companies and later in the oval office said Canada has been difficult to deal with.And: CBC News has learned a well-known, former Iranian regime official is in Canada, even though the government barred all senior regime members last year. So far Ottawa has cancelled more than 130 visas. But only one person has been removed from Canada.Also: After nearly 50 years, Winnipeg’s well known intersection, Portage and Main, has reopened to pedestrians.Plus: U.S. Supreme Court hands Trump a win, Call of Duty world championship in Canada, Raptors president out, and more.

I'm Joshua Jackson, and I'm returning for the Audible original series, Oracle, Season 3, Murder at the Grandview. Six forty-somethings took a boat out a few days ago. One of them was found dead. The hotel, the island, something wasn't right about it. Psychic agent Nate Russo is back on the case, and you know when Nate's killer instincts are required, anything's possible.

This world's gonna eat you alive. Listen to Oracle Season 3, Murder at the Grandview, now on Audible. This is a CBC Podcast. Economically, we have such power over Canada. I'd rather not use it, but they did something with our tech companies. So I said we're going to stop all negotiations with Canada right now until they straighten out their act. End of discussion.

With Ottawa trying to make a trade deal and the Prime Minister wanting it done by next month, U.S. President Donald Trump says the talks are over. Retaliation, he says, against Canada's tax on big tech companies, creating another swerve for Canadian officials to navigate. Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Julianne Hazelwood. It's Friday, June 27th, coming up on 6pm Eastern. Also on the podcast. His visa should not have been granted and yet he is openly celebrating the fact that he can spend time here in Canada.

They're supposed to be barred from entering Canada. Iranian officials inadmissible because of the regime's links to terrorism and human rights violations. But dozens have been able to get into the country. And with pressure growing on authorities to act, one official maintains he's a changed man. maintains, he's a changed man. Donald Trump might have just ruined the Prime Minister's summer plans. In a blistering social media post, the President again lashed out at Canada's trade policies with the U.S. He complained about attacks on big tech companies and then cancelled ongoing trade talks.

Kate McKenna has more on these developments in our top story tonight. Prime Minister Mark Carney left a meeting of his council on U.S. Canada relations, showing calm as President Donald Trump shakes two national economies with a single social media post, abruptly calling off trade talks. Look, we'll continue to conduct these complex negotiations in the best interest of Canadians. This afternoon Trump posted on Truth Social calling a Canadian move to tax U.S. tech giants egregious, saying he'll put a blanket tariff on all goods in retaliation within seven days. Asked about this in the Oval Office, Trump threatened Canada again. today trying to copy Europe, you know, they copied Europe. It's not going to work out. William Pellerin is an international trade lawyer.

I think it's a major hiccup along the way towards our negotiated path, but frankly, a highly predictable one given the president's strategy generally, but also given what we know about the implementation of the digital service tax, which effectively kicks in on Monday. The digital services tax became a law last year. It puts a 3% levy on digital revenue of more than $20 million. Think of companies like Amazon, Meta, and Google. The first payment is due on Monday and it's set to cost American companies more than $2 billion USD.

And so if the US was going to take a run at this and really has had a beef with Canada on this issue for a really long time, they really had no choice but to really escalate that issue at the last minute now. Trump's latest outburst comes after weeks of what looked like a thawing relationship between Canada and the United States. At the G7 summit earlier this month, Carney said they were working towards a deal to end the trade war within 30 days. That goal is now in jeopardy. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Onand says Canada is not the only country that taxes US tech giants. There are other jurisdictions that are currently utilizing this form of a policy.

Let's look at Italy, let's look at the UK, let's look at Italy let's look at the UK let's look at France. Trump also took aim at a long-standing trade irritant Canada's supply management quota system on dairy poultry and eggs writing that Canada is a very difficult country to trade with. Former Deputy Prime Minister John Manley says this is just Trump being Trump. I think that we have to stand our ground we're dealing with you know Mr. Trump's bully instincts. We've seen them in the past. Up until that social media post, Canadian officials thought talks were going well.

Until they weren't. Kate McKenna, CBC News, Ottawa. The tariff fight contributed to Canada's economy shrinking by 0.1% in April. The manufacturing sector alone, mired in uncertainty, dipped 1.9%. That's the steepest drop since April 2021. Statistics Canada estimates a similar decline in overall activity in May and predicts slower growth for the whole second quarter. There are other concerns involving Canada's borders tonight, specifically people who were

able to cross them and stay. Critics are asking how prominent current and former members of the Iranian regime are living in Canada, despite a government ban. CBC News has track one down. Ashley Burke has the exclusive details. Here's Mr. Nasiri, a former propagandist for Iran's regime, a picture of him on Instagram. Lawyer and human rights activist Kaveh Sharoos pulls up a social media post that he calls infuriating. What I see in this Instagram post of Mr. Nasiri is open defiance of Canada's laws. Mehdi Nasiri, a well-known former Iranian official, shared photos in April at an airport announcing he's leaving Iran and heading to Canada. Mr. Nasiri, by all definitions, was a senior official of Iran's regime and his visa should

not have been granted and yet he is openly celebrating the fact that he can spend time here in Canada. Shahrukh says he's faced threats before that he believes are tied to Tehran and his long-race concerns about Canada acting as a safe haven for regime officials. The Trudeau government vowed to crack down in 2022 I am the chief minister, all them terrorists after protests and alleged Iranian plot to kidnap Canadians and credible death threats on Canadian soil.

Canada will use all tools at our disposal to hold the Iranian regime to account. Last year Ottawa barred all senior Iranian officials from Canada who served from 2003 onward. Now security authorities are facing calls to investigate how Nasiri got in and if he should be kicked out. Mehdi Nasiri was in fact one of the most important hardliners in Iran during the early 2000s. Babak Taghvaei is an Iranian analyst and journalist. He says Nasiri was the managing director

of the regime's newspaper in the 90s used for propaganda. Then in the 2000s served as a cultural deputy and on a policymaking council for Iran's imams. They received orders to speak about the specific topics during Friday prayers and anything related to what the regime wants for the purpose of psychological warfare and propaganda. Nasiri told CBC News in a statement his role within the newspaper was journalistic and his position with the Friday imams religious.

He says Canada granted him a visa in 2023 to visit his Canadian son. Criminology professor Kelly Sundberg says Canada's border services haven't had enough resources for more than a decade. Unfortunately the women and men who work for the CBSA are given very very little time to do any in-depth screening of people applying to come to Canada. They don't receive the resources that they require. Nasiri says he no longer supports the regime and has been a vocal critic for six years. Canadian officials won't comment on his case

but say visa applications are carefully assessed and senior regime officials could have their visas cancelled or be kicked out. Since the crackdown first started in 2022, so far one Iranian senior official has been removed from the country. Ashley Burke, CBC News, Ottawa. Coming right up, the challenges of delivering food in a war zone, a month after a U.S.-backed aid agency takes over distribution of supplies in Gaza. And the Toronto Raptors are looking for a new president. Masai Ujiri, lauded for turning the team into champions, is leaving.

Plus, after more than four decades, the storied Winnipeg intersection of Portage and Main reopens to pedestrians. He's a president who likes to use executive power, and a new ruling puts more of it in Donald Trump's hands. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court restricted lower courts from blocking presidential orders. Senior Washington correspondent Paul Hunter explains. Well this was a big one wasn't it? U.S. President Donald Trump on the Supreme Court's ruling moments after it was handed down. This is a decision that covers a tremendous amount of territory.

And on that he's right. At its root the case flows from Trump's push to change so-called birthright citizenship, the constitutional right of anyone born in the U.S. to be immediately a U.S. citizen. Months ago, Trump signed an executive order limiting that right to exclude, for example, those born to undocumented migrants. Some lower courts blocked the move, issuing a nationwide injunction against the directive. Today's ruling said those lower courts do not have the automatic right to block presidential orders. And while it leaves the big question on birthright citizenship still to be decided, it means presidents broadly, Trump and all who follow,

will have greater powers to affect change in America. On that, Trump jumped. Thanks to this decision, we can now properly file to proceed with these numerous policies, including birthright citizenship, ending sanctuary city funding, suspending refugee resettlement, freezing unnecessary funding. And more, said Trump. His Attorney General, Pam Bondi, bottom-lined all of it. Americans are finally getting what they voted for.

No longer will we have rogue judges striking down President Trump's policies across the entire nation. No longer. Meanwhile, there's a 30-day window before today's ruling kicks in, during which it's expected multiple lawsuits will be filed, adding to the pushback on the Trump directive that started it all, the birthright question, something likely to go to the Supreme Court in the fall. Here's William Powell, senior counsel with the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection on that.

We don't think this order should go into effect or will go into effect as to anyone, anywhere, ever. And it is our intention to continue to fight to make sure that doesn't happen. And Cecilia Wang with the American Civil Liberties Union. The bottom line is that there are still many open pathways to block President Trump's illegal and unconstitutional birthright citizenship order and ensure that all babies born in the U.S. are equal citizens. I want to thank Justice Barrett. But for Trump, there's no denying the ruling was, as he himself put it, a giant win, though

with more battles to come on all of it. Paul Hunter, CBC News, Washington. It's been a month since a US-backed aid agency took over distribution of critical supplies in Gaza, and since then hundreds of Palestinians have reportedly been killed trying to access it. Senior international correspondent Margaret Evans explains the criticisms and challenges of delivering food in a war zone. In Gaza, the daily struggle for survival has a new dimension, one where you have to choose between letting your family starve or risking your life. So say aid agencies critical of a

private U.S. contractor backed by Israel to provide aid in Gaza. The UN says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed near aid hubs run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, since it began operating in May. The charity Médecins Sans Frontières calls it it slaughter, masquerading as humanitarian aid. It's not humanitarian. Humanitarian is going to provide aid for people who are most in need with dignity. Canadian doctor Joanne Perry is MSF's medical team leader on the ground in Gaza. One of the distribution sites in the south is very close to one of our primary care clinics

and since June 7th we've received 423 people wounded from being at or around the sites. GHF runs four Gaza sites in military zones controlled by the Israel Defense Forces whose troops protect them. And eyewitnesses say crowds are regularly shot at. The IDF has said it fires warning shots if it deems individuals approaching to be suspicious. When contacted for comment, GHF accused Médecins Sans Frontières and other aid agencies of a smear campaign, insisting there have been no Palestinian fatalities near their aid sites. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has published allegations by

unnamed Israeli soldiers who say they were ordered to open fire on civilians near aid sites. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced it as blood libel. An 11-week blockade on all aid to Gaza imposed by Israel was only partially lifted last month. Yesterday Israel ordered the northern border crossing closed, citing efforts to stop Hamas from looting. Israeli government spokesman David Menser. They are desperate to get hold of this aid so they can extort their people, enrich themselves and pay for more suicide for more terrorist attacks in this country. So fraught is

the aid situation that some Gazan clan leaders have come together to protect what little other aid is allowed in. With dignity, not with killings, said one of the leaders, Abu Saddi Attallah. Young people go to die in the death traps, he said, referring to the aid hubs. The United States has announced that it will give 30 million US dollars to help fund GHF, the contractor running those aid hubs. Margaret Evans, CBC News, Jerusalem.

Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo signed a US brokered peace agreement today. The deal raises hopes for an end to fighting that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands so far this year. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the two countries' foreign ministers in Washington. They signed the agreement pledging to implement a 2024 deal that would see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern Congo within 90 days. These are not just words on paper. They must now be translated into action with justice, accountability and political will. This peace agreement is the starting point, not the end goal.

We believe that a turning point has been reached. Rwanda stands ready to work with the DRC to deliver on our joint commitments. The negotiations not only help end a decades-long fight in eastern Congo, but will provide access to critical minerals for the U.S. British Columbia's infrastructure minister has cancelled all meetings and appointments today, after an explosive device was detonated at her constituency office in North Vancouver early this morning. The explosion caused damage to the property, though no injuries have been reported. Police say it came after another explosion nearby.

Corporal Mansour Sahak with North Vancouver RCMP says it's not clear whether the two incidents are related. The blast breached the door and damaged the door frame. The RCMP's explosive disposal unit was notified and attended, as well as officers from the Lower Mainland Integrated Police Talk Services and Integrated Forensic Identification Services. The office has been cleared and deemed safe. Many NDP constituency offices have been closed as a result.

Bowen Ma issued a statement thanking police for their response. He is the basketball executive credited with turning the Toronto Raptors into NBA champions. But after 13 seasons, team president Masai Ujiri is bouncing. A shakeup that leaves the Raptors looking for a new leader and fans asking questions. Phil Blesianak has more. It's a moment few, whether a basketball fan or not, will forget. The Toronto Raptors won the 2019 NBA Championship. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says as vice chairman and president of basketball operations, Masayu Jerry bows out the city and country owe him a

big thank you. I'll unite Toronto and Canada. I'm home. I came home. Since coming to Toronto from Denver in 2013, Jerry was responsible for the most successful era in the history of the Toronto Raptors franchise. But he's also given back to the community with his charities, the Giants of Africa and Basketball Without Borders that open up the sport to youth and at-risk communities. Just like everybody else, I was shocked also this morning. Toronto super fan Nav Bacchia never misses a game, but this move, described as a parting of the ways with the team and Eugeri, took him by surprise.

You know, this is NBA's business. It's a business. Sports writer Christopher Walder says the decision comes nine months after Rodgers Communications acquired a controlling stake and the team's owners may believe sports and entertainment. With Rodgers taking over, maybe not necessarily wanting to pay someone like Masai Yajiri the money that he's going to be asking for, bring in somebody you know that they would like to be in that role. The Toronto Raptors select Colin Murray Boyles.

The announcement also comes a day after the NBA draft. Kind of shocked that they didn't do it right beforehand, maybe get someone in to make the picks. Walder points out Yajiri made bold choices trading Demar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard, which brought the championship to Toronto. So why now? Why the timing now? But the Raptors have now gone three straight years without a playoff appearance and Keith

Pelly, MLSC president and CEO, says the timing was requested by Ugeri. This was the time to make the change. The roster is in place. All our players are signed. The front office is renewed while some fans say it was the right time for you Jerry to go. Former MLSC president Richard Petty says it's a mistake and you know in sports you're hired to be fired.

I think it's a bad move. He's still a great basketball mind. He's still got the connections. He knows the league. Ujiri's departure is not the only big salary MLSC has cut recently. Toronto Maple Leaf's president Brendan Shanahan was let go in the final season of a six-year contract and Toronto FC and the Toronto Argonauts front offices have also had some major shakeups. Fulken Shadok, CBC News, Toronto. It's big money, high stakes and happening in Canada.

When the dust finally settles and the controllers are put down, a team will be crowned Call of Duty Champions. Jamie Strachan explains the hype around one of the world's most popular video game tournaments taking place in Ontario. It's fitting this event is taking place in a hockey arena. It may be called esports but it has all the energy of an NHL playoff game. Fans have converged on Kitchener Ontario just west of Toronto. It's the first time the Call of Duty League Championship has been held in Canada. These are our athletes, right, within our game so we value them as much as like a professional sports team. A first-person shooter game, Call of Duty is a seminal video game franchise says

Toronto Metropolitan University's Jeff Lachapelle with multiple editions spanning two decades and around 30 billion dollars in sales. This is an incredible experience to get to see people take the play of a game to its absolute pinnacle and see them play in a way that's often beyond most other people. This event has brought together the best eight teams in the world with a two million dollar purse on the line. A huge number says Annamay Oyebo who has traveled from London, England. People laugh at them, you're playing games.

You're never gonna make any money playing games. Now they're the ones laughing at them. Trying to break those spawns and there's gonna be that pick and there we go right away. The game itself, frenetic. Joe DeLuca used to play professionally and now does commentary for the hundreds of thousands watching this competition online. It's like chess on wheels, right? So it's just constantly going. And that's the hardest part is sort of explaining how important and how quickly our players have to think. A question that really gets fans and aficionados going are the players athletes. Absolutely,

says Lacha Pell. And the reason we call it eSports is because the same forms of monetization, the same forms of funding, sponsorship, competition, player training, health maintenance, nutrition, fitness, focus, broadcast, performance, they all work almost identically to sports. And to a man in the audience and it's nearly 95 percent men in the crowd it's not even a question. These guys play at a level that's it'd be like me going up against like an NHL guy right? They're way better like I mean I'm good but I'm just at home in my basement gaming. But for the millions in their basements, a chance to dream, says DeLuca.

You don't have to be 6 foot 5 to play. You don't have to be a fast skater. Anybody at home can pick up a controller and play. And maybe one day play under the bright lights for a big payday. Jamie Strash in CBC News, Kitchener, Ontario. Springtime of snow, rivers overflow, Portage and Maine 50 below. That's Neil Young and Randy Bachman singing about a storied Canadian crossroad, Portage and Maine in Winnipeg, where for the past 46 years you had to go underground just to cross the street. Today that finally changed as the intersection was opened back up to pedestrians.

Alana Kuhl was there. A celebration at Portage and Maine. The intersection closed since 1979 is now officially open. David Payton brought his two-year-old daughter Maggie. He didn't want to miss it. I was here when the the Jets got announced as coming back and was here when the Bombers won the Great Cup. And so it's appropriate that it's a type of celebration.

I hope there's a lot more to come. For decades people have had to use an underground walkway to cross. Winnipeg's Mayor Scott Gillingham calls the opening of the intersection a historic moment. This intersection is important. It has been central to Winnipeg's history. It will remain vital to our community's future. Gillingham says this is a step toward making the downtown safer, full of life and more accessible. That's something Team Canada wheelchair rugby athlete Reece Kettler sees as a positive.

He lives downtown. Honestly it's great because it's so freeing. I used to have to go underneath in the tunnels and even the ramps underneath were very steep, very inclined. So it's great that I can just leave my apartment, go across the street. It'll be good to get out and just cross. Removing barricades at the intersection has long been the subject of debate

there was even a plebiscite in 2018. 69 year old Alan Chanway initially worried about safety but thinks it's good for the city. Well I think it's gonna bring more people to this intersection and whatnot and I just think it'll just maybe open things up a little bit more downtown. He made a special stop to cross the street today. And now I'll just do the complete loop. Last year Mayor Gillingham announced plans to open the intersection saying it made more sense financially than making the costly repairs needed to keep the underground walkway open.

Our staff is doing some further investigating as to what it would take to close it and also if there's some other way that it you know could be repaired. For now some are crossing for the first time capturing the moment with videos and selfies. Alana Cole, CBC News, Winnipeg. moment with videos and selfies. Alana Cole, CBC News, Winnipeg. We end tonight with some unique real estate just hitting the market. It's a waterfront, waterfronts actually, a chance to own not one but two ferry docks. They'll even throw in the ferry. An opportunity to operate your very own international border crossing with more than two centuries of history. I've sold lots of cottages, docks, businesses,

but never a dock involved in a border crossing. Bob Joy is the listing agent for the Horn's Ferry Docks. Since the early 1800s, the ferry service has crossed the St. Lawrence River, connecting Wolf Island, Ontario and Cape Vincent, New York, operated by the Horn family all these years whose descendants were granted permission by the British Crown. The family didn't start the service this year and has decided to sell. Asking price? $450,000. Well it's become vital to a lot of people. You know visitors that come from hither and yon, you know they like to be able to get across quickly.

Wolf Island resident Hank Connell says the ferry is an important link for many businesses, cottagers and families on both sides of the border. For prospective buyers, running the service isn't mandatory. The boat needs some work and the listing says the docks are suitable for other uses. But for local residents, there's hope that a new owner will find a way to keep the ferry afloat and keep this piece of cross-border history alive.

Thank you for being with us. This has been Your World Tonight for Friday, June 27th. I'm Julianne Hazelwood. Take care.