Your World Tonight - WestJet flight attendants on strike, B.C. wildfires escalate, Female body armours, and more

Episode Date: August 2, 2026

More than four thousand WestJet flight attendants are on strike. With flights grounded, thousands of passengers are stranded on one of the busiest weekends of the summer. Also: British Columbia's wildfire crisis is escalating fast. Officials say the fire behaviour is unlike anything they've seen before. There are several fast-moving fires across the province. While Evacuation orders have surged to thousands of propertiesAnd: In Ukraine, female soldiers are testing new body armour on the battlefield. The armour is designed by a Canadian company to fit more closely to women's bodies.Plus: Latest on the U.S. and Iran conflict, Mental health support for firefighters, Remembering last week's deadly attack on Berlin's Pride parade, and more.

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I was really hoping that we wouldn't have to leave. I was prepared to stay, but yeah, it just got too crazy with the winds today. Thousands of people in BC's interior are under evacuation orders. As a wildfire grows along Okinawain Lake, one of more than 100 burning across the province. This is your world tonight. I'm Kimberly Gale. Also on the podcast, West Jet flight attendants are on the picket lines, while their union and airline negotiate stranded travelers scramble.

And... We're going on the streets not only to grief, but to be angry because a lot of people are very angry. Grief, anger and resistance in Berlin one week after a deadly attack on the Christopher Street Day parade. More than 4,000 WestJet flight attendants are on strike. Flights are grounded and thousands of passengers stranded on one of the busiest weekends of the summer. The Canadian Union of Public Employees says the two sides continue to bargain. As Philip Lyshanock reports, the main issue, unpaid work, was also behind an eight. Air Canada strike last year.

Fair wages now. At Toronto's Pearson International Airport and airports across the country, WestJet workers are on picket lines and not helping passengers. We need an end to unpaid work. Outside Winnipeg Richardson International Airport, Gina McKay, president of Coupie, Manitoba, joins picketers. She says WestJet's compensation system is unfair, expecting attendance to do a lot of work on the ground without pay. job in this country that should be unpaid when you're putting in hours. Air Canada flight attendants labor dispute was sort of the turning point. Rafael Gomez is director of the Center for Industrial Relations and Human Resources. He says a strike last summer by 10,000 Air Canada

flight attendants brought up the issue of the unpaid work they perform before and after the planes are in the air. The federal government intervened 12 hours after flight attendants walked off the job. When people found out flight attendants were not being paid for all this time that they were spending on a plane, it wasn't like, yeah, I'm driving to work. That issue seemed to galvanize Canadians, and I think they didn't like the heavy hand of government intervention in that case. WestJet says it offered an hourly rate covering time worked before and after flights on top of a double-digit wage increase. Stephen Tufts is an associate professor at York University. Unless WestJet sort of harmonizes this language with what was achieved, to air Canada last year, it's not surprising at all that QP is going to be on the picket lines.

And the big question now is for how long and when will the Minister of Labor and the Prime Minister intervene. Last summer, Ottawa invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labor Code, sending the airline and its union to binding arbitration. There's a lot of angst about using 107 again this year. Aviation analyst John Graddock says there's been a change in the approach of some airlines. What we saw happen in the states two or three years ago with this ground pay now being recognized and efficiently showing up on

blood of tennis paychecks and that moving north to air Canada last summer I think it's WestJet so far the federal government has said that parties can and should come to an agreement at the bargaining table but a mediator has met with the Union and WestJet

in Calgary and it says it's aware of the impact on the 75,000 passengers the airlines serves every day. Filtes-Shenock, CBC News, Toronto. While the flight attendance union and WestJet management bargain, stranded passengers are attempting to make alternate plans. Some are trying to make it through to the airline's customer service. Others are waiting for WestJet to rebook their flights.

And as Stephanie Cramm reports, passengers might not see compensation for the inconveniences they're facing. Your estimated wait time is about five hours and 20. You're on home. We're cooking now. Curtis Gabriel, former NHL hockey player, stuck in Scotland trying to make his way home to New Market, Ontario. He has been trying to get through to Westjet customer service calling multiple times.

At 1.133 times, and saying up to 6.5 hour waits, and every time the call would just drop after 30 minutes. Now we're three and a half hours into, apparently, a 3-hour-and-50-minute hold. What can passengers expect? Martin Firestone, an insurance broker and president of Travel Secure, says customers might see unexpected expenses. Nothing is going to be convenient here and nothing is going to work, especially if you are on a limited time schedule and you have to be back at work next week. And again, the ones who are out of the country, the ones who are supposed to be back at work on Tuesday, what are they supposed to do? He says under Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations Act, people can expect to either have their flights rebooked or get a refund.

But any additional inconvenience or delays may not be compensated. In Halifax, Ed and Anne Mehan are trying to get home to the United Kingdom. Last night, they were stuck in the airport with no place to go. There was no hotels available in this area last night, so we spent the night on the floor. West Jet couldn't even bother to come to see us, provide some blankets or anything, no coffee, no tea, nothing. Some passengers have decided to pivot. I'm hanging around hoping you'll get lonely.

Toronto country band Honky Tonk Hart was planning to make a trip to Nashville flying with WestJet. I woke up about 5.30 this morning to see that our flight had been cancelled. And it was time to find a new plan. Christine Valancourt is one of the members of the band. They have tickets to the Grand Alopry this week and didn't want to give them up. Band member Jennifer Smith looked at other ways to get there. Spike message me and said, Jen, hurry up and wake up, we need to know. What if we drive? And I said, well, I guess we could.

Even if the issue can be resolved quickly, Firestone says the delays will likely continue. When is it going to end? I mean, even if they are forced back to work, the delay after all this is done is going to go into the weeks. For now, customers will remain stuck waiting for an email or to get through to customer service with no obvious solution in sight. Stephanie Cram, CBC News, Edmund. British Columbia's wildfire crisis is escalating fast. Officials say the fire behavior is unlike anything they've seen before. A major inferno in the Okanagan region has more than doubled since yesterday. It's one of several fast-moving fires across the province. Evacuation orders have surged affecting thousands of properties. Caroline Bargut has the latest from Vancouver.

We've got our rooster and our chickens back here. In the back of Tiffany Wilson's red pickup truck is a cage with a rooster and two chickens. In her back seat, the family dog. Wilson and her two kids live on the Okinawagin Indian Reserve number one in the southern interior. They had their bags packed just in case as nearby wildfires continue to close in. I was really hoping that we wouldn't have to leave. I was prepared to stay, but yeah, it just got too crazy with the winds today. Two out-of-control wildfires are burning in the area, including the Bradley Creek fire,

which has doubled in size since Saturday. That's prompted the Okanagan Indian ban to order the complete evacuation of reserve number one. Throughout BC, there are more than 40 evacuation orders affecting upwards of 4,000 properties. 4,500 more are on alert, told to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. Our power went out, and I said,

Mom, we're going, we're not waiting for the evac. April Joy and her mom grabbed her brother's dog who they were looking after and fled. They ended up in an evacuation center in West Colon. where they waited for hours with thousands of others who also fled wildfires on the west side of Okanagan Lake. We were worried about all our frozen stuff, but if the place goes, that's the least of the problem. The BC Wildfire Service says more evacuations could be issued. Yeah, unfortunately, new evacuation alerts and orders aren't out of the realm of possibility.

So if you're in an area where you are concerned about wildfire or there's an existing wildfire, make sure you're checking with your local authority. Aiding Corey is a wildfire information officer. She says 80 kilometer an hour winds helped fuel out of control fires across BC this weekend. Next week, conditions are expected to return to hot, dry, and windy, increasing the potential for fire activity. Yeah, with these gusty winds and potential convective activity, existing wildfires on the landscape that are already expressing aggressive fire behavior

are likely to continue to do so in the coming days. And then any new wildfire starts potentially from lightning with this weather system moving through are likely to spread rapidly and be different. to contain off the start. At the evacuation center in West Colonna, Tiffany Wilson has been through this before. We're all pretty stressed out today. Yeah, it was a lot of emotion. In 2021, she lost her home to the White Rock Creek wildfire. She's really hoping that doesn't happen again. Caroline Bargut, CBC News, Vancouver. Two firefighters have died in Greece after their helicopters collided mid-air while battling a wildfire near Athens. Gale force winds have prevented four. firefighting aircraft from operating at the height of the inferno.

Those winds are also driving the flames deeper towards the Greek capital, forcing new evacuations. One resident in West Attica, one of the areas most threatened by wildfire, says every summer he lives with the fear of whether his home will burn. That is a concern growing across Europe, as France and Spain grapple with the devastation left by fire, that forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate. Still ahead, Ukrainian women fighting on the front lines of Russia's war are testing curved body armor designed specifically for them, so they're better protected against bullets, shrapnel, and drone strikes.

That's later on your world tonight. Rescuers in Indonesia are still searching for passengers after a fire broke out on a ferry. At least five people are dead, and 41 others are missing. The ferry was heading north from the city of Surabaya when the fire broke out. Some passengers jumped into the sea to avoid the flames and were picked up by a nearby ship. More than 200 people have been rescued. Fairy accidents are common in Indonesia, in part, because of poor safety standards.

Outside of North America and Europe, it has also been a swelter. summer in Hong Kong. And for some of the most vulnerable, who live in the city's most challenging accommodations, the heat is distinctly unbearable. As freelance reporter Laura Westbrook tells us, experts warn it could even be deadly. Social workers, Zelai Shan, makes her rounds, checking on residents who live in Hong Kong's cheapest accommodations, known as coffin homes. An apartment of around 300 square feet, partitioned into 12 wooden compartments, stacked like bunk beds, big enough for a single mattress and little else. Bathrooms are shared. Zilay Shan estimates that up to 30% of residents in coffin homes are over 60 years old.

Many of them complain that they cannot sleep well. And besides more problems, there are many more bad bad. So it makes them even harder. Yes. So. 76-year-old chef Leng Chung Leng pays around $450 for his tiny space, which fits a mattress and a fan on a small table. He leaves his bedroom door open at night to catch what cool air he can from a shared air conditioning unit in the corridor. I cannot worry about my health really.

I'm already over 70 years old and I don't know how much longer I can live. On those very hot 1% days, the death rate goes up for people over 60. University of Hong Kong public health professor David Bishai says elderly people are more vulnerable to the effects of severe heat. And because of climate change, hot days, those in the top 1% range, are getting hotter and more frequent. But Bishai says the impact of the heat on the city's most vulnerable often goes under the radar. They don't come in with, I died of a heat wave, on their forehead. They die of their pre-existing conditions, but more of them die than as usual on those top 1% days. Bechai is pushing for a coordinated heat health action plan.

Some of the best practices around the world are to have a calling volunteer pool that calls the people on the list and checks on them for the three to four to five days of the heat wave. 58-year-old Liang Hong Ki has lived in a small windowless unit for 10 years. He uses a tiny fan the size of his hand to stay cool. But he says he hopes one day to make enough money for better living conditions. If I get more money, I'll rent a room with a window. My landlord has a bigger room, but you have to pay at least $5,000. I can't afford that.

I also need to pay for the electricity, so it's more expensive. Last year, Hong Kong passed a bill to regulate the city's subdivided flats. The new law insurers units are required to be at least eight square meters, have a toilet and window. But the legislation stops short of addressing coffin homes. The government says it's stepping up building more public housing to deal with a shortage of affordable accommodation. On hot days, the government also opens temporary heat shelters. But people like Leng Hong Ki say they don't have a choice but to endure the heat as best they can. Laura Westbrook for CBC News, Hong Kong.

Crews battling wildfires across this country are facing mental health risks on top of threats to their physical safety. Depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress can all take a toll on firefighters. A national mental health program could help, says a former Yellowknife fire chief, Yomna Iftechar, reports. The incidents like this remind us of the risks faced by those who work to protect our lands in our communities. Chief Kaylee Antoine of Lidli Kwaugh First Nation in Fort Simpson after three people died in a plane crash in late June. The small plane was responding to a fire in the area. When Keith Hartree heard about the crash, he got on the phone. Hartree is a wildfire safety officer with the government of Northwest Territories.

He requested counselors to support firefighters affected by the crash. And all four counselors were on the ground within 36 hours. you know, just letting everybody know that there's that support service there. As part of his job, Hardway is working to improve mental health supports for fire crews. Firefighters work long hours in isolated areas risking serious injury or even death. It can take a heavy toll. Nelson Johnson previously served as the Yellowknife Fire Chief. We get to see a lot of trauma that other people don't.

So that's what starts to build up. Everybody has a different trigger. Some it could be because there was kids involved. Some could be because someone's house or family members. That's one of the big ones when you live in your community. Johnson says while there are mental health supports for firefighters, he wants a national collective organization somewhere for fire crews to turn when regional supports fall short. There's places like BC have excellent mental health resources and some of the other provinces do,

but not all of us do. So if you live in the Northwest Territories, how do you know to access anything else? He says too often the onus is on individual firefighters to seek help, and stigma can prevent them from doing so. People are still don't want other people to know that they're still struggling. And I don't think that we do a very good job at identifying when someone is struggling. Johnson says some firefighters wait months to receive proper care,

but a national organization could make the process quicker and easier. Keith Hartree agrees a single agency makes sense. There's so many different types of resources that I would love to be able to provide because everybody processes grief and trauma in a different way. So not one type of resource is going to fit. In the meantime, Hartree says the Northwest Territory's government has steadily increased mental head supports, including partnering with mental health organizations to offer counseling after trauma events. But as fires continue to burn, the need for supports for firefighters continue as well.

Yomnet-Khar, CBC News, Yellowknife. The United States is called off a massive assault on Iran. President Donald Trump says it's because progress has been made on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. What exactly that means is still unclear. Isn't the first time Trump has made such a claim only for the war with Iran to grind on. Katie Simpson reports from Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump hunkered down at his New Jersey Golf Club, where he made an unexpected announcement on social media about the next steps in the war with Iran,

posting that he's canceled a planned attack contingent upon all parties rapidly making a deal. A statement that seems to contradict what he'd said some 24 hours earlier. losing faith in them because they do lie and they do misrepresent. Sitting with members of his cabinet at Camp David, Trump outlined his understanding as to why talks with Iran remains stalled, appearing frustrated that the Iranians continue to launch attacks against U.S. targets, even as negotiations are taking place. Most people would have given up the habit, so I give them credit for that. I mean, they're known as being tough. They're tough. Trump's shift in tone is not necessarily surprising at this point.

according to Karen Gibson, a retired Army lieutenant general. Throughout these last five months, there has been sometimes quite a whiplash back and forth between threats of imminent destruction and then the idea that we're on the verge of peace. In this moment, Trump's posture change comes after a phone call with the Saudi Crown Prince, who reportedly urged Trump to de-escalate. I think the Saudis, frankly, don't have confidence in any of the American military plans. Trida Parsi with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft says if the U.S. had followed through on a new attack, Iran would likely have retaliated against Gulf region countries, including Saudi Arabia. All that would lead to is more suffering for them without actually changing the facts on the ground or changing the direction of this conflict.

Not much is changing in terms of the Strait of Hormuz either, as ships are seen wading off the coast of Oman. Iran has limited traffic through the vital shipping route while the U.S. is imposing a blockade of Iranian ports. Mike Turner, a Republican congressman, says Americans need to be patient, confident this will force Iran to negotiate seriously. All metrics would show a declining capability to continue. They're going to have to be in a position where ultimately they're going to have to concede to the opening of the straits. When the war first began, Trump predicted the conflict would last a matter of weeks. Five months in, and it's unclear whether this will be the breakthrough moment. Katie Simpson, CBC News, Washington.

Female soldiers in Ukraine are testing new body armor on the battlefield. The armor is designed by a Canadian company to fit more closely to women's bodies. And those advocating for the new gear say it's long overdue. Ashley Burke has that story. More than 10,000 Ukrainian women are serving on the front lines of Russia's war. Most of them have been wearing body armor that doesn't fit because it's made for men. It was hard to do something in the front line when your uniform and your armor not for you. A lieutenant colonel with the National Guard of Ukraine is only being identified by her call sign Kudriava in accordance with Ukrainian military rules.

She says she was on duty the night Russia invaded Ukraine and has fought an offensive and defensive battles since then. Over the year, she's had to buy her own gear and armor because she says what she was issued didn't fit. When you're in operation and you shouldn't think about your uniform, you should think to save your life, to save life of your personnel and to do best in this operation. If their body armor is too big and heavy, they won't wear it. A Canadian company is trying to fix that. Michael Sander caught in his team at N. P. Aerospace designed body armor specifically for women. The closer the body armor is to the wearer, the better it protects your heart, your liver and spleen.

Many countries around the world issue ballistic plates designed for men that are flat. He says they don't fit women's chests, so they stick out below the chin, leaving a big gap. If it doesn't fit them around their upper body and isn't tight to the sternum, then you are much more exposed to the risk of being. struck me the top-down munitions. At their factory in the UK, the company created a curved ballistic plate, designed specifically to fit women's chests so it's tight. Aaron Greve with MP Aerospace holds one up.

A woman wearing a curved plate, she is 48% more protected, the wearing a flat plate. So in Ukraine that's particularly relevant when we're seeing the drone threats. The UK bought 2,000 sets of body armour for women that includes this curved ballistic plate and send them to Ukraine in June. Ukrainian MP Irna Nicarok says they're now being tested in the battlefield. I think it matters a lot to a majority of women who right now are serving in armed forces. Nicarok runs an NGO providing free gear to female soldiers that fit. Now Ukraine's starting to roll out body armor for women too.

Respect to women's dignity. I'm sorry if women joined the army on volunteer basis, she left her home, her family, sometimes in majority. cases, children, and joined the army. She's sacrificed a lot. She says it's time for militaries around the world to adapt to women, not the other way around. Soldiers in Canada don't have this body armor yet, but plans are in the works to change that. Ashley Burke, CBC News, London. In the shadow of last week's deadly attack on Berlin's Pride parade, a few thousand people turned

out in Germany's Capital Sunday for a redo of sorts. Marchers say the event was not only a chance to mourn as a group, but an opportunity for their community to stand strong in the face of tragedy. Lisa Mayer was there and brings us this report. From grief to anger to resistance. One week after violence shattered Berlin's Christopher Street Day celebrations, thousands are back. Not to celebrate, but to rally, and to make clear they refuse to let fear define pride. Last Saturday, a 21-year-old German man drove a van into crowds gathered for Berlin's Pride Festival and then attacked others with a blade.

One woman was killed, 29 others were injured. And in the week since, Berlin's 2S-LGBQ Plus community has been grieving. We've seen also a lot of the events that have been brought up are grieving together, are being sad together, which is of course important that people talk about it. For organizers like Finn, today's rally is about more than just remembering what happened. It's about refusing to let the attack become the story of this year's pride. We see people are very scared. We're going on the streets not only to grief, but to be angry because a lot of people are very angry.

The rally's slogan, from grief to anger to resistance, isn't just aimed at the attacker. Protesters say it's a message to politicians. And this is also what we want to show. Our politicians, our city, that we are not intimidated. The attacker was known to police. who say he had extremist Islamic ideology. Just two months earlier, he was convicted of planning an attack and received a suspended sentence from a juvenile court.

Today, protesters say officials were quick to blame entire communities for the actions of one person, arguing that homophobia, not ethnicity or religion, is the real issue they want Germany to confront. We shouldn't focus at specific religion or a nation. we should focus on a problem of homophobia. Berlin's Christopher Street Day is one of Europe's largest pride celebrations, drawing around 1 million people to the city every year.

Justice for Marsha! A week ago, these streets were the scene of violence and fear. Justice for Kelly! Today, they became something else. Justice for juniper. As the names echo through the crowd, Berlin's 2S-LGBQ plus community is making one thing clear. The attack may have interrupted Christopher Street Day, but it will not define it.

Lisa Mayer, CBC News, Berlin. That Scottish singer-songwriter Sandy Tom in Glasgow tonight, backed up by bagpipes in Bauron, and sparkling in a sequence St. Andrews cross-dress, as the 23rd Commonwealth Games come to a close. For more than two weeks, 149 games, Canadians competed in the pool, on the field and the track. Canada placing third with a total of 62 medals, 19 are gold.

Felix Dolce is the champion. Felix Dolce from Laval, Quebec, collected six medals to lead Canada at the top of the Artistics Gymnastics table. Next event in the pool, the final in the men's 100-meter butterfly. Toronto's Josh Leendo defended his 100-meter butterfly title. What a throw! What a finish! for Cameron Rogers.

Cameron Rogers from Richmond, BC, broke her own Commonwealth Games record to strike gold in hammer throw. There were also moments of disappointment. Wheelchair racer Nandini Sharma from Brampton, Ontario, lost her silver medal

in the 1500 meter final after a disqualification for obstruction following an early race crash. But she transformed it into a moment of resilience. Honestly, the racing world was incredible about it, the amount of people that reached out to me.

That sentiment of community and support shared by Canada's flag bearer tonight, Julian Frasca Dore. He won the gold medal in the 66-kilogram division in men's judo. Well, I hope they remember us as a united group, also as a group that performed well under pressure, obviously. And yeah, just that we had great games and everybody did so well. So it's been amazing for us. We'll leave you now with more from the closing ceremonies as Scotland hands the Commonwealth Games over to Ahmedabad, India for 2030. This has been your world tonight for Sunday, August 2nd. I'm Kimberly Gale. Good night.

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