Your World Tonight - Wildfire season warnings, Canada’s declining mental health, Artificial Intelligence in Hollywood, and more

Episode Date: May 28, 2026

If you live in Western Canada, your community faces elevated wildfire or smoke risk this season — and the window for conditions to worsen is short. Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski and Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin delivered the troubling news in their latest wildfire readiness briefing, adding they expect a hot and dry summer ahead, while maintaining the federal government is prepared. They also say the West is facing its highest fire danger in years, including many First Nations communities – still struggling to recover from a devastating 2025.Also: Canada’s doctors open up about their ongoing struggles to keep up with the nation’s mental health troubles. A Canadian Institute for Health Information report suggests visits to family physicians for psychotherapy and counselling has jumped 50 per cent since 2015, putting an additional strain on a system already stretched thin.And: Lights. Camera. Backlash. The controversy surrounding a new feature film, fully generated by Artificial Intelligence. The movie, ‘Dreams of Violets,’ will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival next month, drawing both public interest, and Hollywood criticism as artists scramble to address the growing use of AI in their industry.Plus: PM Carney in New York, Iran War talks, CFL’s streaming deals, and more.

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No, not today. Looks like people are starting to know Beneva pretty well. You're stronger with the right partner, Beneva. This is a CBC podcast. We know that wildfires and other disasters are more frequent, more severe, more costly, and Canadians expect their government to step up and to respond to that reality. Preparing for the worst, hoping for better. Ottawa outlines plans for dealing with the wildfire season ahead,

as forecasters predict a long, hot summer. This is your world tonight. I'm Stephanie Scandaris. We're nearing 6 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, May 28th. Also on the podcast? They'll likely be our biggest market after the U.S. by 2030. And so they're growing in importance every day. And we're delighted to be able to welcome Chinese visitors. Rolling out the welcome, Matt,

what thawing relations with China could mean for Canada's tourism industry. Call it a forecast with a forewarning. In their latest wildest, Fire prediction update federal officials say this season may be starting off slower than last. But for Western Canada and some First Nations communities, their message to Canadians is, expect a long, hot summer, and don't let down your guard. Kate Kyle has our top story. From the air and ground wildfire season is underway. Preparedness matters in every jurisdiction and in every community.

Eleanor Olschesky is the Federal Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience. In Ottawa today, the federal government shared its predictions on how the 2026 fire season could shape up. We know that situation can change rapidly. There are currently 65 active wildfires across Canada. Total area burned so far is less than 5% of the 10-year average. Jan Belanger is with Natural Resources Canada. So despite the fact that we're seeing so little activities so far this year, as we head into summer, this season retains the potential to be a significant one right across the country.

British Columbia faces the highest wildfire risk, particularly in July, followed by southern Ontario and Quebec. Yukon and the Northwest Territories could also see higher than average risk later in the season. It comes down to how much rain the region will see, but our models are showing these early. signals. To prepare the federal government is expanding aerial firefighting capacity, modernizing alert systems, and investing more in wildfire preparedness. Annabella Bonata would like to see even more investment in the wildfire off season. She's the managing director of climate science at the University of Waterloo's Intax Center on Climate Adaptation. So I heard very little about the preparedness on the other months when we're not fighting fires. So one thing,

just to be super clear on is in Canada, we need to learn to live with wildfires, and that really means doing the work on those off months, like in the winter months. But we seem to really focus on wildfire when the season starts. It's certainly dry out there. Towns like Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories are being proactive. The 2003 wildfire season saw nearly half the NWT's population displaced by wildfires. Adam McNabb is the Director of Protective Services for the town of Fort Smith. It's part of a new territorial training program to help bridge the gap between wildland firefighters and urban firefighters,

like deploying sprinklers on the edge of town if a fire gets too close. To try and mitigate any fires, any ambers from transferring into homes and starting them on fire, but as that's happening, we can also stay in the community and actively fight. spot fires as they pop up. Canada's national preparedness level is currently at one. Over the next few days, forecasters expect fire activity to heat up. Kate Kyle, CBC News, Yellowknife.

The demand for mental health services is surging across Canada, and it's taking a toll on both doctors and patients. A new report suggests more people are turning to family physicians and pediatricians for help. Tashana Reid looks at the data and how 100, hospital is dealing with the problem. I was bullied a lot at school, so it caused a lot of depression and trauma. Regan Doyle says his mental health issues started at a young age. Now 39, he battles addiction and bipolar disorder, and accessing health care has been difficult. It's almost impossible for me to find

simple services like psychiatrists or, you know, people who work with depression. Regan can't afford to pay for private treatment, at times going to the emergency department for help. A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information sheds light on another place Canadians are turning to. Sanita Carmicar-Hor is a manager at Kai Hai. We're seeing more and more patients going to their family doctors and pediatricians. The new research found visits to family doctors for psychotherapy and counseling has increased almost 50%. since 2015, while pediatricians saw a 60% increase in those visits. And researchers say more mental health and addiction professionals are needed.

The supply is not increasing enough to meet the needs of Canadians. Vancouver family physician Dr. Rita McCracken estimates 20 to 25% of her patients come for mental health and addiction issues. Sometimes for some of my patients, I'm the only place that they can go. But addressing their unique needs, such as longer appointments and ongoing specialized care, is a challenge, while juggling the complex needs of an aging population. This is not work that family doctors should be doing. I should know how to do it, and I should do it when there is no other option. But in a more ideal situation, I should be able to hand off just. Long wait lists are another barrier, and patients can't wait. At one point, we had almost up to a thousand people on our wait list.

Dr. Dana Ross is a psychiatrist in the trauma therapy program at Women's College Hospital in Toronto. And we thought, do people need to be waiting a year, two years to be able to get that in an in-person setting? Or could we offer some of that virtually? The hospital developed a program that includes virtual group therapy. Their wait list has dropped to less than 100 patients and reduced wait times to a few months. It's been really a groundbreaking program. As for Regan Doyle, he's in a rehab program and has reached a special milestone in his sobriety. I've been in recovery for a year. I'm getting my year chip tomorrow.

Tashana Reid, CBC News, Toronto. Coming right up, the Prime Minister tells a New York business audience, it's time for a new, true partnership between Canada and the U.S. Plus, taking the game global. The CFL seeks new fans on new platforms. platforms. Later, we'll have this story. No actors, no sets, no worries. A movie made entirely from AI is set to premiere at a New York Film Festival. Dream of Violets is a full-length docudrama inspired by the Iranian civilian resistance. An important story, but how it came to be has actors and unions on edge. I would say that performers and I think the industry as a whole is going through a real grieving process.

I'm Talia Sarve in Toronto. Later on Your World tonight, we explore what this AI milestone means for the industry. The Prime Minister was in New York today, making an economic pitch to an audience of Wall Street executives. As Tom Perry tells us, Mark Carney's message combined some slogans we've heard before in a way we have not heard before. Canada Strong will help make America great again. Mark Carney, in the U.S. offering a kind of olive branch. The prime minister speaking to a business group in New York City talking once again about a rupture in the global order.

The world is becoming more divided and dangerous. But Carney, who has repeatedly vowed to diversify Canada's trade and make it less reliant on the U.S. told his audience there is still room for closer cooperation between Canada and America. A new partnership with Canada, a true partnership that reimagines cooperation in specific sectors that are deeply challenged by global competition. Those sectors include natural resources like oil and natural gas, critical minerals like potash and the auto sector, many of which have been hit by tariffs under U.S. President Donald Trump.

While Canada and the United States have had our differences over the centuries, we have always worked and eventually work through them. Carney says his government has made specific proposals to the U.S. administration to resolve their current differences over trade, but didn't say how the administration has responded. Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are set to review Kusma, their continental free trade agreement on July 1st. There are right now no formal trade talks between Canada and the U.S., but Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, told that. the CBC's power and politics, the two sides remain in contact. I'm optimistic that we have a path forward over the next number of weeks leading up to July 1st that's active and constructive. But in the House of Commons today, opposition leader Pierre Palliev accused the liberals

and the prime minister of sending mixed messages. On the one hand, he says that we are in the middle of a rupture with the United States. Well, on the other, he says he wants to make America, in his words, great again. Dominic LeBlanc says the government will keep working on U.S. trade, trying to come up with some kind of agreement on Kusma, tariffs, and other points of contention. As for progress or precise timelines, he says with the current U.S. administration, that's hard to tell. Tom Perry, CBC News, Ottawa. Mark Carney also talked in New York about Canada's relationship with China and the importance of his trip to Beijing this year.

What we accomplished was a very basic reset of the relationship so that China reopened their agricultural markets for that. We restored access for Chinese vehicles, electric vehicles, to the same level as it was in 2024 when things broke down. Another sector that's seeing improvement over the, the past few months, travel and tourism in both directions. Lisa Singh has that story. Tourists flock to some of China's most iconic sites

like the sprawling forbidden city in Beijing, including a couple from Germany. We really like the cities, so they're really big, but quiet. Germans were some of the first to benefit after the pandemic. China exempted them from needing a visitor visa for trips up to 15 days. Now it's 30 with Canada, added to that list earlier this year after Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to Beijing. Soon after, Ottawa allowed more frequent direct flights to China,

bringing more business to Chinese tour operators like Ni Meng Ran, manager at U-tour group in Beijing. We want tourists from different places to fully understand the country's development, she says. For years, bilateral relations were strained. Remember back in 2018, tech giant Huawei's executive, Meng Wang Zoh was arrested in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition warrant. Then China detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavler. And when the country reopened after COVID restrictions, Canada was not approved for group travel until late last year.

Now as U.S. President Donald Trump's global trade war pushes Ottawa to find new partners. Chinese tourists are giving Canada another look. At the U-Tour headquarters, photos of the Rocky Mountains adorn its walls, Li Wei is thinking seriously about visiting. If I had this opportunity, I would definitely go there to experience Canada's life, environment and atmosphere, she says. The numbers reflect that interest, with Chinese visitors in March this year, almost doubling since March of 2023. At a trade show in Toronto, the number of travel reps from China have also doubled since last year. Essential since Chinese tourists spent nearly 2 billion a year here before the pandemic.

Marshall Walden is the CEO of Destination Canada. They love to partake in local culture, local cuisine, love to shop. And so when they come to Canada, they spend their money in lots of different ways, and that makes them very valuable to our industry. Back in Beijing, U-Tours' spring trips have already sold out, A sign the relationship and business with Canada is improving. Lisa Sheng, CBC News, Toronto. The U.S. and Iran have reached a tentative deal to extend their ceasefire another 60 days.

Problem is President Donald Trump has yet to sign off, as both sides trade more strikes and more accusations. Paul Hunter is in Washington with the details. It is all going to be the president's decision. A decision suggested U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson at the White House today, that remains to be determined. That is, whether Donald Trump will sign off on what's described as a tentative agreement to extend the ceasefire in the U.S.-Iran war for 60 days. And in those two months, to conduct talks aimed at, among other hot-button issues,

ending Iran's nuclear program. President Trump has made it very clear that he has several red lines. And Iran has to turn over their highly enriched uranium. they cannot pursue a nuclear weapon and the Strait of Permouth has to free transit. He's not going to take a bad deal. He's going to make a great deal for the American people. The war, which began back in February, is opposed by a majority of Americans who've seen gasoline prices spike in the time since it began. Meanwhile, the current ceasefire seems fragile, with missiles this week fired from Iran intercepted by Kuwaiti forces. If this potential deal is accepted by both sides, a number of changes would kick in.

Iran would agree to not charge tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, where oil tankers have been effectively marooned by the fighting, and the U.S. would end its naval blockade of Iranian ports and ease some of its sanctions on Iran. In Iran, the chair of the National Security Committee acknowledged Iran is indeed trading messages on this with U.S. officials, but without giving details, added, the U.S. must first accept a number of Iranian conditions. It certainly doesn't look like the kind of deal that would produce an end to the war. Rather, it's kind of an agreement to negotiate for another 60 days on some of the thornyest issues

that are involved here. Leon Panetta, who was director of the CIA under Barack Obama, warns the Iranian leadership is not to be trusted on any of this. But he underlines, there's also reason for Americans to question what they're hearing from Trump. I think the president has developed a problem with credibility on this issue because he's constantly said that we were within a few days of ending the war, that negotiations were going well, that we were about to get an agreement. How many times have we heard that. And so I think the American people have kind of lost some trust in what the president is saying. And so for now, the tentative agreement to extend the ceasefire sits unsigned as the war

moves into its fourth month. Paul Hunter, CBC News, Washington. A movie made entirely with AI is set to premiere in the main lineup of a prestigious film festival in New York. The docu drama tells stories of Iranian civilian resistance. It cost a fraction of traditional films. Talia Sarv reports on the reaction and what it could mean for the future of the industry. Set in Iran, it has the earmarks of a film, narrative, visuals and sound. But this 75-minute docket series is fully AI generated. No cameras, no actors, no sets, the cost just $2,000. The vision I had for the story was just impossible to do it. And I thought let's bring those technological advancements of the last couple of years.

Iranian-born Ash Kusha is the first-time filmmaker behind Dreams of Violets, a movie inspired by January's civilian uprising and massacres in Tehran and made possible within Kush's financial, geographical and time restraints. So I developed systems by which you, for example, can, rule out the mistakes that you make when you write a story or when you come up with an idea. In June, it will premiere at Tribeca Film Festival in New York. But its acceptance in the main lineup hasn't gone without pushback from actors, crews, and unions, including Actra. We're looking at this absolute, just seeming willingness to, like, give away the whole creative process to something that has a mass, is going to have a massive economic impact.

Trebekah Festival has defended the move, saying the film offers audiences a rare perspective into a conflict many haven't been able to fully see. University of Toronto professor, Charlie Neal, adding, arguably this film couldn't be made through conventional means. It couldn't take the form it's taking if it didn't rely on something like AI. But it's a delicate line according to another expert. Richard Latchman is a professor of digital media at Toronto Metropolitan University. He supports AI's benefits in demand. democratized storytelling, but says transparency needs to be at the forefront.

What I think we need to be worried about in this particular case is this is something about a historical event, yet it is using footage that did not occur at a historical event, yet it seems photorealistic. And it has the film world on edge. While some well-known filmmakers like Steven Soderberg already integrate AI into their work, Lachman says we can expect a fundamental shift in industry jobs and experience in the near future. 10 years from now, I think all the entry-level jobs disappearing means there won't be any mid-level, mid-career people and senior level to continue that human focus, that knowledge. Opening the curtain on a new era of cinema.

Tali Assam, CBC News, Toronto. You're listening to Your World Tonight from CBC News. And if you want to make sure you never miss one of our episodes, follow us on Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts. Just find the follow button and lock us in. The CFL announced a very big deal today, reportedly in the hundreds of millions. It's being hailed as a landmark agreement for broadcast and streaming rights. But as Julia Wong tells us, some Canadian football fans are skeptical.

For years, the CFL has broadcast over the airwaves. Now it's going digital. The CFL has announced a multi-layered broadcast deal with three partners starting in 2027, Some preseason games and creator collaborations will be available on YouTube. TSN will broadcast regular season games, some playoff games, and the Grey Cup. While DeZone, a sports streaming platform, will broadcast all CFL games globally and run Saturday night football. It's extremely exciting for us. DeGre Dionne is vice president of DeZone Canada.

Our hope for this property is that we're a new voice, a new innovative voice for the CFL, not just from a live rights perspective, but also from a storytelling around the league. Other leagues have already made the move to streaming. It's hockey and it's on prime. Including the NFL, NHL, and MLB. Sherry Braddish, a sports marketing professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, says the CFL wants to cash in. It oftentimes makes sense to create synergies between multiple providers

to stream and broadcast, in this case, the CFL games. And I think it benefits the league because it creates new streams of revenue. And it allows them to lean in with each particular brand to allow them to speak to key consumers in different means and modalities in different forms. That includes fans like Scout Natick. The 10-year Edmonton Elk's season ticket holder says a shake-up for the CFL was needed. Yeah, I mean, to stay relevant, you need to innovate. and for this league, they need to innovate. We know that status quo has been an issue for far too long.

While Natick says this will be good for the league in the long term, he has some hesitations, saying traditional fans may not want to switch to streaming. For this DeZone piece, I am a little bit skeptical, I think. I'm not exactly sold on buying a DeZone subscription yet. I'd like to see the product first before I invest my money in a monthly subscription. description or another. I want everybody to be a stand fan. But Jay McNeil, president of the Calgary Stampeders,

says this deal is a way to introduce the CFL to a much bigger audience. You know, we always want to take all of our fans into consideration. But we do have to evolve as a league and we do have to, you know, try to bring in a younger demographic. And this is one of the ways that, you know, the world of sports media is going. And we need to do that as well. An evolution the league hopes will elevate the game and its fan base. It's Julia Wong, CBC News, Edmonton.

Finally, a special tribute in Halifax to a beloved member of the CBC family. I have a mic. I'm on a bike. Let's go find stories. How hard can it be to log roll? It's so Nova Scotian. People helping other people. It's just a common theme I tried to find to my years of being a reporter. The late veteran journalist and curling legend Colleen Jones was in inducted into the CBC News Hall of Fame. She was celebrated by some of those who loved her,

including on-air colleagues, Heather Hisccox, Ron McLean, and Mark Kelly. Colleen Jones deserves this posthumous honor. Nobody served the public broadcaster with more joy and dedication. I will always, always be grateful. We all will for the embrace of that loving spirit, soul, heart, mind. She was an inspiration to me. She was an inspiration to so many Canadians with what she did curling,

but also her love of her province and her love for her job and her love for telling a great story. Colleen died last November at her home in Nova Scotia after a lengthy battle with cancer. She was 65. CBC viewers knew Colleen for covering news and sports, including 11 Olympic games. But she was equally renowned for her incredible curling career.

And with her. This stone, led history record, a milestone in women's curling. Colleen won six Canadian women's championships and two world titles. She was also the youngest skip to capture the Scotty's Tournament of Hearts Trophy at just 22. She loved the game, loved covering it, and loved mentoring younger players. Let's give the final word to Colleen's husband, Scott Saunders. It was the story she told and the people she touched through her work at CBC, that in Deerter Church

and so many more people than are curling exploits. For that opportunity, we are forever thankful to the CBC. This has been your world tonight for Thursday, May 28th. I'm Stephanie Scandaris. Thank you for being with us.

Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca slash podcasts.