Your World Tonight - Wildfires in the west, Carney’s first QP, big losses at Canada Post, and more

Episode Date: May 28, 2025

Manitoba has already set records for this fire season… and it’s not even June. Dry and hot conditions are fueling wildfires across the prairies, forcing thousands from their homes. And it’s likely to get worse. The World Meteorological Organization says global records are likely to be shattered in the next few years. It means more heat in the Arctic, which will warm three times faster than the rest of the world.And: Another milestone for Prime Minister Mark Carney – his first Question Period.Also: Canada Post loses $1.3 billion in 2024. These numbers were released in the corporation’s annual report as workers and management try to reach a deal.Plus: Police interviews of hockey trial defendants, removing carbon from the atmosphere, Gaza food chaos, a look inside the Saudi kingdom, and more.

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This is a CBC podcast. The hotels are already full across Manitoba and so we're going to be turning to other folks in the community not necessarily private residences but companies and communities across the province to potentially open your doors. People in Flynn Flawn will be adding to that demand for shelter told tonight to leave the city as flames threaten to take their homes. And it's not just Manitoba dealing with smoke and flames, fires are also threatening parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Welcome to Your World Tonight.

I'm Susan Bonner. It is Wednesday, May 28th coming up on 6 p.m. Eastern. Also on the podcast, Something's Old and Something's New. I would like to welcome the Prime Minister to his first official question period. This is where democracy lives and this is where we provide rigorous scrutiny. The first question period in five months.

Pierre Pauliev held a press conference outside the chamber. Inside it was Andrew Scheer leading the opposition and posing the questions to a new Prime Minister, Mark Carney. But about many of the same issues, including the same threats coming from south of the border. There are more than 5,000 people who live in Flynn Flawn, Manitoba, and they've all been told to leave now. Hot, dry conditions are fueling wildfires across Canada's prairies, and it's just one of the communities under threat. As Cameron McIntosh reports, while it's early in the year,

these fires are already setting records. Forest firefighters rapidly retreating from a wall of flames near Creighton, Saskatchewan. It nearly catches the backpack of one of them as they escape. We're here a little bit late and we would have f***ing burned. Just over the border in Flintlawn, Manitoba, resident Elsa Delerta watched the same fire about three kilometres away. Yeah, right now it is very smoky out there. You can still see the fires, the smoke. Now she's on her way out. An evacuation order issued for the whole community late this afternoon. About 5,000 people told to be out by midnight.

Honestly, if I want to be honest, I am definitely panicking. This wildfire, now Manitoba's top of many firefighting priorities, started in a landfill in neighboring Crichton. The fire changed pretty radically. Frustrated, Manitoba premier Wab Knew says on Tuesday water bombers couldn't hit it because of a civilian drone. It's exacerbated by the fact somebody's flying a drone to try and get some video footage

for their TikTok, which is just inexcusable right now. Manitoba has had Canada's worst fires so far this year at nearly 200,000 hectares already burning triple the usual area of a regular fire season. Hundreds of people are still under evacuation order in eastern Manitoba as others leave northern communities including about 500 from Lynn Lake, a remote northwestern town with only one road out. Brandon Dulwich is mayor of Lynn Lake. Once that fire crosses the highway, it will no longer be an option to evacuate via the highway. Across the prairies, much of the northern boreal forest is abnormally dry or in drought, prone to fire.

In Saskatchewan, 16 wildfires are burning. Two of the largest north of Prince Albert merged into a 200,000 hectare menace. Taking out a firefighting base, thousands of people are now evacuated from at least a dozen northern communities and work sites. The force of the fire and how it moved so fast and it was, I don't even have words for it. Darren Sochasky is near certain his big game hunting business is also gone. We haven't been in there yet, it's too hot. Meanwhile in Alberta, where much of the province is under heat alert, about 20 fires are out

of control. Nearly 1200 people have left the town of Swan Hills, about 220 kilometers north of Edmonton. Forecasts in all three provinces are calling for heat and very little rain in the coming days. Cameron McIntosh, CBC News, Winnipeg. Little rain, rising heat, the conditions making this fire season so dangerous are not going away. The World Meteorological Organization

has just released its latest climate forecast, predicting soaring temperatures in the next five years that will break previous records, pushing parts of the world, including the Arctic, to new and potentially dangerous extremes. Science reporter Anand Ram has more. Yeah, it gets hot in Houston, Texas, but people in this park know what they've recently been going through doesn't feel normal. I've been here for 21 years going on and I still, I'm not used to it yet. The last three or four years we've had at least two weeks over 100.

A record-breaking May. Uncomfortable, yes, dangerous too, says Houston cardiologist Sadeer Alkindi. For each degree increase in temperature, we see significant increase in heart attacks. That unusual heat, what has had such a low chance of happening in the past, is central to the latest report from the World Meteorological Organization. There's now an 80% chance of a new record high in global temperature in the next few years. Adam Scaife is with the WMO and helped author this forecast of the next five years.

Those high chances of breaking a hottest year ever record also mean higher chances of a year going past 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial average. If we're at the upper end of this range, above 1.5, then we would no doubt see unprecedented impacts worldwide. 1.5 is the ambitious target of the Paris Agreement to keep the world's warming under that limit to avoid catastrophic consequences, some of which the world is seeing already. The WMO predicts more, drier periods for the Amazon rainforest, a wetter Sahel desert and a warmer Arctic.

I was in Resolute in April this year and we were out on the land fast sea ice and it was only about 1.2 meters thick, which was a bit thinner than I would have expected. Julianne Struva is a Canada research chair in climate sea ice coupling with the University of Manitoba. She says these predictions don't mean a balmy Arctic year round, but it will shrink the growing time for thick ice in the winter. And when you think about the communities that rely on the land fast sea ice, for example, for hunting and traveling, then that of course affects the stability of their livelihoods in terms of how they access their food sources out on the ice. Beyond the call to action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions that are driving global warming, the report is signposting the chances ahead, the chances of extreme climate-fueled disasters

with deadly impacts. And in this report, the tiniest chance might be the most troubling. That possibility is very faint, but it is now possible that we could even have a two-degree year. Keep in mind, it was only a decade or so ago where these same weak signals predicted a year that would be 1.5 degrees warmer. That happened last year, 2024, the hottest year ever for now. Anand Ram, CBC News, Toronto. Coming up on the podcast, no going easy on the new guy, the first question period for

Mark Carney sets the tone for the next few weeks. The latest from the hockey trial in London and a report on attempts to modernize Saudi Arabia. Mark Carney has faced a lot of first tests as Canada's new Prime Minister. Today, the across the aisle examination of his first question period. As Kate McKenna reports, the opposition wasted no time criticizing the government's agenda. Moral questions, the Honourable Leader of the Opposition. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker.

I would like to welcome the Prime Minister to his first official question period. This is where democracy lives. Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer started Prime Minister Mark Carney's first question period on a cordial note. Mr. Speaker, may I first thank my constituents from NAPI and forgive me the honour of being here. But the warm welcome didn't last long. Kearney was grilled on the government's response to tariffs, energy policy, and why his government isn't tabling a spring budget. The PM said undoing the damage in the last 10 years would require great speed, but he's not going to table a budget for six months. If he's the man with the plan and the guy you hire in a crisis,

why won't he table a budget before he goes on summer vacation? Kearney deflected, saying the Conservatives didn't promise a spring budget either. Mr. Speaker, I understand the member of the opposition is very busy, didn't have a chance to study closely the 100-day plan of the former member from Ottawa, Carlton, which did not include a budget. Carney took only the first few questions, breaking the Trudeau-era tradition of the Prime Minister answering all the questions on Wednesdays. That's not the only significant difference in this new parliament.

Hey, I'd love to be in there. It's a great place. I love the House of Commons. I love the excitement and the thrill. Conservative leader Pierre Pauliev spoke to reporters outside the House of Commons. After failing to win his seat, he has to watch proceedings from outside the chamber until he wins a by-election. I'm going to work hard to earn the opportunity to do it again. I consider it a great privilege that I've been able to do it for so long in the past. Inside the House, the man who beat Pauliev, Bruce Van Joy received a warm welcome from the Bruce. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Merci Monsieur le Président, cher Collègue. I wish to thank the people of Carlton for the confidence they've had.

The NDP also returned diminished. With only seven seats confidence they've got. The NDP also returned diminished. With only seven seats, they've lost party status. What immediate steps will this government take to bring the jobless rate down and protect Canadian workers? Interim leader Don Davies focused on workers, as his party will get only seven questions per week. But as this session unfolds, parties have signaled a willingness to work together,

with Polyev saying liberals should go farther cutting taxes and red tape, but Conservatives will support any move that saves Canadians money. Kate McKenna, CBC News, Ottawa. Canada Post is in trouble. The Crown Corporation has been in a months-long labour dispute with its workers,

causing many Canadians to see red, especially last year when holiday deliveries were shut down. Today it's the company seeing a lot of red after showing major losses in its latest financial report. Marina von Stackelberg is in Ottawa. Marina, what do we know about Canada Post's finances tonight? Well, Susan, Canada Post is posting another massive financial loss in total $841 million last year. It would have actually been even higher but the company made some money back when it sold off its logistics and IT companies at the beginning of 2024. Without those sales the company lost a whopping $1.3 billion. This Crown Corporation has been

bleeding money for years and it's in the middle of a labor dispute. Right now the Canadian Union of Postal Workers is refusing overtime but still delivering mail. The corporation says this labor uncertainty is also hurting its bottom line as customers leave for delivery companies they can count on. That's what small business owner Scott Wingfield says he's done. His Victoria Company makes and ships prints for thousands of artists across the country. I've relied on Canada Post for about 98% of my business because not only it was supporting me getting into remote areas but all the clients that I work with.

So when the strike hit last time I yanked most of my shipping so I'd say about 60% of my shipping now does not go through Canada Post. Wingfield says he doesn't see Canada Post as reliable. And where are things at with the labour negotiations? Well Canada Post sent another offer to the union today. It calls this its final one. The corporation kept the same proposed wage increase, 13.6% over the next four years, but now it's added a signing bonus between $500 to $1,000 per employee. But the company says it can't offer more.

A recent federal report found the corporation is at risk of becoming bankrupt. The federal government recently gave the company a one billion dollar loan. Marvin Rider with the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University says the union seems to be hoping it can maintain the status quo and that Ottawa will just keep Canada Post afloat. The government will just step in and make it a department and then fund the difference as it goes.

I'm not sure I would want to bet on that, but even if I did, I don't think the government is just going to shovel barrels of cash into the organization. It needs to see some substantial changes and then finance that as it goes. The corporation says one of those big changes it wants to make is to bring in more flexible delivery, like on weekends, to have a chance at competing with private companies like Amazon. Meanwhile, the union says it's confident the proposals it's put forward provide the next steps needed to end the labour dispute. Thanks Marina.

No problem. Marina von Stackelberg in Ottawa. In London, the court heard two more interviews of some of the Canadian junior hockey players accused of sexual assault. The interviews, done in 2018 by now retired London police sergeant Stephen Newton, may be the only time we hear directly from the defendants. Karen Pauls is in court and has the latest. My name is Detective Steve Newton. I'm with the London Police Service. I'm here today with Alex Formonton. Is that correct? In his 2018 police interview, Alex Formonton said he received a text from Michael McLeod saying there was a woman available for three-way sex in his room.

Formonton admitted he had sex with the complainant, known under a publication ban as EM, after seeing her give oral sex to several of his teammates. She said, like, is anyone going to bang me? I volunteer, but I obviously didn't want to do it in front of guys. I found that very awkward and weird, so we both walked into the washroom. That's where we had intercourse. Under Detective Steven Newton's questioning, Formonton addressed the issue of consent, the crux of the Crown's case.

You know that this girl was taken advantage of by the group of guys? No, I feel, I mean she was instigating pretty much everything that happened. Our sex was consensual. One week later in a phone interview, Dylan Dubay said he also received about ten seconds of oral sex from EM before deciding it was a bad idea. The Crown says he slapped EM on the buttocks without her consent in the hotel room, something that did not come up in the interview. But this did. She was chirping us for not doing anything with her, which I thought was weird. I hadn't seen that before. I didn't think that she was drunk or against her will at any means.

Nick Cake is a former Crown attorney, now a criminal defense lawyer in London. He's not a part of this case, but is watching it closely. And he says the value of the video statements for the Crown... To show that the defendants who did choose to speak with the police, perhaps intentionally left things out. We believe EM! We believe EM!

Outside court supporters of the complainant held signs saying things like shame on them. Carly Doucet is with the sexual assault support center in Waterloo. It provides training for athletes including the Ontario Hockey League. Ideas around consent, healthy relationships, healthy masculinity, what are some of the prevailing issues around what causes gender-based violence and sexual violence and how men can be leaders and allies in their communities and in their sport. Under cross-examination, Newton told McLeod's lawyer that he decided to close the original case in February 2019 because it appeared EM actively participated in the sects acts with the players

and he didn't have grounds to lay charges. Karen Pauls, CBC News, London, Ontario. The leader of a human smuggling operation that led to the deaths of a family on the Canada-U.S. border has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors say Harshkumar Patel was in charge of logistics, including for a trip in 2022, when a couple from India and their two children froze to death while walking from Manitoba into the United States. The driver for the smugglers, Steve Shand, has also been sentenced to six and a half years in prison. This is Your World Tonight from CBC News. If you want to make sure you stay up to date and

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. Just find the follow button and lock us in. Israel confirms the killing of Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of the previous leader Yahya Sinwar. Eliminating Hamas is part of Israel's stated goal in the war in Gaza. The United Nations and others have said the cost of that mission in human lives is too high. Sasha Petrasek reports. Angry and hungry crowds of Palestinians continued to scramble for food today with the World Food Program reporting that a cord had broken into its warehouse

in the south with at least two people reported dead. Others in Gaza said it was impossible to get badly needed food aid amid a situation UN officials have described as a near famine. I went like everyone else and didn't get anything, says Mahmoud Al-Qasas. No one did. It's the second day that unrest has broken out since an Israeli US organization, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, replaced food distribution previously done by the United Nations. That UN aid has been blocked by Israel for almost three months.

It led to an emotional debate at the UN Security Council. an emotional debate at the UN Security Council. Children. With Palestinian representative Riyad Mansour breaking down in tears over children dying of starvation. It's unbearable. How could anyone tell me this sort of... I have grandchildren. I know what they mean to their families.

A growing number of countries with a history of backing Israel are now criticizing its actions, including a British representative at the UN, James Kariuki. Our message to Prime Minister Nathan Yahu is clear. Let aid in and enable the UN to operate now. Warnings also from the European Union's Foreign Affairs Chief, Kaya Kalas. Strikes in Gaza go beyond what is necessary to fight Hamas. Bypassing the UN aid deliveries undermines humanitarian principles. In Jerusalem, Israel's Foreign minister Gideon Saar shot back against any suggestion that arms should no longer be sent to Israel. If this initiative will, God forbid, be successful,

Israel will simply be eliminated. There will be another Holocaust this time on the soil of the land of Israel. Israel blames Hamas militants for unrest over aid and its need to keep fighting. It's been 600 days since Hamas attacked Israel and there are still nearly two dozen living hostages being held in Gaza. Today the US suggested it's close to an agreement with Hamas on a ceasefire, envoy Steve Witkoff. I have some very good feelings about getting to a long-term resolution, a temporary ceasefire, and a long-term resolution, a peaceful resolution of that conflict. But there is no deal yet, and in the meantime, hunger and unrest continue in Gaza.

Sasha Petrosic, CBC News, Toronto. Saudi Arabia has made headlines trying to change its image as an ultra-conservative society. Those changes include reforms that loosen restrictions on women. Women are now working throughout Saudi Arabia's economy, holding down key jobs. But there are still many constraints on their behaviour. Chris Brown reports from Riyadh. In Saudi Arabia, it seems like many things are driving at full speed these days. Are you good? Yeah, I have a mystery card here actually. Women are among those on a roll. Rawan Al-Shafeh, who's 30, is a marketing manager for a chain of family entertainment hubs,

including this indoor go-kart track in Riyadh, where miniature electric versions of Formula One cars zoom around. Shafeeh, who doesn't dress traditionally or cover her head, puts on a blue racing suit and does a few laps with us. We like working in the different space, manager, CEO, project manager. And for you in particular, you have a good job? Yeah, I have a great job actually and learning a lot from here. Over decades, Saudi Arabia's highly repressive rules for women

have shaped a big part of the country's international image and driven criticism. But in 2016, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS, launched the so-called Vision 2030, aimed at broadening the economy, and things started to change. Women won the right to drive and to hold leadership jobs. Now, 36% of the country's workforce is female. When I got back, I was in complete shock.

At Arab News in Riyadh, we met freelancer Gadi Judeh, who's 29. She lived in London, Ontario for a few years and returned to a changed country. Restaurants were normally separated, so a singles area, families area. I go back and everyone's just sitting in the same space. I feel so secure and so safe here in a way that I haven't felt anywhere else. So I do see that there's an amazing future happening and it's unfolding right in front of us. And I'm excited to see how this goes. But male guardianship laws allowing men to control women's lives still exist.

And the World Bank says Saudi Arabia needs stronger laws on domestic violence, divorce, and access to financial services for women. Yeah, I would say that in general laws probably favor men more. Jetta-based women's advocate Maha Akil says the Vision 2030 changes for women have been amazing, but there remains a gap between policy and practice. Sometimes it's not necessarily that the laws are not there. It's just a matter of following up, implementing, and for the women themselves knowing their rights and going to the authorities and seeking help. The changes ushered in by MBS are aimed at harnessing women's economic potential.

And though not complete, supporters believe their achievements will inevitably change the rest of Saudi Arabia's conservative society for the better. Chris Brown, CBC News, in Riyadh. Finally tonight... You saved my dad. You saved my father. Finally tonight You saved my father The scene outside of Montreal Hospital Gloria Borelli rushing to throw her arms around Mikhail Esther as one of the people who saved her father's life and who she's been searching for for days

It doesn't seem real have ever felt the happiest ever? A million times that. 86-year-old Sabato Borelli was out for a walk when he suffered a heart attack and fell to the ground. Bystanders immediately jumped in to help, including Esther Es, who performed CPR. The gentleman was unresponsive, very pale, grey lips and all. He has these very intense blue eyes and I remember looking down on him while doing the compressions and he was staring at me.

So I really hoped I would seem like I did today, alive, with life in his eyes. After the ambulance arrived, Esterez and the others went on with their days. The Borelis put out repeated calls on social media looking for them. Esterez and a young couple who did not want to be named answered and met Borelis in his room where he's recovering and where a few days ago, surrounded by his family, he celebrated his 87th birthday. Coincidentally, the same birthday as Esther S. Thank you for joining us on Your World Tonight for May 28th. I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again.

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