CBCN - Friday, May 24, 2024 - 12:00 a.m. (ET) - Segment #24

>>> Meanwhile in gaza, the israeli military has retrieved the bodies of three more hostages killed during the october 7th attacks by hamas militants. The military said the recovery was part of a special operation in northern gaza, an area that has witnessed fierce fighting in recent days. Journalist irris makler is in jerusalem covering this story. >> Irris: we know that today the israeli military says it recovered the bodies of three men all taking part in the nova music festival on october 7th. Two are israeli citizens. The third is part mexican, part french citizen. What we do know is that he was the boyfriend of shani luc, a young woman who was taken hostage, all that video footage of her being taken hostage on october 7 and her body was recovered a week ago today. All of those things together on this one incident in jabalia in the north of the gaza, an area israel left and has returned to. This was apparently the result of intelligence operations. And I guess it would be interesting to hear what the I.D.F. spokesperson had to say. >> There are men, women, children and babies being held by hamas in living hell across our border in gaza. We will not stop fighting for their freedom. Every decent country in the world would do the same. >> Irris: so what we see is the central role of the hostages in this now almost eight-month-long war. We even heard in the I.C.J. today a mention of the hostages by the judges, a call for their return. And I think what many israeli analysts say that until this issue is resolved, then the war won't be resolved. You know, the hostages -- the plight of the hostages and the return of the hostages is vital. >> Natasha: irris, what kind of impact might this have on the negotiations that are still ongoing between israel and hamas? >> Irris: you know, if you think about the role of the hostages which we were just talking about and the importance to the families, this is now the second -- there has now been six bodies, these three today and three a week ago, that have been retrieved by the I.D.F. that means those are six hostages not returning to their families. So it's increased the level of urgency within the hostages' forum. The day before they released a video of the actual taking hostage of five women who were soldiers in the israeli army and they did that because they wanted to return that image and that information to the heart of the israeli public, partly because there is no ongoing hostage negotiation. That has to be said. We have heard right now a report, first from "the new york times" then repeated by other news outlets. What they are saying is this, the head of the C.I.A. is currently meeting in paris this weekend, both with the head of the mossad and the leader of the emirates. We're seeing an israeli-them rati american attempt at the same time there is an arab summit, the emirates is part of that too. I think we're seeing one more push, but israel has to be part of that push. It's not clear that israel is on board if you listen to what is coming out of the israeli cabinet nor is it clear that hamas is on board either. So the two parties may not be as interested in a deal that would involve a ceasefire and a return of the hostages at this moment as the surrounding negotiators. >> Natasha: irris makler in jerusalem. [ ] >> Natasha: in montreal, we're waiting on a ruling by the quebec superior court on an injunction request by the university de quebec montreal or uqan. They want to restrict a pro-palestinian protest that started two weeks ago. Specifically the university wants to bar protesters from setting up tents or equipment within 3 metres of the university building. The university is accusing protesters of blocking access to the university, damaging cameras and properties. Some protesters have been seen with iron bars and gas canisters. The protesters are demanding that the university cut any ties it has with israel. The director at the school said the university is not linked to any israeli institutions.

>>> Some alcoholic drinks will become more widely available and sooner than expected. Ontario premier doug ford made an announcement just a few moments ago. Essentially, beer, wine, and ready-to-drink cocktails will be sold at licensed convenience stores, supermarkets and even gas stations. The cbc's linda ward joins us now on this story. Take us through some of these changes. >> Linda: we knew, natasha, that there would be an expansion where these beverages could be sold in ontario and that was announced back in december. It was announced this would be in place no later than january 1, 2026. Now we know this is coming in much more quickly than originally anticipated and it will start on august 1 with a three-phased approach. Now, this approach, as I said, august 1st means that a grocery store that already sell beer and wine in the province will now be able to sell coolers and ready-to-drink cocktails and seltzers. Beverages that come in a can premixed. Also increased pack sizes. They will be able to sell larger packs. A 2-4 or even a 30-pack. All eligible convenience stores can sell beer, wine, R.T.D.s and ciders. October 31, all other eligible grocery stores, and big box stores that don't currently sell beer and wine can sell alcoholic beverages. Premier ford in that press conference said this means 8400 more stores across the province will be eligible. >> Premier Doug Ford: we promised this back in 2018 and we're going to move forward for the people of ontario. They want it. We're going to do it. >> Natasha: linda, this move comes with up to $225 million of public money for the beer store. What does the premier have to say about that? >> Linda: that raised a lot of questions because taxpayer dollars, he is going to face questions on that when it comes to opening up sales of alcohol. In december the government notified the beer store that a long-standing agreement that they have to limit the number of stores authorized to sell alcohol will not be renewed, but that was supposed expire december 31, 2025, ahead of when this was supposed to come into play. So now it's coming into play earlier and they are giving $225 million to the beer store. The premier was asked why taxpayers are on the hook to speed up this deal. >> Premier Doug Ford: but it's not going directly to the beer stores. Where it's going is to make sure we protect the beer store employees, to make sure they know they're going to be taken care of. We're going to audit every single penny to make sure it's going to the right place. It's not going to the big breweries, but to the front-line people who we support. >> Linda: he also said it is going to keep the stores open for their popular recycling program. That program will keep running until at least 2031. Now, it is also important to note hard liquor, gin, whisky, vodka will only be sold at lcbo stores in the province. They will act as a wholesaler selling to these you new outlets but at a discount. Ford was asked how much this will cost the lcbo in money that would otherwise go to the government and he didn't give an answer to that. He was also asked about concerns from health advocate groups, addictions advocates who say that this is going to create bigger health problems in the province. He said that his government has made major investments in health services and didn't go much further than that in terms of their concerns, natasha. >> Natasha: okay. Thank you so much, linda.

>>> A deep rotation hearing is set -- deportation hearing is set for the truck driver that caused the homboldt crash. He drove through a stop sign and crashed into the team's bus at a rural highway intersection. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and was granted parole in 2022. His lawyer says if his client loses his permanent residency status and is be deported back to india, he could ask to remain in canada on compassionate grounds. >>> Workers with the canada border services agency voted 98% in support of job action. 90% of border officers are considered essential, meaning they cannot walk off the job. Job action could cause delays for travellers at border crossings and at airports. [ ] >> Natasha: coming up, they're calling out canada for not meeting its nato spending pledge. 23 U.S. senators have penned a strongly worded letter to justin trudeau. Cbc's janyce McGREGOR is going to tell us all about it coming up right here on cbc news network. [dramatic] Announcer:What's new? What's breaking? What's really going on? Cbc News Network. For 30 years, Walmart's helped Canadians save through a lot. The Elmo Craze in ‘96. Your endless wait for dial-up. Sfx: Iconic dial up ‘trying to connect' sound Those wide, shapeless jeans... that hair thing with the uh teeth. In the 2000s, you were all doing this. So we did this. In 2020, the race for toilet paper was won here. Whatever was happening, we made it happen - for less. 30 years later, we still are. ( ) (Sniffling) Feeling Claritin Clear is like... ( ) Is she...? Claritin Clear? Yeah. Get fast, non-drowsy allergy symptom relief. Live Claritin Clear. Financial goals. At Fidelity, we know that everyone's got them. And they're all different. But the one thing we share? We all want to get to them sooner. ( ) [explosion] [dynamic] How can any of this be fair? They might think, hey, we just need more doctors, but that's not really it. Ah, Russian's came here. Shows you where it starts, where it ends. Were you really willing to risk that job? Yes. At Thunder Bay's favourite festival "Wake the Giant". Ta-da! There it is. [ ] >> Natasha: a bipartisan group of U.S. senators is calling on canada to do more to meet its commitments on defence spending. Nearly a quarter of the U.S. senate signed a sharply worded letter sent to ottawa yesterday. They said canada needs to boost spend secretary-general during one of the most dangerous moments in nato's history. Janyce McGREGOR reports. >> Janyce: this letter really ss the tone early saying this is the most severe landscapes nato has faced in the history of its alliance. It says notwithstanding what the senators acknowledge have been veryignificant contributions on canada's part, including, for example, leading the battle group in latvia, they still think canada is falling short of meeting its obligations, particularly in a world where all nato members are under a lot of pressure to bolster ukraine in its fight against russia. They talk in the letter about how canada is failing to live up to the standard the alliance has set, how even when you go out as far as 2029 the amount of defence spending that canada has budgeted only brings it to just a little over 1.7% of canada's gross domestic product. It was supposed to be at 2% by 2024. Thatargeted was always described by nato as a floor, not a ceiling, that members were supposed to reach. Just reading some sections from the letter here, they talk about how they are concerned and profoundly disappointed that canada's most recent budget indicates it won't reach the 2% commitment in this decade. They also talk about norad.

canada and the U.S. are norad partners. They are in dire need. Then the letter says canada will fail to meet its obligations to the alliance to the detriment of all nato allies and the free world without immediate and action to increase defence spending. Let's talk about the signatories to this letter because there are 23 different senators who signed onrom both sides of the aisle in washington. A number of them sit on the senate defence committee, although notably the chair of that cheat is not among the signatories. I will note that 10 of them are up for re-election this year and there are some prominent names, both republicans and democrats. Mitt romney and also timcane and joe manson. The other thing that is interesting about this is defence minister bill blair was in washington meeting with his counterpart defence secretary lloyd austin and other senior officials laying out canada's future spending plans in meetings. And on parliament hill yesterday when reporters caught up with him, he continued to give assurances about how canadas stepping up in terms of what it's doing on defence. Take a listen. >> The Hon. Bill Blair: we know that canada needs to invest in other capabilities that are not yet included in this year's budget but are inevitably paved investments we need to make. Canada is on a very strong upward trajectory in defence spending. We know we have work to do. We acknowledged that from day one. We clearly indicated in our budget the path to getting that done. >> Natasha: janyce, let's talk about the timing of this letter. Why would the U.S. senators send it now? >> Janyce: it makes you think maybe they didn' like w blair was saying in washington. The next nato summit is scheduled for washington. The americans are the host this july. It often falls to the host to set the tone, the agenda, for these meetings and in this case perhaps that includes nagging some of the laggards in the alliance once again about their spending gain of course it is a presidential election year. We know there are always various ebbs and flows in the threats to canada to step up calls for its accountability on defence spending, depending on who's talking. Of course donald trump on the stump has threatened not to com to the defence of nato allies who are not paying their share. On the other hand, the biden administration itself has been re measured in its criticism. Joe biden's ambassador in ottawa, for example, david cohen when he has spoken about this this spring, talked about a whole range of factors the U.S. considers when it looks at canada's nato contribuons, that percentage of G.D.P. is just one of them. Noting the overall trajectory for canada's defence spending is increasing. And I'll note also when germany's defence minister was in ottawa just a few weeks ago, reporters were pushing him to see if he would offer a criticism of canada not meeting its target and he diplomatically declined to do so. Not everyone feels as strongly as these senators, nevertheless, it is interesting to see them sounding those notes ahead of the key summit in july. >> Natasha: the cbc's janyce McGREGOR reporting from ottawa.

>>> Child care centres in ontario are facing a number of challenges from the province's funding model to problems implementing the $10-a-day child care model. Some may be forced to close their doors. Today the opposition N.P. spoke with reporters about that daycare and the larger problem. >> Having failed to provide certainty and sustainable funding, the ford government has pushed centres like sunnyside garden to the brink. In a letter to premier ford and to minister lecce, the centre made it very clear, without immediate intervention, sunnyside faces two. Either withdraw from the $10-a-day child care program and increase fees significantly for parents or stay the course and risk insolvency. >> Natasha: the opposition wants the province to share its funding model with providers right now so that the centres can plan their budgets for the upcoming year. It's also asking for emergency funding so that specific toronto daycare and others like it can stay open until the national program is fully implemented. >>> And you can head to our website to learn more about this. Cbc's mike crawley has a story up on the website about the threat of closure to the sunnyside garden daycare. It delves into the funding issues that threaten not-for-profits. Yo can check it out at cbcnews.ca o get the cbc news app. >>> Coming up, the university of toronto issues an ultimatum to pro-palestinian demonstrators. > Should ement not be reached, we will issue a notice of trespass and pursue any subsequent legal steps. [ ] >> Natasha: the school has given them4 hours to leave or face possible arrest. Protesters have just reacted and we will bring you that reaction coming up right here on cbc news network. [ ] >> Adrienne Arsenault: You are constantly on the move, and so are we, making sense of the monts that m together. >> Asking what? Why? When? >> Soon as the ban was announced, Dermott ordered more. >> Adrienne: To the centre of the biggesstories, m the people living them. >> I really like the good ideas that come out of these conversations. >> Adrienne: Making sense of our world. >> Are you ok, by thway? >> It's been quite a day, to be honest. >> What on earth? Why didn't you leave? >> Adrienne: With you, and for you. I'm Adrienne Arsenault. This isThe National. ( ) Let your feet take you wherever your spirit wants to go. The all new HurryCane helps you navigate any surface so you can go anywhere your heart desires. Redesigned from top to bottom, it truly stands alone. Now you can walk easier down whatever path you choose. Move forward with confidence at HurryCane.ca. Also available at these fine retailers. ( ) Some people say there are doers, and there are dreamers. But what's wrong th a little dreaming? pecially when it's shared. With hard work, little dreams grow into big ones. At Kubota, we know that your work never stops. And we're inspired by those who dream - But our equipment is built for dreamers and doers, like you. Kubota, built for those who do. Inu Nagamu is one of Canada's largest Indigenous and alcohol-free music festival. In the heart of the Cote Nord region in Mani-Utenam, Inu Nagamu Festival proudly celebrates its 40th edition to the rhythm of Indigenous artists from near and far, in addition to presenting world-class performances in a family-friendly atmosphere. We look forward to see you in Mani-Utenam from July 30th to August 4th, 2024. Parrots are incredible animals. [Parrot] Another overdue bill! Yeah. They're also extremely intelligent. [Parrot] Forgot to pay again! Theylso repeat things they hear a lot. The new bmo eclipse rise Visa card rewards you with points for paying your bill on time every month to help build a routine. [Parrot] Rewards you with points! And you get 5x the points on things like groceries, dining and recurring bill payments. [Parrot] For paying your bill! —But also you can... — [Parrot] Every month! —And just remember. —[Parrot] Build a routine! [Parrot squawking] He is a talker. When a bank helps you make real financial progress. That's the bmo Effect. Bmo The future is not just going to happen. You have to make it. And if you want a successful business, all it takes is an idea, and Now becomes the Future. A Future where you grew a dream into a reality. It's waiting for you. Mere minutes away. ( ) The Future is nothing but power and it's all yours. The all new godaddy airo. Get your business online in minutes with the power of ai.

[ ] >> Natasha: a pro-palestinian encampment on the campus of university of toronto is at a key stage today. You see, the university has issued a proposal to the protesters and has given them a deadline to respond. Cbc's meagan fitzpatrick joins us now live from that impetus. Meagan, I know you've gotten the response from the students, but let's begin with the actual proposal the university has offered. What exactly are they saying? >> Meaga yes, the university made the proposal to the protesters yesterday and they also released their offer publicly putting it online addressing the various demands the protesters have been making since this encampment started. The university is offering to have some of the encampment representatives attend a meeting on june 9th with the business of governing council. They're alsoroposing t set up an advisory committee on divestment and the university is proposing it be made up of students, staff, alumni and faculty. There can beuggestion for who will be parted committee. It won't necessarily be accepted, but there can be suggestions. The university also proposing to set up a working group to address the demand from the protesters on greater disclosure of the university's investments, setting up a working group that would report ba with recommendations on how to increase transparency by mid-july. On the demand that the university of toronto cut academic ties with certain academic institutions, israeli academic institutio, u. Of t. Is saying essentially that is a no go. They are rejecting that demand saying it wouldn't be in line with commitment to academic freedom and the university says they're working to increase opportunities for palestinian scholars here at the u. Of t. And they have continued that work. They say that was already underway when the encampment began. In terms of the timing of issuing this offer to the protesters and setti deadline of 4:00 P.M. today to accept that offer or else face trespass notices, the university has been saying all along they believetesters are trespassing. Here is the university president speaking on "metro morning" radio this morning about what he says are rising tensions being caused by this encampment. >> The tensions that have been generated by the continued presence of the encampment have reached a point where we feel now is the time to end the encampment. The students have had ample opportunity to exercise their right of freedom of expression and their right of protest. They will continue to be able to do that but through other means. >> Meagan: he is saying if the protesters wan to ais goal of divestment, there is a process. There are policies the university follows. They have done that before. He has said in cases like divesting from fossil fuels and he says the university has been offeng thesers assistance and following that process. He says that if this trespass notice is issued and if it's not obeyed, all options are on the table. He was asked whether toronto police would be called to clear this encampment. He said they're doing their best to avoid any police involvement. He did also say convocations are set to begin on june 3rd, they happen right over there at convocation hall and he said the university is determined to go ahead with those convocation ceremonies, regardless of what happens with this offer, whether it's accepted or rejected, natasha. >> Natasha: okay. Let's get to whether it's accepted or rejected. What are you hearing from the students? >> Meagan: several of the spokespeople just answered questions from reporters. For starters, they're not happy how this is playing out in terms of the timing and the process. They did have a meeting yesterday with some members of the administration where they were presented for this offer and they were asked for an instant response to it, which they say was unfair. They're not happy that the president of u. Of t. Held a news conference while this meeting was going on. Basically they say they haven't been given sufficient time to respond to this, but regardless they also say the offer from the university doesn't go far enough, it's not good enough and doesn't meet their demands. Take a listen to one of the protesters. >> This is not an offer. This is an ultimatum. They are trying to force us to accept these outrageous terms by threatening to clear us out at the same time. Again, it is clear that by their actions that the administration believes that we are inexperienced, I am by sillic negotiators. Let it be on the record that it

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