CBHT - Friday, May 24, 2024 - 11:00 a.m. (ET) - Segment #2

>>> 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, 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 >> Adrienne Arsenault: The Nationalis on throughout the entire hockey playoffs. You can watch onCBC Gem, cbc News Network, andCBC News Explore, or on theCBC Newsapp. The National. (Press conference murmur) Peter. We have quite a few questions... about retirement. Asking yourself the right questions, leads to the right answers. Were you truly ready to "hang it all up"? Retirement's not an ending... it's an opportunity. Care to elaborate? You can find new purpose, passions, financial possibilities. It can be whatever you choose to make it. Couldn't have said it better myself. Ask yourself what the chip Reverse Mortgage can do for you. Are your gums bleeding and inflamed? New Colgate PerioGard toothpaste is clinically proven for healthier gums. It reduces bleeding and inflammation with its long-lasting Antibacterial activity. New Colgate PerioGard significantly reduces gum bleeding and inflammation. There's a new Tims run in town with new Flatbread Pizza. Served hot out of the oven and freshly prepared in Chicken Parmesan, Pepperoni, Simply Cheese, and Bacon Everything. Try Tims new Flatbread Pizza. It's time for Tims Announcer:Who cries more, winners or losers? Cry if you want to cry. Announcer:Can heartbreak help break records? You want to be great, you need to sacrifice. Announcer:Do bigger fans have higher blood pressure? How's your heart rate? Announcer:Why do we love rooting for underdogs? I support the home team. Announcer:What makes top dogs go the distance? How far will champions go to win? I was just curious. Announcer:Does it matter if they have nothing to lose? Is that a yes? Announcer:When you get curious, you getCBC. [ ] >> 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 sets 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 very significant 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. That targeted 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 meaningful action to increase defence spending. Let's talk about the signatories to this letter because there are 23 different senators who signed on from 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 tim cane 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 canada is 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't like what 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. Once again 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 come to the defence of nato allies who are not paying their share. On the other hand, the biden administration itself has been more 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 contributions, that percentage of G.D.P. is just one of them. Also 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.

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