Toronto storm cleanup, Canadians avoiding U.S. travel, Gloria Steinem dies, and more

0:00Canada is complicated. And help Berda? Well, it has opinions. I'm Kathleen Betty, the host of West of Center. If you're wondering about separation or the many ways Alberta marches to its own drum, our show will help you understand what's going on out West. Tune in for a no-nonsense conversation about the politics that drive this place. And follow West of Center wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. We have about seven holes in the roof, including a new skylight in my upper hallway where one of the like about a six foot branch punctured right through the roof. Downed trees, smashed houses, drivers rescued from cars trapped in high water, major damage to an outdoor concert venue in Toronto, and the second highest number of emergency calls in the city's history.

1:00Southern Ontario cleans up after what's being called a once in a hundred years summer storm. This is your world tonight. It's Thursday, September 3rd, just before 6 p.m. Eastern. I'm Suley Meshivejee, also on the podcast. Everything just kind of came to a head over the last couple of days and I just thought, you know what, my constituents expect a little bit better than this. And you know, I just made the decision to step away and sit as an independent for now. Only months after choosing a new leader, nine members of the B.C. Conservative Party have now quit. That leader, Carrey Lynn Finley, is preparing to run for a seat in a provincial bi-election and says the resignations are an attempt to sidetrack her campaign. Whatever the reason, the tempestuous squabbles are hurting the party's polling numbers. Toronto is recovering from a series of fierce thunderstorms. They hit the city and much of southwestern Ontario Wednesday, causing massive flooding,

2:00wind damage and knocking out power to tens of thousands. She and Desjardins has the latest on the aftermath. Queen of Cruz in Toronto facing days of work this week, picking up after one of Southern Ontario's worst storms of the summer ripped through Wednesday at rush hour. The storm toppled trees onto cars and houses, ripping up gas lines and downing power lines. In this beach hill neighborhood, branches scattered and trees uprooted. Now being cut up and tossed in a woodchipper. I've never experienced this before. Roberta Gray has lived in the area for some 50 years. Her house is okay, but her neighbor's property covered in downed trees. Everything got so black and everything, so I came out to the branda and that's when I saw the tree I'd come down and the pole and everything. The storm dumped more than 100 millimeters of rain, winds reached up to 85 kilometers

3:02an hour. So strong, it tore the roof off of building and ramped in Ontario, mangled rows of bleacher seats at Roger's Stadium. He washed away chunks of road in Vaughan, north of Toronto, man flooded others. And never said something like that, then it's horrible. Mehmet Dutal's car was nearly submerged. He escaped, crawling out the window. Luckily, my window was open and I get out from the window. Toronto Fire Chief Jim, Jessup, says they responded to nearly 1500 calls in 24 hours. That is the second largest call volume day in the history of Toronto Fire Service. Even water rescues and even workers trapped on scaffolding. More than 50,000 hydro one customers across Ontario were without power Thursday morning. On top of that, the 65,000 customers who lost power at the storm's peak in Toronto. I've heard some reports from our crews coming across instances where there's trees eight feet in diameter resting on our lines. It's a significant amount of work to clear the tree and then ultimately make the repairs.

4:03Dan Smart is Toronto Hydro's Vice President of Distribution Operations. He come across the down wire, stayed 10 meters back and treat everything as if it's energized. One environment Canada climatologist is calling it on Tarios' worst storm of the summer. The GTA, it's Bullseye. We call them Rinson repeat storms. According to David Phillips. Lined up there like jumbo jets on the airport tarmac and just coming in one after another and dumping their load and then moving off and just absolutely creating disaster for the largest city in Canada. Now, drawing out on a sunny day ahead of the long weekend. But still lots of cleanup left to go. Shandesh Aurel, CBC News, Toronto. More extreme weather is on the way thanks to El Nino. The World Meteorological Organization says the atmospheric phenomenon is likely to last into February. It will bring warmer than average conditions. The last El Nino three years ago helped make 2024 the warmest year on record.

5:05Celeste Saulo is the organization secretary general and says this time could be worse. So many sectors will be affected. Agriculture, trade, fisheries, health, energy, transport, water resources, disaster management to name but a few. We are already seeing disruption and devastation from threats and floods and extreme weather. Saulo says El Nino should peak by the end of the year. A political storm is brewing in British Columbia. Nine conservative MLA's in the province have quit caucus in recent weeks. Many of them say they're concerned about the direction of the party under Carrilyn Finley, who they chose to be their leader just three months ago. Tanya Fletcher reports. But I reached this point and I believe that under Carrilyn Finley's leadership that I couldn't continue. In a wave of departures, MLA Donnacle Wilson announced in yesterday she's joining the Exodus out of the BC conservative caucus.

6:08I couldn't look British Columbians in the eye and say yes, I support this leader. I felt like it was the honest thing to do. Then hours later, another, everything just kind of came to a head over the last couple of days. MLA Scott McKinnis now the ninth MLA to quit in the past 19 days. The conservative party of BC has as in my view shifted, you know, what the priorities are. All of it coming only three months after Finley was elected as party leader. It's very unusual. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it in Canadian politics before. Hey, Michelle Fert is a political scientist with the University of the Fraser Valley. She wants to have a more ideologically pure conservative party and taking that into account. It's not really a surprise that the more liberal-minded members of her caucus are leaving. Finley is a familiar name in federal politics. She served as a conservative MP in BC for six years before moving to provincial politics. Since taking over as BC conservative leader in May, some MLA's claim she's steering the party too far to the right through some people she's hired in her inner circle.

7:10The party has since lost key staffers and some of her own caucus members alleged she dangled the prospect of advisory rules to any who would give up their seat for her in a bi-election that she needs to win to land a seat in the legislature. Finley denied it. In her latest statement calling it a coordinated political attack designed to sidetrack our campaign for that bi-election, adding the criticisms by departing members of her caucus are baseless. I don't know what's happening with the conservatives. The party's implosion is good news for Premier David Eby who just months ago was grappling with a plummeting approval rating. When asked today whether his NDP government is considering calling an election, it's an incredibly volatile time. I won't rule anything out. Two now ex-conservatives say they intend to form a new party. Tell Fred pointing to yet another potential name change in recent years from the BC liberals to the BC United to the BC conservatives. Not to mention the offshoot parties of one BC and center BC. With the collapse of the BC liberals, people are having trouble putting Humpty

8:14Dumpty back together again and I'm not sure it's going to happen because I don't see the basis of unity there anymore. A sign he says of the center right in this province struggling to find an identity. Tanya Flutcher, CBC News, Vancouver. The Prime Minister has announced a $4.7 billion contract to build new passenger cars for via rail. Mark Carney was in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and vowed the cars will be built in Canada instead of the US as they were in the past. Carney was also asked about claims from the Trump administration that Ottawa walked away from a trade deal because of domestic political ambitions. I don't think with all respect appointed, unelected, cabinet members in the United States are experts on Canadian politics. Carney repeated that Canada is ready to sit down and make a deal when the Americans are ready. The deal that's possible that's in the interest of Canadian workers' families and businesses is also the deal that is in the interest of American families, American businesses, American consumers.

9:19Amid the escalating trade tensions, there are renewed calls for Canadians to boycott US products and travel. As Alexander Silberman reports, tourist towns are once again worried but how that could impact their financial future. In Burlington, Vermont, less than an hour's drive from the Canadian border, the usually bustling downtown is noticeably quieter. Restaurants are empty as Canadians angered by US tariffs. Stay away with renewed conviction. For restaurants and hotels, it's devastating. Mark Bouchette is owner of Home Port, a home goods and souvenir shop. He sees firsthand how Vermont's tourism industry is struggling. In a typical year, 750,000 Canadians visit the state, many from nearby Montreal. But since 2025, Canadian credit card spending has plummeted by more than 40 percent according to data from Visa. And then all of a sudden we're dealing with an additional

10:19hit to our economy so it's definitely we feel it. On the city's waterfront, a scenic boat tour is heading out on Lake Champlain with just a trickle of passengers. The drop in tourism means some of the cruises are getting cancelled. It's just crazy. It's really hurting our our community here. Owner Mike Chase says his boat, the spirit of Ethan Allen saw almost no Canadians on board last year and only a small uptick this summer. And he worries efforts to lure visitors back could get derailed by the latest escalation in the trade war. It just seems to be explosive almost every other day back and forth between our two countries just needlessly. In downtown Burlington, business owners like Bouchette are placing Canadian flags in their storefronts. Some are offering Canadian discounts. The main shopping street was even briefly renamed Canada Street. All part of an effort to make Canadians feel welcome. I don't want to be in a fight with my family. My wife's

11:20French Canadian. Her family all lives in Quebec. They know very well that Vermont is nothing like what they're hearing on the national political front but it's difficult to separate it. Jeff Lawson is vice president of tourism for the Lake Champlain region chamber of commerce. We're far closer to Montreal than we are in any major American city in Greater Burlington. That's been a really painful loss. Lawson's officials are accepting. There might be no convincing most Canadians to return. The message now that Vermont is ready to welcome them back when they're ready. We really don't know that we can market our way through somebody's moral decisions. For now, the politics simply too much for many Canadians to put aside. Alexander Silverman, CBC News, Burlington, Vermont. Coming right up, Israel's defense minister says all Palestinians should be moved out of Gaza and he's claiming the US will back the controversial plan. Also, Ottawa pushes back on the pushback

12:23against AI data centers announcing new rules for what it calls responsible building for the future. Later, we'll have this story. She was a journalist, activist and a feminist icon. Gloria Steinem was involved in some of the most significant gains for women's rights of the last 70 years, remembered also as a friend. You built the foundation that I have built my life and career on. I'm mocked to give it a salasse in Toronto. I'll have more on the life and career of Gloria Steinem coming up on your world tonight. Israeli elections are just two months away with Gaza and its future major issues on the minds of voters. Some of Israel's right-wing politicians are upping their rhetoric, hoping to energize their base, also hoping to re-inject momentum into US President Donald Trump's plan to get the Palestinians out of Gaza.

13:25Sasha Petrusik has more. As near daily Israeli air strikes hit Gaza, killing Palestinians, including children this week, as food shortages continue and houses are flattened by advancing Israeli forces. Palestinians like Muhammad Abu Jibai say Israel is deliberately trying to push them out to steal Gaza, he says. Some Israeli politicians once coy about their plans are becoming increasingly vocal, as national elections approach in October. 70 percent of Gaza is destroyed with no residence or housing, says defense minister Israel Katz. He told a conference that Israel supports emigration of gassans by every way possible, and that it's ready to do that. Last year, US President Donald Trump also suggested

14:26sending Palestinians to third countries and turning Gaza into a resort. If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people permanently in nice homes and- He later seemed to abandon that idea after pushback from Arab allies. Katz says Trump's plan is simply on hold. Israel's increasingly assertive settler movement has been pushing hard to build in a reclaimed Gaza, marching to the border with their demands. And hardline nationalist politician Itamar Ben-Gveer, part of Israel's ruling coalition, is now laying out an active plan for emptying Gaza with a budget and quotas. A quarter of a million Palestinians to be removed in the first year he proposes everyone within seven years sent to countries Israel would pay to accept them.

15:27In Gaza, the plans are met with outrage. This talk is so frustrating, says Maryam Dobli. They confront us with guns and try to force us to leave. We won't. As for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he's neither endorsing nor rejecting his minister's plans. But on a visit to Israeli military bases inside Gaza yesterday, he says Israel's army is not leaving the territory. Sasha Petrusik, CBC News, Toronto. The Shed Aquarium in Chicago says two of its beluga whales died yesterday. One of the whales arrived at the aquarium several weeks ago. She was relocated as part of an international effort to re-house 30 whales from Marine Land in Niagara Falls on Terrio. The other beluga had lived in the aquarium for decades. Shed said it does not know if the two deaths are related and

16:28it's investigating. AI has become a divisive issue across Canada. Critics worry about the tech and the data centers needed to run it. The federal government has made AI a priority and says it hears the concerns. Now Ottawa has unveiled a framework that it says will help provinces and municipalities plan and build responsibly. But some argue the plan doesn't have many teeth. Morgan Black has the details. It is a pinky promise framework. Beck McIntosh is not impressed with Ottawa's new guidelines for AI data centers. She is behind a little town big data, a nonprofit working with communities that oppose major data centers moving in. As she watches the battle unfold in her hometown of Olds Alberta, Canada's responsible data center development principles give McIntosh little comfort. It's a giant public soothe her hoping that that is sufficient to ease fears and concerns. AI and digital innovation minister Evan Solomon says there is no avoiding

17:29the infrastructure that backs our digital lives. And if we don't innovate here, we will rent that from someone else. And if we don't make the rules here, we will have to follow someone else's. On Thursday, outlining the expectations for tech companies. What we're saying is there should be a baseline that they don't go down from. To give people the confidence that when these centers are being built, they will be built right. The guidelines ask that tech companies create lasting local benefits, do not shift electricity cost to Canadians and limit water use. It's a bit more of a wish list. Ask very nicely. Vass Bednar is the managing director at the Canadian Shield Institute. She says guardrails are important, but the country needs to take a tougher stance. Our ability to hold large foreign actors accountable has always been a little bit weak in Canada. Minister Solomon says 23 companies have signed on to follow the principles. In statements provided to CBC News, Tellus says it is proud to commit to this framework

18:33alongside the industry and government. Meta rights, the principles reflect its handling of its first AI data center in progress in Alberta. We agree that Canadians will have benefit from this if we do it the right way. Alberta Minister of Technology and Innovation, Nate Gloubish, says the Alberta government recently courted Meta to build near the provincial capital. He notes provinces remain in control of the projects. The end of the day is the provinces that make the rules, it's the provinces that enforce the rules. As Ottawa makes building AI infrastructure a priority, many Canadians, like critic, Beck McIntosh, want to see stricter guidelines made an urgent matter too. Canadians are not opposed to progress, but we are opposed to reckless endeavors at the consequence of our future. And right now that's what the government is proposing and telling us we have to like it. A call from McIntosh for Ottawa to add some penalties to its new framework. Morgan Black, CBC News, Edmonton. Ontario's post-secondary students are heading back to classes next week

19:35with a crash course in government economics. The province has changed how money is handed out through OSAP, its student assistance program. As Michelle Song reports that has many scrambling to figure out just how they're going to pay for their schooling. It's very little from the Ontario grant now. When O'Cat University student, Kirin Riley Gill applied for the Ontario Student Assistance Program OSAP this year, he found out his grants were reduced. And to cover his tuition, he has to take on thousands of dollars in loans. After Ontario made changes to the program. I mean, my income has already currently been below the poverty line. Last year, Riley Gill's OSAP completely consisted of grants. Money he didn't have to pay back. It was a lifeline for his low income family. Now he's worried he may never be able to pay this debt off. When it's just in grants, it means I don't have to worry about where my money's coming from. If I'm going to be able to afford school, if I'm going to be able to like improve my education, to be able to reach a point where maybe one day we'll be able to be financially independent.

20:37OSAP has made up of both provincial and federal funds. Starting this school year, the province has changed the amount of grants students could get from a maximum of 85% to now 25%. With the rest being loans, over the weekend, Premier Doug Ford defended the change. And the auditor general said what we're giving before was unacceptable, unsustainable. Ontario also lifted a seven-year-long tuition freeze, allowing colleges and universities to raise fees by 2% annually for three years after institutions warned their in financial crisis. The announcements were met with widespread pushback, student groups saying this will harm young people long-term. Rory Norris is the president of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance. People need to afford those like life milestones that most people would think about, you know, ability to sort of family by house those sort of things are being delayed or at least that's what students are worried about is going to take place in order to be able to start making payments

21:41on these loans once they graduate. Political economist Ricardo Trangian says he's also concerned these changes will disproportionately affect those who live paycheck to paycheck. They might be second-guessing whether or not that investment, that potential level of high investment will be worth it in the North course if they give up that we have a negative impact for themselves and their ability to get better jobs and then make more money. But also has a negative impact for for our economy and for our workforce. The province says low-income students will have access to other financial aid programs and it plans to invest billions into Ontario universities and colleges to elevate the quality of education. Michelle Song, CBC News, Toronto. Gloria Steinem has died. As the face and voice of the modern feminist movement, Steinem challenged discrimination against women at home, at work and under the law. She inspired

22:45generations of women to demand their rights and transform the landscape of women's equality forever. Makhtha Geverselasa looks back on her life and her legacy. What we are talking about is a revolution and not a reform. Her voice soft but mighty, a champion for women's rights starting in the 60s. Gloria Steinem took the fight from the home to the workplace to the White House. On Wednesday, she died in her home in New York City, leaving mentees like Shelley Knox in mourning. You built the foundation that I built my life and career on and there will not be a day that I don't think about how grateful I am for what you're talking. Steinem got her start as a journalist. Going undercover as a Playboy bunny, she exposed the conditions at Hugh Hathner's clubs. A move she said harmed her career. Rising up as an activist, she became a leader of the second wave of feminism. We are the women that our parents warned us about. Fighting for everything from equal pay to reproductive freedom.

23:48I mean the bottom line of a male dominant system of a patriarchal system is to control women's bodies as the most basic means of production, the means of reproduction. She fought for other causes including civil rights. She co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus and Ms. Magazine, too. Over the years she's been honored in many ways. In 2013, President Obama gave her the medal of freedom. Her one piece of advice to young girls is, do not listen to my advice. Listen to the voice inside you and follow that. But she's also been criticized many times, including facing accusations of working with the CIA, which she denied. Whether and when to give birth without government interference. She kept fighting in her final years, protesting US President Donald Trump's policies and paved the way for the future, showing up for students at Alma Mater Smith College. Sarah Wiley-Libretten is the college president. I think her legacy is really that one need not choose between activism and scholarship,

24:56or a life that is more pragmatic and a life that is aspirational. Today on social media, the tributes kept coming. Jane fonda said Steinem was graceful, kind and deeply intelligent. Oprah Winfrey wrote, we as women owe her so much. And Hillary Clinton told people to be like Gloria, embody possibility and extend it. One thing is clear, many hope Steinem's life lessons live on. Gender is a prison, race is a prison. We all men and women get to be unique individual human beings. Machtegapurasalesa CBC News, Toronto. Finally, he was a lovable rogue and a pirate at heart. That's Stephen Reed talking about the late great Eric the Red, a name that for years struck fear in the hearts of Halifax birds and rats. You see, Eric was a tabbycat who spent years on board Reed's ship, the CSS Acadia. Reed says he was the unofficial RCO, rodent control officer.

25:57He patrolled the ship's decks, kept the seabirds away, kept their awful off the tour of shoulders. I once saw him wrestle some food scraps from a ferret underneath the work cap. He was just fearless. Eric died a few years ago and has now been immortalized with a life-size statue sitting on his favorite bench overlooking the harbor. Reed says he loves the details, including a replica of Eric's collar. People would often pick him up thinking he was a stray and within a month of him joining the ship, I had a tag like this made up. And on the following side, I engraved my mobile phone number as well as the instructions. I live at the Maritime Museum of Elatic. I know my way home, please put me down. Reed says Vets estimated Eric was close to 20 when he died. He lived as a stray before following Reed home one night. Now people have been posing with the statue the way they used to

26:57snuggle with Eric when he was alive. Reed says that's appropriate. It takes him back to lunchtime when Eric would troll the warf for the treats. He had come down the gangway of the ship, leapt into someone's lap, took a couple of chins, scratches, no treats he moved on to the next person. The third person gave him a couple of treats, he took a couple more scratches and then left. He walked up the gangway right beside me and stopped halfway and turned to look at me and I swear I thought he was saying that's how you do it. Always leave him wanting more. This has been your world tonight for Thursday, September 3rd. I'm Salima Shivji. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca-slash-podcasts.