The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/01/28 at 15:00 EST

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/01/28 at 15:00 EST

When a body is discovered 10 miles out to sea, it sparks a mind-blowing police investigation. There's a man living in this address in the name of a deceased. He's one of the most wanted men in the world. This isn't really happening. Officers are finding large sums of money. It's a tale of murder, skullduggery and international intrigue. So who really is he? I'm Sam Mullins and this is Sea of Lies from CBC's Uncovered, available now.

From CBC News, the world is ours. I'm Tom Harrington. It's official, Ontarians will go to the polls on February 27th, 15 months earlier than the fixed date election. Premier Doug Ford says he needs a new mandate to deal with President Donald Trump. At the same time, his government is mailing out $200 checks to every resident, costing the provincial treasury $3 billion. Ford calls them taxpayer rebates, but some residents are having problems cashing the

checks. Megafitz-Patrick has the exclusive story. To say I was upset was an understatement. Christine Newton was counting on her $200 check from the Ontario government, but soon after she deposited it last week, she noticed it didn't clear. The check had essentially bounced. And she was charged about $8 for trying to cash an invalid check. Newton Banks was simply financial, but the problem had to do with the Royal Bank of Canada. It's one of several banks the government used to issue the checks

on their behalf. A spokesperson for RBC told CBC News the glitch was caused during the authentication process and some checks were returned when they should have been processed. The bank says between 150 and 200 people were impacted and they fixed the issue. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, the spokesperson said. Today, the $200 did show up in Newton's account and she was refunded the fee she was charged. Megan Fitzpatrick, CBC News, Toronto. The federal government is readying an aid package for when US President Trump imposes 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods. It will be similar to pandemic relief aimed at helping affected workers and businesses.

Parliament is currently prorogued and would need to be in session to approve some of the programs. But Public Services Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says there are measures that can be quickly put in place. The White House confirmed again today, Saturday, February 1st is the day on which the tariffs against Canada and Mexico will be announced. The public inquiry into foreign interference says there are no traitors in Parliament but Commissioner Marie-Josée Augs says the federal government and national security agencies have to do more to prevent meddling by foreign states.

Raffi Boudji-Canyon has more. I saw evidence of some concerning behavior. Commissioner Marie-Josée Aug says there is need for caution but... The evidence does not show any MPs plotting with foreign states against Canada's interests. That evidence? 47,000 government documents, mostly classified. More than 100 witnesses interviewed, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, members of his cabinet and the head of Canada's spy agency, CSIS. OGG says the threat of meddling is real. Certain foreign states are attempting to interfere in our electoral processes and democratic institutions.

OGG has multiple recommendations, some focusing on the pre-Rid period, suggesting elections Canada should have jurisdiction over nominations and party leadership contests. She also says CECES needs to do a better job flagging political decision makers about the relevance of its intelligence. Rafi Biducani on CBC News, Ottawa. Prime Minister Trudeau is closing out his visit to Poland. He says he's seeing warning signs for democracies around the world. Trudeau is worried, he says, about how local social media giants may be influencing elections.

Democracies being influenced by messages of division, of hatred, of targeting one group at the expense of another. That's something that we all have to be attentive to and vigilant about. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says the rise of the AFD, Germany's far-right political party, is a dangerous trend. Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform X, spoke at an AFD rally last weekend. The leader of the BC Greens is stepping down. Sonia Firstenow has led the party since 2020 and was an MLA from 2017 until last year. That's when she failed to get elected in the October

provincial election. Firstenow stayed on as leader to help negotiate with the NDP which won a very narrow majority. In December, the Greens and the governing NDP announced a cooperation agreement. And that is Your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Tom Harrington. Thanks for listening.