The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/11 at 05:00 EST

Episode Date: February 11, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/11 at 05:00 EST

In Scarborough, there's this fire behind our eyes. A passion in our bellies. It's in the hearts of our neighbors. The eyes of our nurses. And the hands of our doctors. It's what makes Scarborough, Scarborough. In our hospitals, we do more than anyone thought possible. We've less than anyone could imagine.

But it's time to imagine what we can do with more. Join Scarborough Health Network and together, we can turn grit into greatness. Donate at lovescarborough.ca. From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Neil Herland. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is responding this morning to US President Donald Trump's new tariffs

on steel and aluminum. Tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum would be entirely unjustified. Trudeau reacted in Paris, where he's attending a summit on artificial intelligence. We will be working with the American administration over the coming weeks to highlight the negative impacts on Americans and Canadians of these unacceptable tariffs. But we'll also be working with our international partners and friends and if it comes to that our response of course will be firm and clear. We will stand up for Canadian workers, we will stand up for Canadian industries. Trudeau says Canada and the U.S. should not be fighting each other.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders last night imposing 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to the states. That includes shipments from Canada. The move is designed to increase domestic metal production in the U.S. So if it's made in the United States, there is no tariff. All you have to do is make it in the United States. We don't need it from another country. As an example, Canada, if we make it in the United States,

we don't need it to be made in Canada. We'll have the jobs. That's why Canada should be our 51st state. The new tariffs are supposed to take effect in March. The American government's latest tariff threat is giving Quebec's aluminum industry a case of déjà vu. The industry already weathered similar tariffs during Donald Trump's first term. Steve Rukavina reports.

Quebec is the biggest supplier of aluminum to the U.S., providing 60 percent of all imports. In 2018, during another trade dispute, Trump imposed a 10% tariff on the metal for about a year. Diez Yang is a PhD candidate in political science at McGill. That was quite detrimental. There was an estimated about 3 billion costs on the Canadian economy. Trump eventually lifted those tariffs

while he was fighting for re-election. Vivek Asdvansh is a marketing professor at McGill. He says the industry here failed to learn its lesson in 2018. The dependence of aluminum producers on the United States has remained the same and marginally increased and we have not been able to find substitute markets or countries where this aluminum can be exported. Jiang says the U.S. being so close to Canada is still the best possible option. Economically, it just makes so much more sense.

Both experts agree Trump's unpredictability makes crafting a response to his tariff threats a challenge. Steve Rukavina, CBC News, Montreal. As more than 500 athletes from 25 countries gather in Vancouver in Whistler to participate in the Invictus Games, one Canadian veteran isn't celebrating. Scott Snow is a 43-year-old retired Navy diver who represented Canada in the last games. He's suing National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces.

As Peter Zimonjic reports, Snow says the injuries he sustained in Germany have left him unable to work. Scott Snow spent 14 years serving in the Royal Canadian Navy, retiring in 2015 on a medical certificate. Years later, he was invited to represent Canada at the 2023 Invictus Games in Düsseldorf, Germany. During a game of wheelchair rugby, Snow fell, injuring his neck, spine and head. CBC News previously reported that when he returned to Canada, he was told that while serving military members on the team were insured, he wasn't medically covered. After two spine surgeries, Snow says he can no longer move easily around his home or afford to pay for physical therapy.

The Liberal government responded by introducing insurance for veterans in future games, including the ones being held in BC this week. But Snow says he wasn't offered any help. Still to this day, no one has reached out to me from the Canadian Armed Forces or D&D or Soldron. Snow says he does not blame the Invictus Games and supports the organization. His suit is against National Defense and the Canadian Armed Forces. It asks for $2.4 million in compensation to pay for accessibility renovations to his house and the pain and suffering he has endured.

Peter Zimanić, CBC News, Ottawa. And CBC reached out to the Canadian government but has not received a response. And that is your World This Hour.