The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/13 at 23:00 EST

Episode Date: February 14, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/13 at 23:00 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 Claude Fague. Canada's Northern Premiers continued their anti-tariff tour of Washington.

They've been telling influential figures that Canada's North has a lot to offer in a trade relationship, like strong Arctic defense and critical minerals. Kate McKenna reports from Washington. There's so much potential in the North. That's the message Canada's three territorial premier shared speaking to American academics and policy experts. Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson says the Arctic has what the U.S. needs, critical minerals. If companies don't want to get them from the Northwest Territories, from the Yukon, from Nunavut, they're gonna

have to get them from China. The Northern Premiers continued their anti-tariff push in Washington, holding a panel at an influential think tank, the Wilson Center, talking about Arctic minerals and defense. Nunavut Premier P.J. Akiaguk says people in the Arctic are key to protecting Canada's interests. The people of the North are the ones actually asserting Canada's sovereignty. The premiers told Americans they want Ottawa to increase military spending and hit the 2% NATO defense spending target ASAP, as Donald Trump continues to criticize Canada's armed forces. They don't have any military protection.

You have Russian ships, you have Chinese ships. You know, people are endangered. They need our protection, yes. Simpson told the American audience they want to get more mining projects going and build up Arctic defense. Kate McKenna, CBC News, Washington. Meanwhile, Trump's finger pointing over fentanyl has put Canada on the defensive, even though the facts don't support his claims. New data from Canada's Border Services Agency actually shows a spike in drugs and guns coming here from the U.S. JP Tasker takes us through it.

The amount of drugs seized has doubled since 2022, spiking from roughly 4,000 kilograms to 8,000 in 2024. Cannabis, hashish, heroin, cocaine and crack, it's all up. And there's a lot more than the 5,000 grams of drugs the Americans nabbed on their side of the 49th parallel last year. We live next door to the largest weapons market in the world. Christian Luprecht is a professor at the Royal Military College and an expert on border security. He says Mexican drug cartels move some of their production

to the U.S. during the pandemic. Now it's easier than ever to smuggle illicit goods over the border into Canada. It's worked really well for transnational organized crime. And it's not just drugs. CBSA pulled in 839 firearms at the border last year, a 30% increase over the year before. The CBSA says it hasn't lost focus on Canadian priorities.

It just got a $1.3 billion cash infusion to take on the flow of fentanyl. But it promises some of that money will be set aside to rein in the flood of American drugs and guns. JP Tasker, CBC News, Ottawa. The Trump administration's promise to slash federal jobs has begun. The U.S. government fired hundreds of people at multiple agencies today. Termination emails were sent to government workers in the past 48 hours. All of the employees affected were reportedly recently hired probationary workers.

The departments affected include the Department of Education, the Small Business Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the General Services Administration, which manages many federal buildings. A Chilean man has spoken of how he thought he was dead after being swallowed whole by a whale before being spat out. Adrian Simancas was kayaking off Chile's southern coast with his father, who managed to capture the entire incident on camera. His son in his kayak can be seen being suddenly engulfed by the humpback whale before reappearing terrified

seconds later. And Adrian described the experience. Yes, at first, when I thought I had died, it was like, of course, a lot of terror, because I thought, no, no, there's nothing I could do. When I got out and started to float, I was really afraid that something would happen to my dad, too, that we wouldn't have reached the shore in time, and I would get hypothermia. And despite the scare, both men returned to shore uninjured.

And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Claude Fague.