The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/15 at 04:00 EST

Episode Date: February 15, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/15 at 04:00 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. Three more Israeli hostages have been released in Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal. Three men, one in his 20s, another in his 30s, and a third in his 40s, were paraded

onto a stage in Khan Yunis by armed militants, even asked to speak into a microphone before being turned over to the International Red Cross. They were eventually handed over to the IDF. All three were captured during the October 7, 2023 attacks. In return, Israel will reportedly release over 300 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. One of U.S. President Donald Trump's fiercest critics within his own party has some advice for Canadians. Take all the talk of a 51st state with a grain of salt and don't be afraid of him. The CBC's Murray Brewster explains. Canada is going to be a very serious contender to be our 51st state.

That has been Donald Trump's message over and over and it's hard not to take the bait. He's trying to look tough, he's trying to entertain. Former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who voted to impeach Donald Trump after the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, says Canadian political leaders need to keep calm and push back hard in areas where Canada can defend itself, for instance, with counter tariffs. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a business audience recently he believes Trump's threats are real, while members of his cabinet have downplayed the idea of annexation as something credible. If we came to him tomorrow and said, it's all yours, of course he'd take it.

Vincent Rigby, the Prime Minister's former top intelligence advisor, says, swallowing Canada with its geography, distinct culture and institutions is not something the U.S. is in any way prepared for. Murray Brewster, CBC News, Ottawa. And you can hear more of that this morning on The House after the 9 o'clock edition of World Report 930 in Newfoundland. A Canada Border Services Agency memo obtained by Radio Canada is shedding new light on illicit activity at Canadian ports.

It reveals the bladders of an endangered Mexican fish are being smuggled through Vancouver and traded for the chemical components used to make fentanyl. As Michelle Gossoub reports, it says Mexican cartels and Chinese criminal networks are working together to target West Coast ports. This maw is worth its weight in gold. The maw or bladder of the Mexican totoaba fish is big business in China. It's sold for $80,000 per kilogram and used in traditional medicine. And CBC News has learned it's being smuggled into Canadian ports and traded for the components of fentanyl.

Daniel Pauly is a professor with the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. And now it's worth it's weight in cocaine and Fentanyl and this is horrible. A memo from the Canada Border Services Agency obtained by Radio Canada says Mexican cartels and Chinese criminal networks are working together. The endangered fish are smuggled from Mexico to ports like Vancouver while the fentanyl components are shipped from China. The memo doesn't say what quantity is coming through Canadian ports. It also doesn't specify whether the chemical components coming from China stay in Canada or are shipped further abroad. Michelle Gassoub, CBC News, Vancouver. The town of Cochrane, Alberta is kicking off

the Fire Smart Initiative next week. It says crews will be working to reduce the risk of wildfire damage through vegetation management, fuel reductions and public education. Fire chief Sean Pohle says it will include fire break work as well as removing dead down damage in diseased trees in some spaces. It's definitely a process that we want to make sure it's sustainable over the next 10 years or longer or perpetuity, I guess. But we want to make sure that we're always paying attention to what some of those risks are and how can we reduce them for our citizens and really build out a nice, robust program and make Fire Smart more of a day-to-day activity

than just a once-a-year type of program. And Chief Pauley says this round is expected to take three to five months. And that is Your World This Hour. Pauli says this round is expected to take three to five months. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Claude Fege.