The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/17 at 04:00 EST

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/17 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 Neil Herland. People from Windsor, Ontario to Windsor, Nova Scotia are digging out after another monster storm hit the eastern part of Canada. As Philipp Lee Shanock reports, for a huge

part of the country with most of its population, dealing with two storms in a row is a challenge. You caffeine, food, sleep where you can. Toronto snowplow driver Zach McLeod is running on fumes. After a midweek storm brought 40 centimeters of snow the city got walloped with another 30 centimeters more. He says it's all got to go somewhere. Snow is so much that downtown there's not a lot of places to put the snow. Vincent Sfrazza is with the City of Toronto. He says the priority is to clear the roads then workers come back to remove the massive piles. So we'll collect the snow put them clear the roads, then workers come back to remove the massive piles.

So we'll collect the snow, put them in dump trucks, and then we will then transport them. Montreal in Quebec City had 50 centimeters of snow, some regions as much as 70. Stay home would be my best advice. Philippe Sabaraz with the City of Montreal. He says it will take days before the city can begin to clear its 11,000 kilometers of streets. Across the province many schools will be closed and police are urging motorists to avoid unnecessary travel. Philip Lee Shanoch, CBC News, Toronto. The US government will meet with Russian officials on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia for talks that could end the war in Ukraine.

Steve Witkoff is the US.S. Middle East envoy. I'll be traveling there with the national security advisor and we'll be having meetings at the direction of the president and hopefully we'll make some really good progress with regard to Russia, Ukraine. Some western countries, including Canada, have expressed concern that Ukraine won't be at the table. Witkoff says President Trump spoke last week with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to get his input.

Meantime, European leaders are gathering for an emergency meeting in France today after they were shut out of the talks between the US and Russia. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke directly to American athletes at the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games last night in Vancouver. The sports competition features wounded, injured and sick military members and veterans from around the world. Trudeau made reference to the current tension between Canada and the US, and he emphasized the friendship between the two countries.

We all stand proudly together. We all believe in a future where we have values and a friendship that endures the test of time. We have stood together for generations, and Canada and Canadians will never stop fighting for the friendship that unites our two countries through tough times and through the best times in the world. Americans are our friends, always. On Saturday night, some spectators at the Four Nations Hockey Tournament in Montreal booed the US National Anthem.

The company that provides most of the blood testing and specimen collection in Canada is facing rotating strike action in British Columbia. As Yvette Brand reports, LifeLabs locations in BC issued a 72-hour strike notice for this Thursday. At a rally in the freezing rain, unionized LifeLabs workers chanted calling for fair wages. They want the same pay as hospital workers to perform tasks like collecting blood and medical samples, voting 98% to strike after almost a year with no contract. B.C. General Employees Union President Paul Finch said they're tired of wage gaps and

understaffing, driven by what he describes as a U.S. for-profit model. This is a struggle between a group of workers here in BC who provide a critical health service and an American for-profit Fortune 500 company. LifeLabs was taken over by Quest Diagnostics last year. In an email, the company said our highest priority is to ensure continuity of care for the people of British Columbia. Customers are urged to check LifeLabs website as lab closures will rotate to ensure service continues.

Evette Brent, CBC News, Vancouver. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Neil Herland.