The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/17 at 06:00 EST

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/17 at 06:00 EST

It's the epitome of classical ballet, beloved the world over. The National Ballet of Canada invites you to experience Swan Lake, revel in Tchaikovsky's glorious score, and an unforgettable production directed and staged by Karen Kane, whose vision emphasizes the love story at the heart of the ballet. Presented by Nicola Wealth Management, on stage March 8th to 22nd, tickets are selling fast. Secure your seat now at national.ballet.ca. From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Claude Fague.

People from Windsor, Ontario to Nova Scotia are digging out after another monster hit from Mother Nature in the eastern half of Canada, and as Philip Leishanek 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 McCloud 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 in dump trucks and then we will then transport them. Montreal and 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 Shannok, CBC News, Toronto. The U.S. 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 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. Witkow 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. The company that provides most of the blood testing and specimen collection in Canada is facing rotating strike action in British Columbia. As a vet 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. BC 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. Yvette Brand, CBC News, Vancouver. 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 U.S. national anthem. The Invictus Games were established by Prince Harry, who had been at the games and attended the closing ceremony last night. And that is Your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Claude Fague.