The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/19 at 02:00 EST

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/19 at 02:00 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 Neal Herland. The American appointment on tariffs is officially confirmed. On this vote, the ayes are 51 and the ayes are 45 and the nomination is confirmed.

Tonight the U.S. Senate approved Howard Lutnick as U.S. Commerce Secretary. The Wall Street billionaire will oversee any tariffs that could potentially be imposed on Canadian goods next month. Maria Cantwell is a Democratic Senator from Washington State. She opposed Lutnick's confirmation. He made it very clear that he intends to be very enthusiastic about the president's plans for tariffs. When he talked about tariffs, I don't know that he knew how much the U.S. economy was

going to start paying the price. Talking to people throughout my state, I can tell you it's not lost on us, being a border state with Canada how much this might affect us in oil and gas." Lutnick has already met with Canadian officials, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Buy Canadian is a message being pushed right across the country, but some small businesses in Calgary say sourcing only Canadian products is easier said than done, Karina Zapata has more.

We're a proud country, we're a strong country, but it gets really fuzzy when your entire life is reliant on a business you've built in Canada by selling those established US brands. As the owner of yarn store Little Bow Fiber Company, Michelle Boland is feeling the pressure on the other end of the buy Canadian movement. She says Canada's wool industry is so small, it isn't feasible to only sell items produced in Canada. We carry a lot of Canadian brands. Many of them just aren't produced in Canada. At Crab Apple Clothing Company, owner Whitney Titheridge is in the same boat.

She buys clothes for the store six to ten months in advance, and doesn't have the flexibility to pivot last minute. BMO chief economist Doug Porter says the whole point of free trade was to move away from each country producing everything. We shouldn't be dogmatic about it. We should do it where it's reasonable and where it makes sense. Many small business owners say they want Canadians to continue supporting local businesses, regardless of where they purchase their inventory from. Karina Zapata, CBC News, Calgary.

An avalanche has killed a skier in southeastern BC. The Mounties say they got a report Monday night of two missing men who had been skiing in the mountain southeast of the town of Golden near the Alberta border. One of the men died and his body was retrieved Tuesday. A BC judge says some charter rights were breached during arrests of the Wet'suwet'en pipeline blockade. Three people who took part in the blockades of the coastal gasoline pipeline were found guilty last year.

But they argue that police used excessive force and treated them unfairly. And as Jackie McKay reports, the judge agreed with some of their arguments. Even though we didn't get the stay of proceedings, I really consider this a victory nonetheless. Defense lawyer Francis Mahon says it's rare for a court to find an abusive process. The accused are Slato, a wing chief of the Gittimten clan of the Wet'suwet'en nation, Shailen Sampson, a Gitsan woman with Wet'suwet'en family ties, and Corey Jacampson, a Gitsan woman with Wet'suwet'en family ties, and Corey Jaco, who is Ganya Gehega from Akwesasne. Justice Michael Tannin of the BC Supreme Court says a reduction in sentence would be appropriate

because of serious acts of racism that occurred. RCMP officers compared Slato and Sampson to orcs and ogres in audio recordings played in court. The officers didn't know they were being recorded at the time. The justice also says the RCMP should have obtained warrants before entering the cabins to arrest the accused. These acts breached their section seven charter rights. The judge will take all of this into account when sentencing happens in the coming months. Jackie McKay, CBC News, Vancouver. A jury in Los Angeles has reached a verdict in the trial of rapper A$AP Rocky.

We, the jury of the above entitled action, find a defendant, Raquem Mayors, not guilty of the crime. Cheers erupt in the courtroom after Rocky was found not guilty of two counts of felony assault for firing a handgun at a former friend. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Neal Hurland.