The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/03/09 at 07:00 EDT

Episode Date: March 9, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/03/09 at 07:00 EDT

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. I'm Sorocu Quelo, Just Asking is live across the country on CBC Radio One on Saturday afternoons, 4 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Pacific. You can download the CBC News app for free

and use the local tab to stream us live. If you want to call with your questions during our live show, the number to call is 1-888-416-8333. That's 1-888-416-8333. And you can find and follow us wherever you get your podcasts. Front of cameras, Trump and Vice President JD Vance made a choice to berate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. What we need to do is acknowledge that Trump is a bully. Bullies look for weakness. That's why he's trolling us. Adult bullying is different than childhood bullying. Adult bullying is subtle. Adult bullying is political. Adult bullying is psychological.

When a coworker perceives you to be a threat at work, they usually play games with you to try and inflict pain on you by making your work life a living hell. If you can quit your job, if you can move to another part of the office, do it because it's worth it. They like to pit people against each other. They like to cause little office quarrels and they'll say one thing to one employee about another. You're gambling with World War III. Well, that last voice there, of course, you recognize all over the headlines in this last week. So yelling, threats, ganging up, US diplomacy definitely shifting away from a model of cooperation into something much more coercive.

And that's with Canada or Ukraine that's happening with the European Union. Donald Trump has taken a much harder approach than we are used to seeing, at least since 1945. And his supporters are saying he is just being a president acting in the interest of his voting public. But there are a lot of observers, not just on this side just being a president acting in the interest of his voting public. But there are a lot of observers, not just on this side of the border, but in the US as well, and political analysts who are accusing the president

of just being a downright bully. So we're gonna talk in this next hour about bullying, not just what we are seeing on that global stage, but how it plays out in our everyday lives, because there are some similarities here that are really interesting. Bullying is a sad, sad reality in just about every space we enter over the course of our lives. Playground to boardroom, there are just bullies everywhere. And you might even be one. Just brace yourself for some of the descriptions of what bullying

is because it might be showing up in your leadership style or the way that you behave on your housing co-op. So let's get into your questions. Why do some people bully? What is bullying? How do you address it? And what if you don't really hold any power? What do you actually do? I have two guests joining me.

I have Tony Volk, who is a professor of child and youth studies at Brock University and is an expert in bullying. And Linda Crockett, who is the founder of the Canadian Institute of Workplace Bullying Resources. You can call us with your questions about dealing with a bully at 1-888-416-8333. Again, for your questions about bullying, and that can really be what we're seeing on a global scale or what we're seeing in your everyday life.

One eight eight eight four one six eight three three three. Linda and Tony, hello, welcome. Hello there. Nice to be here. Tony, I'm going to start with you as you're as you're listening to us talk about that, about what we're seeing on the global stage. If you just turn and look at President Donald Trump, is he a bully?

I think it's pretty hard to argue that he isn't in that he's abusing his power to coerce others to get what he wants. And that's pretty much the definition of a bully, especially the fact that he's abusing the power advantage that he has to attack weaker neighbors or global citizens. What about you, Linda? Would you agree with Tony here? I would definitely agree that we're seeing some bullying tactics. No doubt about it. When you're

name-calling and you're shaming and you're blaming and you're exerting power like threats of World War III, these are definitely tactics of bullying. Tony, if we bring this down to the everyday experience, why does somebody become a bully in the first place? Well, the sad reality is that bullying can lead to a number of benefits. It can lead to getting resources.