The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/03/19 at 15:00 EDT

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/03/19 at 15:00 EDT

Did you know it was nearly eight o'clock at night in Washington when Donald Trump set a date for Canadian tariffs? I think we'll do it February 1st. And his plan for steel and aluminum just sort of slipped out on the way to the Super Bowl. It's going to have a 25% tariff. The new U.S. administration is making news that matters to Canadians whenever and wherever it wants. And we stay on top of it. I'm Stephanie Scanderis, the weekend host of your World Tonight from CBC News. Find us wherever you get your podcasts.

From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Tom Harrington. Pierre Poliev says a conservative government would fast track the development of rare mineral deposits in Northern Ontario. He made the announcement on an election-style visit to Sudbury. It would be life-changing for northern Ontario towns, galvanizing thousands of paychecks and modern infrastructure. It would help our First Nations become richer. It would boost our economy with billions of dollars, allowing us to become less dependent on the Americans after we start selling those resources overseas.

Pauliev also says his government would spend a billion dollars to build road infrastructure in the Ring of Fire. The region north of Thunder Bay contains vast deposits of nickel, copper, platinum and cobalt, potentially worth tens of billions of dollars. Ontario Premier Doug Ford is promising to speed up provincial development approvals. Meantime, Pauliev is seizing on remarks made by Donald Trump last night. Poliev paints himself as the tougher opponent when it comes to negotiating with the US President. Rafi Boujikanein has more.

The president said that having a liberal prime minister would be easier for him to deal with, just as he threatened once again to make us the 51st state. Conservative leader Pierre Paulievre adding a new line of attack to his pre-election campaign rhetoric. I'm a strong leader. I'm a tough guy to deal with. Donald Trump has loomed over Canadian politics for months, especially after starting the current trade war with Ottawa.

On Fox News last night, he weighed in on the coming election campaign. The conservative that's running is stupidly no friend of mine. I don't know him, but he said negative things. And that's not all he had to say. I think it's easier to deal with a liberal and maybe they're going to win, but I don't really care. An election call could come in a matter of days. Rafi Boudjikani on CBC News, Ottawa. The White House says the U.S. will continue to share intelligence with Ukraine to help with its defense. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says the presidents of the U.S. and Ukraine spoke for about an hour.

We have never been this close to peace and it's only because of President Trump that we are here. Today's conversation follows one Donald Trump had yesterday with Vladimir Putin. The Russian president had agreed to temporarily stop attacking Ukrainian energy facilities, but he declined to back a full 30-day ceasefire. Levitt says the Ukrainian president reiterated his willingness for that ceasefire. She also says Volodymyr Zelensky asked Trump for additional air defense systems. The president agreed to help Ukraine find what it needs in Europe. The backlash against Tesla now threatening its bottom line.

Vehicles and dealerships have been vandalized across North America by protesters due to Elon Musk's role in the Trump administration. Nisha Patel reports. Across North America, Tesla has become a target. Two activists were arrested today after vandalizing a Montreal dealership. Earlier this week, police say Molotov cocktails were used to set Teslas on fire at a Las Vegas showroom. Now the Vancouver International Auto Show has removed the carmaker from the event, citing safety concerns. Marketing

professor Marvin Ryder says Musk's close involvement with US President Donald Trump and his mission to cut government spending is the main reason behind the attacks. My guess is it's going to get worse before it's going to get better because Mr. Musk is quite committed to seeing the Doge mandate through. Musk defended his actions on Fox News. Tesla is a peaceful company we've never done anything harmful. I've never done anything awful. I've only done productive things. Tesla may be starting to take a hit

financially. Sales are slowing and the stock has dropped 38% so far this year. Nisha Patel, CBC News, Toronto. The US Federal Reserve has left its key interest rate unchanged at four to half percent. The Fed says the U.S. economy continues to expand at a solid pace and unemployment has stabilized at a low level. But the central bank warns inflation remains elevated and it has to navigate new uncertainty created by the economic policies of the Trump administration. The Fed has also indicated it is likely to have two quarter percent rate cuts later this year.

And that is Your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Tom Harrington. Thanks for listening.