The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/03/20 at 10:00 EDT

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/03/20 at 10:00 EDT

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CBC News has confirmed that Prime Minister Mark Carney will dissolve Parliament and call an election this coming Sunday. It means the campaign will officially get underway just two weeks after Carney replaced Justin Trudeau as PM. Janice McGregor has more. Two big questions remain here. The precise length of this campaign, will it be five or six weeks with a vote on April 28th or May 5th? We'll see. And where will election rookie Mark Carney run? He's

been asked multiple times, but he hasn't said. Carney's in Edmonton this morning where he grew up, where he kicked off his leadership campaign. He'll be meeting with Alberta Premier Daniel Smith, making a housing announcement, and no doubt face more questions about whether he's going to run in Edmonton riding just like his father did when he was an unsuccessful liberal candidate in 1980. Pierre Polyev is up in the Saguenay region of Quebec meeting reporters this morning and Jean-Claire are riding held by the block at the moment, but shaping up to be a battleground seat.

And Jagmeet Singh is in Hamilton this morning showing his solidarity with the steelworkers on the front lines of Trump's trade war and bolstering New Democrat fortunes in a part of Ontario that's often a three-way electoral battleground. Janice McGregor, CBC News, Ottawa. Already in a trade war with the United States, Canada is now facing retaliatory tariffs from China. As of today, Beijing is answering Canada's tariff action from last year on electric vehicles by issuing levies on Canadian agriculture and Canadian seafood. Heather Gillis reports from St. John's. How could this possibly be happening? What is happening?

Newfoundland and Labrador seafood processor Paul Grant is bracing for stormy seas. A 25 percent Chinese tariff on Canadian seafood exports is in effect. And a 25 percent tariff from Canada's largest buyer, the United States, is expected on April 2nd. We're in a very difficult situation. Statistics Canada says last year, Canada exported 1.1 billion dollars worth of seafood to China, making it the country's second largest market. Newfoundland and Labrador has been trying to diversify,

find other buyers. But alternatives like Japan have a weak currency. That's our crab. In Vancouver, there's no less anxiety. Greg Nelson, a seafood seller, says margins are too tight to absorb the tariff. I imagine with the tariffs, we won't ship any crap to China at this point.

Nelson says if tariffs last he worries it could force businesses to close. Heather Gillis, CBC News, St. John's. Health officials in Gaza say at least 58 people have been killed today as this week's renewed Israeli military campaign in the territory is now into its third day. and the territory is now into its third day. That is Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatening, quote, complete destruction and devastation unless all Israeli hostages are released by Hamas. A special meeting of the UN Security Council has been called Fort Morrill. Now to Washington, where US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order today that will shut down the federal education department.

Sarah Lovett has more. It was a major campaign promise from Trump to remove red tape and what they call bureaucratic barriers. In this case, his education secretary, Linda McMahon, has said the move is meant to better allow parents to make the best educational choices for their children. Since the Department of Education was established in 1980, we've spent over a trillion dollars to see our scores continue to go down. The Education Department was created by Congress, and technically it would need Congress to approve its complete dismantling.

But the Trump administration hasn't been deterred by any potential legal actions so far and there's already been moves through the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency which has laid off thousands in the department but you can expect this executive order to go to court. Sarah Levitt, CBC News, Washington. And that is The World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Joe Cummings.