The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/03/20 at 16:00 EDT

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/03/20 at 16:00 EDT

Overwhelmed by debt? You are not alone. Empower yourself with trusted solutions. Visit Canada.ca slash debt dash solutions and regain control with confidence. A message from the Government of Canada. [♪upbeat music playing.♪ From CBC News, the world this hour, I'm Mike Miles. The government needs a strong and clear mandate.

CBC News has confirmed Mark Carney will seek that mandate by calling a federal election Sunday. And that vote may be held as soon as April 28th. Carney declined to give details during a trip to Edmonton. The Prime Minister was there announcing help for Canadians trying to buy their first home. My new government will eliminate the GST for first time home buyers on all new and substantially renovated homes under a million dollars. This is a big deal.

This can provide up to $50,000 in savings for families entering the housing market. That proposal takes a page straight out of the Conservatives playbook. The governor of the Bank of Canada's warning the economy is headed for choppy waters. Tiff Macklem says the uncertainty caused by the Trump administration is harmful, but adds the Canadian economy is in good shape going into the trade war. We've had inflation around 2% since last summer. Growth in the Canadian economy picked up pretty smartly in the second half of last year. We started the year in good shape and we've lowered our policy interest rates substantially.

This is going to be difficult but we do think we are well positioned. Macklem says the key going forward for the bank and the economy in general is be flexible and adaptable. Ontario has seen another sharp increase in measles. Public Health Ontario is reporting 470 cases since an outbreak began in October. That's 120 more in just a week. The majority of cases are still located in the southwestern public health region and neighboring Grand Erie. That's Sprantford and other communities along the southern Grand River to Lake Erie. Again, the agency says the highly infectious disease spreads among mostly unvaccinated

people. There are now some answers about that Delta plane that crashed and overturned at Toronto's Pearson Airport last month. All 76 passengers and four crews survived, but 21 people suffered injuries, some serious. Now the Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary findings. The CBC's Nicole Williams has more. Oh no no no no no. The unforgettable moment the plane came crashing down, catching fire, skidding along the runway

and flipping over. Ever since there have been questions swirling about how this could have gone so horribly wrong. Investigators conducted several approaches and landings. The Transportation Safety Board has now released some initial findings, including that the plane was descending at a rate which set off an alert in the flight's final seconds, and upon touchdown, the right landing gear fractured. The TSB says it's still too early to draw any conclusions, but one thing the report

makes sure to mention, the experience of the crew. The TSB says these are complex investigations and generally take about 600 days to complete. Nicole Williams, CBC News, Ottawa. Sirens wailed in central Israel for the first time in months after Hamas and Yemen's Houthis launched rockets at the country. The attacks coming as Israeli troops expand their renewed campaign in Gaza. Crystal Gamounsing reports. Our air force intercepted one and two landed in open areas.

Israeli government spokesperson David Menzer says those Hamas rockets were aimed at the Tel Aviv area. The Houthis also targeted Israel before dawn. The group spokesperson said Ben-Gurion Airport was the target for a hypersonic ballistic missile. It was shot down before it reached Israeli airspace. In January I called the ceasefire deal a glimmer of light in the darkness. It feels like the darkness has returned. UK Foreign Minister David Lammy told Parliament efforts are underway with French and German officials to send a clear message that there needs to be a return to the ceasefire.

Meantime, Israel Defense Forces are issuing new warnings for Gaza residents to move west towards the coast. Several locations, especially those near the border, have been deemed combat zones. Crystal Gamansing, CBC News, Jerusalem. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Mike Miles.