The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/04/08 at 06:00 EDT

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/04/08 at 06:00 EDT

Scott Payne spent nearly two decades working undercover as a biker, a neo-Nazi, a drug dealer, and a killer. But his last big mission at the FBI was the wildest of all. I have never had to burn baubles. I have never had to burn an American flag. And I damn sure was never with a group of people that stole a goat, sacrificed it in a pagan ritual, and drank its blood. And I did all that in about three days with these guys. Listen to Agent Palehorse, the second season of White Hot Hate, available now.

From CBC News, it's the world this hour. I'm Joe Cummings. Conservative leader Pierre Poliev was the headliner last night at a sold-out campaign rally outside Edmonton. But while Poliev was center stage, the star of the show was actually former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Olivia Stavanovic has more. Canada right now needs change more desperately than it perhaps ever has. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper taking the stage in a large warehouse outside of

Edmonton. Harper endorsed Poliev in front of a crowd of thousands who lined up for hours to get into the rally. They cheered as Harper took a few swipes at Liberal leader Mark Carney, who was governor of the Bank of Canada when he was in power. I say that as the guy who actually did lead Canada through the global financial crisis. Harper also tried to blunt criticism about Poliev being a career politician by describing his political experience as the single most important skill set for a prime minister.

Olivia Estefanovic, CBC News, Nisku, Alberta. As for today, Pierre Poliev gets underway in the Edmonton area. He stays where he is. Fresh off his own rally last night in Richmond, BC, Liberal leader Mark Carney has plans, has stops planned for Delta and a visit to New Westminster before heading to Calgary. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is in Vancouver. Bloc leader Yves-Francois Blanchette is in Ottawa. And the Green Party unveils its health care plan today in Guelph, Ontario. Now to Beijing, where the Chinese government is now issuing its most pointed response to date to the Trump administration's ongoing tariff campaign.

Yenna Li reports. A spokesperson from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is accusing the U.S. of being unwilling to sit down and talk. If the U.S. insists on waging the tariffs war and trade war regardless of the interests of both countries and the international community, China will play along to the end. Until now, Beijing has actually given a measured response. Trump announced a 10% tariff in February, then another 10% in March, and each time China announced targeted retaliatory measures, showing its willingness to negotiate

and its capability to react. Now, Trump is threatening an additional 50% tariff. The tone has escalated. And Chinese financial markets, both mainland and in Hong Kong, have yet to recover after a catastrophic trading day on Monday. Yesterday, the Hang Seng saw its biggest one-day drop since 1997. Yenna Li for CBC News, Beijing. As the steel, aluminum and auto industries continue to grapple with US tariffs, there's another industry that's also trying to make sense of the evolving trade landscape, fashion. And even though Canadian brands may not face direct tariffs in the end, they will still pay a price. Paula Duhatschek has more.

What people have to understand is that making clothing in India and China, it's not just because labour is cheap. There's an expertise there that does not exist here. Jeremy Oldland co-owns the Montreal kids clothing brand Hatley. We're going to sell less product. It's going to hurt any way you do it. Stock prices for fashion giants, Aritzia and Lululemon, tumbled when the tariffs were announced and are still down. One of my members called this

tariff hell. Bob Kirk is executive director of the Canadian Apparel Federation. He says some big name companies had been shifting production out of China to try and get ahead of tariffs. But now the U.S. is also going after smaller manufacturing hubs like Vietnam. You're very much damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Trade lawyer John Buscarial says it's not just fashion companies who might be affected, but any business based in Canada who manufactures product overseas and sells it to U.S. customers. Whether we're talking clothing, retail, toys, other items. Paula Duhaczek, CBC News, Calgary. And that is The World This Hour. For news anytime, go to our website, cbcnews.ca. For CBC News, I'm Joe Cummings.