The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/04/16 at 19:00 EDT

Episode Date: April 16, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/04/16 at 19:00 EDT

1942, Europe. Soldiers find a boy surviving alone in the woods. They make him a member of Hitler's army. But what no one would know for decades, he was Jewish. Could a story so unbelievable be true? I'm Dan Goldberg. I'm from CBC's personally, Toy Soldier. Available now wherever you get your podcasts. From CBC News, the world this hour, I'm Juliane Hazelwood. Federal leaders are squaring off right now in the French language debate, but the field was reduced by one after the exclusion of the Green Party. The Greens had reduced the number of candidates running in the election

for strategic reasons, and so the commission overseeing the debate says the party no longer meets the criteria for inclusion. Green Party co-leader Elizabeth May says the last-minute move is undemocratic and outrageous. The consistency in it is its inconsistency. A desire by larger parties to keep out the Green Party, a desire by establishment forces, whether editorial boards like the Globe and Mail or the National Post, to exclude Greens, to increasingly move to a two-party system. The Commission's decision extends to tomorrow's English language debate, when again only four leaders will spar on the debate stage.

Ontario is taking the first step towards breaking down interprovincial trade barriers. The Premier has signed free trade agreements with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Larenda Reddacop reports. Premier Doug Ford signed a memorandum of understanding first with the Premier of Nova Scotia, then with the leader of New Brunswick. They repeatedly used the example of a frozen pizza made in Nova Scotia, acceptable there, so it would be considered safe in Ontario. Premier Ford says internal trade adds to the cost of doing business.

You talk about tariffs, my goodness. We've been tariffing each other it seems for decades, generations actually. Another example? Construction safety vests with different rules on the bright orange and glowing X's in different provinces. NDP leader Marit Stiles says she wants to know more about what this would mean for health and safety standards. Ontario has some of the highest in the country.

We are looking to raise the bar, protect those standards. Ontario has some of the highest in the country. We are looking to raise the bar, protect those standards. The three premiers see this as a first step and would like to bring others on board. Lorena Radacopp, CBC News, Toronto. The Bank of Canada has announced it's holding its current interest rate at 2.75 percent. Its decision favors caution in the face of unpredictable American trade policy. Governor Tiff Macklem says the bank is waiting to see the effect of the tariffs on the Canadian economy. Tiff Macklem, Governor of Canada, Canada, face with pervasive uncertainty, governing council will proceed carefully with particular attention to the risks. That means being less

forward looking than usual until the situation is clear. The bank predicts one of two scenarios. In the first, U.S. President Donald Trump reverses his tariff policy with minimal damage. And in a long-lasting trade war, Canada would fall into a recession. Macklem maintains monetary policy can't resolve trade uncertainty, but it can control inflation. This is the first time since June the bank won't be cutting its rate. California governor Gavin Newsom has announced his state is suing the Trump administration over tariffs it imposed on other countries. This is recklessness at another level. The geopolitical

impacts are outsized. The trade impacts are outsized not just the economic. Newsom says 44% of California's imports come outsized, not just the economic. Newsom says 44 percent of California's imports come from Canada, Mexico and China. And the global tariffs imposed by Donald Trump are disproportionately affecting the Golden State. The governor calls the president's trade policy toxic and uncertain. California is the largest economy in the U.S. and the fifth largest in the world. The U.S. has imposed a 25% tax on Canadian and Mexican imports not covered by the North American Free Trade Agreement and a whopping 145% charge on Chinese goods. A US federal judge is threatening to charge the Trump administration with criminal contempt

of court. The judge says Trump officials are willfully ignoring an order to return hundreds of migrants deported to El Salvador. The ruling raises the stakes in a growing number of clashes between Trump and the courts. The president is standing by deportations. The court says we're illegal. And that is Your World This Hour. You can listen to us wherever you get your podcasts updated every hour, seven days a week. For CBC News, I'm Julianne Hazelwood.