The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/04/16 at 23:00 EDT

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/04/16 at 23:00 EDT

When they predict we'll fall, we rise to the challenge. When they say we're not a country, we stand on guard. This land taught us to be brave and caring, to protect our values, to leave no one behind. Canada is on the line, and it's time to vote as though our country depends on it, because like never before, it does. I'm Jonathan Pedneau, co-leader of the Green Party of Canada.

This election, each vote, makes a difference. Authorized by the registered agent of the Green Party of Canada. From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Neal Herland. We begin in Montreal, where four major party leaders faced off tonight in the French language election debate. Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet took aim at Liberal leader Mark Carney.

You claim to have expertise in crisis management. I have not seen any. You say that you're an expert in managing a crisis. You're a negotiator, but, well, perhaps, negotiating with tax havens. But when it comes to trade agreements, I haven't seen the proof. We apparently have to believe you with no havens. But when it comes to trade agreements, I haven't seen the proof. We apparently have to believe you with no political experience. And so I find this kind of funny because people say we have to unite and work together. On the one hand, you have never spoken

to me before this evening. And Carney tried to defend his track record. I've just started as Prime Minister. I've been Prime Minister for a month. In the first week, I signed an agreement with the Premiers of all the provinces, the Premier of Quebec and the Premiers of all the provinces and territories concerning free trade within Canada. It's also an agreement that deals with trade corridors. That's an example. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative leader Pierre Pahliev also took part. The Conservative leader was asked if he would build more oil pipelines as Prime Minister. We. Yes. And we have to be able to get it to market by pipeline.

Unfortunately, the other parties passed an unconstitutional law, C-69, which is a no-more-pipelines bill. The Green Party was excluded from the debate at the last minute because it failed to meet the criteria already established by the debate organizers. The CBC's Rosemary Barton was watching the debate in Montreal tonight and has this analysis. It was not a chaotic debate. It was not a debate where people interrupted people too much. It is not surprising. I wouldn't think to anybody that Mark Carney was under attack from all sides tonight. Yves-Rossard Blanchet really went after him on multiple accounts. But I was very surprised too by the energy of Jagmeet Singh. Jagmeet Singh came out swinging on going after the conservatives and liberals, picked on Mark Carney multiple times, but he actually was more aggressive than I expected. Mark Carney did fine. I think that he struggled

sometimes to get into the debate because of the language, not that it's a barrier, but it's a bigger obstacle for him. So I think he got better as the course of the debate went on. And Pierre Poiliev, if people were expecting to see the attack dog that we are used to seeing in parliament, that is not who we got tonight. We got someone who was more calmly litigating his points and his policies because there were some stark differences on pipelines, on immigration, on the CBC, on sovereignty of this country. The CBC's Rosemary Barton in Montreal. Water researchers are warning about low snowpack in the Rockies, and they say it could foreshadow

another difficult summer for Alberta, from farmers to firefighters. Aaron Collins has more. Our forested site snow surveys are half of what we expect for this time of year. Professor John Pomeroy sounding the alarm. The director of the Global Water Futures Observatory Project says snowpack in the Rockies is extremely low this year. And Pomeroy says that raises the likelihood of drought and water restrictions in Alberta this summer.

Nothing new about droughts, but to have end on end droughts, we seem to be seeing more of this and of course the temperatures are up, and that's global heating. Another dry summer, a problem for the province's farmers, but also making fertile conditions for wildfires. Todd Lowen is Alberta's forestry minister. He says wildfire personnel have been preparing for this season since the fall. In recent years, the scale, intensity,

and unpredictability of these fires have shown us just how important it is to be prepared." Lohan says Alberta has beefed up its ability to forecast wildfire conditions this year. Aaron Collins, CBC News, Calgary. The number of cross-border travelers going from Canada to the U.S. dropped dramatically in March. The U.S. Customs Agency says nearly 900,000 fewer people entered the U.S. from Canada

compared to the same period last year. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Neal Herland.