The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/04/17 at 01:00 EDT

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/04/17 at 01:00 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 Neil Herland. We begin in Montreal, where four major party leaders faced off tonight in the French language election debate. The Green Party was excluded at the last minute because it failed to meet the established criteria for inclusion, and the debate was held earlier because of the Montreal Canadiens

hockey game. Tom Parry reports. Bonsoir, Mesdames et Messieurs, Bienvenue. Almost from the start, it was Liberal leader Mark Carney on the defensive. You are just like Justin Trudeau. With Conservative leader Pierre Pauliev and Bloc leader Yves-Francois Blanchette looking to draw a direct connection between Carney and Justin Trudeau. It's the same party, the same ministers, the same ideology, Blanchette says. This election, the question, who will succeed? Carney, clearly the least comfortable in French, responded carefully and deliberately, arguing

this election is about choosing who will succeed and who is best to take on Donald Trump. You want to Americanize our system. That's not true. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh targeted Poliev and Carney and said it's New Democrats who will stand up for working Canadians. The leaders will go toe-to-toe once again Thursday night, this time in English. Tom Perry, CBC News, Ottawa. And in case you're wondering, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 to make the playoffs.

The CBC's Rosemary Barton was watching the debate in Montreal tonight and has this analysis. It was not a chaotic debate. Mary 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-Ross 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 the 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. Loewen 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 US from Canada compared to the same period last year. That's a 17% decline in travel. Observers say it's largely driven by US President Donald Trump's trade war and taunts towards Canada. March is typically one of the busiest months for US.-bound travel, with many people heading south for spring break. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Neal Herland.