The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/04/17 at 02:00 EDT

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/04/17 at 02:00 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. Federal party leaders squared off in the first debate of the election campaign. The leaders of the four major parties went head to head in French tonight. As Rafi Boujikhanian reports, Liberal leader Marc Carney was the main target of his three opponents. On shake dans nos culottes quand l'automobile va pas bien?

We shake in our pants when Ontario's auto industry is not doing well, said Yves-François Blanchet, the leader of the Bloc Québécois trying to paint liberal Marc Carney as someone who does not have Quebec's interests at heart, saying he's helping the auto industry with massive counter tariffs but not his province's aluminum sector. Your numbers are off, Carney pushed back. Blanchet also attacked him and other party leaders on their finances, accusing them of making Harry Potter budget promises. Conservative leader Pierre Polièvre did reveal where he would make some cuts. We'll get rid of government consultants, he said, and added he would also cut down

on bureaucracy by attrition, not replacing every public sector worker who retires. He will cut health services. Mark Carney also made it clear. retires. The NDP's Jagmeet Singh accusing both Poilèvre and Carney of targeting health care for cuts, something both men deny. Rafi Mujikhan, YonCBC News, Montreal. And my colleagues Susan Bonner and Pia Chattopadhyay will bring you full coverage of the federal leaders English language debate Thursday night. Then it's your chance to weigh in with a special debate edition of Cross Country Checkup. It all begins at 7 p.m. Eastern on CBC Radio

One, and the CBC Listen app. A crucial battleground in the federal election is the 905 area code, the ring of cities around Toronto. It's been dominated by the Liberals for the past three elections, but it was key to conservative victories under Stephen Harper. Mike Crawley takes us to a riding that's seen as a must-win for Pierre Poliev's team. Drivers commuting home in the riding of Aurora Oak Ridge's Richmond Hill, a prime target for the Conservatives. The Liberals won this seat by fewer than 1,500 votes last election. Their slimmest margin of victory in the Greater Toronto area. That is the battleground. Fred DeLorey is a former National Campaign Director for the Conservatives.

He says the 31 seats in this region are pivotal. There's tight, tight races and any path to government goes through the 905. What's on voters' minds here? Number one that we do not become the 51st state, for sure. I am not happy with the Liberals. They just seem to do the same thing over and over again. Currently I'm undecided. We'll see what they say in the next coming weeks.

The Tories have had success in this riding before, as recently as 2019, and in 2011 took every seat in the 905 but one. Mike Crawley, CBC News, Richmond Hill, Ontario. Communities across Canada continue to grapple with the toxic drug supply. In Saskatoon, first responders are speaking out over an alarming surge in overdoses. The city is seeing hundreds of overdoses and nine suspected deaths over the last month. Alexander Silberman reports.

Control line 100 calling. On the streets of downtown Saskatoon, Sergeant Chris Harris is responding to an increasingly common emergency. Unconscious, breathing, possible OD. A young man sprawled on the pavement, believed to have overdosed on fentanyl. Harris quickly administers naloxone, a drug that can reverse the effects and save the man's life. Saskatoon reported more than 450 overdoses last month, with a two-week stretch of one overdose call per hour. Harris says those on the front lines are overwhelmed.

There's just not enough resources out there to help all these people. The Saskatchewan government has opened an emergency operations centre. They've also promised additional first responder staff and naloxone kits, but frontline workers say social services and housing are desperately needed. Alexander Silberman, CBC News, Regina. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Neal Herland.