The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/04/17 at 09:00 EDT

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/04/17 at 09:00 EDT

It's on. A federal election is here and party leaders are racing around Canada to convince you to give them your vote. We're seeing a lot of spin, a lot of promises and a lot of accusations swirling around. And we are here to filter through the noise. I'm Catherine Cullen, host of The House. And every Saturday we want to slow you down and make sure you're getting the big picture and deep context and everything you need to make politics make sense. Because democracy is a conversation and we're here for it. From CBC News, the world this hour.

I'm Claude Faye. Federal party leaders are gearing up for their second major showdown of this election campaign. They're going toe-to-toe tonight in the English debate prior to the April 28 election. Last night, French-speaking Canadians had their opportunity as the leaders debated for two hours en français. Janice McGregor reports. The format really allowed all four leaders to lay out stark differences between them and also reveal their personalities too. It was Yves-François Blanchet standing to Carney's left that got in the first early shot at the liberal frontrunner saying there's no proof actually that he's a master

negotiator and the best to take on Trump. And it was Jagmeet Singh who had the podium closest to Poliev that was most frequently tearing down what the conservative leader had to say, questioning early on the Harper government's actual track record for building housing. And later during the exchanges on immigration and foreign affairs, we also had Singh say it was disgusting and hateful to hear Poliev call the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, a terrorist organization, and say he'd cut it because it was a waste of money. That led to another uncomfortable moment when Singh asked Carney why he wouldn't call what's happening there a genocide. Carney said it's horrible, but he didn't want to politicize the conflict. Janice McGregor, CBC News, Ottawa.

The premiers of Manitoba and Nunavut have signed a joint statement that will help develop a transmission line from the province to the territory, diverting energy the province sells to the United States to the territory instead. Juanita Taylor reports. Manitoba Premier Wab Kanu and Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeruq signed an agreement to partner on a hydroelectric project. Because it's about nation building, it's about climate change, it's about the economy.

Canoe says his province's wealth of hydroelectric resources will be used to light up the North instead of the United States. On Tuesday, he signed an order to stop exporting 500 megawatts of power to the U.S. Because all Canadians know, after what they've heard from Trump for the past few months, that we need to really build up our country. The agreement commits 50 megawatts from Manitoba Hydro to help develop the Kivallak Hydro Fiberlink, a 1200-kilometre infrastructure project that will bring electricity and internet service to five communities and two mines, relieving them from burning diesel for power and heat.

Wynita Taylor, CBC News, Yelena Y. We're tracking a massive power outage in Puerto Rico this morning. The main electrical company initially said only 15 percent of its customers had service and hundreds of thousands of households had no water. The International Airport and several hospitals have been affected. The blackout comes just ahead of Easter weekend. The island's power company now says the power has been restored to nearly 42% of customers affected. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Maloney's good relationship with the US President Donald Trump will be put to the test today. This is the as the two leaders

prepare to meet in Washington, Maloney becomes the first European leader to meet Trump since he announced tariffs on European imports earlier this month. Political analyst, Cecilia Emma Sottilotta. On the one hand, she wants to present herself as the privileged partner of the US. On the other hand, she wants to look reliable

vis-a-vis European partners. Today's meeting comes amid concerns of a full blown trade war between the U.S. and the EU. Trump has been a fan of Maloney. He has described the right wing populist leader as quote, a fantastic woman. Scientists have made an interesting discovery using the James Webb Space Telescope.

We have found evidence for possible biological activity on an exoplanet. They're calling it the strongest science yet of possible life beyond our solar system. On a faraway planet, they detected the chemical fingerprints of gases that here on Earth are only made by biological creatures. And that is Your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Claude Figg. ...