The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/04/20 at 06:00 EDT

Episode Date: April 20, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/04/20 at 06:00 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 Registeredleader 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 Claude Fague. Liberal leader Mark Carney has unveiled his costed election platform. It proposes billions in new spending, but also promises a deficit that shrinks over the next four years.

Karina Roman reports. The biggest expenditures in the Liberal platform are the previously announced income tax cut, the scrapping of the capital gains tax changes, and the Build Canada Homes plan for affordable housing. There's $18 billion in new defence spending that the Liberals say would get Canada to the 2% of GDP spending target before 2030. Overall, there's $130 billion over four years of new measures, with the deficit projected downwards from nearly 62 billion this year to 47 billion in 2029.

Liberal leader Mark Carney. The numbers do add up very much. That is how you meet the moment. That is how you meet a crisis. There are a slew of new promises in the costed platform, including a comprehensive review of government programs estimated to save the government 28 billion dollars. The Liberals account for counter-tariff revenues only for this year, signaling their hope that the trade war with the U.S. will get settled. Karina Roman, CBC News, Peterborough, Ontario. The New Democrats have also released their election platform. It contains billions of dollars in both new spending and revenues.

The NDP says much of that spending is about helping the middle class. David Thurton reports. That's why today I'm proud to share our campaign commitments. Jagmeet Singh says the NDP's platform is focused on workers. The document contains massive commitments to public health care. The party would spend $46 billion over four years to provide every Canadian with a family doctor, expand pharmacare and improve mental health coverage. We'll make mental health care part of public health care.

No more waiting, no more choosing between your well-being and your bank account. These and other measures will worsen the federal bottom line the NDP admits, adding $48 billion to the projected deficit over four years. The NDP plans to offset that with taxing those who are extremely wealthy. The party expects that that measure alone could generate more than $94 billion in federal revenues. David Thurton, CBC News, Burnaby. In B.C., Conservative leader Pierre Pollyaev announced that he would impose mandatory drug

treatment for those suffering from addiction to illegal narcotics like fentanyl. This policy is not about punishment, it's about redemption. It's about getting people off the streets and out of addiction, back into a society where they can live rich, fulfilling lives and take full advantage of the Canadian promise. Those convicted of possessing small amounts of narcotics but not committing violent offenses would get treatment instead of prison. Bloc Québécois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet is reaffirming his party's goals for clean energy.

The CBC's Evan Dyer has more. Many Quebec reporters asking Yves-Francois Blanchet about his position on pipelines. We have seen a shift in public opinion on pipelines. The Energy East proposal, of course, was broadly rejected a few years ago, but public opinion in Quebec is quite a bit more sympathetic to the idea of East-West pipelines carrying Canada's fossil fuels to the coast to export to Asian and European markets. The bloc, though, remains firmly opposed to that, and Yves-Francois Blanchet has continued to say that he's in favor of a clean energy corridor running into the United States. His argument is that the natural corridors for energy in North America run north-south,

not east-west, and that Quebec serves the market of New England, which he says is opposed to Donald Trump. And in fact, he has generally minimized the threat of Donald Trump on the campaign trail. He said that even if public opinion continues to shift in Quebec, he's going to remain opposed. Evan Dyer, CBC News, MaGog, Quebec. And that is Your World This Hour. Remember, you can listen to us as a podcast updated every hour seven days a week. For CBC News, I'm Claude Fague.