The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/05/01 at 15:00 EDT

Episode Date: May 1, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/05/01 at 15:00 EDT

Have you ever wished you could grab a coffee with your favorite author? I may not be able to provide you with a latte, but you can join in on some coffee vibes conversations on my new show, Bookends. On Bookends, I sit down for honest conversations with some of today's literary stars, like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, whose latest book changed our perspective on motherhood and the nature of love. You can check out those conversations and more on Bookends with Matea Roach, wherever you get your podcasts. From CBC News, the world this hour, I'm Stephanie Scanderis.

Ontario's measles outbreak is accelerating at breakneck speed. Health officials are reporting 223 new cases since last week. That's a 20% increase in the cases the province has seen this entire year so far. The region overseen by Southwestern Public Health is dealing with the brunt of the outbreak. Dr. Ninh Tran says its full magnitude is not yet known. We know that our case counts is under representation of the activity out there. But I think the key message is still,

measles is out there circulating in our community and the best thing anyone can do is have two doses of measles containing vaccine. Health officials say those two doses provide nearly 100% protection. Alberta is also dealing with an outbreak reporting a total of 170 cases since March. Ontario's Attorney General says the province is not looking into electing its judges despite what the Premier says. This week Doug Ford accused some judges of being soft on crime and he suggested

judges be elected the way it's done in the US. But Attorney General Doug Downey says the premier is upset at a bail system he believes to be too lenient on repeat offenders. I think the frustration that it comes from is real. He's expressing what we're hearing at the doors and what we're hearing from people. It's not something that we're pursuing But it is important that we go after the offenders Ford had also expressed frustration at a judge's temporary injunction against the removal of bike lanes in downtown, Toronto A group of cyclists argues their removal could be unconstitutional Quebec is expected to impose a full ban on cell phones and other electronic devices in schools.

That's not just in classrooms, but on all school property. As Sarah Levitt tells us, the province is going further than any other jurisdiction in Canada. For us it's a good idea... David Bowles is the head of Quebec's Federation of Private Schools. He's also the director general of a school on Montreal's South Shore, where cell phones have been banned for a few years now. I think it's important that students be able to socialize at school, do social activities, borrow a football, a basketball, go play outside rather than

being on social media or scrolling on YouTube. Quebec is set to expand its ban from classrooms to entire schools including at recess and during lunch, starting in the fall. It's a key recommendation from a special committee looking at the impact of screen time on young people. Other provinces have banned cell phone use in recent policy changes, but all allow high schoolers to use them on breaks.

And Quebec will allow certain exceptions, including for health reasons and teaching needs. Sarah Levitt, CBC News, Montreal. Alberta is taking the federal government to court. Premier Danielle Smith says her province will not allow Ottawa to impose net zero electricity regulations. She says the constitution gives the province exclusive jurisdiction over power generation. We will not accept the reckless and dangerous policies, policies that will harm our economy, stifle our energy industry, jeopardize the reliability of our electricity grid,

and raise electricity prices for Albertans. Ottawa passed a law requiring electric systems to begin limiting greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels by 2035. The goal is to eliminate them completely by 2050. Alberta is mostly relying on natural gas to generate power. The National Security Advisor to the White House is leaving his job. Mike Walz will be reassigned as the US ambassador to the UN. His job has been in jeopardy ever since that signal fiasco. Waltz had mistakenly

added a journalist to a group chat used to discuss plans to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen. Replacing him temporarily is the U.S. top diplomat Marco Rubio. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce calls it good news. The president makes perfect assessments about who would implement his agenda and in this case he has chosen certainly the secretary and Mr. Walz to facilitate his agenda moving forward. Politicians and defense officials had criticized Walz. And that is Your World This Hour.

I'm Stephanie Scanderis.