The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/09/04 at 11:00 EDT

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/09/04 at 11:00 EDT

We're in the midst of the dog days of summer. And it's called that because during this period, Sirius, the dog star, rises with the sun in the morning. Not because it feels like several dogs are breathing their humid breath on you all the time. Can you tell he's a cat person? Hello, I'm Neil Kerkstel. And I'm Chris Houghton. We're the co-hosts of As It Happens.

But throughout the summer, some of our wonderful colleagues will be hosting in our place. We will still be bringing you conversations with people at the center of the day's major news stories here in Canada and throughout the world. You can listen to As It Happens wherever you get your podcasts. From CBC News, it's the world this hour. I'm Joe Cummings. We're getting an update today on Canada's trade war with the United States. Statistics Canada is out with its latest international trade numbers,

and they're showing that despite the Trump tariffs, exports to the U.S. or up again last month. Peter Armstrong has more. The Canadian economy is showing some remarkable resiliency. Total exports are up. This is the third consecutive monthly increase we've seen. And if you scale out over the year, through the first seven months of 2025, exports are up 1% compared to last year.

Now, month-to-month exports to the United States, those were up 5% in July, largely driven by crude oil and passenger cars. But over that same seven-month period to start the year, U.S. total exports through that period are down 2.9%. Now, it's safe to say the reason it's been so resilient is largely due to those vast exemptions for QSMA compliant products. 90% of what Canadian sell to the U.S. is tariff-free, at least for now. And that is why those U.S.-Canada negotiations are so important. Peter Armstrong, CBC News, Toronto. Prime Minister Mark Carney and his cabinet are meeting again today in Toronto, preparing for this month's resumption of Parliament.

And budget talks are at the very top of the agenda, with the liberals looking to table their first budget under Carney within a matter of a few weeks. Tom Perry reports. I want to be straight with Canadians. Prime Minister was straight yesterday. Tough choices ahead. Finance Minister Francoa Philippe Champagne kicking off the final day of a cabinet planning session, dropping hints of what's coming in the federal budget. set to be tabled next month.

We're going to be ambitious in our investment and rigorous in how we manage our expenses. Champagne echoing his boss, Prime Minister Mark Carney, who says his government's first budget will combine investment with austerity. Carney has already signaled where he plans to spend more on defense, infrastructure, and housing. To do that, though, the government will need to find savings in other areas. Champagne has already instructed federal departments to identify possible cuts, including cuts to the civil service.

The upcoming budget has been a main focus of this two-day cabinet session as ministers prepare for the return of Parliament and a busy fall agenda. Tom Perry, CBC News, Toronto. The Liberal Cabinet was going to hear today from Kevin Roberts, but that appearance has now been cancelled. Roberts is the head of a prominent conservative think tank and one of the authors of Project 2025. It's a policy blueprint that promises a drastic overhaul of the U.S. government.

The Prime Minister's office will only say that Roberts has indicated he can no longer take part in today's discussions. A cult leader who calls herself the Queen of Canada is now in police custody. Romana Dietolo and her followers have been living in a former school in a Saskatchewan village about three hours west of Regina. The RCMP carried out a raid yesterday and arrested 16 adults. Jeffrey Tram has the details. Leave the phone down. You're under arrest. All right. She calls herself the Queen of Canada, and now she's in police custody.

Romano Didolo's arrest was captured by her phone in a live stream. Didolo was one of 16 adults taken by Saskatchewan RCMP. After they received the report of a firearm, Deidolo and her followers have been in Saskatchewan for two years. Her group stems from a larger QAnon movement. Christine Sartesky is an expert on cults at Chatham University. The idea of QAnon has evolved over the years. but it's essentially people who believe that there is a group of secret people

who are running the government. Sarteschi says followers of the Saskatchewan cult believe Diedelow is the ultimate authority. She is effectively the supreme ruler of all the land. RCMP won't confirm if the 15 others taken into custody with Diedelow are followers. They say the investigation is in its early stages. Jeffrey Tram, CBC News, Regina. And that is the world this hour. For CBC News, I'm Joe Cummings.