The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/09/16 at 16:00 EDT

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/09/16 at 16:00 EDT

Did you know that it was once illegal to shop on Sundays? That's true for when I was born. I remember this, and I'm not that old. I'm not, okay? Leave me alone. Anyway, I'm Phelan Johnson, and I host See You in Court, a new podcast about the cases that changed Canada and the ordinary people who drove that change. From the drugstore owner who defied the Lord's Day, to the migma man who defended his treaty right to fish, to the gay teacher who got fired and fought back. Find and follow, see you in court, wherever you get your. your podcasts. From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Kate McGilfrey.

Transport Minister Christia Freeland is quitting the liberal cabinet and won't run in the next election, but she will continue on as an MP for now. Kate McKenna has more. This is a new job? Can you talk to us about your new job? About some sort of soundbikes. Krista Freeland left her last cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning. She's leaving her role as transport minister to serve as special representative for the Reconstruction of Ukraine. For more than a decade, Freeland has been a key figure on Parliament

Hill. Ontario Premier Doug Ford says she will be missed. Yeah, she's always a friend. I talk to her almost daily and by daily and she's a good person and she'll do a great job over in Ukraine and I support her all the way. Freeland played a leading role in renegotiating NAFTA and signing a trade deal with Europe. She also resigned from Cabinet last fall, setting into motion the events that would see Justin Trudeau resign. In a letter posted on social media, she thanked Canadians for the privilege of serving. Kate McKenna, CBC News, Ottawa. Canada is getting a failing grade when it comes to housing affordability, access to health care, and the social safety net.

Food Bank's Canada came out with its annual Poverty Report Card. It says more than one in four Canadians are currently living with some kind of food insecurity. Neil Hetherington is CEO at Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank. He says the government can help by boosting the Canadian disability benefit in the upcoming budget. Right now it's at $200 per month. Somebody who is on disability incomes is living in deep poverty, and they're having to come to the Daily Bread Food Bank, and so we want to see those income supports raised right away.

The report does say there are some signs of hope offered by initiatives like affordable housing programs and the new Canadian dental care program. The Quebec mother, who abandoned her young child in a field in Ontario, will remain detained at the psychiatric facility where she's being treated. The three-year-old was reported missing in June and was found alive three days later. The woman was declared not criminally responsible yesterday for child abandonment and life endangerment. Today, the judge ruled her mental health remains fragile, and he agreed with the crown that the woman poses a threat to public safety.

The woman will be allowed occasional outings with certain conditions. Israel has launched a major ground offensive into Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. It's happening as the United Nations Commission of Inquiry released a new and damning report into Israeli actions in Gaza. It says there are reasonable grounds to conclude that Israel has carried out several genocidal acts against Palestinians since the start of its war with Hamas in 2023. UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez says Israel's actions are unacceptable.

The truth is that this is something that it is morally, politically, and legally intolerable. Israel has denounced this report as distorted and false. And Hollywood legend Robert Redford has passed away at the age of 89. Some of his films include The Sting, Three Days of the Condor, The Way We Were, and All the President's Men. Ali Shiasan has more on his life and legacy. I'll jump first. Nope.

Then you jump first. 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, one of many legendary titles. Robert Redford was a part of during his six-decade-long career. Redford has died. His publicist confirming, quote, he passed away at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah, the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved. Redford's official biographer, Michael Feeney Callan,

says he was more than just a leading man. He was very focused on the issue of time and life and the opportunity he had in the talents he had to do something positive, contribute something positive. Part of his legacy is climate, activism and starting the Sundance Film Festival. Some of the greats he starred alongside are paying tribute. Merrill Streep's statement reads,

One of the Lions has passed. Rest in peace, my lovely friend. And Jane Fonda says, he stood for an America, we have to keep fighting for. Robert Redford was 89. Ali Chiesin, CBC News, Toronto. And that is the world this hour. For news any time, head to our website, cBCNews.ca. For CBC News, I'm Kate McGilfrey.

Thank you.