The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/10/22 at 22:00 EDT

Episode Date: October 23, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/10/22 at 22:00 EDT

The spirit of innovation is deeply ingrained in Canada, and Google is helping Canadians innovate in ways both big and small, from mapping accessible spaces so the disabled community can explore with confidence, to unlocking billions in domestic tourism revenue. Thousands of Canadian companies are innovating with Google AI. Innovation is Canada's story. Let's tell it together. Find out more at g.co slash Canadian Innovation. From CBC News, the world this hour, I'm Neil Hurland.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is giving a preview of the next federal budget. In a speech tonight at the University of Ottawa, Carney warned that government spending cuts will be announced on November 4th. The upcoming budget will balance the operating deficit in three years by reducing wasteful government spending and doing more with less. to the fact is that federal spending has been growing over the course of the last decade by more than 7% year over year. We've been spending faster than our economy was growing.

So we have to change that, and our government is changing that. Carney vows to double Canada's non-U.S. exports in the next decade to buffer against our reliance on American trade, but Carney is also trying to prepare Canadians for tough economic times ahead. And to be clear, we won't transform our economy. economy easily or in a few months. It will take some sacrifices and it will take some time. Our government will work relentlessly to cut waste and drive efficiencies. And when we have to make difficult choices, we will be thoughtful, we'll be transparent, and will be fair.

Carney vows to keep some of the big spending programs that were part of the Trudeau years, including the national dental care, child care, and school food programs. The U.S. is slapping sanctions on Russia's two biggest oil companies. Look, these are tremendous sanctions. These are very big. And we hope that they won't be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled. U.S. President Donald Trump says it was simply time. The sanctions come after Moscow bombarded Ukraine with drones and missiles.

During an attack that killed several people, including children. Earlier this week, Washington shelved plans for face-to-face negotiations between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest. Alberta is planning to make it easier for residents to pay privately for screening tests. Patients would only be reimbursed if the tests identify a life-threatening condition. Julia Wong reports. Alberta's preventative health services minister, Adriana Lagrange, says the province will allow Albertans to privately buy diagnostic tests.

That will include MRIs, CT scans, full body scans, and blood work. If the test reveals a life-threatening condition, the provincial government will cover the cost of the test. If it does not, no reimbursement. It means the government will save massive amounts of tax dollars by catching an individual's health problem much earlier. Health policy expert Lurian Hardcastle at the University of Calgary says equitable access is a concern.

If we have people who are very sick and can't afford to buy private services and those people are being made to wait longer, they could end up in worse shape and costing the public system more. Hardcastle also questions whether Ottawa could withhold federal money because Alberta will allow private payments for medically necessary services. Julia Wong, CBC News, at Minton. A cryptocurrency exchange registered in British Columbia has been fined $177 million. Canada's financial intelligence agency says it failed to flag thousands of

transactions linked to criminal activity. As Cameron McIntosh reports, it's the largest fine Fintrack has ever levied. Cryptomus now, 7 million of transactions. On YouTube, Cryptomus builds itself as a safe and secure platform for cryptocurrencies. Fintrack, Canada's National Financial Intelligence Agency, says it found the platform hosted more than 2,500 transactions connected to child pornography, fraud, ransomware, and evasion of sanctions against Iran. But we are systematically being exploited by bad actors. Security expert Christian Luprecht says, while the heavy fine serves as a deterrent to others, the case exposes weaknesses in Canada's financial regulation.

The best we can do is levy a large fine that is unlikely to be paid. The federal government says it's including funding for a new financial crimes agency in the next federal budget. Cameron McIntosh, CBC News, Winnipeg. And that is your world this hour. I'm Neil Hurland.