The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/11/17 at 10:00 EST

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/11/17 at 10:00 EST

You may have heard of the sex cult nexium and the famous actress who went to prison for her involvement, Alison Mack. But she's never told her side of the story, until now. People assume that I'm like this pervert. My name is Natalie Robamed, and in my new podcast, I talked to Alison to try to understand how she went from TV actor to cult member and what she thinks of it all now. How do you feel about having been involved in bringing sexual trauma at other people? I mean, I don't even know how to answer that question. Alison, after Nexium from CBC's On Cover, is available now wherever you get your podcasts. From CBC News, it's the world this hour.

I'm Joe Cummings. The future of the Mark Carney Liberal government will be determined today. A confidence vote is being held on the liberal budget, and if it does not pass, the government could fall, and Canadians could be headed for an election. The liberals need two opposition votes or abstentions, and it's not clear yet if they'll get them. Janice McGregor has more. Everyone says they don't want an election right now, but no one wants to be the first to turn away. If the liberals were secretly hoping to trigger one, this is a funny budget to want to run on. It's not loaded up with short-term goodies for voters.

It's a narrative of long-term economic transformation that asks Canadians to be patient, have faith, trust them. The seven new Democrat MPs are meeting this morning to continue their deliberations. Two of them, interim leader Don Davies and BCMP Gore-Johns, admit there are things in this budget they ask for that would help the people they represent. But even if they don't vote in favor or abstain, in the first two budget votes, it was for conservative MPs who didn't turn up. Even though Pierre Polyev's office said Matt Jenneru wasn't resigning until spring, he didn't vote. Shannon Stubbs' office said she was on medical leave, but in the app that MPs used to vote remotely lets a riding be represented so long as an MP

can show their face and push a button. Janice McGregor, CBC News, Ottawa. The latest inflation numbers are out this morning from Statistics Canada with Statscan saying the number dropped to 2.2% in October down from 2.4 in September. The driving factor, according to Statscan, was falling gas,

grocery prices. Today's inflation update is the last before the Bank of Canada's final interest rate setting of the year. That's set for next month, December the 10th. From every indication, it appears Rogers' customers across the country are growing increasingly frustrated with the company's customer service. Being left on hold, being disconnected, it is a familiar story with many blaming a lack of competition and the lack of customer protection. GoPublic's Erica Johnson has more. Social media, Rogers customers complain of lengthy weights, getting the runaround disconnected. Former call center agents who handled Rogers customers worry it could get worse.

They were part of recent layoffs at a call center contracted by Rogers. Hundreds lost their jobs after the employees had helped train an AI system. Rogers won't say if their jobs were moved elsewhere or are just gone, claiming only that AI will enhance customer service by making agents more efficient. sort of move in a pack. Keldon Bester is executive director of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project. He says unhappy customers are the result of a lack of competition for Rogers, Bell, and TELUS. I think it's a symptom of how these industries see their customers in terms of loyalty,

but to see how much they can squeeze out of them. He points to other countries that are introducing better customer protections, like the ability in Germany to cancel a service with two clicks. Erica Johnson, CBC News, Vancouver. 45 people have been killed in a bus crash in Saudi Arabia. The victims are all Indian pilgrims who were traveling to the Holy City of Medina from Mecca. They say the bus collided with the tanker truck. Indian officials are now in the process of having the bodies flown back to India.

The CFL has a new Grey Cup champion. The Saskatchewan Ruff riders and Trevor Harris have won the Grey Cup. In Winnipeg last night before a sellout crowd, that's Saskatchewan Rough Riders winning this year's Grey Cup game. The riders beat the Montreal Alouettes, 25 to 17, with Saskatchewan quarterback Trevor Harris named the game's MVP. For the writer franchise, it's their fifth Grey Cup title. As for the victory parade, it goes tomorrow in downtown Regina. And that is the world this hour. For news anytime, go to our website, cbcnews.ca.ca.

For CBC News, I'm Joe Cummings.