The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/12/23 at 01:00 EST

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/12/23 at 01:00 EST

This ascent isn't for everyone. You need grit to climb this high this often. You've got to be an underdog that always over-delivers. You've got to be 6,500 hospital staff, 1,000 doctors, all doing so much with so little. You've got to be Scarborough. Defined by our uphill battle and always striving towards new heights. And you can help us keep climbing.

Donate at lovescarbro.cairbo. From CBC News, the world this hour, I'm Neil Hurland. Canada's next ambassador to the U.S. is not a career diplomat, and that's the point. Prime Minister Mark Carney has named Mark Wiseman to the post. Analysts say it signals a shift for Carney's government, from traditional diplomacy to tough deal-making, as Canada prepares for important trade talks with the United States starting in January. Karen Paul's reports from Washington. The announcement wasn't a huge surprise.

Mark Wiseman's name was really the only one mentioned after the current ambassador, Kirsten Hillman, announced she was stepping down in the new year. Wiseman's a financier, CEO of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and a top manager at Black Rock, the world's largest asset manager. Detain de Silva is a former Alberta Deputy Minister for International Relations.

I think it's great that the Prime Minister has appointed someone in whom he has confidence and with whom he obviously has a strong personal relationship as that will be really key in these negotiations. But in Quebec, there's deep concern over Wiseman's criticism of supply management, something crucial to the province's dairy industry. Block Quebecois leader E. Francois-Blanchet,

saying with a huge economic problem facing Canada, he's not happy with an ambassador he says is openly indifferent or hostile to Quebecers. Weisman takes up his new post on February 15. Karen Paul's, CBC News, Washington. Alberta's election agency has approved a new question that could be put to residents in a referendum about separating from Canada. But any such vote is still a long way off. It reads, do you agree that the province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?

The Alberta Prosperity Project has four months now to collect the 178,000 signatures needed to force a vote. New numbers from Health Canada suggests the country is experiencing a wave of flu cases not seen in years. And as Lisa Sching reports, hospital admissions are also on the rise. This year is an H3N2 season. Infectious disease specialist, Isaac Boghash, on why the country is experiencing the highest flu positivity rate in the last three seasons. He says the rise in cases is because the H3N2 strain of influenza A known for more severe infections, is circulating the most. The component that protects us against H3N2 is not as good as we'd like it to be. And that's because the virus changes with time. According to Health Canada, the country

saw 27.7% of tests come back positive for the second week of December. Flu hospitalizations are increasing too. Even if the vaccine isn't as robust as health professionals wanted to be, it's still important to get the shot to protect yourself and others, says pharmacist Deanna Kang. is there to help reduce risk of getting the infection, but it is also there to help reduce severity. Experts say cases will peak around Christmas. Lisa Sching, CBC News, Toronto. The federal government is making a new offer to reform the on-reserve child welfare system. Mandy Gullmastie is Canada's Indigenous Services Minister. She made the announcement in Ottawa. I'm proud to present a new path forward for First Nations and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

She says the previous plan drew criticism for its last. lack of flexibility. Now the idea is to strike regional agreements so that First Nations can tailor the delivery and funding of services to their distinct realities. The plan will come with a $35 billion price tag, which is considerably less than what was offered by the Trudeau government. U.S. President Donald Trump insists that the United States needs to have Greenland. Trump has named Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as his special envoy to Greenland. We need Greenland for national security. Not for minerals. We have so many sites for minerals and oil and everything. We have more oil than any other country in the world. And if you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast.

You have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need it for national security. We have to have it. But so far, Greenland has turned down Trump's overtures. Greenland is a territory within the kingdom of Denmark. And that is your world this hour. For CBC News, I'm Neil Hurland. Thank you.