World Report - April 11: Friday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: April 11, 2025

More than 100 mayors and municipal leaders push to get the environment back on the election agenda. Prime Minister Mark Carney convenes cabinet committee to discuss Donald Trump's tariffs.Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre promises his government will not pass any laws to restrict abortion.China raises its counter measures on the US. Asian stock markets slide further growing fears of China-US trade war.US Supreme Court rules unanimously against the Trump Administration on controversial immigration file.US diplomatic envoy arrives in Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir PutinA closer look at the push for global carbon tax on international shipping.

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Good morning. I'm John Northcott. There is World Report. Good morning, I'm John Northcott. There is no question one issue is dominating Canada's election campaign. President Trump is looking to fundamentally restructure the international trading system. The economy has been shrinking for 10 long years, well before the tariffs ever struck, so we've got to get those tariffs removed. And there will be more talk about Canada-U.S. relations again today. But about a hundred mayors and other municipal leaders are trying to refocus the debate. They've all signed and sent a letter to the leaders of each major federal party.

It offers five ideas to address climate change while defending our economic sovereignty. As Sam Sampson reports, they're calling the plan Elbows Up for Climate Action. Jasper has experienced impacts in the last year that are profound but sadly they are not unique. Jasper's Mayor Richard Ireland knows what an emergency feels like. One-third of his Rocky Mountain town, including his house, burned last summer in a wildfire. He and more than 100 other municipal leaders are now offering ideas to the next federal government to address the effects of climate change. Our experience provides an opportunity, we believe, to help awaken

the country to the urgency of this problem and present what we see as municipal leaders as solutions. That includes funding a resilience response and recovery strategy for climate disasters, building a national clean electric grid, a high-speed railway, two million affordable green homes and retrofitting homes with things like heat pumps. I'm actually quite optimistic. Former Toronto Mayor David Miller is now part of C40, a global group of mayors fighting climate change.

He says these goals are achievable if Canada redirects money from fossil fuel subsidies. And in this moment, when there is a chance to rethink about how to build a made-in-Canada economy, these steps are much more politically feasible. Miller and Ireland hope today's letter sparks some kind of response from leaders, because so far they say climate issues have not been part of the campaign conversation. Sam Sampson, CBC News, Edmonton. But environmental issues won't be the focus for Mark Carney today. Once again, the Liberal leader is pausing his campaign to act in his prime ministerial role.

Carney's meeting right now with his Canada-U.S. Relations Cabinet Committee. Karina Roman reports. In light of the evolving situation... That's how Mark Carney describes the chaotic messaging from Donald Trump and the White House this week on where tariffs stand on the world and on Canada. Trump put a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs targeting most of the US's trading partners, but left in place across the board 10% tariffs on those countries. Canada has managed to avoid those, but...

We have been subject to a series of direct tariffs that are still in place with respect to steel and aluminum, with automobiles and of course, I will call them the fentanyl tariffs that are in place. And that's why Canada is not lifting its retaliatory tariffs off U.S. imports. While they have been imposed under different pretenses, they all are unjustified, unwarranted, and misguided. The European Union has paused its retaliatory tariffs, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has warned Canada of consequences if it doesn't back down, pointing as an example to the tariffs the US has put on China. But Carney says he believes the US

understands Canada's position. Those tariffs are threatening our families, our workers and our businesses. It's not clear whether today's cabinet meeting will result in anything tangible, but it does allow Carney to keep making the election ballot box question about standing up to Trump. Karina Roman, CBC News, Ottawa. Conservative leader Pierre Polyaev is promising if he becomes prime minister, his government will not pass any laws to restrict abortion. There will be no laws or other restrictions imposed on a woman's right to decide to do with her body as she wishes

and that is something that I'm guaranteeing to you and to all Canadians. Poliev says this has been the Conservative Party's position on the matter since 2004 and that it's been upheld in every policy convention since then. China is ratcheting up its response to the punishing Trump tariffs. Beijing now raising its counter tariffs on US goods to 125 percent. In a statement read on Chinese state media, President Xi Jinping is calling for the European Union to join him in opposing what he calls US bullying. China is facing 145 percent tariffs on its goods entering the US. Even before China's announcement, the trade war with the US saw Asian markets fall today. Japan's Nikkei slid more than 5% in early trading. Markets in Hong

Kong, Shanghai, South Korea and Australia were also down. As of today, Canadians visiting the US for more than 30 days have to register with the government, just one of the tougher immigration measures being imposed by the Trump administration. Others are more controversial, such as the deportation of alleged criminals before they're given a chance to defend themselves. CBC's Katie Nicholson joins us now from Washington. Katie, last night the Supreme Court ordered Trump officials to bring one of those deportees back to the US. Tell us more about the case. So, Kilmar Abrego-Garcia had been living in Maryland for about six years. He had a legal status that essentially prevented him from being deported back to El

Salvador because he could face persecution from local gangs. But on March 12th, he was stopped by immigration authorities. His son was in the backseat of the car as he was taken into custody and he was ultimately sent to a notorious super prison in El Salvador, which the Trump administration is paying $6 million to keep deportees. So the Trump administration admitted Abrego Garcia was deported through an administrative error, but also claims he's a suspected ranking member of the MS-13 gang. And his lawyers say that isn't true and he's never even been charged with a crime. So this has been playing out in the lower courts over the last few weeks. And last night, the Supreme Court unanimously rebuked the administration and sided with

a district court, which had demanded the return of Abrego Garcia. So the Supreme Court really essentially says in the ruling the government has to facilitate Abrego Garcia's release from custody and ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador. After that, a U.S. District Court judge issued an order which gave the DOJ until this morning to deliver a plan to bring him back to the U.S. Nonetheless, Katie, the Trump administration still being aggressive on the immigration file.

Yeah, and this is a large part of what Donald Trump campaigned on. Multiple outlets in the US report that the administration is canceling social insurance numbers of immigrants with temporary status, which really makes it impossible for them to bank or get a credit card. And in a policy that went into effect on Wednesday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services says it's screening immigrants' social media for evidence of anti-Semitic activity, specifically targeting people trying to get permanent residency and foreigners connected to universities. So this all comes

as the Secretary of State Marco Rubio is suggesting any non-citizen can be deported for their beliefs. And this is all coming out of that deportation case of a Columbia University activist, Mahmoud Khalil, who was involved in several demonstrations against the war in Gaza. CBN Reporter KT Nicholson in Washington. Thanks, Katie. You're welcome. US President Donald Trump's diplomatic envoy is in Russia.

Steve Witkoff is there to discuss the war in Ukraine with President Vladimir Putin. A Kremlin spokesperson says they may also discuss a possible meeting between Putin and Trump but adds no one should expect a major breakthrough during Witkoff's visit. There's a major push to make international shipping greener. At a global meeting happening in London right now, on the table, a carbon tax on shipping. But a deal today could impact an industry at the centre of global trade. And I'd sing as more. It could be the first ever global carbon tax.

This one on the over 50,000 cargo ships that carry international trade. A really exciting moment. Miyako Oshio is the Director of Environmental Affairs at the Shipping Federation of Canada. One reason that this is so important is that it would enable investment in alternative fuels. Oshio says a carbon pricing system would push companies to reduce their emissions. The UN's International Maritime Organization has been working on how to get the industry to cut its emissions. Andrew Drumbrill is a Canadian advisor to advocacy group the Clean Arctic Alliance.

Shipping is close to 3% of global emissions. If it was a country, it would be around Germany, you know, sixth largest in the world. Canada, along with Europe and a large group of low-income countries, support the proposal. But China, Brazil and a group of other major developing economies that depend on trade oppose the levy, saying it would reduce their exports and threaten food security. They were joined by the US this week, which raised concerns about inflation. But there's still plenty of hope a deal will get done. But it doesn't mean there won't be a deal and it doesn't mean there's not a possibility

for high ambition. A carbon price could raise over 100 billion dollars US a year, much needed money that could be spent on helping developing countries address climate change. Inayat Singh, CBC News, Toronto. And that is the latest national and international news from World Report. If you're enjoying the World Report podcast, and we hope you are, please follow us and tell a friend. It helps spread the word.

I'm John Northcott. This is CBC News. . For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.