Your World Tonight - Canada’s counterpunch, shingles vaccine and dementia, and more

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

Canada will be imposing counter tariffs on the U.S. that mirror what the Americans are imposing on businesses here. That means 25 per cent on non-CUSMA-compliant vehicles. It’s another weapon in the trade war ignited by U.S. President Donald Trump’s moves yesterday – to reshape global commerce.And: On the campaign trail, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says Trump’s actions are ‘tariff madness.’ He is pitching a policy of removing the GST from Canadian-made cars.Also: New research suggests getting the shingles vaccine could significantly lower your risk of dementia. It's some of the strongest evidence yet that viral infections impact long-term brain function. And preventing them could help protect your cognitive health.Plus: New measles cases in Ontario, Europe reacts to tariffs, and more.

I've been covering politics for 20 years and I can't remember a time like now when everything we thought we knew has been thrown in the air. From Trudeau's resignation to Trump's tariffs to a spring election during huge shifts in the polls. There's a lot at stake and power and politics is here to guide you through it. I'm David Cochran and on CBC's only political

daily I speak to the key players in this election. From the candidates to the analysts to the journalists on the campaign trail, you can find power and politics wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube. This is a CBC Podcast. The global economy is fundamentally different today than it was yesterday. The system of global trade anchored on the United States that Canada has relied on since the end of the Second World War is over.

Leaving behind an era of free trade and open access to the most lucrative market on the planet, Canada, along with the rest of the world steps into an economic future filled with uncertainty and hostility and the fallout has already started. Welcome to Your World Tonight. It is Thursday, April 3rd just before 6 p.m. Eastern. I'm Susan Bonner. Yeah it's been a pretty dismal experience today you know with mass layoffs. This is just just the start of it, you know, it's gonna be like an infection through the entire city. So it's catastrophic really. With the sector becoming ground zero in the cross-border trade war, auto workers are among the first to be hit,

as Ottawa fires back with retaliatory tariffs targeting American-made cars and trucks. Everyone who's looking to buy Canadian, to support Canadian workers, will be able to save money as a result of this announcement. And from the assembly line to the dealership, Pierre Pauliev is gearing up his campaign with a tax break on Canadian-made vehicles, joining the NDP in proposing to put the brakes on the GST and hoping voters come along for the ride. joining the NDP in proposing to put the brakes on the GST and hoping voters come along for the ride.

Just hours after Donald Trump's 25% auto tariff kicked in, Prime Minister Mark Carney says Ottawa will match Washington's move with a 25% tariff of its own. Marina von Stackelberg reports. We must respond with both purpose and force. Prime Minister Mark Carney announcing Canada's latest retaliation to Donald Trump's auto tariffs. Ottawa will slap all U.S.-made vehicles that don't comply with the current free trade agreement with the same 25% tariff.

More than $35 billion worth of American auto imports will be hit. We take these measures reluctantly and we take them in ways that's intended and will cause maximum impact in the United States and minimum impact here in Canada. Ottawa expects these latest counter tariffs to raise eight billion dollars. Carney says that money will go directly to Canadian auto companies and their workers. Our tariffs though unlike the US tariffs will not affect auto parts because we know the benefits of our integrated production system. Canada did manage to survive even more tariffs yesterday

that Trump levied on many other countries. We all agreed that we got the best of a bad deal which in my opinion is still totally unacceptable. Ontario Premier Doug Ford leaving a virtual meeting with the Prime Minister and his fellow premiers. Ford says despite being somewhat spared from those other tariffs, the threat remains high. The U.S. has signaled its eyeing Canada's drugs, semiconductors and supply managed dairy sector as other industries to hit.

It's really a team Canada effort right now. We're all working together. The Prime Minister actually encouraged all the premiers to continue their consultation, collaboration with their counterparts in the U.S. All of the premiers are very supportive of the measured response. Even Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who has butted heads with Ottawa over the best way to respond to Trump, says she supports these latest counter tariffs. She also supports revisiting the North American free trade agreement that Trump negotiated and is now ignoring.

A renegotiation on that right after this election is over, and that will be very positive. Our old relationship of steadily deepening integration with the United States is over. Carney says Trump has violated so much of the free trade deal it should be renegotiated. Conservative leader Pierre Poliev has said the same. The call I the president and I had last week is this agreement that we will sit down future prime minister and him as president will sit down and begin negotiations on the overall

economic and security partnership with Canada. A careful rewording because this is still an election campaign in the middle of a trade war. Marina von Stackelberg, CBC News, Ottawa. Tariff talk is dominating the conversation on the campaign trail. The main party leaders are pitching their response trying to show Canadians they're the best suited to take on Donald Trump. We start with the Conservative campaign in Ontario. Yesterday many Canadians watched with anger and anxiety as President Trump once again attacked our country and our jobs. Conservative leader Pierre Poliev in Kingston, Ontario, where last night he spoke to a crowd

of roughly 4,000 supporters. Polyev today acknowledging what other federal leaders have come to accept, that when it comes to trade, Canada can no longer count on the United States. I'm saddened to say that because I love the American people, but there's no denying that there is a president right now who consistently betrays the Canadian people, but there's no denying that there is a president right now who consistently betrays the Canadian people and shows that he has been unreliable to deal with. Despite that, Poliev says if elected, he'll look to renegotiate a new trade deal with Donald Trump.

In the meantime, he's promising a new $3 billion fund to provide loans to businesses directly affected by U.S. tariffs to preserve jobs, and also pledging to eliminate the GST on the purchase of new Canadian-made vehicles. Axing the GST on a $50,000 Canadian-made automobile will save $2,500 to the car buyer. Polyev urging provinces to drop provincial sales tax on these vehicles to save consumers money and prop up Canada's auto sector. Tom Perry, CBC News, Kingston.

I'm Janice McGregor covering the NDP campaign. Back in Ottawa this morning, Jagmeet Singh positioned himself in front of the National War Memorial to make a pitch that's a throwback to the Second World War, bringing back victory bonds. With the threats of Donald Trump Canadians are really wrapping themselves in the flag and saying I want to do my part and here's the way Canadians can do their part New Democrats say the proceeds from this patriotic investing could build Infrastructure and strengthen Canada's economy instead of the interest on this debt being owed to big banks Instead of the interest on this debt being owed to big banks, the payout on these five or 10-year guaranteed investments could go back to the Canadians who step up. Singh said he gets that

in this tough economy, not everyone has extra to invest right now. Still, there's always a climate where people make some investments. We want to give people a choice to invest in Canada. The federal government stopped issuing Canada savings bonds in 2017. They got too expensive to administer. Uptake had fallen off. Canadians found better returns, putting their money elsewhere. But there's a war on now, a trade war, and the NDP believes this retro idea could be a new way to fight it.

Janice McGregor, CBC News, Ottawa. In Canada's auto sector there is fear and confusion and for workers there's no owner's manual to guide them through it. Stellantis has already announced it's shutting down its Windsor production plant for the next two weeks as the worry spreads through the entire industry. Alison Northcott reports. Tomorrow is the last day before a two-week shutdown which is gonna because of the tariffs. As he left after his shift at the Stellantis assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario

Yousef Bresim was worried. He's one of more than 3,000 employees temporarily laid off. We can't make any move in our lives. We are very worried. We can't even, we're our lives. We are very worried. We can't even put our foot on the table because of the layoffs. Just hours after US President Donald Trump announced 25 percent auto tariffs would go into effect on Thursday, thousands of Stellantis workers learned their jobs will be on hold

for two weeks. In a statement, the company said it's assessing the effects of the tariffs and temporarily pausing production on some Canadian and Mexican assembly plants, also affecting support operations and 900 jobs in the U.S. Really this just comes down to the economic disruption that these tariffs have created. Brian Kingston is president and CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association. So everybody needs to take a pause and understand what exactly is going to happen here, how will this be applied, what are the timelines and then

ultimately what are the cost implications for for the business. Can we continue to profitably produce vehicles in this environment? Canadian cars will only be tariffed on their non-U.S. parts. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he's pushing to get rid of the tariff altogether and protect jobs. It's a temporary shutdown. I've mentioned my concerns to the CEO of Stellantis and how we need to have this plant up and going. James Stewart is president of Unifor Local 444 representing the laid-off employees. You know the worker of the plant can't can't fix this but I but I think more needs to be done over the coming weeks to really work towards resolving this

whole issue. He says while many of the workers can get employment insurance and a top-up equalling 65 to 70 percent of their salary that's not the case for everyone. Well I'm hoping that our government is going to step in. I'm hoping that somebody is going to take care of us. Back at the plant, worker Rita Clark is staying positive, but worries for some of her colleagues. I worry about the new hires for Stellantis.

A lot of them don't get what some of us have been here for years yet and I'm kind of more worried about them. Some of them have left their jobs and they're really scared. Scared. Operations will continue at the plant for the rest of the week ahead of the closure on Monday. Alison Northcott, CBC News, Montreal. Coming up on the podcast how Americans are reacting to it all from Wall Street to the streets of Detroit and how Europe's leaders view the trade war. Plus the shingles vaccine could reduce the risk of getting dementia. Global financial markets haven't responded well to Donald Trump's tariff plan, but that is not stopping the president's allies from aggressively defending

it, downplaying the stock market turmoil as Americans worry there could be more difficult times ahead. Katie Simpson is in Washington with more. The opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange signaling the start of a brutal day on the markets. Stocks dropping sharply at the open in response to President Donald Trump's tariff plan despite the pleas of White House Press Secretary Caroline Levin. To anyone on

Wall Street this morning I would say trust in President Trump. By the time the trading day closed it marked the largest single-day loss since 2020. The Dow Jones losing nearly 4% of its value, the Nasdaq nearly 6%, the S&P 500 nearly 5%. Trump has long warned there will be pain that comes along with all these tariffs. As he left the White House to fly to Florida for a golf reception, he brushed off concern comparing the market sell-off to a person recovering from surgery.

I think it's going very well. It was an operation like when a patient gets operated on and it's a big thing. I said this would exactly be the way it is. The Trump administration has launched an aggressive campaign to sell voters on the tariffs. We know a lot of Americans are worried. Vice President J.D. Vance arguing that tariffs in the long run will motivate companies to shift production and jobs to the U.S. President Trump is taking this economy in a different direction.

He ran on that, he promised it, and now he's delivering. And yes, this is a big change. I'm not going to shy away from it, but we needed a big change. Vance tried to soothe a domestic audience while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick delivered a warning to the world, don't retaliate or else. If you're angry and you fight back to the greatest customer in the world, you're going to lose. We are the sumo wrestler of this world.

We are the biggest economy, the biggest customer. You can't fight back against your customer. All of this sparking backlash on Capitol Hill from Democrats, including Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. Looks a lot more to us like the roof just fell in on American families who are going to face thousands of dollars more in cost. And there's worry among some everyday Americans who chatted with CBC News in Detroit, Michigan. Yeah, it's terrible. It's only going to get worse. I don't understand how people listen to Trump and think that they're not going to pay more.

I think they're terrible. They're unfounded. They're inconsistent. They're illogical. There's no logic or plan to it. I think it's awful. Everyone loses. It's silly. The reciprocal tariffs kick in at midnight on April 5th. The White House is saying Trump is not going to back down before then and that countries need to make dramatic changes to appease the U.S. in order to escape this trade war. Katie Simpson, CBC News, Washington.

Europe has now been fully thrust into Washington's trade aggression, getting hit with 20% tariffs on exports to the U.S. Leaders on the continent are now urgently working out a response, proceeding carefully to avoid any escalation, Crystal Gouman Singh reports. The decision that was announced tonight is a brutal and unfounded decision. Brutal and unfounded, those were the words used by French President Emmanuel Macron to describe tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump Wednesday. In Paris, Macron met with French businesses seriously affected by the sweeping tariffs.

He said the custom duties are a shock for international trade, and he's not the only European leader expressing frustration. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the tariffs were fundamentally wrong. A universal 20% levy on all imports from the EU into the US is expected to take effect April 5th. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said the bloc of 27 nations will respond strongly together, but that the EU would rather negotiate, not escalate. The terrorist will also hurt consumers around the world. It will be felt immediately. Millions

of citizens will face higher grocery bills. Medication will cost more, as well as transportation, inflation will go up, and this is hurting in particular the most vulnerable citizens. A lower tariff has been placed on the UK, just 10 percent. Prime Minister Keir Stormer says that's because the UK trade deficit with the US is quote fair and balanced. It is actually a fair and balanced relationship if you look at the numbers and of course we've got decades worth of a special relationship with the United States and I think it's by focusing on those features that we can take the necessary steps to secure our

economy through hopefully a deal with options on the table. The U.S. is the UK's second largest trading partner behind the EU. That relationship is worth roughly £315 billion. That's about $580 billion Canadian dollars. Crystal Gamansing, CBC News, London. Vietnam, Indonesia and China are top sources of imports for U.S. clothing and consumer goods. Duties on Vietnamese goods will rise to 46 percent. Indonesia will get as much as 32 percent and some Chinese imports will now be as high as

79 percent. So far none of the Southeast Asian nations have announced retaliatory measures but Vietnam where Nike and Canada's Lululemon produce much of their goods called for more talks to deal with the unfair tariffs. Mexico's president Claudia Schoenbaum says Trump didn't impose extra tariffs on her country because of a good relationship. In a news conference earlier today, Schoenbaum said it's good for Mexico even though there are still tariffs on goods that don't comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement.

Schoenbaum admitted not everyone in the country is happy. She says she'll announce measures next month to strengthen the auto, steel and aluminum industries. Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 100 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in the past day. That includes 27 killed at a shelter for displaced families in Gaza City. Israel says the attack targeted terrorists. Olga Cheryavko of the United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Office was in Khan Yunis when an attack happened nearby. She released a statement saying children were killed and injured. The impact this

war is having on children is astonishing and abhorrent. These killings must stop and civilians must always be protected. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Hungary today thanking President Viktor Orban. You stand with us at the UN and you've just taken a bold and principled position on the ICC and I thank you Victor. That bold position is Orban's decision to withdraw Hungary from the International Criminal Court. The court issued an international arrest warrant against Netanyahu over his conduct in the Gaza War but the Hungarian president has refused to enforce the warrant.

This is Your World Tonight from CBC News. If you want to make sure you stay up to date and never miss one of our episodes, follow us on Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts. Just find the follow button and lock us in. Two leaders of the 2022 trucker convoy protests have been found not guilty of most of the charges against them. Tamara Leach and Chris Barber faced six charges connected to their involvement in the demonstrations.

Thousands of people occupied parts of downtown Ottawa, grinding the city to a halt for weeks. Leach and Barber were accused of mischief, intimidation and obstructing police. They were found guilty of mischief. The Ottawa judge says the pair encouraged people to join and remain at the protests knowing the negative effects it had on residents and businesses. Ontario is reporting 89 new cases of measles this week. That's fewer than the week before, but with more hospitalizations, including three people in intensive care. Most of the patients are unvaccinated children. And as Jennifer Yoon tells us, health officials are scrambling

to curb the spread of a disease that's highly infectious and highly preventable. Nurses take bandages and gloves out of a suitcase in a room above a hockey rink in a small town community centre in Caledonia, Ontario. It's an unlikely setting for a vaccine clinic, yet parents keep streaming in, squirmy kids in hand. Can you stay really still?

You rocked that! This area, southwestern Ontario, is the epicentre of the measles outbreak in Canada. The biggest in over a decade. Public health authorities are scrambling to stop the spread through vaccination. Tice, what did we get done? We're done. Rachel Varchamp brought her 5-year-old Tice to get the measles shot because she's alarmed that the number of cases in her area.

We just wanted to get it done for him. The highly contagious disease continues to spread. Public Health Ontario says there are 89 more cases of measles in the province this past week, bringing the total to 655 this year. The majority of those infected are unvaccinated children. Dr. Ninh Tran, the medical officer at Southwestern Public Health, says the spread isn't contained to any one group. It is an equal opportunity illness. It does not care about your gender, your address,

your religion or your race. Sarah Tipmas, who helps run the pop-up vaccine clinic in Caledonia, knows there are people in the community who just won't come for the jab. There's always going to be a small number of people who choose to hold a different view. In Chatham-Kent, another approach. Stop those who have already been exposed from infecting others.

Invite them to an education session in an isolation room and offer information on how to avoid infecting others and the vaccine. Adam Topp is the CEO of the local hospital network. Largely our goal to make sure that people weren't creating another potential exposure environment. There is misinformation out there. In Hamilton, McMaster Children's Hospital infectious disease doctor Jacqueline Wong says raising awareness about the importance of vaccination through whatever means possible is crucial.

It often comes down to a safety concern and trying to understand what aspect or the immunization process is distressing for the family and try to provide information specific to their concern. Wong says it's important that health care workers establish a rapport with those who are hesitant to get the vaccine in order to stop measles from taking root once more in Canada after almost three decades. Jennifer Yoon, CBC News, Caledonia, Ontario. New research suggests getting the shingles vaccine could lower your risk of dementia

significantly. It's some of the strongest evidence yet that viral infections impact long-term brain function and preventing them could help protect your cognitive health. Christine Birak breaks down the findings. That's incredible. 67-year-old Kathy Howell got her shot. And to think that there's an added benefit, that's pretty amazing. She's excited to hear this latest research out of Stanford University in California.

The probability of a fluke finding just becomes exponentially smaller. Data shows a vaccine for shingles can lower the risk of developing dementia by as much as 20 percent, with the strongest effect in women. Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer led the large study. It would have huge implications for dementia care and also for research into dementia and the causes of dementia. Published in the journal Nature, Geldsetzer and his team looked at over 200,000 older adults in Wales over seven years. In 2013, a shingles vaccine was offered to those who were aged 79,

but not 80. This unique rollout gave researchers an opportunity to go back and compare two nearly identical groups, one vaccinated, one not. I think this is a landmark study. Dr. Donald Weaver is a senior scientist and neurologist with Toronto's University Health Network. He says the findings have dementia doctors around the world buzzing. If you consider over the past decades, we've had nothing that affects dementia or prevents it.

A 20% reduction is a major step in the right direction. Researchers aren't sure why the shingles vaccine may be protective. Shingles is a painful rash caused by reactivation of the chicken pox virus in a person's system. Well, to be honest, this is something I've been following for a long time. Dawn Bowdish, an immunologist at McMaster University, says there are theories that could explain why preventing the harms associated with shingles might protect the brain. By preventing shingles, it prevents this inflammatory event that might contribute to the development of what we call neuroinflammation or inflammation in the brain and the development of diseases

like dementia. The shingle shot used in this latest study is an older vaccine. But other studies show the current vaccine is even more protective against shingles. Researchers say it may also better protect your brain. Always engaged in trying to learn new things. Kathy Howell is doing puzzles and out exercising to stay as healthy as possible. She knows shingles is no fun and if the vaccine helps her brain too, it's a win-win. Christine Birak, CBC News, Toronto. Finally a popular video game console fast-forwarding into the next generation

as some gamers opt to rewind. Five, four, three, two, one, two. Let's go! Yes! The scene in New York City yesterday as the Nintendo Switch 2 was unveiled, the hotly anticipated sequel to one of the most popular gaming consoles of all time. The Switch 2 has new games and new features, but as the technology levels up, some gamers are looking back. The bleeps and bloops of retro video games in an age of hyper-realistic graphics and

sound effects, more and more gamers are reaching for the classics. Matt Carr owns Retro North Games in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Carr tracks down old consoles and games, refurbishes them and business is booming. Yeah we'll usually see three different reasons. The first reason is childhood, memories, nostalgia. Somebody wants to play a game that they used to play when they were a kid. The other one is forcing their kids to play the games that they used to play that happens all the time. For younger kids it is easier to pick up a game with

a controller when it has a couple buttons. Then the third one would be collectors, people that just want to have it on display or show it off. Car says another factor is retro video games are cheaper, something gamers can keep in mind as another big upgrade to the new Nintendo Switch, its price tag. Thanks for being with us. This has been Your World Tonight for Thursday, April 3rd. I'm Susan Bonner. Have a good evening. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.