Your World Tonight - Carney in Europe, Poilievre on carbon tax, COVID-19 and schools, and more

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

Mark Carney is on his first international trip since becoming Canada’s prime minister.He’s in Europe – trying to shore up support as Canada looks for new trading partners and stronger diplomatic backing for any battles with the U.S. He’s also working to appeal to Canadian voters – with an election expected any day now.And: Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says he would cancel the industrial carbon pricing put in by the Liberal government, and instead reward heavy industries that make products with lower emissions. He says the approach should be carrot, and not stick.Also: What did they learn? Five years after the COVID-19 lockdowns started, we talk to families about how their children were affected. Down: reading and math scores. Up: anxiety and absenteeism.Plus: Mapping the waters of the Antarctic, charities in Canada are being hurt by tariffs, and more.

This is Michael Bublé, host of the Junos, Canada's biggest night in music. And trust me, this lineup is going to be everything. With performances by Akela, Baby No Money, Josh Ross, Nemesis, Snoddy Nose Rez Kids, a special final performance by Sum 41, and Michael Bublé. Now that's what I call a party. Don't miss the Junos, live March 30th at 8 Eastern on CBC and CBC Gem. And you're all invited.

This is a CBC podcast. I want to ensure that France and the whole of Europe works enthusiastically with Canada, the most European of non-European countries. Canada's new Prime Minister is wasting no time courting international allies visiting France and England just days after getting the job. Mark Carney is gathering his partners, readying for a fight with the United States and also trying to send a pre-election image of a man

in charge back to voters here at home. The opposition is prepping its messages too. Welcome to Your World Tonight. It is Monday, March 17th, just before 6 p.m. Eastern. I'm Susan Bonner, also on the podcast. I think you'll have sections of the population that are going to be um quite sad and remiss and nostalgic um and then I think there are folks that are feeling more good ridden. The Hudson's Bay Company is woven into the history of Canada founded in 1670.

It helped spur the growth of one nation often at the expense of First Nations. The company itself stopped growing years ago and is now on the verge of one nation, often at the expense of First Nations, the company itself stopped growing years ago and is now on the verge of disappearing, with liquidation of its stores beginning as soon as tomorrow. From Notre Dame Cathedral to Versailles, Buckingham Palace and Downing Street. There were plenty of sights on Mark Carney's first international trip as Prime Minister. With an eye on an impending election, he's promising Canadians there was also substance. Catherine Cullen is traveling with the Prime Minister. To sovereign allies, so much in common, shared history, shared values.

Canada and the new Prime Minister were on the receiving end of lots of warm words in one day, like during the meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street, and an early morning meeting in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron, where Macron also talked about the importance of respecting sovereignty. The respect of our interests, the full importance of respecting sovereignty. Also at Buckingham Palace. The King wasn't effusive, but the meeting was friendly. Carney joked with King Charles about breaking his Order of Canada pin when it fell on the airport tarmac.

The King offered to give Carney his pin, but there are limits to what support the monarch will give Canada. Based on tradition, he's unlikely to wade directly into politics and outright ask the United States to respect Canada's sovereignty, nor did the leaders Carney met with today. Carney insists that's not needed. We don't need another country to validate our sovereignty. We are sovereign. We don't need praise from another country. We are proud in and of ourselves. Though Carney was keen to point out, Starmor did specifically mention Canadian sovereignty,

and Carney himself referred to the King as a steadfast defender of Canada. Opposition parties are criticizing the trip. Conservative leader Pierre Polyaev says the meetings alone won't diversify Canada's trade. Carney points to a new security agreement with France, though there are a few specifics. The Prime Minister also drew a new boundary in the United States trade war on Canada. There are only so many counter tariffs Canada can afford, he says. There are limits. We are not going to take an action that we think is not ultimately going to influence the United States

and certainly not one that is outright harmful to Canada. There is a limit to matching these tariffs dollar for dollar given the fact that our economy is a tenth the size of the United States. Still, he insists, Canada is strong. Tomorrow, Carney heads to Iqaluit to put the focus on Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic, a call what Donald Trump is expected in the coming days. Catherine Cullen, CBC News, London. Back in Canada, Conservative leader Pierre Poliev was vowing to go even further than the Liberals

on what could be a major ballot issue, the carbon tax. Mark Carney has removed the consumer carbon tax. Poliev says a Conservative government would also eliminate the portion that's levied on industries. David Thurton reports. While the Liberals tax businesses who use energy, Conservatives will cut taxes and boost incentives for those who bring down emissions. Carrot. Not. Stick. Conservative leader Pierre Pauliev outlined a significant policy shift.

Pauliev is proposing if he forms government, it's not only the consumer carbon tax portion, whose days are numbered, but the industrial carbon price as well. He says he'll leave it to the provinces to address industrial emissions as they like and he said a Conservative government would expand federal tax credits for using and developing clean energy. The common sense, Canada first Conservative government will repeal the entire carbon tax, including the federal backstop that requires provinces impose industrial taxes. Paulio's announcement comes after Prime Minister Mark Carney signed a directive last week to eliminate the consumer federal carbon tax as of April 1st.

But industrial carbon pricing still applies. Canada's Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says keeping it will help reduce emissions from heavy industry and help Canada meet its climate goals. If you actually believe in climate change, it is important for us to actually take action. This is one of the key levers to do that. And it just shows that Mr. Palyov is essentially willing to ape Donald Trump on environmental policy. Killing the carbon price on industrial emitters means Canada's climate targets could be in jeopardy, according to Dave Sawyer with the Canadian Climate Institute.

It is doing all the heavy lifting. So again, we've taken a look at it and it's the single biggest emission reducing policy in the country by far. But Alberta's Environment Minister Rebecca Schultz welcomed the Conservative plan. The carbon pricing put in place by the federal and liberal government has made our industry less competitive, which is I think bad for not only industry but Albertans and Canadians. Industry players generally support reducing Canada's emissions but most of all they want certainty.

Dennis Darby is with the Canadian Manufacturing and Exporters Association. In manufacturing in particular, and you include every industry whether it's steelmaking or oil and gas refining or chemical manufacture or food manufacture. It's a long lead time. And so what industry needs is the idea of knowing what the rules will be going forward in the future. One thing is for sure. With the federal election imminent, Canadians have two parties with two distinct views on carbon pricing. Liberals who want to keep it, at least in part, and conservatives heading in a different direction.

David Thurton, CBC News, Ottawa. Coming up on the podcast, a Canadian court asked to weigh in on what next for the failing Hudson's Bay. A court in the US questions whether the Trump administration violated a court order by deporting 250 Venezuelans to El Salvador. Plus charities expected to be hit hard by the trade war. It's a clearance sale like no other. A Hudson's Bay company is seeking approval to start liquidating its entire inventory. The latest step as Canada's oldest company begins to wind

down operations. Thousands of people could lose their jobs. Here now with more details is the CBC's Paula Duhatschek. Paula, what happened in court today? Basically we are left with more uncertainty. Now the company was in court today asking for permission to start a liquidation process that would have affected all 80 of its stores and a number of Saks Fifth Avenue locations in Canada but we still won't know until tomorrow if or when that's going to happen. The lawyer for the Bay wants to get started as soon as possible though they say they might try and save a few stores from liquidation

if they can drum up some financing in the next few months. Although a lawyer for workers has asked the court to delay the sell-off because he says once customers start buying up all the merchandise, that'll basically spell the end of the company. And what about the workers at the company? What happens to the 9,000 plus employees? As you say, there are thousands of workers across the country who are all at risk of losing their jobs. So, as you can imagine, lots of uncertainty, lots of emotion. Lana Payne is the national president with Unifor,

which represents a few hundred workers in online and brick-and-mortar retailer. She's worried the company is in such rough financial shape, it won't even be able to pay laid off workers the money they're owed. We would have some members who are entitled to up to 30 weeks of severance pay. This is a significant amount of money, tens of thousands of dollars, based depending on their wage, and a lot of long-term employees who've given their working lives to this company. So it's a very difficult time.

As you can imagine, there's some nervousness about the pension as well, although the company has said the pension has enough funding. The Bay has been in operation in this country since 1670. So how did it get to the point where it's on the verge of collapse? The Bay has blamed its problems on a few things. The COVID pandemic, the dramatic increase in online shopping, inflation, people just not having as much money to spend. Although that being said, retail experts have said the company has made

some missteps of its own, namely not investing in its retail locations. You often hear about escalators not working. And some shoppers we spoke with in Calgary and Vancouver say the company really just hasn't kept up with the times. Years ago, that's where you went, was department stores, because they had everything all under one roof. Today, it's all these little box stores, and you gotta run all over the place.

Their stuff's usually a little outdated I find and catered towards older older people I guess so I don't feel really too bad about it I guess. Now beyond just shoppers and employees of course there are also suppliers who stock their products at the bay all these malls who depend on these these businesses to be anchor stores and bring people in so whatever we see happen tomorrow with the Bay, the impact will certainly be felt far and wide, Susan. Thank you, Paula. Thank you.

Paula Duhaczek in Calgary. It's not just companies like HBC blaming the trade war for their troubles. The higher costs and an uncertain economy are also affecting charities. Julia Wong reports on a trio of organizations that say the tariffs are hurting them and the people they're trying to help. A flurry of activity as a group of volunteers sort and organize groceries at Edmonton's food bank. The need in the city, like in much of the rest of the country, has been rising. On top of that, there's a feeling of uncertainty thanks to a trade war.

Spokesperson Tamison Benznite. We are looking at other avenues, you know, talking to all of our distributors and suppliers saying where can we get the Canadian products so that we're not hit with extra tariffs. Benznite says four million dollars had been budgeted for food this year. A number she's expecting to jump up to six million because of tariffs. Ben's night says four million dollars had been budgeted for food this year. A number she's expecting to jump up to six million because of tariffs. And another worry, the food bank is waiting for a delivery truck being built south of the border. There are worries it could get slapped with tariffs when it enters Canada. Meaning less money to buy food.

The five-ton is about $300,000 Canadian and we're anticipating it could be an added $50,000 with tariffs. For Hope Mission, an Edmonton organization that works with the homeless, Tariff Unpredictability is raising questions over its buying power. Tim Pazma is one of its directors. He too is worried about the cost of food and a new shelter it's building. As a non-profit what we're looking at is you know there's some instability there as far as what is that going to cost? Is it going to cost us an extra 10 or 20 percent above what we thought? Are we able to manage that cost or not? Those are all things that we're sort of dealing with right now. Pasma says that instability could trickle down.

There can be impacts on the level of service or the quality of service that we're able to provide to people. As you can see, they're basically three townhouse style homes. East of Edmonton, Andy England walks by homes being built for Habitat for Humanity. As construction costs nudge up, the vice chair of the organization's board worries about future builds. Obviously, faced with increasing costs, we're going to have to cut that back, which means providing fewer affordable homes.

And England says that will ultimately lead to delays for future habitat homeowners. Individuals will not be able to start their life, build their financial future, and build what we think is going to be a stronger community as a result of them living in these affordable homes. A future that could get even more uncertain as the threat of more tariffs and counter tariffs loom with vulnerable Canadians caught in the middle. Julia Wong, CBC News, Edmonton. Housing sales in Canada dropped last month nearly 10% from

January. That is the largest monthly drop since May of 2022. The Canadian Real Estate Association says Canada's trade war with the US is putting the brakes on the market. The Greater Toronto area had the biggest drop and the average Canadian home price also declined about 3% to just over $668,000. The Trump administration is defending the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelans by citing a little-known law from the 18th century. Lawyers for the government were in court arguing the expulsions were valid and they were right to ignore a court order to stop them. But members of the administration also say they don't care if the court agrees.

Katie Simpson reports. This administration acted within the confines of the law. White House press secretary Caroline Levitt defending the Trump administration's latest deportation efforts. Denying accusations, it acted unlawfullyfully arguing this latest mass expulsion makes America safer These are heinous monsters More than 250 people were deported Saturday after Trump invoked a wartime power known as the alien enemies act The White House says deportees were either gang members or had connections to criminal organizations were either gang members or had connections to criminal organizations. It was challenged by lawyers for some of the deportees, and in an emergency ruling,

a federal court judge ordered a temporary halt to the plan. While planes bound for El Salvador were ordered to return to the U.S., Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, suggested that was not possible. We're already in international waters. We're outside the borders of the United States. I'm the border czar. Once you're outside the border, you know, it is what it is.

Holman is unapologetic, shrugging off both criticism and the authority of the courts. We're not stopping. I don't care what the judges think. I don't care what the left thinks. We're coming. The White House press secretary

tried to walk back Holman's statements, saying it followed the law once a written notice was filed Despite an earlier verbal notification There's actually questions about whether a verbal order carries the same weight as a legal order as a written order the Trump administration's Actions are being widely scrutinized by the American legal community. This is a hugely significant moment For Americans and for American history. This is the first time that we've seen a president defy the courts. David Super is a law professor at Georgetown University. He says this is a clear-cut case of contempt of court. Not only

did the Trump administration ignore the judge's order, but the Alien Enemies Act is being used improperly. He says it's only applicable if a country is invading the U.S. They're using this poetic metaphor to claim that undocumented Venezuelan immigrants are somehow an invasion. That's not what an invasion. An invasion involves tanks and cannons. If a president does not abide by the courts, Professor Super says it means the U.S. is no longer a country of laws and that the Constitution does not matter.

He views this as a deeply concerning and possibly defining moment for America. Katie Simpson, 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. RCMP in Manitoba have identified the remains of Mercedes Myron. She was one of two indigenous women murdered and left at a Winnipeg area landfill in 2022. The remains of Morgan Harris were confirmed earlier this month. The search for their bodies started last December after the Manitoba and federal

governments committed 40 million dollars to the effort. Wab Kinew is Manitoba's premier. I think over the past few weeks I've spoken to a lot of people who may have had different perspectives or not knowing what to make of this issue but who today feel like it's the right thing that we were able to return these women to their families so they can be memorialized in a proper way. Myron and Harris were from the long plain First Nation west of Winnipeg. Their killer was convicted last summer be memorialized in a proper way. Myron and Harris were from the long plain

first nation, west of Winnipeg. Their killer was convicted last summer of both murders, along with the murders of two other indigenous women. It's five years this month since the pandemic disrupted life as we know it, how we worked, how we interacted and how our kids went to school. Those changes to learning are still being felt by students.

Deanna Sumanak-Johnson has this report. Look at this here. Yeah. You see? Mm-hmm. For Montreal mom Catherine Korakakis and her family, the pandemic may be gone but its repercussions are still felt. Korakakis, who's also the president of our Parents Association for English Schools in Quebec,

says her 14 and 17 year olds have needed tutors to catch up on subjects like math and French. We're spending probably close to $400 a week for the children to supplement and there's no other option because it's still not caught up. Both of them are still behind. In Toronto Adriana Ferrera mother of two children with disabilities says the pandemic effects still also linger for her family. Her grade 3 daughter Sofia is on the autism spectrum and attended virtual kindergarten for part of the pandemic.

It has impacted her social skills. We are working on that now in therapy, but it definitely has impacted her in that aspect. Five years ago, schools across Canada began to shut their doors and pivot to online learning. School closures in Ontario, the longest in North America. These disruptions caused many students to fall behind in key subjects. According to one assessment done at the end of the pandemic, students were behind by

about 70 percent of a school year in mathematics and 30 percent of a school year in reading. These deficits are still being felt, says Louis Volante, the distinguished professor at Brock University, researches long-term educational impacts of the pandemic. We have to think about it not just in terms of learning losses but we also have to think in terms of things like physical health, mental health, social-emotional learning. Kelly Gallagher-McKay, associate professor of law and society

at Wilfrid Laurier University agrees and adds one more thing that's changed. The rates of absenteeism have gone way up in Canadian schools. A CBC investigation from last year found that across the country rates of chronic absence, that's the percentage of students who miss at least 10 percent of the school year, are up significantly. In some school boards, it has more than doubled. The reasons are not entirely clear, but Kelly Gallagher-McKay suspects heightened rates of student anxiety and mental health problems

as well as shifting views on sick days. It used to be the good thing to do was to keep your kid home from school so that to protect society. So we saw a change in norms that hasn't really shifted back. Maybe people don't see school as so necessary. Their message to policymakers, invest money and resources to help out kids for whom the effects of the pandemic persist half a decade later. Deanna Sumanak-Johnson, CBC News, Toronto. The world's top ocean mapping team is from New Brunswick

and right now is on board a Navy ship in the Antarctic. The team is trying to get a better picture of what's happening below the surface around the South Pole. They're part of a larger Canadian research mission in the region with a CBC crew on board. International climate correspondent Susan Ormiston has details now on the little boat that's playing a big role in their work. Cardack to the bridge. You have permission to launch. The USC is one ready. Over.

A Navy crew is trying to lower a 200 pound remote-controlled vehicle over the stern with a crane. Alright, once we get free we'll take her back. Once in the water, Kevin Wilcox toes the bright yellow echo sounder about two meters by one behind the stern of our boat the Caesar chocolate we were like getting right underneath the transom I didn't want anybody's like head getting hit the surface vehicle is part of the University of New Brunswick's

ocean mapping group it's even got a mascot Velcro to the bow a small plastic Pokemon they call Pikachu so paying ping like a sonar. He's also gone for a swim as well. The most important is the sonar that's underneath and so that essentially sends a pulse of sound down to the sea for a hundred times a second creating a colored picture of the bottom of the sea which he shows us on his laptop. We're going to go and essentially fill in a map of what

the sea full looks like in this area. So I'm essentially going to be driving the usb back and forth and essentially painting in this area of the seafloor. As the Antarctic warms and the glaciers dump more fresh water into the salty sea water, scientists want to know what happens to ocean life. Only 25% of the world's oceans are mapped. Wilcox's work will add to a global ambition to map them all by 2030. The Yellow Explorer is working away and the seabed map is starting to fill in.

The EcoBoat or RV frequency, it's designed for shallow water, mostly inland mapping. So this is really pushing the envelope of its capabilities. But suddenly there's trouble. Surprisingly there's kelp here which... Who knew? Yeah, exactly. And so that got caught up in my motors essentially. And we've cleared that but unfortunately they're still not responding.

Attempts to fix it fail. So it's back to mothership to triage the problem. And he still has to get the vehicle back in a sling hauled up to the quarter deck of HMCS Margaret Bruhl. Okay, heads up to the boat. You're going to be in clear of the water. Turns out the problem was just a fuse. With lots of data from other days, he's satisfied. It is one of those actual once in a lifetime experiences.

And all the challenges, I do it all over again. Susan Ormiston, CBC News, Espanola Cove, Antarctica. Now a science story that's less eureka and more you're kidding me. Sam Lawler is an astronomer at the University of Regina. She was recently aiming to capture pictures of the faraway Kuiper belt. But... I calculated exactly where I needed to point the telescope to continue discovering these new Kuiper belt objects.

And hilariously I forgot to check and see if Saturn was in the way. Yes, Saturn, that big round planet with the rings. It totally blocked the view of what she wanted to see. But through a bit of serendipity, Loller had actually discovered something else. And that actually turned out to be a really, really useful set of images for some of my collaborators who were working on discovering new moons of Saturn. So I sort of accidentally helped out with this discovery of 128 new moons of Saturn. That discovery has now doubled the number of moons astronomers can see around Saturn.

Some of them are even orbiting the planet backwards. Loller says all that new information blows her mind and she's glad she was able to be a part of it. It just sort of goes to show you that like in science sometimes mistakes can also be very, very useful. But the next time Lawler goes looking for the Kuiper belt, she will make sure Saturn isn't trying to sneak in a selfie. Thank you for joining us. This has been Your World Tonight for Monday, March 17th. I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again.