Your World Tonight - Countdown to Election Day, FBI arrests a judge, hockey mistrial, and more.

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

With the federal election campaign heading into its last days, party leaders sharpen their messages to voters. Mark Carney leans into the public fear of American annexation, while Pierre Poilievre details the changes he’d deliver in his first 100 days if elected prime minister. Both the NDP and Bloc Quebecois leaders argue they’d have vital roles to play in holding the major parties to account. Polls still show the Liberals with a lead over the Conservatives, one reason being the seats the Liberals are poised to snatch from the Bloc Quebecois. For the first time in 20 years, the Liberals are threatening the Bloc in Northern Quebec, where the pitch is for voters to join the winning team.  The U.S. culture war takes another turn. The FBI arrests a sitting judge in Wisconsin, accusing her of helping a man wanted for deportation to evade the immigration officers waiting to nab him outside the courtroom. It was the last day for the public to pay respects to Pope Francis. People crowded into St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican – for a last farewell. A delegation of Canadian officials led by Governor General Mary Simon has arrived in Rome ahead of tomorrow’s funeral for the pontiff. And more….

When they predict we'll fall, we rise to the challenge. When they say we're not a country, we stand on guard. This land taught us to be brave and caring, to protect our values, to leave no one behind. Canada is on the line, and it's time to vote as though our country depends on it, because like never before, it does. I'm Jonathan Pedneau, co-leader of the Green Party of Canada.

This election, each vote makes a difference. Authorized by the Registeredleader of the Green Party of Canada. This election, each vote makes a difference. Authorized by the registered agent of the Green Party of Canada. This is a CBC Podcast. We're living through the biggest crisis of our lifetimes. We will stand with you. Bring home Canada's promise. And on Monday, we all need to vote for change. Now let's bring it home.

Thank you very much. It's being framed as the most consequential choice Canadians have faced in decades. With crises at home, economical, financial, ideological, together with a cross-border threat to Canadian sovereignty that's existential. As voters try to make up their minds, party leaders are making a final push in the final days of the federal campaign.

Welcome to Your World Tonight. It's Friday, April 25th, just before 6 p.m. Eastern time. I'm Stephanie Scanderis also on the podcast It's something that we try to avoid obviously because rescheduling the trial can be very difficult And so in this case It's good that it happened as early as it did because better to have a mistrial declared on day one than day 40 Starting over in the high-profile case of five Team Canada hockey players charged with sexual assault Just days into the proceedings the judge in the case declares a mistrial.

It's no coincidence. Liberal leader Mark Carney began the final Friday before the election at a steel plant. It's an industry being hit hard by the threat at the center of his campaign. For the past month, Carney has pitched himself as the best leader to take on Donald Trump's trade war. And it's a strategy he's relying on right to the end. Tom Perry reports.

I'm going to talk a lot about steel. I'm going to talk a lot about building and a lot about the future. Mark Carney in his element. The Liberal leader at the Algoma Steel Plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, ground zero in Donald Trump's trade war. We will stand with every single Canadian worker targeted by President Trump's attacks on our country. We will stand with you.

Carney has positioned himself as a calm, experienced leader with a plan to defend Canada against Trump's tariffs and threats to Canadian sovereignty, dismissing Conservative leader Pierre Polyev as the wrong person at the wrong time. He's ignoring the investments we need to build the strongest economy that works for everyone. He's offering Canadians instead a fantasy of fiscal tricks and phantom growth. The Liberal leader leaning into that message in the final days of the campaign, as his party seeks to take votes and seats from both Conservatives and New Democrats. So this Monday, Canadians will choose who stands up for them as their Prime Minister.

And I'm asking for your vote, for positive reasons, regardless of which party you voted for in the past. Carney's pitch is aimed at Canadians' anxiety over Trump's sledgehammer approach to the global economy. Laura Devoney is Director of Corpor corporate affairs at Algoma Steel. She says roughly half their business is in the U.S. The tariffs are very concerning to our company and our workers. The steel market has been impacted by the U.S. tariffs. Access to the U.S. market is really important

and the economic impacts are very concerning. Carney, the former central banker, says his plan to cut taxes, invest in housing and infrastructure, all while running deep deficits, will build the economy and put Canada in a strong position to fight and win a trade war. It's a message he'll keep repeating as voters begin taking one last look at the parties, the leaders and the choices on offer. Tom Perry, CBC News, Vaughan, Ontario. Conservative leader Pierre Poliev has a message he's repeating too. It's time for change. Today he began his final blitz through key writings with a promise to get to work on his policy ideas immediately and not stop until they're passed into law. Kate McKenna has that story.

Thank you very much everyone. Change, change, change. At what's expected to be his last news conference of the campaign conservative leader Pierre Poliev unveiled a splashy last promise. He says if he's elected prime minister big change is coming in the first 100 days. As part of our 100 days of urgent action, we will pass a bill that repeals the no-development law C-69. We will reverse the tanker ban.

We will launch a Canada first reinvestment tax cut. At his stop in Saskatoon, he also said if his flagship policy proposals on affordability crime and jobs aren't passed into law, members of Parliament can cancel their summer vacation because he'll keep the House of Commons sitting. Poliev's message distilled is that he's the only one who can bring change. We have to choose hope over fear. We have to choose change for a brighter future for our families. Poliev has spent the last day in regions that have some raising their eyebrows. Areas traditionally supportive to conservatives like Quebec City, Saskatoon

and this afternoon Calgary. Calgary are you ready for change? Poliev has spent most of the campaign on the offensive in battleground areas. Opinion polls show the party sits at about 40 percent. It's a high water mark for the modern conservative movement but it might not be enough to form government on Monday. Folliev's campaign has drawn enormous crowds to rallies and polls show his message of affordability resonates strongly,

particularly with Millennials. Soaring costs, rising crime, an economy that is weaker than any other in the G7. Canadians are asking the simple question, can we really afford to allow Mark Carney to have the fourth term of Justin Trudeau? But his campaign has been marked by conservative infighting, with some questioning publicly and privately whether Poliev has been a strong enough foil for Donald Trump and media leaks suggesting frictions between Poliev's team and the progressive conservative premiers in Nova Scotia and Ontario. Poliev will spend the weekend holding events like the one in Calgary fighting in key battlegrounds in BC and Ontario. It'll end with a rally in his

own Ottawa area riding Carlton. Kate McKenna, CBC News, Toronto. Elsewhere on the campaign trail the NDP and Bloc Québécois are also racing to pick up every last vote they can. While Jagmeet Singh is defending the role he played in the timing of this election, David Thurton starts there. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says he has no regrets about not toppling the Liberal government to force an election sooner, when the Liberals were polling at their lowest levels under former leader Justin Trudeau.

Yes, absolutely. And I can tell you why. Singh for the first time this campaign outlined why he didn't vote non-confidence in the government. First he said he wanted Canadians to benefit from the programs his party pushed for under its supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals, for people to actually get dental care and for Ottawa to sign a couple of pharmacare deals and then there was this reason. And finally at the time I could not stomach the idea of Pierre-Paul Yavre and the Conservatives forming a majority government. I knew that was gonna be bad.

I knew that was going to be bad. I knew that was going to be bad because of their cuts, because of their division, because of the things they wanted, and I did not want to let that happen. Singh got a bit emotional when asked why he was still dancing on the campaign trail, despite where the polls show his party is at. Singh said life has taught him that when you face struggles, you can either laugh or cry and that you have to have joy in all things. It's not just the liberal legacy that keeps following Singh. Mark

Carney is literally following him to his next campaign stop in London, Ontario, as the liberals try to win over NDP supporters for themselves. David Thurton, CBC News, Hamilton. I'm Rafi Boujikani, covering the Bloc Québécois in Victoriaville. Leader Yves-François Blanchet says he hopes to get Bloc MPs elected in this area. The writing itself is a rarity in Quebec, won by a conservative in the last election who then left the party and is not running again. Blanchet also got some last-minute assistance from the popular provincial Parti Québécois leader, who endorsed the Bloc in an open letter calling Marc Carney

an existential threat to Quebec. But Blanchet is still predicting a Carney win. Canada will pick Marc Carney as its prime minister. I can change nothing in that. Even if there were 45 MPs from the Bloc, I cannot change that. So we have to collaborate. Up next for Blanchet, a trip north to Val d'Or, where, like in many places, he's fighting to save a seat from the Liberals. Rafi Boudjikani on CBC News, Victoriaville, Quebec.

Val d'Or sits in another Quebec riding, where the bloc's core message is being tested, despite holding power there for much of the past two decades. CBC's Vanessa Lee has a look at how that race is shaping up. I have no idea yet for the moment. Many voters in Val d'Or say they are still undecided on who to vote for, but are very clear on the issues. It's more expensive.

We are in, it's not a big town. It's not Ottawa or Montreal here. Just a small town, but it's more expensive. The price of the food, the Trump. Val d'Or sits six hours northwest of Montreal. Considered the gateway to northern Quebec, the city of 33,000 is in a region known for mining and forestry. It's just one part of the vast riding of Abitibi Bay James Nunavik EU, which is the largest in Quebec. The distance from Val d'Or to the northern tip is 1,500 kilometers,

a huge battleground with a history of shifting political allegiances. Not only is it big, it's also diverse. I'm not really a fan of politics. While it's predominantly francophone, one in four people speaks an Indigenous language. Edith Cloutier has been the executive director of Val d'Or's Native Friendship Centre for more than 30 years. We have a shortage of housing housing and homelessness is an issue. So we have those two social priorities where all parties like didn't hear about those aspects as much as we should have.

The Bloc Québécois has largely held this riding for the past two decades, except for when the NDP poached it from them back in 2011 during the Orange Wave. You know, I have a lot of priorities. Bloc incumbent Sylvie Berube is looking to be re-elected for a third term. If we don't defend the interests of Ottawa, I don't know who's going to defend them. If we don't defend the interests of Quebec, who will? Federal money always ends up elsewhere, she says. The bloc's biggest threat is from the Liberals.

I think that's important that the writing is well represented. Polls suggest Birhube is running neck and neck with Mandi Gholmasti, the first female Grand Chief of the Cree Nation government in Quebec. She resigned from that position to run for the Liberals, who are on track to steal seats from the bloc with a surge of national pride and talk of a 51st state. Right now in the context of this election, the issue is economy. So does this riding want to have a voice that represents them with the capacity to bring change? Or is it going to be,

you know, a vote for another party that may or may not even form the opposition? A victory for the Liberals here would mark the end of a long drought. They last won this riding 25 years ago. Vanessa Lee, CBC News, Val d'Or, Quebec. You can join your World Tonight host Susan Bonner and Sunday Magazine host Pia Chattopadhyay on election night for special live coverage as the results come in. The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. Eastern on CBC Radio One.

Coming up on the podcast, a sudden reset in the sexual assault trial of five former World Junior Hockey players after the judge declares a mistrial and federal police in the U.S. arrest a sitting judge as the Trump administration continues to face off with local and state authorities over its sweeping deportation orders. Plus we take you to Rome on the final day of the public visitation for Pope Francis. for Pope Francis. It had hardly begun, but today a judge declared a mistrial in the case of five former World Junior hockey players accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2018. Now a new trial is expected to begin on Monday with a completely new jury.

Karen Pauls has more. The jury had just started hearing evidence in this high profile sexual assault case when something happened, resulting in the decision to declare a mistrial. The reasons why are under a publication ban. The jurors dismissed this morning. The mistrial then puts a full stop on the trial. Nick Cake is a former Crown attorney in London, Ontario, now a local defense lawyer. He's not part of this case but is following it closely.

So a mistrial deals with trial fairness. There has been an event, whatever that event may be, whoever is involved in that event, but that event has now caused or has seemed to cause trial unfairness. This trial has generated public attention internationally in the legal and hockey worlds. It all started when Team Canada won the World Juniors Hockey Championship in 2018. Later that year, the team was at a Hockey Canada gala in London, Ontario. After that event, a woman came forward with allegations of sexual assault by eight members of the team.

Police investigated but closed the case. The woman sued Hockey Canada, which settled quietly out of court with funds raised from children's hockey fees. When that became public, the scandal rocked the hockey world. Police reopened the case and laid charges of sexual assault against Michael McCloud, Dylan Dubay, Cal Foote, Carter Hart and Alex Formonton. McCloud faces a second charge of being party to an offense. They've all pleaded not guilty. Breaking news, the judge in the Team Canada essay trial has declared a mistrial.

News of the mistrial has prompted a flood of comments, questions and speculation on social media. People asking what happened and why we can't report on it. It's not a cover-up, it's not a conspiracy. Nick Cake says there's nothing untoward happening and the players are not being given special treatment. I can appreciate that the public looking in on this may think that something fishy is going on but I just urge the court of public opinion to wait and to render their decision once they know all the facts. Western University law professor Christopher Sharon says

all of this should actually give the public even more confidence in the justice system. Something went wrong and the court has responded in a way that presumably ensures the integrity of the proceedings going forward. A new jury of nine women and five men has already been selected with hopes a new trial can start on Monday. Think of it this way, the ref dropped the puck but there was a false start. Blow the whistle, reset the clock and start again with different centers. Karen Polz, CBC News, London, Ontario.

In a major escalation of the Trump administration's battle over immigration laws, the FBI has arrested a sitting judge in Milwaukee, accusing her of getting in the way of a deportation operation. As Paul Hunter explains, the White House says local and state officials are impeding its effort to deport undocumented immigrants. Judge, anything to say about this? Leaving the courthouse, walking quickly across the sidewalk and into a waiting SUV, Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan said nothing. The judge, having earlier been arrested by federal authorities, accused this morning of obstructing immigration agents in the courthouse

as they waited to arrest a man for potential deportation, all part of a U.S. crackdown on illegal migrants. You're not going to believe this. Takes the defendant and the defense attorney back in her chambers, takes them out of private exit and tells them to leave. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Fox News slamming Dugan and other judges she brands as similarly stalling or trying to block the stepped-up deportations. They're deranged is all I can think of I

cannot believe I think some of these judges think they are beyond and above the law and they are not. But there's already pushback on what happened with Judge Dugan in Milwaukee. Said to have been arrested by multiple law enforcement officers, official documents suggest there's evidence she indeed tried to help the migrant escape immigration agents. He'd been deported once before and was in her court

facing separate domestic violence charges. But it's the way Dugan was arrested that's raised concern. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. And it is our understanding that she was arrested by a large performative showing of law enforcement officials on the courthouse grounds today, and that is not right. No justice, no peace, let the judge be released.

At a small demonstration near the courthouse, the worry, regardless of what Dugan actually did, is that federal authorities are trying to intimidate other judges to ensure that none stand in their way of deportations. Judge Hannah Dugan's arrest is not just about her, right? This is about striking fear in the heart of the judiciary across the entire country. And we are here and we are mobilizing today to say that we will not stand until she is free. We will not leave until she is free.

Thank you. Attorney General Bondi, though, is having none of it. If you are obstructing justice and you're escorting a criminal defendant out a back door, it will not be tolerated. Doesn't matter who you are, you're gonna be prosecuted. Dugan's lawyer said in the statement, the judge, quote, wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. Paul Hunter, CBC News, Washington.

At the same time, the Trump administration is backing off another controversial immigration policy. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it will revoke the order to cancel the study visas of some 1,500 students. Last month the agency created panic among international students when it said they would lose their right to be in the U.S. The agency says it will instead come up with a process to first review the study permits before making a decision. One of the few people to ever be kicked out of the U.S. Congress is going to jail. George Santos was a Republican congressman in New York. He lied about his education, his career in finance, how he spent

donations he collected, even about his ethnicity. In the end, he was convicted of fraud and identity theft. U.S. Attorney John Durham said Santos leveraged his campaign for office to benefit himself financially. Santos' victims were real people and they suffered real losses. He went so far as to seek out elderly people who suffered from cognitive impairment and dementia. Santos' blatant corruption is an affront to our electoral process and

the people of New York's third congressional district. And he's going to be punished for his staggering fraud, the abuses he put on our electoral process, for mocking our democratic institutions, and most importantly, for betraying and defrauding his supporters, his voters, his donors. Though Santos pleaded for mercy in court and his lawyers suggested a two-year jail term, the judge sentenced him to more than seven years. You're listening to Your World Tonight from CBC News. And if you want to make sure you 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.

Leaders from around the world are arriving in Italy ahead of the funeral for Pope Francis tomorrow. Among them is a Canadian delegation bringing to Rome stories of how the Pope used kindness and humor to connect with people in this country. Chris Brown reports. With enormous crowds sneaking around St. Peter's Square, there was unmistakable emotion on the final day for viewing Pope Francis' open coffin. Inside the Basilica, as people filed past his body, dressed in sacred vestments, many bowed their heads. Some were in tears.

Others simply nodded in respect. Among those who endured the huge lineups was Manitoba Métis Federation President David Chartrand. He met the Pope in 2022 when Francis made a historic apology to Canadian residential school survivors. Nothing was going to stop me from praying so I had a chance to look at him and bow to him and thank him for everything he's done for us. He loved the world actually. More than 50 world leaders and reigning monarchs will be here for Saturday's funeral, including US President Donald Trump, who flew out Friday. Canada's delegation will include diplomat Joyce Napier, who recalled the Pope gave her

some Catholic books when they were introduced 10 months ago. And then he paused and he said to me, you can read them. Or you know, if you have a table that's a little bit unbalanced, you can use it to balance your table. It took a few seconds. I kind of look at him. You can imagine that the Pope would be cracking a joke, but he did. By sunset, when the visitation ended, St. Peter's Square emptied out in preparation for the funeral,

which will be unique for popes. There hasn't been a procession like this, at least in modern history, for a pope. Vatican correspondent Juno Orocho Estevez says after an outdoor mass, Francis' body will be driven six kilometres to St. Mary Major Basilica, where a tomb has been prepared in a place driven six kilometres to St. Mary Major Basilica, where a tomb has been prepared in a place that was special to him. He would go there and pray in front of the icon of Mary that's called Salus Populi Romani, health of the Roman people. And he said himself that he wanted to be buried there, to be close

to that icon so that Mary can be with him on his final journey. If you are elected, what will be your first move? Impossible to be elected. The next act will belong to the Church Cardinals, who are suddenly being treated like celebrities wherever they go in Rome. They'll meet in a conclave to pick the new pope after final goodbyes are said to the old one. Chris Brown, CBC News, Rome.

We end tonight with a racing pigeon named Peter. Typically, racing pigeons don't get named until they win a major competition. Peter didn't even finish his, but he managed to accomplish something even more impressive. That is the sound of dozens of racing pigeons being released on the Spanish island of Ipita. Pigeon racing dates back to the 19th century and involves training the birds to fly home as fast as possible. The race in question started back in February, and the finish line was another Spanish island in the Mediterranean, about 120 kilometers away.

Now, it's common for elite athletes to have their preferred events. And Peter is clearly more of a long distance racer. We looked at the metal band on his leg, which is an official band that denotes that he is registered to a Pigeon Fancy Club in Spain. We did contact the organization and gave all his information and they said they were going to attempt to connect us with his owners. Wildlife specialist Brianna Bose is taking care of Peter after he turned up last month, not on a Spanish island, but on Sable Island off the coast of Nova Scotia, 5,000 kilometres away.

He was thin, obviously hadn't been eating, was dehydrated. On closer inspection we realized he did have a wound on his, it's called the keel bone, which is kind of like the bone that goes down the middle of a bird's chest. Poor Peter was in pretty rough shape after his trip, but he's doing better and is expected to make a full recovery. Now I know what you're thinking and although it is a cool idea, Peter probably did not fly across the Atlantic. It's more likely that he hitched a ride on a cargo ship. Peter's owner says he's relieved his pigeon is okay and after an adventure

like that he definitely earned his name. This has been your World Tonight for Friday April 25th. I'm Stephanie Scanderis. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.