Your World Tonight - Eve of tariffs, Quebec language law, carbon tax gone, and more

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

The White House says President Donald Trump is with his team – making final decisions on which countries to tariff and how high those tariffs will be. The actual announcement will come on Wednesday afternoon. Some senators are hoping to get the tariffs against Canada blocked – they are arguing the fentanyl crisis is not being fueled at Canada’s border.And: An annual U.S. list of global trade irritants – now includes Quebec’s language laws as a barrier to American businesses. The list also says Canada’s plan to reduce the use of plastics is a hurdle.Also: The federal consumer carbon tax is essentially gone. The rate has been set at zero. The tax had been a major issue the conservatives were planning to use against the Liberals during this election. How do the elimination of the tax, and the rebate people were receiving, affect consumers?Plus: The Conservative leader talks “biological clocks”, Myanmar’s junta is being accused of blocking international aid to the earthquake zone, Premier Danielle Smith defends recent trips to the United States, and more.

How do you know when an idea is worth your time? I'm Nala Ayed, host of Ideas. Join me as we deep dive into the stories and ideas that shape us. No topic is off limits, from the allure of authoritarianism to what we can learn from the average cat. Find and follow Ideas wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. Canadians got a right to be pissed. We got a responsibility to step up as bipartisan members of the Senate and say, no, we reject this policy.

We affirm this long term friendship. On the eve of Donald Trump's big remake of global trade, Democratic senators are coming to Canada's defense, challenging Trump's border crisis rationale and accusing the American president of creating a fake Canadian emergency. The senators have some Republican support too. What they don't have is a lot of time.

Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Susan Bonner. It is Tuesday, April 1st, coming up on 6 p.m. Eastern, also on the podcast. We've got gas in there today so hopefully it'll help. If it's a little bit lower, it helps everybody, you know, be more affordable. Cheaper gas prices are good for me. I still believe that we do need to have a carbon tax. To be honest, it doesn't really make a difference.

I mean, looking at other prices it's tough man. It's tough out there. Canadian drivers filling up the tank and leaving the carbon tax in the rearview mirror. The consumer portion of the policy cancelled after a liberal u-turn. Creating a quick drop in gas prices but also concern about the long-term cost for the planet. Team Canada appears to have new members in Washington. A group of senators mounting an effort to block tariffs they say will harm cross-border relations and American consumers.

It comes as US President Donald Trump finalizes global tariff plans he is set to announce tomorrow. Katie Simpson has the latest from Washington. Hello everybody. Good afternoon. As White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt walked to the podium in the briefing room, she was quick to confirm tomorrow's tariff announcement is a go. A major event in the Rose Garden set to start at 4 p.m. after markets close. The president in the process of finalizing the plan. He's with his trade and tariff team right now,

perfecting it to make sure this is a perfect deal for the American people and the American worker. Donald Trump will be flanked by members of his cabinet as he finally reveals specifics about tariff rates and which countries and industries he'll hit. These new tariffs are based he says on fairness. Reciprocal tariffs for countries that impose taxes on US goods or have trading barriers deemed unfair to American company. The tariff announcement will come tomorrow. They will be effective immediately. Canada has been told it will be hit.

However, the tariff rate may be on the lower end of the scale despite Trump's aggressive complaints about trade with Canada. Complicating matters further, Trump is expected to push ahead with tariffs on foreign-made automobiles, light trucks and parts. Canadian companies are already trying to navigate Trump's 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum and the blanket 25 percent tariffs on some Canadian goods linked to the president's concerns about border security and fentanyl. The president has justified the imposition of these tariffs on, in my view, a made up

emergency. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine is leading a long-shot effort to kill the border security tariffs on Canada, drafting a resolution to end the national emergency at the border which Trump declared in order to impose the tariffs. For this to pass, Democrats need support from Republicans who hold the majority in the Senate. We're asking for four Republican senators to actually go on record what they've all said privately. There are gas at the tariffs. Canadians got a right to be pissed.

We got a responsibility to step up as bipartisan members of the Senate and say, no, we reject this policy. Democratic Senator Mark Warner says at least three Republicans are expected to get on board. But even if they get a fourth, there's little chance it amounts to anything. The resolution would also need to be passed by the House. And Trump ally, Speaker Mike Johnson, is not expected to bring it up for a vote. Trump is doing what he can to stop this effort, attacking Democrats on social media,

warning Republicans to not give their opponents a win. Katie Simpson, CBC News, Washington. Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada has a response plan for tomorrow's tariffs, but he's waiting to see what the White House announces. We will respond to additional measures. So we will put in place retaliatory measures if there are additional measures put against Canada tomorrow.

Carney's office says he spoke to Mexican President Claudia Schoenbaum today about the tariff threat both countries face. As the world braces for impact, an annual report by the U.S. government is providing details about what it considers unfair trading practices. It goes country by country, and in Canada's case there are some long-standing complaints, along with some new ones. Vanessa Lee explains why a Quebec language law made the list and the sharp reaction. The United States would not dare ask any nation on earth to sacrifice their language if they want to deal with the United States. Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet taking aim at the U.S. after it listed Bill 96, Quebec's French language law, as a foreign trade barrier.

They wouldn't dare do that against Germans and French and Italians. So Quebecers have to stand up and say that's the end to it. Leaders of the Liberals, Conservatives and NDP have also spoken out against the move by the U.S. The office of the U.S. trade representative says American businesses have complained about a provision set to take effect on June 1st. It requires companies to translate into French any part of their trademark on product packaging that contains a generic term or a description of the product. We don't have to change our law to accommodate the United States. Quebec's

French language minister Jean-Francois Roberge says the law is non-negotiable and completely reasonable. I don't think it's reasonable to say that our rule with the Bill 96 are really a problem to make business with the United States. Quebec introduced Bill 96 three years ago. A sweeping set of controversial reforms to language laws, the government says will further protect and advance the French language in the province. The Biden administration had also raised similar concerns about the law, but this is the first time it's made the annual global trade barrier list.

Other grievances against Canada include the country's zero plastic push by 2030 and agricultural supply management. Christian Kaiser is a dairy farmer in Saint-Hermen-et-Gildes in Quebec's eastern townships. We want to feed Canadian consumers with the rules that Canadian consumers and the population want in place for the environment, the animal welfare, and we want a steady, secure food source. It's unclear what being singled out on the list means. In releasing it, the Trade Office said its findings underscore U.S. President Donald Trump's America First trade policy.

Julian Karagesyan is a lecturer in the Department of Economics at McGill. We could see it as a negotiating tactic, or it could be an excuse for a high tariff we may face tomorrow. Adding more tension in a country on edge as the clock ticks down to Trump's Liberation Day. Vanessa Lee, CBC News, Montreal. Alberta's Premier is hoping to cut through some tension of her own. Daniel Smith is facing criticism for her recent trips to the United States and not taking a Team Canada approach on tariffs. Today, she's defending her strategy.

Madeline Cummings reports. I love Canada and I want Canada to work. Speaking at an infrastructure announcement in southeastern Alberta, Danielle Smith says she's relentlessly trying to advocate for Canadian industries because she loves the country. This despite recently warning of an unprecedented national unity crisis if the federal government doesn't address a list of demands she delivered to Mark Carney. And quite frankly, at some point Canada has to start working for Alberta and it's not right now. The Alberta premier wants to see the next prime minister

eliminate the oil and gas emissions cap, end the ban on single-use plastics, and get rid of clean electricity regulations. When asked today if her government would consider putting an Alberta secession referendum on a ballot, if the demands aren't met, Smith pushed back. I got a mandate to try to fix Canada. I got a mandate to try to make Canada work.

Brendan Boyd, an associate professor of political science at McEwen University, says Smith must please both her party base and the broader electorate. And she knows what happened to her predecessor, Jason Kenney, who was ousted while he was premier. Well, he had a mandate from the province ousted by the party. Boyd says the premier's approach differs from others because she's viewing trade issues through a domestic partisan lens. And no one else is really doing that in that this period of time, a lot of people have sort of rallied around the flag.

Some, including the opposition Alberta NDP, have criticized Smith's strategy, saying taking a taxpayer-funded trip to speak at a fundraising gala with conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro last week showed a lack of judgment. Smith defended the trip again today. She says, Premiers agreed to work their contacts to do everything possible to ward off tariffs. Those are the influencers that will have influence on the decision makers around the president. And from what I'm hearing, they still haven't settled on what it's going to look like tomorrow. what I'm hearing, they still haven't settled on what it's going to look like tomorrow. AJ Bauer, assistant professor of journalism and creative media at the

University of Alabama, says Shapiro can set conservative agendas, but ultimately Trump is the one to convince. Even if Ben Shapiro comes out strong against terrorists, Trump seems pretty diehard in his support of terrorists as a policy tool. And I don't think one conservative influencer saying something else is going to necessarily affect that. Smith maintains she's been on Team Canada since the beginning, but says she's not willing to sacrifice Alberta's biggest industry. Madeline Cummings, CBC News, Edmonton.

Coming up on the podcast, assessing the costs and benefits of the end of the carbon tax, pain in the Canadian lumber industry, and how war is preventing aid from getting to victims of the earthquake in Myanmar. If you just put gas in your car or truck, you likely noticed the cost to fill up is way down. It's a result of the end of the consumer carbon tax. Mark Carney dropped the fee on his first day as Prime Minister. But on the campaign trail today, the Liberal leader is facing new questions about whether

Canadians will still pay a price for his decision. Rafi Boujikaneen explains. You've recognized early the need to address climate change and acted with new zero emission all-electric buses. Liberal leader Mark Carney praising the Winnipeg company hosting him for its environmental efforts even as he took the time to remind his audience how he ended his predecessor's signature green policy, the consumer carbon tax. You may notice that you'll soon be paying up to 18 cents less per liter than you did yesterday to fill up your tank.

Carney did away with the levy weeks ago for all provinces except Quebec which has its own system. The cancellation designed to kick in today in the middle of an election campaign where affordability is top of mind and some drivers are already noticing. Well, I haven't seen that price in quite a while. I commute down from up in North York every day, so cheaper gas prices are good for me. It really affects a lot of people who are living paycheck to paycheck and minimum wage. The tax also applied to home heating with natural gas. For years, conservatives used it as a weapon against the liberals,

hoping to fight this election over it, even now still as a weapon against the liberals, hoping to fight this election over it, even now still bringing it up on the campaign trail. Leader Pierre Palievre in St. John's, Newfoundland today. What they now say is that they're going to hide the tax from the pump for 28 days leading up to the election in the hopes that people will forgive and forget, re-elect them, after which they will use the carbon tax law to reinstate the full tax at a higher rate with no rebate whatsoever." There is no evidence this is the Liberals' plan, but with the tax gone, so indeed is that rebate.

Andrew Leach, economist at the University of Alberta. He says lower income families typically pollute less, which means they will feel the loss of the rebate more. Concerned about how to deal with climate change, now some environmentalists feel it's insulting to lose the tax. We could increase the restrictions on heavy industry that's producing most of the pollution.

Tim Graham is with environmental defense. That means we're gonna have to do something else to address those sources of pollution. Carney says he'd keep taxing industrial emitters. He's also holding on to Bill C-69, legislation that enables federal regulators to assess the environmental impact of energy projects. Conservatives call it the anti-pipeline law, branding they're sure to stick with as they look to keep at least some ammunition in their election arsenal.

Rafi Boudjikan, YonCBC News, Winnipeg. The NDP is promising to ban U.S. companies from buying health care facilities in Canada. Leader Jagmeet Singh was campaigning in Edmonton where the party holds two seats and where the provincial government has allowed private clinics. Singh said his party has been a major force in protecting and enhancing the health care Canadians get. He made an appeal to people across the country. Because the Liberals would have never brought in farm care but for New Democrats fighting

for it and forcing them to do it. And it shows you again that the Liberals are not committed to health care. They're not committed to farming care. They're not going to expand it. If you believe in a universal public health care system, vote NDP. If you believe in expanding our health care, including farming care, vote NDP.

Pierre Poliev is getting some pushback on the campaign trail and online for his recent comments about young people trying to start a family and buy a home. It was language some say was offensive, while others feel it highlighted a pressing issue for many Canadians. Marina von Stackelberg reports. To the young couple worried about your biological clock running out before you can afford a home for kids, have hope. Change is on the way.

Conservative leader Pierre Polyev speaking about a problem he says many young Canadians face in the housing crisis. It's specific language he's used many times before and twice yesterday. We will not forget that young 36 year old couple whose biological clock is running out faster than they can afford to buy a home and have kids. Those comments about a ticking biological clock have provided fodder for political jabs on the campaign trail. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.

I don't think any woman wants to hear Pierre Pellay talking about their body period. Winnipeg Liberal candidate Jeanette Lavaque. I think it's completely unacceptable. Those are not comments that should be made by anyone. Poliev is giving voice to a very real concern. Kate Harrison, a conservative strategist, says there are millennial women who like what Poliev is saying.

Your ability to afford a home, your ability to financially sustain a family has a major impact on whether or not you choose to have children. Melanie Thomas, an expert in politics and gender, says simplifying a woman's decision to have children by tying it to the housing crisis is politically dangerous. This stuff is deeply intimate. It's deeply personal. She says it's not likely to bring more female voters onside. This is an attempt by the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada to shore up a certain kind of conservative of a certain kind of age that was already going to vote conservative. Women have traditionally been less inclined to support conservatives.

Pollster Shachie Curl with the Angus Reid Institute says that was changing in 2023. And it had less to do with the personal popularity of Pierre Potiev and more to do with the resonance on issues that he was really hammering on such as cost of living, housing affordability. But over the last four days, Angus Reid conducted a public opinion survey of 2,100 Canadians. It suggests support from men for the Liberals and Conservatives is neck and neck. But when it comes to women, the Liberals now lead by 19 percentage points. The clock and the pressure is on the Conservatives to try and make inroads

with women. The Conservatives say Pauliev's comments were about couples' biological clocks, not just women's, and that anyone trying to twist his words into something controversial is ignoring the real challenges young people face. Marina von Stackelberg, CBC News, Ottawa. The Liberals and Conservatives both lost candidates in the last 24 hours. Toronto area Liberal Paul Chang dropped out after the RCMP said it would look into comments he made.

Chang urged Canadians to turn over a Conservative candidate with a Chinese government bounty on his head. The Conservative party lost two candidates, one in Windsor, one in Montreal, over inappropriate comments. 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.

casts, just find the follow button and lock us in. Myanmar observed a nationwide moment of silence today for the victims of Friday's earthquake. More than 2,700 people are confirmed dead. Aid groups say it's especially devastating for a country already suffering through a civil war. As Salima Shivji tells us, Myanmar's military regime is now being accused of blocking emergency aid. Outside a condo building destroyed by Friday's earthquake, right near the epicentre in Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city, there's pain and disbelief as the rescue efforts continue into a fifth day.

as the rescue efforts continue into a fifth day. It's a painful wait, says Zhu Zhu, who narrowly escaped from the collapsing building but is anxious for word about her friend. Every time a body is pulled from the rubble, I think, is that her? I can smell the bodies everywhere under the debris, says this rescue worker, who's trying to help as best he can. The devastation after the 7.7 magnitude earthquake is beyond belief.

Foreign aid is getting in but barely. Some doctors responding to the emergency have reported that critical supplies are being blocked by the military junta which seized power in Myanmar in a coup in 2021. The junta has been engaged in a savage civil conflict since then against rebel groups, and the army has been steadily losing ground, controlling less than a third of the country. When the country's military leaders asked for international aid on Friday, interpreted as a sign of the scale of devastation, says Tom Andrews, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar. But that glimmer dissipated quickly.

We know that aid has been obstructed. There have been arrests, blockades at checkpoints in areas that they don't want aid to go. And more bombings against rebel-held territory, even after the earthquake. Incredibly, these bombing raids continue. I've been speaking to people who have just been devastated by the earthquake and then the attacks. Andrew says this is a playbook he's already seen in isolated Myanmar, where leaders also blocked aid after previous natural disasters with high death tolls. I've seen this movie before and it doesn't have a happy ending.

Foreign journalists are also not allowed into the country. Andrew says there needs to be more international pressure on the country's leaders to get aid in fast. We need all hands on deck in Myanmar, but instead they're being diverted away and instead of lives being saved they're being taken. Across the country where 20 million people are already in desperate need of proper food and shelter after years of civil war, now dealing with thousands of dead in the worst earthquake to hit in decades. Salima Shivji, CBC News, Bangkok.

Returning to our coverage of tariffs, in BC, forestry is central to the province's economy, and the lumber mill industry there is already in serious trouble, downsizing after a boom era. Now, it's being shaken even further by Washington's trade war. Lindsay Duncombe reports. Lumber tumbles off the back of a large truck in Prince George, BC. The chunks of wood all different shapes and sizes, unused ends from a nearby mill. So what do we do with this? We cut it and take two by threes out of it and then we glue it back together. John Brink owns Brink Forest Products. His team will use this wood to create something called finger joints.

Construction ready lumber, much of it destined for the United States. This will go to Texas. Brink products are already subject to duty. 25% tariffs would be on top of that. Tariffs are usually paid by the customer but not always. In this case, Brink expects to pay the U.S. government. It's not viable. Brink is worried.

He gets emotional thinking about what's at stake. A lot of people will get hurt, losing their jobs, losing their businesses. I'm not afraid of myself, you know, so that, yeah, a lot of people will lose their companies, especially the small and medium size. It's a big crisis. It was already a big crisis before the tariffs were

announced, and now it's an acute crisis. Greg Parity is a forestry professor at the University of British Columbia. He says tariffs are coming just as big companies are packing up and moving south. In the last decade, logging giant Canfor closed 10 of its 13 BC mills. Parity says it's cheaper to harvest lumber from private

American tree plantations. And he says British Columbia had too many mills. Two decades ago, production ramped up to deal with the wood affected by a pine beetle infestation. That salvage work is all done now. Several of the mills that have closed in the past few years are simply a response to this reduced timber supply that we've known was coming.

Tariffs make it a lot tougher. Where there is crisis though, there can be opportunity, according to Vanderhoof City Councillor Brian Frankel. He wants to see the businesses left look for new customers, including in Asia. Our community and communities like us and our industries have to look at saying okay where are the other markets in the world. John Brink sees opportunity too.

He's actually interested in buying up some of those closed mills and changing them to produce more value added products. That's where the opportunities are, that's where the future is. He says changing what the industry does and how it does it is the only way it will survive. Lindsay Duncombe, CBC News, Prince George. We close tonight with the beginning of the baseball season and one piece of equipment that has become the talk of the major leagues.

Drill to right field. See ya. We're going to drive to deep left. Say goodbye. And Jaz had a good day. High drive. Right field. See ya. Yankees scored 36 runs in this series. The most runs scored by a major league team through three games since 1901. The New York Yankees came out swinging in their opening games but it didn't take long to notice they were swinging something a little

different. A number of players on the team using so-called torpedo bats made from the same material as other bats but shaped differently with more mass in the middle closer to the batter's hands. They're also customized with a sweet spot tailored to each player's swing. Destroyed. His first two bombs of the year come tonight. By Monday night, word of the Yankees' explosive weekend had spread. Cincinnati's Ellie De La Cruz used a torpedo bat for the very first time to hit two home runs and seven RBIs. Other teams including the Toronto Blue Jays are now placing orders.

And that's probably a good thing for the Yankees. The bats were developed by a former Yankees analyst who also happened to be an MIT trained physicist. And more than a few fans considered the bats an unfair advantage for baseball's richest franchise. But New York manager Aaron Boone said it is all perfectly legal. We're trying to be better in every possible way. The reality is it's all within major league standards but it's really just

organizationally boring into ways we can be a little bit better. Not everyone is convinced. Many major leaguers think the bats are just a fad and New York Yankees best power hitter Aaron Judge hit three home runs in one game over the weekend using a traditional bat. Thank you for joining us. This has been Your World Tonight for Tuesday, April 1st.

I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again. [♪ music playing, fades out. [♪ music playing, fades out. [♪ music playing, fades out. [♪ music playing, fades out. [♪ music playing, fades out. [♪ music playing, fades out. [♪ music playing, fades out.

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