Your World Tonight - Federal campaign tricks, New York businesses missing Canadian tourists, seniors in Hong Kong cope with loneliness, and more

Episode Date: April 13, 2025

Time is running out for leaders to sell their pitches to voters, with the federal campaign entering its final weeks. The Conservative party is accusing the Liberals of attempting to bring American style politics to Canada - after Liberal operatives planted buttons with divisive messages at a Conservative conference in Ottawa last week.Also: More than 20 million Canadians visited the U.S. last year. But those numbers are shrinking, as political tensions and tariff concerns start to spill over into tourism. You'll hear from business owners in New York and New Jersey - on how the lack of Canadian tourists is affecting their bottom lineAnd: Hong Kong is seeing an increase in the number of elderly people coping with loneliness. As many young professionals move away for opportunities, their aging parents are looking for ways to avoid falling into social isolation.Plus: More confusion over U.S. tariffs, Gaza's last functioning hospital hit by Israeli airstrikes, 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. Hi, I'm Julie-Ann Hazelwood. This is your World Tonight. Mark Carney is hiding again today in the middle of the election campaign he called. Attacks, promises, and campaign tricks as the federal election campaign enters another

week. Also on the podcast, Trump administration officials are on a media blitz in an effort to defend the increasingly erratic trade policies of the president. And? It sucks, man. It's really, really rough. Like, we'll all get through this, but nobody knows how long. U.S. businesses are feeling the squeeze as Canadian customers

opt to curb their travel south of the border. Time is running out for leaders to sell their pitches to voters with the federal campaign entering its final weeks. Election day is April 28th, but advance polls open this Friday. JP Tasker takes us through the state of the race just before two crucial leaders debates. Traditionally, I'm someone who aligns more so with the NDP on a lot of issues, but the reality of the situation is it looks like a two-horse race at this point. With just about two weeks left in this election campaign, some voters just don't know which way to go, including Toronto's Jake Roslin.

Worried about housing costs, he's critical of how the Liberals handled that issue over the last decade. But with the economy and turmoil, he's still thinking about casting a ballot for Mark Carney. I think having someone who's going to manage the economy generally well is going to be what I want, regardless of who's in the White House. Eva Trebatch in Kitchener, Ontario is also on the fence. She's a senior and a more generous old age pension is her ballot box issue.

But so too is the faltering economy. I'm undecided yet and I'm waiting for the debate of the all-candidates. Conservative leader Pierre Pauliev is leaning on one word to draw in these undecided voters. Change. A new Conservative government will put an affordable life first for a change. In his closing pitch before this week's leaders' debates, Poliev is urging people to turn the page on the last liberal decade, promising a laser focus on cost of living issues,

and blasting Carney for what he claims are conflicts of interest after his time in corporate Canada. Mark Carney is hiding again today in the middle of the election campaign he called. Carney has been off the campaign trail for much of the last three days. Part of that time spent dealing with the US tariff threat in his role as Prime Minister. I'm back on Trump, I'm afraid. He won't go away, he will not go away. Carney is headed into the final stretch with a message that sounds a lot like the one he started with. And our approach is simple.

We're fighting, we're protecting, and we are building. Selling himself as the leader best place to take on President Donald Trump and help stabilize a slumping Canadian economy. Look, if the United States doesn't want to lead anymore, Canada will. Yeah! If you're a conservative supporter

and you're looking at the polls, you might be pretty upset, pretty disappointed. Poll analyst Eric Grenier says the liberals are in the lead. Poliev will need a stellar performance in the debates to change the course of this election, he says. The French-language one is on Wednesday and they'll do it again in English the next day. The debates will have to shift things dramatically in a way that we haven't seen in a lot of elections. And time is running out. Advanced polls open on Friday.

JP Tasker, CBC News, Ottawa. Tonight, the campaign trail is winding its way through some of the country's largest cities. Mark Carney and Pierre Poliev are in Montreal, while Jagmeet Singh is in Toronto. The NDP leader spent the weekend in Northern Ontario. We start there. In this round of new promises, he and his conservative rival are pitching to voters. I'm Olivia Stefanovic in Timmins, Ontario,

where NDP leader Jagmeet Singh spent most of the weekend campaigning, attending a powwow, and meeting with his candidates for Northern Ontario. People in the North often feel like, you know, we don't matter because people don't give us that attention. That's wrong. An attempt to expand and hold onto the two seats New Democrats have in the region. Historic NDP strongholds now toss-ups after major changes to federal riding boundaries and the retirement of longtime incumbents, new Democrat MPs Charlie Angus and Carol Hughes. During a campaign, every seat is up for grabs, right? So we always fight.

Hughes retired after 16 years of serving as an MP and her riding became eliminated through federal redistribution. We can only hope that the people of the North will see the good work that we have done when it comes to the national dental care program, when it comes to the national pharma care program. Carol and Charlie could only fight for people in the way they did because you voted for them. So if you want to have strong voices that are going to stand up for you and deliver for the North, if you vote for New Democrats and send New Democrats to Ottawa, we'll continue that fight. Singh is promising to fill doctor shortages by investing in regional medical schools and creating

a pan-Canadian license so health professionals can work across the country. Singh also wants to lower grocery bills by capping prices on essential items, build roads, protect French language services and advance reconciliation with Indigenous people. Pledges he hopes will resonate with Northerners as he campaigns this evening back down south, where he faces an even bigger challenge, breaching the Liberals' fortress in the vote-rich city of Toronto. Olivier Stavanovic, CBC News, Timmins, Ontario. I'm Rafi Boujoukanian in Ottawa covering Conservative leader Pierre Paulyèvre.

The last Liberal decade drove the cost of housing and food up and drove your wages and living standards down. Paulyèvre was in attack mode again this morning. He announced a new Accountability Act 2.0, an echo of former conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who tightened ethics laws after coming into power in 2006. Pogliev would require cabinet ministers to divest fully from tax havens, new party leaders to disclose their assets within 30 days, and new prime ministers to divest fully from tax havens, new party leaders to disclose their assets within 30 days, and new prime ministers to divest themselves of theirs in the same amount of time. Poliev pitching the law as a way to attack what he calls his liberal rival Mark Carney's

conflicts of interest from his years chairing the firm Brookfield Asset Management, something Carney denies. While Canadians were suffering, at management, something Carney denies. While Canadians were suffering, he and liberal insiders were getting rich. They were benefiting off of the suffering. This is familiar territory for Paulliev, who has attacked Carney throughout the campaign. But he faces a new challenge, appearing on the popular French-language Radio-Canada talk show Tout le Monde en Parle on Sunday. It regularly has gigantic audiences in Quebec, a province that sends almost a quarter of the country's

MPs to Parliament. Tout le Monde en Parle is a much more casual show than political programs. Paulièvre started a recent French-language ad by acknowledging some have found him to be too intense with journalists and other politicians. But he is not the only one put to the test by Tout le Monde en parle. Carney, who has not made a public appearance since Friday, is also on the show. Not just his demeanor, but his knowledge of French and Quebec under scrutiny. Raffaele Bougie-Carny on CBC News, Ottawa. The Conservative Party is accusing the Liberals of attempting to bring American-style politics to Canada. Liberal operatives planted buttons with divisive messages at a Conservative conference in Ottawa last week.

But the campaign trick seems to have backfired. Our Kate McKenna broke the story. Kate, what happened at the conference? So last week I covered this conference, the Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference. And it's an annual event where Conserv conservatives from across the country come and meet and talk about issues. And while I was there, I noticed a couple of buttons that I thought were strange. One said, stop the steal, which is an apparent reference to the 2020 movement to overturn the US election results.

And the other had the name Jenny Byrne crossed out and replaced with Corey Tenik. Byrne is the Conservative campaign manager and Tenik is a long-time Conservative strategist who has been critical of the ongoing election campaign. So it's conceivable that people at this conference made these pins and in fact I spent time last week trying to prove that, but recently I learned it was an operation undertaken by the Liberal war room itself. Two operatives went to the conference and planted these buttons, I guess to highlight divisions in the campaign and in an attempt to tie conservative supporters to the politically toxic Donald Trump. Right and

how did you learn about it? Well it's a bit of a funny story. I was having dinner with friends at an Ottawa bar on Friday night, Darcy McGee's, and I saw some people who I recognized to be liberal staffers from across the room. So I went over to talk to one that I know and then I overheard the person next to me, a man who had already identified himself as someone who was working in the liberal war room and he's talking about how he was at the conference and planted these buttons in a liberal campaign sanctioned false flag operation. So I confronted him. He knew I was a journalist. I said, if you did that, then that's a story and I'll report it. At first he conceded that he had said that, but once I said it was going to be a story, he denied having said anything at all.

So I left shortly after and then at a separate bar, a conservative source told me another liberal campaign staffer was also talking about it. So the next day I put in a request for comment with the Liberal Party and they didn't deny it. It's not unusual for political parties to play tricks like this during a campaign, but it is unusual to hear about it from them. Indeed. Kate, thank you very much for this. You're welcome.

The CBC's Kate McKenna in Montreal. Still ahead? As Hong Kong's young professionals move away, their aging parents are increasingly left to deal with loneliness and social taboos. They don't want to let everyone know that my children are living and moved away from me. Helping those who were left behind. That's later on Your World Tonight. A medical evaluation released by the White House today

finds Donald Trump fully fit to be president. The White House doctor says 78-year-old Trump has excellent cognitive and physical health. The report refers to quote, frequent victories in golf events as a contributing factor. It outlines the president's existing and previous conditions, including high cholesterol and seasonal allergies. Presidents are not obligated to release medical records, but it's traditionally done in the interest of transparency. To tariff or not to tariff?

That is the question. Confusion abounds once again as White House officials say tariff exemptions on electronics are in fact only temporary. Tech companies had welcomed the decision to leave some electronics off the list of highly taxed imports. Amid the mixed messaging, the president spent his weekend basking in support from his voter base. Katie Simpson reports. U.S. President Donald Trump walked onto the arena floor

to huge cheers and a standing ovation in front of thousands in Miami at Saturday's UFC fight. No sign of voter frustration here as Trump's tariff policy changes yet again. So this is not like a permanent sort of exemption. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says despite the White House announcing tariff exemptions for some electronics including smartphones and computers, those goods will be hit by new tariffs. They will be industry specific targeting products with semiconductor chips. And it will be similar to what Trump has already imposed on the auto sector, steel and aluminum.

So what he's doing is he's saying they're exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they're included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two. The Trump administration is aggressively denying these products were ever exempt from tariffs. On social media, the president wrote nobody's getting off the hook, blaming, quote, fake news for the confusion. So this is unfolding exactly like we thought it would. Senior trade adviser Peter Navarro defending Trump's message during an interview with NBC News journalist Kristen Welker.

So the policy is no exemptions, no exclusions. The policy is in effect. You want to call it exclusion, potatoes, potatoes. As the Trump administration prepares new tariffs, it says more world leaders have come forward trying to escape country-specific tariffs. It says more world leaders have come forward trying to escape country specific tariffs. 130 countries have responded and we're negotiating with them. Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, claims trade talks with some countries have progressed quite quickly. We had a few of these deals that are so close to baked that we could announce that we

have a deal in principle. There is growing skepticism about the Trump administration's claims and strategy among Democrats including Senator Elizabeth Warren. Investors will not invest in the United States when Donald Trump is playing red light, green light with tariffs. And Trump's agenda was met with anger when Democrat Bernie Sanders made a surprise appearance at the hugely popular Coachella music festival.

Now we got a president of the United States who... I agree. This is the progressive counterpoint to the joy and support Trump basked in at Saturday's UFC fight, two very different events highlighting the deep divisions in the U.S. Katie Simpson, CBC News, Washington. More than 20 million Canadians visited the U.S. last year, making Canada the highest source of international visitors to the country. But those numbers are shrinking as political tensions and tariff concerns start to spill over into tourism. And as Chris Reyes reports, that's bad news for many U.S. businesses.

My name is Matt. I'm a tour guide. Matt Levy is surrounded by a tour group of high school students from Georgia doing what he does best as the owner-operator of Spread Love Tours. We'll go up Broadway, we'll see the bull, we'll see 9-11 Memorial. In the 20 years he's been a tour guide, he's always had Canadians make up a good chunk of his business. Not this year. My company grossed $35,000 exclusively from Canadian high school kids coming to New York

City for their class trip. $20,000, $5,000 and going down because I still get cancellations every other week. The concern extends to every American destination. Last year, Canadian tourists spent $20 billion in the U.S., making them the single largest source of international visitors to the country. In New York City alone, more than a million Canadians visited last year. Levy has led tours for thousands of them. So I can tell you 30 to 50 percent of the tours that my company gives are for Canadian high

school groups. I say Canada should be our 51st state. But with every threat from the Trump administration, those numbers are changing fast. Canadian airlines have reduced or cancelled flights in recent months due to a drop in demand. Compare this February from last year. Land border crossings are down almost 25%. Levy feels it.

So after the election and after the aggressive stance which started from January 20 onward, I've been getting cancellations. It sucks, man. It's really, really rough. Like, we'll all get through this, but nobody knows how long. In Wildwood, New Jersey, the cancellations aren't happening yet, with another month or so to go before the season opens. But diner owner Milton Baralos is already getting nervous. In the summer months, his restaurant clientele is sometimes up to 70% Canadian. They'll be missed.

I mean, we're going to feel a big impact in our pocket at the end of the season if they don't show up this year. Michael Liro, general manager of Bolero Resort, got a telling phone call recently. They didn't want to cancel right now, but they just want to know if something should escalate with Trump, if we'd be able to alter that cancellation policy for her. Unfortunately, we did say that there's no free cancellations on geopolitical issues. John Donio is president of the Wildwood Business Improvement District. He's been working on some new messaging.

We just want our friends up north to know that here in New Jersey, in the Wildwoods, we love you guys. You're welcome here always. In New York City, Levy is hopeful the Canadians will come back. He just doesn't know when. I get back to my Canadian clients and I say, I don't blame you. I wouldn't come down to my country either if I were in your situation. My message to Canadians is clearly you guys know this. I don't need to remind you New York is not representative of the politics coming out of DC. At least for now, many Canadians don't seem ready to make the distinction, nor in the

mood to choose their travel plans over politics. Chris Reyes, CBC News, New York. An Israeli airstrike has destroyed critical parts of the last functioning hospital in Gaza City, according to Palestinian medics. The hospital has been hit several times before. Israel's defense forces says it's the site of a Hamas command center. As Phil Blishanuk reports, the strike was just one of several across the region as Israel expands its military offensive. Staff picked through the rubble of the Al-Ali Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City expands its military offensive. Staff picked through the rubble of the Al-Ali Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City looking

for any life-saving equipment that can be salvaged. The emergency room and the church on the grounds were damaged in the missile strike. Paramedic Shaban Dabiss witnessed the attack. I work at the hospital in the emergency department. At two o'clock in the morning the hospital received an evacuation warning. The medical staff, patients and all members of the medical team were evacuated. Israel's defence forces say the hospital was being used by Hamas as a command and control centre and that they warned vulnerable people to get out before the attack.

Mohammed Abu Nasr was one of the injured evacuated. In the middle of the night where is the patient supposed to go? I haven't slept a single minute out of fear. He said Al Ali Hospital was one of the last functioning ERs in Gaza City. It's the one that embraced all the wounded, all the sick, all the injured. Staff said patients who were evacuated from the hospital slept in the streets. A child patient died during the chaos. Tedros Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, condemned Israel's attack on the Al-Ali hospital and the cutting off of humanitarian aid to southern Gaza.

This blockade is leaving families hungry, malnourished, without clean water, shelter and adequate health care and increasing the risk of disease and death. There were separate strikes on Sunday across Gaza and in the south as Israeli forces expanded their security corridor there. Israel's defence minister says the southern city of Rafa has been completely encircled. This week, Ravina Shandasani of the UN High Commission for Human Rights gave a stark assessment of the cumulative effect on the people of Gaza. There is a denial of basic needs. And there are continued military strikes, hitting civilian infrastructure and civilians. They raise real concerns as to the future viability

of Palestinians as a group in Gaza. Sunday strikes come as Hamas and Israel, along with Egypt, Qatar and the United States, begin a fresh round of talks in Cairo in a bid to salvage stalled ceasefire negotiations. Philoply Shannok, CBC News, Toronto. Ukraine's president is urging allies to take decisive action against Russia following a deadly strike.

Ballistic missiles killed at least 34 people in the eastern city of Sumy. More than 100 others are injured, including children. The attack on an area full of civilians comes a month after Moscow rejected a U.S. ceasefire deal. Briar Stewart, report. The moment of the blast was captured on cameras along with the horrifying aftermath. A city bus and several cars caught fire

and smoke poured out of large gaping holes in buildings in the busy city centre. It's horror out there said Parvez Minakov, a resident who said he saw bodies strewn across the street. We live in the city centre, there's no military base, there are no soldiers here he said. Ukraine says the ballistic missiles were packed with cluster munitions, designed to leave a more devastating wake. Officials said the area was busy at the time with people out for a morning stroll

while others were headed to church on Palm Sunday. Marina Tyshchenko felt the power of the blasts even though she lives a 10-minute drive from where the missiles hit. So I can only imagine what people heard and felt that were closer. Sumy has long been targeted by Russian missiles, drones and bombs, but not on this scale. It's getting worse and worse. The strike comes as Russia is ramping up attacks on Ukrainian cities. Earlier this month, 20 were killed, including nine children,

when missiles struck an area near a playground in the southern city of Privyry. UN officials have said that since ceasefire talks began earlier this year, there's been an increase in the number of civilian deaths in Ukraine. On Friday, Washington's special envoy Steve Whitcough met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. And on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said he thought the Russia-Ukraine talks were going fine.

But said that, quote, there was a point at which you have to put up or shut up, a reference to Russia's refusal to agree to a ceasefire. One month has passed since Russia rejected the American proposal for a full, unconditional ceasefire, said Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. They feel no fear, and that's why there are missiles and 100 combat drones each night. There was condemnation from a number of world leaders over the attacks in Sumi. France's President Emmanuel Macron said it showed Russia's blatant disregard for human lives, international law and Trump's diplomatic efforts.

Briar Stewart, CBC News. Hong Kong is seeing an increase in the number of elderly people coping with loneliness. Many young professionals are looking for opportunities elsewhere. And as traditional family bonds are unraveling, the cases of social isolation are on the rise. Laura Westbrook reports. In this room at a community center in a leafy part of Hong Kong, 12 women in their 60s and above learn to sew. These women have one thing in common, their children have moved overseas in the past few years. 80 year old May Ho says she was surprised when her youngest son Victor said he was moving to Toronto in 2021 with his wife and two teenage sons.

Two years later, her eldest son Vincent moved to Manchester in Britain with his wife and daughter. They told her it was to provide a better future for her grandchildren. They told her it was to provide a better future for her grandchildren. At that time I was quite surprised because we all live nearby. I had hoped they can look after me when I'm older. But then they said goodbye saying my grandchildren were going to study and I had to accept that reality. Being a widow, Ho decided to move to Britain to try living with her son and his family, but returned to Hong Kong six weeks later. I felt like a burden. I had to rely on them for everything which made me feel less free.

Adapting to living alone in Hong Kong has not been easy. Joining this sewing group has helped, but she worries about the future. Annie Shum is a social worker at Hong Kong Christian Service. She says her organization helps 200 elderly people whose children have moved overseas. A survey from the Hong Kong Christian Service last year found this group of elderly people at higher risk of social isolation and depression as they relied heavily on their children. They think it's a taboo about talking about family

in our Chinese value, so that they don't want to let everyone know that my children are living and moved away from me. Leading the sewing group is 78-year-old Linda Lee, who used to work as a seamstress. Her daughter Connie moved to London almost three years ago with her husband and two cats. Lee chose to stay in Hong Kong with her husband.

Look around. So many people are here, and the children are all out there doing their own thing. For now, these women find solace in companionship, but experts warn Hong Kong's rapidly aging population combined with the exodus of young workers will only increase pressure on the city's services. Laura Westbrook for CBC News, Hong Kong. And finally... A throwback track from singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer as she was raking into the Canadian music scene 25 years ago. Through the decades, she's also become an activist, focusing on

local environmental issues. And to honor that, her hometown of Burlington, Ontario, will give her the key to the city this week. It's a nod to her advocacy and the way it informs her music. I write about what I have experienced. I write about things that I care about. And I grew up on a farm and spent a lot of time outdoors

and have big love for tromping around in fields and forests. And so that kind of makes its way, I guess, into the music. Also makes its way into the way I spend my time outside of that, you know, volunteering to stand up and speak out for things that can't speak up for themselves. That includes the Niagara escarpment and the water and endangered species of the region. She's been fighting against a quarry expansion there for years, an issue that's before an

Ontario land tribunal right now. And that inspired a song. And the creeks won't flow to the great lake below. Will the water in the well still be okay? I wrote Escarpment Blues, yeah, just to try to tell the tale in as poetic a way as I could about what was going on up there, you know, at the top of so many watersheds. So it's a song that just kind of tells a story about what's at risk. We'll leave you with more of Sarah Harmer's escarpment blues.

This has been Your World Tonight for Sunday, April 13th. I'm Julianne Hazelwood. Thanks for listening. I know we're gonna have to fix the roads But if we blow another hole in the escarpment The wild ones won't have anywhere to go.