Your World Tonight - Notwithstanding or not? Tariff confusion, new ideas on child obesity, and more

Episode Date: April 14, 2025

Canada’s party leaders react to a proposal to circumvent the constitution to get tougher on convicted criminals. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says he’s willing to use the notwithstanding clause to allow for longer prison sentences. Liberal Leader Mark Carney called using the plan “a dangerous step.”And: Donald Trump may be changing his plans for global trade... again. The U.S. president says he's considering helping U.S.-based auto-makers, maybe by holding off on tariffs for parts from Mexico... and Canada. That could help Canadian workers – for a while. But Trump's long-term goal is still to bring auto sector jobs to the U.S.Also: Obesity researchers in Canada are pushing a major rethink in the treatment of children with obesity. The guidelines define obesity as a chronic health problem, and encourage doctors to break down the stigma associated with it. And that interventions like drugs or surgery should be considered only in limited circumstances.Plus: Trump edges close to defying the Supreme Court, why so few candidates are talking about the climate crisis, hope for infrastructure spending in the North, 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. The question was, will you use it for other things? And the answer is, we will only use Section 33 to fight crime. Section 33, otherwise known as the Constitution's notwithstanding clause. Pierre Polyaev says the conservatives will use it

to keep violent criminals behind bars. But the other party leaders say using it will open a legal and political can of worms. Welcome to Your World Tonight. It's Monday, April 14th, just before 6 p.m. Eastern. I'm Julianne Hazelwood. Also on the podcast. I'm looking at something to help some of the car companies with it.

They're switching to parts that were made in Canada, Mexico and other places. And they need a little bit of time. Changing gears, changing his mind? Donald Trump's latest swerve on tariffs has Canadian auto manufacturers and workers wondering where the U.S. president is heading. Although the signs still say bumpy road ahead. With two weeks to go in the federal election, conservative leader Pierre Polyev is ramping up his promise to get tough on violent crime. Polyev was in Montreal, vowing to change the law so that anyone convicted of multiple murders

will spend the rest of their life in prison with no chance of parole. And he said he would use the notwithstanding clause to make that happen. Tom Perry reports. A life sentence should mean what it says. A life sentence. They should only come out in a box. Conservative leader Pierre Poliev with a simple message. That when it comes to what he calls the worst criminals convicted of multiple murders, his

policy would be to lock them up and throw away the key. And I will use section 33 of the charter of rights and freedoms to put an end to the liberal crime and drug wave. Section 33, also known as the notwithstanding clause, allows governments to temporarily override the charter and impose laws that would otherwise be unconstitutional. Provinces have used it but never the federal government. Liberal leader Mark Carney says Poliev would set a bad precedent. Politicizing certain issues with respect to fundamental rights

is a slippery slope that leads to further politicization. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh echoed that. Charter rights, human rights should not be things that we are willing to ignore or put to the side. And I'm worried that it's becoming more and more commonplace that the notwithstanding clause is being used. Paliyev is seeking to reverse a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada in the case of Alexandre Bissonnette. Bissonnette shot and killed six people at a Quebec City mosque in 2017. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 40 years. The court rolled that back to 25 years and ruled stacking life sentences one on top of the other amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

I don't think we have to worry about Mr. Bissonnette seeing the outside of a prison cell. Daniel Brown practices law in Toronto and is former head of Canada's Criminal Lawyers Association. He says even after 25 years anyone convicted of mass murder still has to qualify for parole which is often denied. To him the conservative policy is more about politics. I think it's the type of thing we've seen repeated again and again by Conservatives and it's just not effective criminal justice policy and Pierre Poliev knows that. The Canadian Police Association supports the Conservative plan and today thanked Poliev

for what it calls his commitment to supporting victims. Poliev was asked today where else he might use the Not Withstanding Clause. Only to fight crime, he said, promising what he called the biggest crime crackdown in Canadian history. Tom Perry, CBC News, Ottawa. Also questioning Poliev's plan is Bloc leader Yves-Francois Blanchet. He addressed the issue of the notwithstanding clause today while making his own justice-themed pledge. The Bloc kicks off our coverage of the other main parties as they all get set for a crucial week of the campaign. On aborde aujourd'hui un sujet qui commande. I'm Evan Dyer traveling with the Bloc Québécois, where Yves-François Blanchet today stood on the steps of Quebec's court and announced that he'll introduce a bill to end the use

of the Jordan Rule in cases of violent crime. RV Jordan was a 2016 Supreme Court decision that says excessive delays in justice amount to justice denied, and it effectively sets a time limit of 30 months to bring a case to trial. The major issue in question is explained by an important increase. Blanchet says the Jordan rule has let too many violent criminals walk away from their crimes unpunished. But he also criticized the tough-on-crime proposals of Conservative leader Pierre Polyev, whose promise to use the notwithstanding clause to keep people who commit multiple murders in prison until they die. Blanchet says the clause was intended to protect provinces

against an overbearing federal government. It hasn't been conceived for the federal government to use it against a federal law. He says the law would allow Poliev to do it. But when you are in the position of a person that wants to be prime minister of Canada, you should rely more on improving justice system and laws than removing yourself from their application. This is a critical week for the Bloc. The French language debate on Wednesday is probably Blanchet's single best chance to turn around the erosion the Bloc's seen in Quebec at the hands of Mark Carney's Liberals.

Evan Dyer, CBC News, Montreal. I'm Carina Roman traveling with Liberal leader Mark Carney, who is in Dorval today, a suburb of Montreal. Our duty, I think, is to recognize how both economic and defense and security relationship with the United States is shifting. Standing in front of a couple hundred Bombardier employees, whose job it is to make and assemble airplanes, Carney is pitching a rebuilding of the country's military,

made in Canada by Canadians. Necessary, he says, because an inward-looking U.S. means Canada has to change its own defense procurement. There's an enormous opportunity as well, as we dramatically increase our defence spending, to ensure that as much as possible, we have the maximum economic benefit here in Canada. Kearney says a Liberal government would create a new agency,

focused solely on defence procurement. He would expand programs to help Canadian defense businesses diversify their markets. And he would advance Canada's involvement in Europe's Rearm Europe plan. Carney says a new security focus away from American suppliers would not escalate the trade war, but instead put Canada in a position of strength in upcoming negotiations with the U.S. Karina Roman, CBC News, Montreal. Leader of Canada's new Democrats, Jagmeet Singh. I'm Olivia Stefanovic on the NDP's bus.

The party's campaign started the day in Toronto before heading to Montreal to prepare for the debates where health care won't be on the agenda. Even though it's not right now, I'm going to bring it up in the debate. I'm going to challenge the other. Woo! Yeah! I'm gonna challenge the other leaders

on healthcare and their healthcare commitments. Singh is positioning himself as a healthcare champion, unveiling a strategy in Toronto to address nursing shortages. So our plan is to hire 35,000 new nurses between now and 2030. Singh says he'll meet that goal by making the quotas a condition for new federal health transfer payments. We're going to tie health care funding to provinces that actually deliver on these priorities.

Singh also says he wants provinces to hire more nurses from outside of the country by fast tracking their accreditation including those from the U.S. But his announcement was partly overshadowed by persistent questions about slumping support for his party. Polling doesn't seem to capture New Democrat support as well as other parties. When asked if he will stay on as leader if his party loses official party status Singh didn't give a clear answer only saying that his focus is on getting through this election with two more weeks to go. Olivia Stefanovic, CBC News, Toronto. Coming right up, the latest twist in the U.S. tariff story.

Maybe Canadian-made auto parts will get a reprieve? Also, the case of a Salvadoran man mistakenly deported by the U by the US and the White House's resistance to a Supreme Court order to bring him back. And we'll look at how climate change has cooled as an election issue. Donald Trump may be changing his plans for global trade again. The US president says he's considering helping US-based automakers, possibly by holding off on tariffs for parts from Mexico and Canada. In the short term, that might help Canadian workers, but Trump's long-term goal is still to force more auto jobs south.

Katie Simpson has the latest from Washington. Amid all the uncertainty, the auto sector is already trying to navigate. There appears to be a new twist in Donald Trump's trade war. I'm looking at something to help some of the car companies with it. They're switching to parts that were made in Canada, Mexico and other places. The U.S. President is opening the door to shifting his proposed auto parts tariffs. On top of 25% tariffs already in place on foreign-made autos, new tariffs on foreign-made parts are supposed to kick in next month.

And they need a little bit of time because they're gonna make them here but they need a little bit of time. So I'm talking about things like that. The White House did not clarify the options Trump is considering given the importance of auto sector jobs in Canada any sort of change could have significant ramifications but interpreting Trump's words in this moment can be a challenge. Look I'm a very flexible person I don't change my mind but I'm flexible. Just this past weekend the White House announced tariff exemptions for certain electronics, including smartphones and computers, only to walk it back saying those goods will be hit by different tariffs

in the near future with details expected to be announced this week. The mixed messaging has led to confusion despite claims from Trump's team. The president has a comprehensive, detailed, very sensible plan. Kevin Hassett is the director of the National Economic Council. He says as the White House pushes ahead with its industry-specific tariffs, more world leaders have reached out to try to avoid country-specific tariffs. We've got more than 10 deals where there's very, very good, amazing offers made to the U.S.

With the U.S. trying to cut new trade deals, China is looking to shore up regional alliances. Chinese President Xi Jinping was honoured with a welcome ceremony in Hanoi. Vietnam is the first stop on a three-country diplomacy tour. Xi is looking to secure market access outside of the U.S. as Beijing's relationship with Washington grows even more strained. I see their meeting today.

Is that wonderful? That's a lovely meeting. The meeting like trying to figure out how do we screw the United States of America? Trump has made China the largest target in his trade war, imposing tariffs of 145% on Chinese goods, punishment after it retaliated, imposing tariffs of 125% on U.S. products.

The tit-for-tat escalation is intensifying with no expectations. Tensions will ease anytime soon. Katie Simpson, CBC News, Washington. While he was in the Oval Office discussing trade, Donald Trump had the president of El Salvador sitting by his side. Reporters asked about a Salvadoran man who was mistakenly deported by the U.S. to El Salvador. Neither leader was willing to do anything to bring him back. Trump even went a step further, saying he'd like to see homegrown criminals kicked out too.

Paul Hunter reports. Somewhere inside El Salvador's giant, horrific, warehouse-style prison, with its thousands of accused Salvadoran gang members and hundreds of migrants freshly deported from the U.S., is a man from Maryland, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, once an undocumented Salvadoran migrant in the U.S., later legally given the right to stay, in March accused of being a member of the notorious MS-13 gang and deported. Though, says his family's lawyer, no evidence has been put forward for that. The U.S. Justice Department, having earlier said Garcia had been deported to that prison mistakenly, his case putting a spotlight on US President Donald Trump's efforts to deport as many such migrants as possible.

I want to thank you for the great job you're doing. I appreciate it. Into all of that today, El Salvador's president, Naib Boukeli, meeting with Trump in the Oval Office. We're very eager to help. But what followed was a confusing back and forth on whether Garcia should now be returned to America. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week, quote, steps should be taken to facilitate it, said Attorney General Pam Bondi in the Oval with Trump today. That's up to El Salvador if they want to return him.

That's not up to us. If they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane. But, said the Salvadoran president, How can I return him to the United States? It's like I smuggle him into the United States, or whether I do it or not, of course, I'm not going to do it. It's like, I mean, the question is preposterous.

How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don't have the power to return him to the United States. Besides, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on that Supreme Court ruling... The foreign policy of the United States is conducted by the President of the United States, not by a court. Then Trump's Homeland Security Adviser, Stephen Miller, bottom-lined Garcia's fate. No version of this legally ends up with him ever living here. Trump himself then seemed to take things further, suggesting the U.S. would help pay for more prisons in El Salvador.

And beyond that... We always have to obey the laws, but we also have homegrown criminals. I'd like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country. He didn't elaborate. Bring Gilmour home. As a small crowd demonstrated outside the White House, the Garcia family lawyers said he's disappointed in the government's response and that Garcia's life remains in jeopardy. Paul Hunter, CBC News, Washington.

Donald Trump says Russia's president should never have started the war in Ukraine. Trump was asked in the Oval Office about a possible ceasefire deal. Trump put Vladimir Putin at the top of his list for who he blames for causing the war. But he also blamed his predecessor Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for not ending it. Trump says he's working to stop the intense fighting in what he described as a killing field. New guidelines for treating Canadian kids and teens with obesity say the focus should be on more than diet and exercise and should include psychological support and in certain cases weight loss drugs and surgery.

The recommendations are published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Alison Northcott reports on the changing approach to treatment. I've been overweight thinking all the way back to kindergarten, preschool. It's always sort of been a part of me. Growing up in Toronto, Brendan Goodman tried countless weight loss programs, but nothing worked. He says he was bullied and felt shamed. At 17, he chose to undergo surgery.

I myself had made the choice to do it because I had tried all these different methods and they weren't working for me. Goodman, now 30, was part of a program at Toronto Sick Kids Hospital that also includes interventions like cognitive behavioral therapy and family work. A new Canadian guideline for managing obesity in children and teens says psychological and behavioral work should be the foundation of care. But in some cases, families and health care providers should also consider GLP-1 medications like ozempic and wagovi for kids 12 and up and weight loss surgery for teens 13 and up under certain conditions.

This is done in a shared decision making with the family. So it's not a one size fits all. Dr. Jill Hamilton is head of androkinology at SickKids and one of more than 50 experts who worked on the new recommendations. It sounds pretty extreme but it's actually not done in a large number of adolescents but those with quite significant health conditions associated with severe obesity. A lot has changed since the guideline was last updated and Hamilton acknowledges there are still a lot of unknowns around the long-term effects of newer weight loss drugs on kids. Obviously more work is needed in this area.

About a third of 12 to 17 year olds in Canada are living with obesity or overweight according to Dr. Sanjeev Sakalingam with Obesity Canada. 80% of those are going to go on to live with obesity as adults. So we do need to offer something for individuals right now. He says obesity is a chronic stigmatized disease with a lot of underlying factors and no silver bullet to fix it. So it is a complex chronic disease and like other chronic diseases, we need more tools in the toolbox to treat it.

But Dr. Tom Warshawski with the Childhood Healthy Living Foundation in Kelowna, BC says there's another crucial thing to consider. I would say though the other risk I would say around these new guidelines, which is which is lacking from the old guidelines, is talking about prevention. I keep up with my friends and all that so that for me it was a choice I would make again a hundred times. Goodman says he thought carefully about his decision to get surgery and says the whole scope of treatment including psychological and behavioral changes have been just as important.

Alison Northcott, CBC News, Montreal. You're listening to Your World Tonight from CBC News. I'm Julianne Hazelwood. You can hear Your World Tonight on the CBC News app or wherever you get your podcasts. Returning now to the election campaign, Canadian sovereignty and Arctic security have emerged as key issues. On the campaign trail today, Liberal leader Mark Carney pledged to increase the armed forces there and to build new military installations. Juanita Taylor asked voters in Nunavut what they're looking for.

They told her investing in the Arctic will benefit the whole country. We're going to have boiled shrimps, boiled mussels and raw maktaq. Violet Inuksuk is making lunch for 19 family members at her home in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. Mactaq is the skin from beluga whale in Inuktitut. Three generations all live here in this four-bedroom home because there aren't enough houses in Rankin Inlet. We're trying to live the best we could. Violet's husband, Wesley Inuksuk, says their adult children are on the public housing waitlist.

It's a long wait. They've only been away in about nine years, maybe eight years. All 25 communities in Nunavut are facing a severe housing crisis. The territory is attempting to build 3,000 units by 2030. Nunavut Mute hope this election will see significant investment in infrastructure projects, thanks to a renewed focus on the north. Party leaders flew to Nunavut even before the election was called, all promising to invest more in the Arctic. From housing to building a military base in Iqaluit.

David Kakukdineq drives by the tanks that store diesel for Rankin Inlet's Power Generation. He's the president and CEO at Saku Investments Corporation, working to build the Kivallak Hydrofiber Link, a 1200-kilometer link from Manitoba's electricity grid and communications network to five Nunavut communities and two mines. I'm hoping everybody's going to wake up and realize just the significance of providing this type of critical infrastructure. The first and largest infrastructure project of its kind in Nunavut connecting the north to the south. Strategically it's so significant for the sovereignty and the military issues that we're

facing now as a country. And there's a lot to be offered here. The project still needs environmental assessment and one billion dollars from Ottawa. Nineveh Premier P.J. Akaruk has been telling leaders across North America that they can't have Arctic sovereignty without investing in the Arctic. I think Canadians are waking up to the reality that the North is a vital part of the country. Ken Coats is an Arctic security expert. He says Canada needs nation-building projects now.

So we need to have nation-building projects that basically get all Canadians to realize that developing the North carefully and cautiously and leading in partnership with Indigenous people will actually be good for Canada as a whole. It'll spark economic development. Back in Rankin Inlet at the Inukshuk household, the family is making the best of the space they have. Violet hopes the next federal government keeps its promise to invest in housing. I think I would say right up front, prove it.

I want to see it right up front, prove it. I want to see it done in front of me. Show me now. Wynita Taylor, CBC News, Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. The greatest threat to our sovereignty, our health right now is the climate emergency. And the threat is already here in Quebec and across the country. The climate crisis is not some distant possibility. It is here and it is real.

Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneau talking in Montreal about a subject many other party leaders have been mostly silent about, climate change. It played a prominent role in the minds of many voters in the last federal election. But as Susan Ormiston reports, not this one. We have witnessed a significant decline in the degree which climate is a top issue. In the chaos of tariffs, taxes and Trump, climate as a voting motivation has lost its edge, says pollster Eddie Shepard with Abacus Data.

It's being overshadowed by more pressing and more immediate issues, that being affordability, housing, the cost of living, and obviously- Not that a majority of Canadians are climate agnostic. Queen's University student Ella Alvarado is worried. I think I'm most concerned with the climate crisis and combating it. Six years ago, over 40% of those polled by Angus Reed

said environment and climate change was a top issue. Today, that same metric has sunk to 15%. There is an element of climate that can be very divisive. And in this campaign, it's been muted, he says. Carnium and Polyev are trying to stay away from the climate conversation to avoid that risk of alienating those who may be considered swing voters. Instead, there's been lots of talk about building pipelines to carry oil and gas, part of Conservative leader Pierre Polyev's campaign.

The Liberals' radical Keep It In The Ground agenda killed 16 major energy projects and billions of dollars. But the Liberals are open to building pipelines too. And Liberal leader Mark Carney's first move as Prime Minister was to kill the consumer carbon tax and promises to make Canada an energy superpower. We also need to get more conventional energy built with a focus on making it as clean as possible because we can't lose sight of our responsibility

to address climate change. One of the few mentions of climate change in the whole campaign. I have not heard a lot of parties talk about carbon emissions, talk about climate change. Caroline Bruelette with Climate Action Network says in the midst of a potential economic crisis and fights with the U.S., there is opportunity. Death spots can't control the sun and the wind.

The missed opportunity right now is one of political leadership and imagination from party leaders to paint us a visionary picture of how we could transform our economy. Today in Quebec, Green Party leader Jonathan Pedneau layered on blame. We see right now that the Liberals are abandoning more and more the climate agenda. With voters distracted by other crises. Susan Ormiston, CBC News, Toronto. Finally, the NHL playoffs are about to begin with more than a few Canadian teams and only one player from the Yukon, Dylan Cousins, now with the Ottawa Senators after a trade

last month. This is causing a bit of a problem with the sports store in his hometown Whitehorse. Dean Gendron is the store's manager. Yes, we have seen an uptick since the trade happened and they don't stock a lot of players' name and numbered stuff, so I know there's a big fever out there to get actual cousins' jerseys, but they just can't be ordered on the spot. They have to be made and ordered ahead of time. So he's scrambling to meet demand, compounding that problem, tariffs.

Gendron says they're trying to get Canadian-made jerseys or ones that are already in stock in Canada. What Gendron does have is a lot of memorabilia from Cousins' old team, the Buffalo Sabres. Well, anybody want a good deal on some Buffalo gear, we definitely could have a discussion. There is, of course, those-hard team fans that no matter what happens they're with their team but definitely seen the switch. There is one fan in Whitehorse who isn't switching or at least isn't jettisoning his Buffalo jersey. Cousins father Mike, he says he's collected about 10 hats and several

jerseys. I'm keeping it. I mean, you know, Buffalo did a lot for Dylan. There are people that just got favorite jersey to Christmas that I'm not sure what they're gonna do with them. The Senators clinched their first playoff spot in eight years. The playoffs get underway later this week. Thank you for being with us. This has been Your World Tonight for Monday, April 14th. I'm Julianne Hazelwood. Good night.