Your World Tonight - Unemployment in Canada, China tariffs, new Parkinson's treatment, and more

Episode Date: May 9, 2025

New jobs numbers suggest tariffs and the trade war are affecting the economy. Canada shed tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs, in the highest unemployment rate the country has seen – outside the pandemic – in years. And: U.S. President Donald Trump throws out another number for tariffs on China – this time: 80 per cent. It may be a sign he’s trying to de-escalate the standoff with Beijing over tariffs, before U.S. and Chinese officials meet this weekend in Switzerland. Those will be the first major talks since Trump began his trade war. Also: A medical trial in Canada is testing a new treatment for Parkinson’s disease: adaptive deep brain stimulation. It’s been approved in the U.S. and E.U., and may even be useful for other conditions. Plus: Pope Leo’s first mass, India and Pakistan accuse each other of escalating tensions, U.S. preparing plan for Gaza aid, day six of cross examination at the Hockey Canada players trial, and more.

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When debts got you, you've got us. Give Credit Counseling Society a call today. Visit NoMoreDets.org. This is a CBC Podcast. Well, we've been waiting all year for signs of a direct hit from the trade war on the economy in general. And these April numbers were that first real sign. In a time of economic uncertainty, new unemployment numbers are making it clear.

Donald Trump's tariffs are starting to claim Canadian jobs in the sectors and the parts of the country most exposed in the cross-border trade war, a trend expected to continue without changes from Washington or more help from Ottawa. Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Stephanie Scanderis. It's Friday, May 9th, coming up on 6 p.m. Eastern,

also on the podcast. He is not going to unilaterally bring down tariffs on China. We need to see concessions from them as well. And again, that's part of the reason that Secretary Besant is going to talk to his Chinese counterparts this weekend. As the Canadian labor market gets squeezed, China may have some wiggle room. With trade talks between the economic superpowers

set to begin, the White House is signalling it may reduce its tariffs on Chinese imports if it can reach a compromise with Beijing. Mark Carney's trip to Washington this week was seen by many as a good first step on improving trade. But there's new evidence tonight. Canadian officials are playing catch-up. Tens of thousands of people lost their jobs last month, mostly in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, as US tariffs work their way through the Canadian economy. Anisa Hadari reports. I don't have a full-time job yet.

I haven't started my career. Ben Guch lives in Dundas, Ontario. The 24-year-old hasn't had any luck finding an engineering job, so he landed at a garden center. It pays some bills. I feel very overqualified for the job I have. I spent like two hours sweeping yesterday

and I have a mechanical engineering degree. Guch has been job hunting for more than a year. He hasn't given up, but he's discouraged. I've learned to live with it a little. When I have free time, I'll just scroll the new job postings. I feel like I'm just throwing darts at a wall and hoping to get lucky and hit something. Statistics Canada confirms it was harder to find work this April compared to last April. 189,000 more unemployed people year over year.

Overall unemployment is at six point nine percent. That's an increase too. If you leave out the height of covid, unemployment has matched its highest rate in eight years. We've been waiting all year for signs of a direct hit. These April numbers were that first real sign. Brendan Bernard pins this soft job market on tariffs and the trade war. He's senior economist at the job website,

Indeed, and based in Toronto. We've seen hiring appetite come down, and that's part of the reason it's gotten tougher to land a job. If the economy is really uncertain, employers are holding off on hiring. Job seekers across those circumstances are facing difficult

conditions. While technically the economy added 7,400 jobs in April, at least some of that increase was tied to temporary work timed with the federal election, and tens of thousands of jobs were lost in other sectors. At the industry level, manufacturing take a real hit. Also wholesale and retail trade and the natural resource sector. These are the areas of the economy most exposed to trade uncertainty. All show substantial decline. Manufacturing lost 31,000 jobs overall compared to the month before.

Ontario took the brunt of that. Unease and uncertainty around tariffs likely to blame there too. One step forward, two steps back in terms of the Trump's administration of the tariff rollout, that's creating a lot of uncertainty. Gio Jacinto is an economic and trade policy analyst with the United Steelworkers in Toronto. He says the hope is federal responses might mitigate the economic impact of tariffs as time goes on, but... In the short term, I wouldn't be surprised to continue to see the decline in manufacturing employment, at least for the next few months.

Yeah, I'll definitely apply to this one. Back in Dundas, Ontario, Ben Gooch is still on the job hunt. He can't really do anything about tariffs. It doesn't seem good for anyone right now, so that's kind of what keeps me going. Meaningful employment across Canada may depend on decisions made in Washington. Annie Seidari, CBC News, Calgary. And those Washington decisions aren't just impacting Canadians. Tariffs on Chinese goods are slowing shipments from that country

and that could soon create shortages on American shelves. As Paul Hunter reports, there are signs that U.S.-Chinese trade talks this weekend could lead to a compromise. With the two biggest economies on the planet effectively trying to stare each other down, waging a trade war that threatens the global economy, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant arrived in Geneva ahead of talks with China aimed at easing tensions. As it stands, the US has put tariffs on most Chinese goods into America at a whopping 145 percent. China responding with tariffs almost as high on most US goods. US President Donald Trump now

suggesting maybe a mere 80 percent tariff might be more appropriate. Seems right, he posted on social media. A signal he might have been the first to blink in the Oval Office yesterday. I will tell you that China very much wants to make a deal. We'll see how that works out. Good afternoon everybody. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt today underlining US demands of greater access to Chinese markets remain in place. We need to see concessions from them as well. We need to see concessions from them as well. Meanwhile, at cargo ports, word shipments from China to the US fell more than 20% last month compared to 2024,

a signal Trump's tariffs are starting to bite both in China and the US, with truckers starting to have less to carry, consumers fewer goods to choose from. Imperialists are always arrogant. China hitting back last week with a video from its foreign ministry, belittling Trump and his tariffs. All bullies are just paper tigers. And highlighting China will fight back. China won't kneel down.

But though Chinese exports to the US have dropped, Trump's approval ratings in America have also fallen, a signal Americans are unhappy with where he's taking things. Indeed, his trade wars with all the other countries drag on and pressure grows on Trump to show deals can be made. Prime Minister Mark Carney beginning Canada's talks on it with a visit to the White House this week.

I look forward to addressing some of those issues that we have. Then Britain yesterday signing off on what's described as a framework for a deal with the suggestion again from the U.S. there's more to come soon. Here's Kevin Hassett, Trump's director of the U.S. National Economic Council outside the White House this morning. There are about two dozen right now and the question of what the priority is, I think, is up to the president. But this weekend, the focus is on China.

Those meetings in Geneva begin tomorrow. Said Hassett, it looks promising. Paul Hunter, CBC News, Washington. Prime Minister Mark Carney will name his new cabinet on Tuesday. Carney says there will be an equal number of men and women. He did not say how many says there will be an equal number of men and women. He did not say how many ministers there will be. His first cabinet in March after he was sworn in had just 24 members. The House of Commons will resume May 26th.

Still ahead at the trial of five former Team Canada hockey players, the defence challenges the complainant about what she had to drink and what she remembers. Plus, potential new hope for people living with Parkinson's disease. How new technology and small electric pulses in the brain could have a big impact. You'll hear how one Canadian man says it's already helping him. That's coming up on Your World Tonight. In London, Ontario, it's the fifth straight day of cross-examination for the complainant in the sexual assault trial of five former World Junior Hockey players. She is known only as EM, and once again her memory was tested as supporters of EM outside the courthouse objected to one lawyer's line of questioning. Katie Nicholson reports.

Lawyer Dan Brown heckled outside the steps of the London courthouse. Is it you today or is it your alter ego? Brown represents Alex Fermenton, one of the five former World Junior Hockey players accused of sexually assaulting a woman known as EM. The heckler, a response to Brown's cross-examination of EM on Thursday when he suggested when she drank she had an alter ego he called Fun EM. Today he continued to challenge EM on how much she had to drink that night. E.M. has testified to drinking eight shots plus other drinks and has repeatedly said she was drunk and out of it. Brown held up a one ounce shot glass and a smaller Jaggerbom shot glass from Jack's

pub. He then poured the contents of the smaller shot glass into the larger one to show it was only half full. E.M. agreed after Brown's show-and-tell it was the equivalent of four shots. You hadn't drunk as much as you thought, Brown said. He also spent a large chunk of the day reviewing video surveillance from the bar. E.M. has previously said a man with the group poured a Jagger bomb in her mouth, and that players bought her multiple drinks and that some players

Put her hands on their crotches on the dance floor that was not reflected in the surveillance tape EM pushed back saying it's not on surveillance, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen Today marked EM's fifth day under cross-examination Brown is heading up the third of five defence teams seeking to puncture her credibility. EM ended Wednesday in tears but also has pushed back against some lines of questioning. Telling Brown, you're trying to make me second-guess everything I'm saying. Exhaustion, conceding, confusion, conceding. Christopher Sharon is a law professor at Western University.

He says long cross examinations can wear down witnesses. Because you may have been asked similar questions or even the same question before, but in between you've been asked 400 other questions and so you may lose track of exactly what you said, the precise words that you used. EM will have to answer many more tough questions Monday as the marathon cross-examination continues.

Katie Nicholson, CBC News, London, Ontario. Air traffic controllers directing planes into Newark Airport in New Jersey lost radar signals this morning for the second time in two weeks. Traffic was being directed from a facility in Philadelphia. The radar went black for 90 seconds, similar to an incident April 28th. White House press secretary Caroline Levitt called today's outage a glitch in the system. There's a four part infrastructure plan that was released by the Secretary of Transportation

yesterday to improve communication, surveillance, automation, and their facilities. They want to replace the antiquated telecom systems with new fiber, wireless, and satellite technologies, replace more than 600 radars which have gone way past their life cycle, and address one runway safety. They want to build six new air traffic control centers for the first time since the 1960s and replace towers as well. The first outage led to hundreds of flight cancellations and delays at Newark, a disruption that still hadn't cleared. Several air traffic controllers went on trauma leave. The tension between nuclear armed neighbors India and Pakistan could be escalating even more. Today

sirens and explosions were heard in India's Punjab state while people in both countries scrambled to stock up on food, medicine and other essentials. Philipp Lee Shanok has the latest. Small arms fire over Indian administered Kashmir as the Indian military says they targeted Pakistani drones. This after cross-border missile strikes earlier this week in the worst fighting between India and Pakistan in almost three decades. India is calling it Operation Sindor, a retaliation for a deadly militant attack in Indian administered Kashmir that left 26 people dead. India's Foreign Secretary Vikram

Mishri says they targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan. Our intention has not been to escalate matters. We are only responding to the original escalation, as I said, and our response has been targeted, precise, controlled and measured. In turn, Pakistan claims to have shot down Indian fighter jets and drones. Neelish Bose, a history professor at the University of Victoria, says it's hard to wade through the misinformation and disinformation. There are just a range of claims and counterclaims and so it's very difficult

to get a sense of what actually is the case. What is clear is there are attacks from both sides of the border with dozens of civilians killed and injured and hundreds of people evacuated from border communities. Ken MacDonald is the director of the Center for Diaspora and Transnational Studies at the University of Toronto. He says Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been under pressure to respond forcefully to the attack in Kashmir. There are all these internal pressures on him and it is a way to reclaim that kind of strongman image. McDonald says the United States, Iran and Saudi Arabia are urging both sides to exercise

restraint, but he says it's unlikely either nuclear armed neighbor wants the situation to deteriorate further. You know, the hope is, and this is what has happened historically, is it will be tit for tat and then things will will be mediated. The difficulty now is the question of who's going to be able to do this mediation. On Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance sounded hesitant to step in. We want this thing to deescalate as quickly as possible. We can't control these countries though.

But on Friday, White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt says US President Donald Trump wants tensions eased. These are two countries that have been at odds with one another for decades long before President Trump was here in the Oval Office. However he has good relationships with the leaders of both countries. And Levitt says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been in constant communication with the leadership of both countries in an effort to end this conflict. Philip LeShannok, CBC News, Toronto. There may be a plan in the works to bring aid into Gaza. It's a U.S.-backed proposal that includes private companies handing out supplies.

But they'll have the support of the Israeli military, a detail being criticized by aid organizations operating in Gaza. Sasha Petrasek explains. In southern Gaza, children clamor for food. Volunteers scrape the last beans from empty pots. from empty pots. We are shutting down, says Yasser Abu-Rayash, a communal kitchen supervisor. The US-based NGO World Central Kitchen has already run out of supplies in Gaza

with aid blocked at the border by Israel for more than two months. That's brought famine throughout Gaza, say aid organizations, and death from the debris. I found her dead, says Aya Alskafi, showing a photo of her four-month-old daughter on her phone. A martyr from malnutrition, she says. There still remains a desperate need for humanitarian aid. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says Washington is working on a plan to deliver

more food through an organization it's creating from scratch, deliberately bypassing UN agencies which Israel has accused of sheltering Hamas militants. A lot of challenges to be able to make this work. He couldn't say when the first food will be distributed or who will be involved, except it won't be Israel. I want to say the Israelis are going to be involved in providing necessary military security because it is a war zone. But they will not be involved in the distribution of the food

or even in the bringing of the food into Gaza." Hamas also won't be involved, who Israel accuses of hijacking and hoarding aid. Spokesman David Menser. Hamas steal the aid, they prolong this war, they are to blame. The plan has been condemned by UNICEF spokesman James Elder as prioritizing Israel's military goals, not Gaza's famine, because civilians will have to travel through combat zones to reach central depots. We've had more children are likely to suffer and risk death and injury as a consequence of this plan. It contravenes basic humanitarian principles. It appears designed to reinforce control.

And say aid organizations in European countries could be weeks or more before the first crumbs are allowed into Gaza. Sasha Petrusik, CBC News, Toronto. Catholics around the world today got a look at their new spiritual leader at work. Gaza, Sasha Petrusic, CBC News, Toronto. Catholics around the world today got a look at their new spiritual leader at work. In his first mass since being elected, Leo XIV pledged to stand up for the poor and confront the powerful. And the American Pope also spoke a bit of English.

Senior international correspondent Margaret Evans has the details from the Vatican. The dawn of a new era for the Catholic Church, albeit within the confines of ancient walls and traditions. Leo XIV delivered his first Mass as Pope in the Sistine Chapel, where the day before his former fellow cardinals elected him. I'll begin with a word in English and the rest is in Italian. He delivered part of the homily in his native tongue, a reminder that he is the first American Pontiff. We celebrate this morning. I invite you to recognize the marbles that the Lord has done, the blessings

that the Lord continues to pour out upon all of us. The election of a new pope was greeted with great joy here yesterday, followed by suspense as people waited for his identity to be revealed and surprise when it was. It's American Pope. Judy Persecoli, an American in the crowd, was one of the few who knew who he was. A legacy of Francis and we couldn't be more excited. We think it's a miracle. 69-year-old Robert Francis Prevost, now the 267th Catholic Pope was born in Chicago. But he spent much of his pastoral life in Peru where he's also a citizen. His attention to the world's downtrodden compared by some to Pope Francis who made him a cardinal

in 2023. I think it worked in his favor that he had experience outside America. He had a broader view of the world and That he was also in the Curia Vatican reporter Juno Orocho Esteve says the choice of an American still surprised him Under the belief that they would never vote for an American Cardinal. That's always been the standard Some that a person a cardinal from a superpower wouldn't be Pope. We all cheered and you know and clapped in unity with him, our Holy Father. Three of Canada's five cardinals held a press conference not far from the Vatican after today's mass, calling the conclave a deeply moving experience. Cardinal Gérard Lecoi of

Quebec was asked to weigh in on the nationality of the first North American Pope. He's a Catholic Pope, not a US Pope. Cardinal Thomas Collins, former Archbishop of Toronto, says it simply wasn't a factor. We are thinking of a highly spiritual man, a holy man. That's what we're looking for and what he is, whether he's born, doesn't really doesn't enter into it. Cullen says the election of Pope Leo comes at a time when more people are looking to the church in an unstable world. People want depth and I think when we're facing struggle then and confusion in the world we got to go deep we got to go deep deep deep.

Pope Leo XIV's formal investiture will take place on May 18th with a ceremonial mass here at St. Peter's Basilica. Leaders from around the world are expected to attend. Margaret Evans, CBC News, Rome. 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. They are little pulses of electricity that could have a big impact on people living with a debilitating disease.

Parkinson's affects about a hundred thousand people in this country. There is no cure but there is some new hope coming in the form of new technology. It's being tested on a small group of Canadian patients. Senior health reporter Christine Birak has more on the trial and how it's changing one man's life. 49 year old Fabio Dwyer has Parkinson's disease, but you wouldn't notice it. His hands are steady thanks to a therapy called Deep Brain Stimulation, or DBS. The device acts like a pacemaker for his brain, and it's about to get a reboot that could improve his life even more. That means we're already in sync. Sitting in a hospital exam room, Dwyer's neurologist, Dr. Alfonso Fasano, uses a tablet to adjust

the amount of electricity flowing through Dwyer's brain. Fasano connects through a small computer in Dwyer's chest that links to electrodes implanted deep in his brain that send out continuous electrical impulses to disrupt irregular brain activity. Dwyer is part of a trial happening at the University Health Network in Toronto. New technology is offering Parkinson's patients a more personalized therapy. It's called adaptive deep brain stimulation. Experts say it has the potential to revolutionize how we treat neurological conditions.

Do you feel anything right now? DBS has already eased Dwyer's tremors, but the muscles around his mouth remain stiff. You're part of this trial now because we're trying to see whether we can improve your speech. Dr. Fasano is leading the Canadian study on adaptive DBS, which adjusts brain stimulation on the fly based on what's happening in real time.

So adaptive stimulation is adaptive to the brain itself. So instead of just doing the same thing over and over, and therefore causing side effects, it's only delivering stimulation when the brain needs it. Dwyer is hoping the adaptive upgrade will help relax his face muscles so he can form words more easily. Yes, there is always the chance that it's not going to work as good as the previous system because it's a new thing that it's not going to work as good as the previous system because it's a new thing that they're trying to...

Researchers are exploring the adaptive upgrade for conditions beyond Parkinson's, too, such as epilepsy, Tourette syndrome, and OCD. A soon-to-be-published study involving 68 participants led American and European regulators to approve the therapy for Parkinson's patients. Health Canada is currently reviewing it. So it's great that we have new tools to make it even better. Dr. Ariane Boyeux-Carpentier is a neurologist in Montreal. She's watching the Canadian trial closely.

Is it like all patients should have it because it's miraculous or it's only that subset of patients that have issues with their current DBS programming? So I think all of that are still unanswered questions. And this is the first time you are in an adaptive setting. Back in the hospital. The stimulation is adapting, going higher and lower, depending on how much stimulation the brain needs in this particular moment. The verdict?

I think that it's easier to articulate in my mouth, my muscles. They don't seem like all stiff. Dr. Fasano is relieved. Well, you never know. This is the first time we started adaptive stimulation in Fabio. And we're learning as we go. He adds, it's not a cure, but adaptive DBS offers new hope for a better tomorrow. Christine Birak, CBC News, Toronto. Finally, celebrating a major milestone for some famous and fuzzy characters. Hi ho Muppet fans! Kermit the Frog here. See, did you know that May 9th marks the 70th anniversary

of the Muppets? That's right. Yay! He's still green, even though you'd expect more gray at his age. Kermit the Frog and the Muppets are marking seven decades in show business. The hugely successful puppet comedy show was created by the late American puppeteer and filmmaker Jim Henson. And it was on this day, in 1955, Kermit and Friends made their television debut. Sam and Friends! I'm honored to be in the studio with two very distinguished NBC newsmen, and I'm going

to chat with them a few minutes to learn something of their off-camera personalities. After several seasons on local TV, the Muppets moved to the kids show Sesame Street in 1969, which led to spinoffs, feature films, music and merchandise. By the 1980s, the Muppets were international stars and pop culture darlings. Okay everybody, let's get organized now. I think we have a few minutes coming. Five seconds. Yeah! Holy maracas! Thank you. darlings. The Muppet franchise was acquired by Disney in 2004, which led to renewed success and reboots. The Muppets have a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and today the California legislature

honored Kermit the Frog with an official proclamation recognizing his contribution to entertainment and education. This has been your World Tonight for Friday, May 9th. I'm Stephanie Scanderis. Good night.