Global National: April 19

More than 155,000 federal employees walked off the job after the government and Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) failed to reach a deal, with more than 250 picket lines set up across the country. How one of the largest public sector worker strikes in Canadian history will cause disruptions and delays for a range of services. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces a political headache with the PSAC strike, as there’s significant pressure to reach a deal before important Canadian services are significantly disrupted. The politics of the walk-off, and the chances of back to work legislation being in the cards for the Trudeau government. Just when Saskatchewan residents thought spring had arrived, winter came roaring back, closing highways across the southeastern parts of the province. But the people of the Prairies know how to take this weather in stride, even in late April. The impacts the surprise storms are having in Regina, as residents do the “Shovel Shuffle”. Plus, the death toll from a fire at a Beijing hospital rose to 29 on Wednesday according to local authorities, in what has been described as one of the city’s deadliest fires in at least two decades. And, scientists Michelle Taylor and Stuart Banks, based near Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, unexpectedly came across a pristine, previously unknown coral reef believed to be several thousand years old. We speak with the pair of researchers about their discovery, and how it could be vital to help understand the impact of the climate crisis.