The Line

Welcome back for another edition of On The Line, The Line's latest podcast offering. Each week, On The Line will bring you an extended conversation with Matt Gurney or Jen Gerson and a guest — or guests! — that can speak with authority on whatever is in the news.In this episode, Jen Gerson speaks with Duncan Dee, an airline analyst and former chief operations officer of Air Canada. Jen shares her recent harrowing experience with air travel, highlighting the inefficiencies and frustrations faced by travellers in Canada. They discuss the broader implications of air travel networks, the impact of any disruption at major hubs like Pearson Airport, and the need for more regional airports. The week's episode of On The Line is brought to you by the Motion Picture Association of Canada. For decades, Ottawa controlled what is “Canadian” and what isn’t when it comes to series and movies available to Canadians. The rules are out of date and costing Canadians opportunities. It’s time for Ottawa to focus on helping Canadian film and TV workers, and encourage efforts to showcase Canada. Go here to learn more.https://www.mpa-canada.org/press/ottawas-streaming-regulations-will-hurt-canadian-consumers-and-workers/?utm_source=the_line&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=sa_mpac_choice&utm_content=canadianThey chat about the recent crash of Delta Endeavor Flight 4819 at Pearson, which shut down two runways at the airport for days. This was just the latest in a rash of terrible aviation tragedies, and it was wonderful that no one died in the Toronto crash. But the aftermath was a sight to behold. They discuss the poor communication by the airport authority (and Canadian officialdom in general), and why the airline networks are less resilient to shocks like a major airport closing two runways than they used to be. At Fort Frances, a group of Métis leaders signed the “Halfbreed Adhesion” to Treaty 3 with Canada in 1875, becoming the only Métis community in Canada to be included as a distinct Métis party to one of the Numbered Treaties. By standing together, they ensured their place in Canada’s story—one that will never be erased. For more information, visit https://www.ontariometisfacts.com/They also touch on a recent announcement of a $3.9 billion plan to .... announce another plan in five years for high-speed rail between Toronto and Montreal while asking the perennial Canadian question: Why don't we build stuff good here? Sigh.As always, like and subscribe. And we'll see you next week for the next installment of On The Line.

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on February 21, 2025, your hosts continue to bask in the afterglow of Connor McDavid's overtime goal for Team Canada last night. How sweet it was.They also talk about the news and politics and stuff, but, man. Thank you, McJesus.This episode of The Line Podcast is brought to you by Unsmoke Canada. Canada can be a global leader in reducing the harm caused by smoking, but it requires actionable steps, including giving adult smokers the information they need to choose potentially less harmful alternatives. Learn more at https://www.unsmoke.ca/We don't get to start a lot of podcasts with good news. So yeah, we lean into the hockey a bit. But we also talk about what might be the first major sign of a true structural shift in response to the threat posed by Donald Trump's America. Tim Houston in Nova Scotia has made a fantastic proposal, and one pretty close to what Line editor Gurney had been suggesting in recent weeks. If Houston follows through, and if he can get the other premiers on board, this could be a big deal. To sweeten the pot, The Line hereby makes this pledge: if Houston does what he says he is going to do, Gurney and Gerson will fly to Halifax, throw a party and present the premier with a plaque declaring him the true captain of Team Canada.Unless, of course, another premier beats him to it ...This episode has also been brought to you by Forestry For The Future. Forestry supports 200,000 Canadians in hundreds of communities, generating $87 billion in annual revenues and $37 billion in exports — including $29 billion to the United States. It's also key to addressing some of our biggest challenges. We need an action plan for our forest sector and its employees, one that will help build the homes we need with Canadian wood, reduce the risk of wildfires and create more family-supporting jobs right here at home. To learn more about what forestry can do for Canada, visit https://www.forestryforthefuture.ca/Having committed themselves to a bash in Halifax, your hosts move onto expressing some sympathy for Chrystia Freeland, who is clearly being largely abandoned by her Liberal compatriots and probably regrets running for leader in the first place. But they also talk at length about how long it will be until there is a Canadian political leader who is truly of this moment. It might take 10 or 15 years for someone actually suited to the 2020s to work their way up into a position of real political power. Can we wait that long?Also, your hosts take a quick jaunt around the world and provide many updates. Things could be going better is the key takeaway. Lookin' decidedly suboptimal on a lot of fronts. And not for nothing, if someone would like to sell us some nuclear weapons, we'd be into that. Look, we frontloaded all the optimism for this episode, okay? All that, and more, in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. As always, like and subscribe to our main page at https://www.readtheline.ca/

Welcome back for another edition of On The Line, The Line's latest podcast offering. Each week, On The Line will bring you an extended conversation with Matt Gurney or Jen Gerson and a guest — or guests! — that can speak with authority on whatever is in the news. And this week, in something of a break from the routine, we're here with good news. There are ways we can build this country and make it stronger. And a group of Canadians isn't waiting for a task force or government panel to do it. They're getting to work.The week's episode of On The Line is brought to you by the Motion Picture Association of Canada. For decades, Ottawa controlled what is “Canadian” and what isn’t when it comes to series and movies available to Canadians. The rules are out of date and costing Canadians opportunities. It’s time for Ottawa to focus on helping Canadian film and TV workers, and encourage efforts to showcase Canada. To learn more visit  https://www.mpa-canada.org/press/ottawas-streaming-regulations-will-hurt-canadian-consumers-and-workers/?utm_source=the_line&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=sa_mpac_choice&utm_content=canadianOur guest is Daniel Debow. He's a long-time Canadian tech entrepreneur. He gives his own abbreviated bio during the pod, so don't worry about the CV. What matters is that Daniel is part of a group of Canadians who are all volunteering their time to create policy papers on things Canada can do, quickly, to become more competitive. They're calling it Build Canada, and you can read about it at BuildCanada.com. Their focus is on growth. As Daniel notes, the difference between two-per-cent growth and four-per-cent isn't two per cent. It's 100 per cent! What are areas where Canada can make big changes fast, to become more prosperous in a fast-changing, dangerous world?This week's episode is also brought to you by the Métis Nation of Ontario. The Métis in what is now Ontario have always fought for their rights. In 2003, they took that fight to the Supreme Court and won. To learn more about their journey, go to https://www.ontariometisfacts.com/Daniel talks about how the experience of COVID-19 showed him what Canada can accomplish, but also how hard it is to get Canadians to see a threat coming. He shares some of what he and his fellow volunteers are focused on, and talks about whether tech is really right-wing. And he also talks about the surprising amount of hate mail he's been getting since the project was announced. Matt welcomes him to the club on that one.As always, like and subscribe and check out our main page at https://www.readtheline.ca And we'll see you next week for the next installment of On The Line.

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on February 14, 2025 — Valentine's Day, bummer  — your hosts are skeptical that the premiers have accomplished much by their recent jaunt down to Washington, D.C., but we hope they had a lovely time.This episode of The Line Podcast is brought to you by Unsmoke Canada. Canada can be a global leader in reducing the harm caused by smoking, but it requires actionable steps, including giving adult smokers the information they need to choose potentially less harmful alternatives. Learn more at https://www.unsmoke.ca/It's not that we object to them going. We are a little cynical about their motives, but we understand that navigating this new era is going to involve a measure of diplomacy. But do we think we're better off sending 13 people to be politely received by the deputy White House chief of staff? Who then dismissively tweeted about the entire visit and said Canada being annexed was still on the table? Like does that make us look stronger? Does Trump respect us more now? Are we sure we know what we're doing?This episode has also been brought to you by Forestry For The Future. Forestry supports 200,000 Canadians in hundreds of communities, generating $87 billion in annual revenues and $37 billion in exports — including $29 billion to the United States. It's also key to addressing some of our biggest challenges. We need an action plan for our forest sector and its employees, one that will help build the homes we need with Canadian wood, reduce the risk of wildfires and create more family-supporting jobs right here at home. To learn more about what forestry can do for Canada, visit https://www.forestryforthefuture.ca/After that, your hosts move onto chatting about the polling bump that the Liberals have clearly received ... but the latest poll, which came out as we were sitting down to record, actually muddies the water somewhat. Something is happening in the polls, certainly. But is it what people think? They discuss. They also discuss, at some length, matters of identity. How Canadians see themselves, how Americans see us, and what Americans are blind to in their own country. Jen also makes a confession: she's more sympathetic to American progressives than she was last week. She explains why.All that, and more, in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. As always, like and subscribe to our main page at ReadtheLine.ca.

Each week, On The Line will bring you an extended conversation with Matt Gurney or Jen Gerson and a guest — or guests! — that can speak with authority on whatever is in the news. In this episode, Jen Gerson interviews Rob Huebert, a political science professor at the University of Calgary, and director at the Centre of Military, Security and Strategic Studies, to discuss Arctic sovereignty and security. Is Trump serious about Canada becoming a 51st State — and if so, what does the Arctic have to do with his overall strategy? The week's episode of On The Line is brought to you by the Motion Picture Association of Canada. For decades, Ottawa controlled what is “Canadian” and what isn’t when it comes to series and movies available to Canadians. The rules are out of date and costing Canadians opportunities. It’s time for Ottawa to focus on helping Canadian film and TV workers, and encourage efforts to showcase Canada. To learn more visit https://www.mpa-canada.org/They talk about Arctic geopolitics, particularly in light of climate change and the shifting military dynamics involving the U.S., Canada, Russia, and China. With a growing potential for conflict in the region, Canada's military unpreparedness has never been more obvious, or more alarming to our allies in Washington. This week's episode is also brought to you by the Métis Nation of Ontario. The Métis in what is now Ontario were not just traders or voyageurs — they were strategists and warriors ready to defend their lands and water from invaders, who chose self-determination and freedom from the United States generations before Canada even existed. To learn more, go to https://www.ontariometisfacts.com/They also talk about America's rapidly shifting foreign policy goals under the second Donald Trump administration, the notion of hemispheric security as laid out recently by former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, the urgent need for Canada to bolster its military capabilities, and the dangers of complacency in the face of emerging threats. As always, like and subscribe. And we'll see you next week for the next installment of On The Line.On The Line will be distributed through the same channels as The Line Podcast, which will continue to release episodes on Friday. To never miss an episode of either of our offerings, you should obviously sign up at https://www.readtheline.ca/ but you can also follow us at the most popular podcast viewing/listening destinations.

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on February 7, 2025, your hosts take in the sight of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warning Canadians that he thinks Donald Trump is serious about annexing us ... but only doing it behind closed doors to a private business audience. And they just have to laugh. Or cry. Or both.This episode of The Line Podcast is brought to you by Unsmoke Canada. Canada can be a global leader in reducing the harm caused by smoking, but it requires actionable steps, including giving adult smokers the information they need to choose potentially less harmful alternatives. Learn more https://www.unsmoke.ca/Seriously. Does that sound like the sort of thing that maybe should be getting a bigger audience? Or has the Canadian compulsion toward managing communications so thoroughly eaten our brains that even a matter of national survival is now to be considered just a problem to be comms'd away? Your hosts also talk about Mark Carney, how our leaders are reacting (or not!) to the threat we face, and then Matt issues a challenge to any/all Canadian premiers willing to take up the task. He has a proposal for you all. And he's calling it the Ice Bucket Challenge for National Survival. Yes, it's come down to this.This episode has also been brought to you by Forestry For The Future. Forestry supports 200,000 Canadians in hundreds of communities, generating $87 billion in annual revenues and $37 billion in exports — including $29 billion to the United States. It's also key to addressing some of our biggest challenges. We need an action plan for our forest sector and its employees, one that will help build the homes we need with Canadian wood, reduce the risk of wildfires and create more family-supporting jobs right here at home. To learn more about what forestry can do for Canada, visit https://www.forestryforthefuture.ca/After that, your hosts spend some time on the shifting polling numbers, and why they aren't surprised ... and why the Conservatives also aren't worried, and shouldn't be, yet. They wrap up with an update from their respective provinces. Things could honestly be going better.As always, like and subscribe to our main page at https://www.readtheline.ca/

Thanks for checking out our first regular episode of On The Line, The Line's latest podcast offering. Each week, On The Line will bring you an extended conversation with Matt Gurney or Jen Gerson and a guest — or guests! — that can speak with authority on whatever is in the news. And this week, well. Like, look around. OMG.The week's episode of On The Line is brought to you by the Motion Picture Association of Canada. For decades, Ottawa controlled what is “Canadian” and what isn’t when it comes to series and movies available to Canadians. The rules are out of date and costing Canadians opportunities. It’s time for Ottawa to focus on helping Canadian film and TV workers, and encourage efforts to showcase Canada. To learn more visit https://www.mpa-canada.org/All kidding aside, and we suspect our viewers and listeners will understand, we had to change our plans like nine times before recording this, trying to keep up with developments. But we stuck the landing! Our first guest is Stephen Gordon, a professor of economics at Laval University. He joins this week's host Matt Gurney to talk about what Trump's tariff war would mean for Canada. How it would hurt. How Canada would adapt. How you can adapt. And also what could happen if this resumes and escalates. It's not great news. But it might not be as bad as you fear.For clarity: when we recorded this, the tariffs were still happening, but we knew there was a chance they’d be lifted. There was a lot going on! We treated it as something that would happen, but Stephen also told us why even the U.S. would be keen to avoid them …This week's episode is also brought to you by the Métis Nation of Ontario. The Métis in what is now Ontario were not just traders or voyageurs — they were strategists and warriors ready to defend their lands and water from invaders. Their contributions in the War of 1812 shaped the borders of a future Canada. To learn more, go to https://www.ontariometisfacts.com/Our next guest is P.J. Fournier, creator of 338Canada. (Check out his main page at 338Canada.com, and also his newsletter at 338Canada.ca.) P.J. gives us an update on federal polling, and addresses why some of it seems so wonky. He also gives us an update on two provinces — Ontario already has an election underway, and next door in Quebec, an unpopular premier is no doubt watching to see if his pal Doug pays a price for calling an early vote ... As always, like and subscribe and check out our main page at ReadtheLine.ca. And we'll see you next week for the next installment of On The Line.

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on Jan. 31, 2025, we've gotta be honest. Your Line editors could be doing a bit better. Jen had dental surgery. Matt has norovirus and potentially a concussion. But they showed up and did the thing anyway. We love you all that much.This episode of The Line Podcast is brought to you by Unsmoke Canada. Canada can be a global leader in reducing the harm caused by smoking, but it requires actionable steps, including giving adult smokers the information they need to choose potentially less harmful alternatives. Learn more at https://www.unsmoke.ca/ They start off with the Foreign Interference report, which didn't tell us a ton that we didn't already know. We know a lot of people thought it was going to be the end of Pierre Poilievre. This would appear not to be the case. Jen walks us through the findings and why she is totally underwhelmed by the recommendations. We don't think a lot of it will surprise you.This episode of The Line Podcast is also brought to you by TikTok Canada. TikTok Canada has a team of hundreds of local employees supporting the success of Canadian creators, businesses and advertisers. The federal government, however, has ordered TikTok to shut down its Canadian offices. Shutting down TikTok Canada doesn't make Canadians safer — but it does eliminate jobs and investments in this country. Learn more at https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-ca/tiktokcanada-notice-to-challenge-local-shutdown They also talk about the latest developments in the Liberal leadership race, including yet more disavowals of plans and proposals that would have been Liberal party orthodoxy all of three months ago. Matt says the party is reeling under the weight of its own refusal to do unpleasant things when they were still just unpleasant, and instead they waited to do them when they'd be catastrophic. Good work. And they end with the latest from Washington, as Trump gets set, maybe, hit us with tariffs. It's a busy day, guys. What can we say?All that and more in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. As always, like, subscribe, and visit us for more at https://www.readtheline.ca/ 

In this episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on Jan. 24, 2025, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson make some utterly bonkers proposals. And they want you to make some, too. This episode of The Line Podcast is brought to you by Unsmoke Canada. Canada can be a global leader in reducing the harm caused by smoking, but it requires actionable steps, including giving adult smokers the information they need to choose potentially less harmful alternatives. Learn more at https://www.unsmoke.ca/ Your hosts get you started by talking about the latest developments in the ongoing Liberal leadership race. They make some observations and get you all caught up on the latest from Mark Carney and Chrystia Freeland, but what they really ask for, and they're asking you, too, are suggestions on radical things Canada can do to become ruthless scary. Literally. How can Canada fight? How can we make Donald Trump think twice? How can we make China and Russia decide we aren't worth the hassle of messing with. This would require some pretty radical changes, but if our politicians mean it when they keep saying that all options are on the table, well, great. Let's put some absolutely psychotic stuff on the table and dare the world to respond."Canada's back" needs to stop being a promise and a quip, an applause line for preening Canadian officials basking in the warm glow of cozy international summits. "Canada's back" needs to become a threat. We've got some ideas. What do you have?This episode of The Line Podcast is also brought to you by TikTok Canada. TikTok Canada has a team of hundreds of local employees supporting the success of Canadian creators, businesses and advertisers. The federal government, however, has ordered TikTok to shut down its Canadian offices. Shutting down TikTok Canada doesn't make Canadians safer — but it does eliminate jobs and investments in this country. Learn more at https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/They wrap up by getting everyone caught up on what the premiers are up to. Some of it is good. We just aren't sure a lot of it is deliberate.Anyway. Make Canada Scary Again.All that and more in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. As always, like, subscribe, and visit us for more at https://www.readtheline.ca/

In this episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on Jan. 17, 2025, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson try and remember all the things that happened this week. Because it was a busy one!This episode of The Line Podcast is brought to you by Unsmoke Canada. Canada can be a global leader in reducing the harm caused by smoking, but it requires actionable steps, including giving adult smokers the information they need to choose potentially less harmful alternatives. Learn more at https://www.unsmoke.ca/First, your hosts spend some time discussing the (at last) official start of Mark Carney's political career. They talk about the choice to launch on Jon Stewart's American late-night show, and it was indeed quite the choice. They talk about polls which show a slight tightening of what had seemed an imminent Conservative landslide, but they aren't sold on it yet (though the Liberals will bounce a bit, we suspect, especially as the leadership race gets attention). They talk about Carney's resume, and Pierre Poilievre's, and why they aren't as mismatched as some want you to believe. And Matt notes that he hasn't seen progressive voters as excited about a replacement candidate since ... the summer. With Kamala Harris. Remember how that turned out?This episode of The Line Podcast is also brought to you by TikTok Canada. TikTok Canada has a team of hundreds of local employees supporting the success of Canadian creators, businesses and advertisers. The federal government, however, has ordered TikTok to shut down its Canadian offices. Shutting down TikTok Canada doesn't make Canadians safer — but it does eliminate jobs and investments in this country. Learn more at https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-ca/tiktokcanada-notice-to-challenge-local-shutdownJen and Matt then gab about why they think it would be good for national unity if "Team Canada" didn't seem to always mean "Alberta sacrifices." Seriously. Can someone let us know when anyone is proposing an export ban on Ontario auto parts or B.C. lumber or Atlantic fish? STOP IT. YOU ARE RUINING THE COUNTRY.Last but not least, they offer their final thoughts on the Biden years and the imminent re-inauguration of Donald Trump. We're sure it's gonna go great!Sigh.All that and more in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. As always, like, subscribe, and visit us for more at https://www.readtheline.ca/