In this episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on Sept. 12th, 2025, Rob Breakenridge joins Matt from Calgary, filling in for Jen Gerson, who is on assignment out of town. The two men acknowledge — but deliberately steer away from — the emerging details of the rapidly unfolding Charlie Kirk assassination investigation. Instead, they focus on the bigger picture: the mood, the vibes, and why so many people on both sides of the border seem to be bracing for some kind of civil conflict against a vaguely defined “them.” Neither is certain how Canada, or the United States, can pull back from this trajectory. Or if people really even want to.

After that, they turn to issues closer to home. The Carney government has officially launched its Major Projects Office and revealed the first programs slated for elevation. Rob breaks down what’s on the agenda and why, despite the office not explicitly mentioning a pipeline, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has responded positively. Matt, meanwhile, shares the part of the announcement he found oddly amusing — but also despair-inducing — in the way it revealed deeper national challenges. Both men agree that it might be better to just fix the problems with approvals, rather than creating a new, special unit that gives a few chosen projections the efficient treatment, while everything else suffers. Matt quips that this is Canadian health-care-style thinking applied to permit approvals. Should go fine.

This episode of The Line Podcast is also brought to you by Forestry For The Future. Canadian forestry supports 200,000 workers, generates $87 billion in annual revenue, contributes $21 billion annually to our nation's economy, and provides the products we need to build homes and drive economic growth. While trade barriers from the U.S. are siphoning jobs and investment away, Canada’s own approval processes and regulations are preventing critical projects that both prevent wildfires and boost our economic self-reliance.

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Finally, Matt and Rob interview each other about their latest Line columns. Rob walks listeners through his piece on Alberta’s book ban that badly backfired, while Matt explains why he thinks Canadians are rightfully losing faith in their own safety — and why that needs to change if Canada is to avoid sliding down the same dangerous path already visible in the United States.

Cheerful stuff, eh? If you need your mood lifted even further, check us out at ReadTheLine.ca. Like, subscribe, and pray.

In this week’s episode of On The Line, Matt Gurney is joined by Stephanie Levitz from Ottawa. Steph is a senior reporter in the Globe and Mail's Ottawa bureau. They break down the wave of Liberal announcements last week — and why the government will struggle mightily to turn promises into reality.

Then they turn to the Conservatives: Pierre Poilievre’s new self-defence and home defence plan is well timed, especially when contrasted with the Liberals’ clumsy response. But the party is also deliberately testing the waters on temporary foreign workers. Matt and Stephanie dig into how a modern Western conservative party can navigate the line between legitimate criticism of a specific policy and sliding into anti-immigrant hysteria — and why, so far, Canada's Conservatives have mostly avoided that trap.

Finally, a brief check-in on the NDP … which doesn’t take long.

Oh, and a lot of Ghostbusters references that go right over Steph's head. Matt couldn't help himself. They just ... popped in there.

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In this episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on Sept. 5, 2025, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson talk about the sudden flurry of announcements from Prime Minister Mark Carney. Matt wonders if any of these promises will actually lead to results, while Jen says her 100-day countdown for Carney begins now. Matt also points out an amusing way the current PM reminds him of his predecessor.

Next, the conversation shifts to law and order. A recent quote from a senior police official in the GTA has sparked outrage, and with good reason. While both Matt and Jen can imagine a very narrow context in which the chief’s point might hold, they agree he was mostly wrong — and with a spate of terrible crimes in southern Ontario in recent days, his timing could not have been worse.

PLEASE NOTE: Chief MacSween issued a statement while this episode was being edited. You can read it here:

https://x.com/chiefmacsween/status/1964047883457421469

The hosts next turn to Kevin Roberts, who had been invited to address the Carney cabinet. The man’s deep ties to the far right of U.S. politics make him a lightning rod, and it’s no surprise he was controversial. Still, Matt and Jen argue Canada might have been better off if Carney had actually heard him out.

All that and more on the latest episode of The Line Podcast. Check us out at ReadTheLine.ca.