In this episode of On The Line, host Jen Gerson speaks with Jeff Collins, director of the Palmer Institute for Canadian Leadership in Charlottetown, P.E.I., about Canada's military procurement problems, the country's evolving national security strategy, and whether our newfound enthusiasm for getting our elbows up against the Americans makes any sense when it comes to national defence.

This episode is brought to you by BioCanRx. We've been partnering with federally-funded Canadian not-for-profit BioCanRx to learn how made-in-Canada immunotherapies offer new ways to beat cancer. This month we’re addressing common questions, like: are immunotherapy technologies dual-use?

While many immunotherapies are personalized using a patient’s own cells, the research and manufacturing infrastructure behind them can produce other important products, like vaccines. The people behind those research, manufacturing, and clinical delivery processes are also extremely capable and versatile. Greater support for translational research and clinical trials would help grow this workforce and build capabilities that extend well beyond cancer. In a health emergency, that capacity could also help Canada respond quickly to urgent needs for new treatments and vaccines.

Thanks to BioCanRx for continuing to partner with The Line to share this information. Visit BioCanRx.com to learn more.

Collins draws on his experience working at the Department of National Defence and elsewhere in the federal public service to explain why Canada has such a difficult time buying the equipment its military needs. Why do procurement projects take so long, cost so much, and so often fail to deliver what was originally promised? And what would actually have to change to make the system work?

This episode is also brought to you by the Forest Products Association of Canada.

For years, the Forest Products Association of Canada has called for action to reduce regulatory duplication and create greater certainty for mills, factories, and investment.

We’re encouraged to see the federal government taking action to make Canada’s regulatory system more coordinated and predictable, removing made-in-Canada barriers that have held the sector back. This is an important step for forestry and for communities across the country that depend on the sector.

Now, we need to move from promises to production. Canadian jobs, stronger supply chains, and new opportunities for communities from coast to coast to coast depend on it.

Canada’s forest sector is ready to do its part. Learn more at FPAC.ca.

Jen and Jeff also discuss Canada's national security strategy and the growing pressure to reduce our military dependence on the United States. Political enthusiasm for greater Canadian independence is one thing, but the practical realities of continental defence, military integration and procurement are quite another. How realistic is an "elbows up" approach to our most important defence partner?

It's a conversation about bureaucracy, military readiness, national sovereignty, and whether Canada can finally get serious about equipping its Armed Forces for a much more dangerous world.

This episode is also brought to you by Cameco. Building Canada’s energy future means creating jobs for Canadian workers. That’s why the AP1000 reactor is the right choice for Canada: it is already operating and ready to deliver the power we need. Choosing the AP1000 means a reactor built by Canadians, creating skilled jobs in construction, fabrication and the trades while keeping more investment and economic benefits here at home. If we are serious about creating Canadian jobs and strengthening our economy, the choice is clear. To learn more, visit ap1000.cameco.com.

Check out our main page at ReadTheLine.ca, and as always, like and subscribe.

#OnTheLine #CanadianMilitary #MilitaryProcurement #NationalDefence #CanadianArmedForces #NationalSecurity #JeffCollins #DefencePolicy #CanadaUS #JenGerson

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on October 30th, 2026, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson begin with the newly released National Security Strategy. Your hosts agree that it's directionally correct, in that it's talking about the right things. But they also wonder whether this is going to be another example of a problem Prime Minister Mark Carney keeps discovering in government: it's one thing to say what should be done, and quite another to get the government bureaucracy to actually do it. Some of the problem is simply that the government hasn't had a clear sense of direction. A new strategy can help fix that. But a lot of it is going to come down to a bureaucracy that either cannot do what it's being told or will actively resist doing it. And the only way the PMO is going to fix that is by busting some heads. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

We hope.

This episode is brought to you by BioCanRx. We’ve been partnering with federally-funded Canadian not-for-pro fit BioCanRx to learn how made-in-Canada immunotherapies offer new ways to beat cancer. This month we’re addressing common questions, like: is Canada behind on immunotherapy?

Canadian researchers continue to be global leaders at discovery research. Where Canada lags behind is in bringing these discoveries from the lab to the patient. While many immunotherapies come to Canada for clinical trial or market authorization, few are based on Canadian research or developed in Canada, meaning we access them when their international sponsors choose, at whatever prices they want to charge –– provided Health Canada approves and the provinces decide to pay.

Developing more Canadian discoveries into approved therapies in Canada would help reduce Canada’s dependence on other countries, enable our health systems to learn what it takes to deliver these novel therapies while collecting data to assess their value via early stage clinical trials, and provide patients with much-needed access to advanced therapies. A win-win-win scenario.

BioCanRx continues to work with researchers and policymakers to deliver on this mission. Thanks to them for continuing to partner with The Line to share this information and visit BioCanRx.com to learn more.

Next, your hosts turn to a fascinating report by Christopher Nardi of the National Post, who took a deep dive into the challenges facing the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). Matt and Jen praise the unusual transparency of CSIS director Dan Rogers, who agreed to be interviewed for the story. But Matt zeroes in on one particular thing Rogers told Nardi and throws up his hands in frustration. Because if Rogers actually means what he's saying, he's doomed. And CSIS with him. And the reasons are depressingly familiar to anyone who had already listened to ... the first segment of the podcast.

Finally, Matt and Jen discuss the ongoing negotiations between Canada and Europe. Hopefully nothing breaks later on the day of recording, but as things stand, your hosts are wondering why everyone has spent so much time arguing about what to call the relationship instead of explaining what the relationship will actually be. Speaking as two middle-aged people who would very much like to start spending their winters in southern Europe, they'd appreciate some actual progress on this front. And hopefully soon.

Oh, and, AI was asked to simulate a human civilization, and accidentally created Canada. It ended badly. So, yeah. There's that, too. Sigh.

All that and more in the latest episode of The Line Podcast.

#TheLinePodcast #MarkCarney #NationalSecurity #CanadianPolitics #CSIS #CanadianIntelligence #GovernmentBureaucracy #CanadaEuropeRelations #CanadianForeignPolicy #CurrentAffairs

In this episode of On The Line, BioCanRx President and CEO Stephanie Michaud joins Matt Gurney for a conversation about one of the biggest problems facing Canadian health care: Canada produces world-class medical research, but too often struggles to turn those discoveries into treatments that actually reach Canadian patients.

Stephanie explains why it can take so long for the newest and most promising therapies to make their way into the Canadian healthcare system — and why so much science developed by Canadian researchers ultimately ends up being commercialized in the United States. Canada has extraordinary researchers and institutions. So why do we keep losing the economic and medical benefits of their work?

This episode is brought to you by the Forest Products Association of Canada. Budget season in Ottawa is filled with asks for new programs, new tax measures and new investment. But for Canada’s forest products sector, the biggest opportunity for growth doesn’t require new spending — it requires smarter rules. Regulatory inefficiencies are costing the average Canadian mill an estimated one million dollars a year each. That’s money that could be reinvested in workers, communities, and modernization instead. The Forest Sector Transformation Task Force gave Ottawa a clear playbook. As the federal budget takes shape, the fastest way to unlock private investment is to remove the made-in-Canada barriers standing in the way. Learn more at FPAC.ca.

Matt and Stephanie also discuss what it would take for Canada to become more independent of the United States in biotechnology and healthcare. If Canadians really want to get their elbows up, this is one area where the country already has many of the ingredients it needs. They look at opportunities to work with international partners, build domestic capacity and create a system capable of taking Canadian discoveries from the laboratory all the way to Canadian patients.

And, unusually for On The Line, there’s some optimism. Stephanie believes Canada has a genuine opportunity to build on its existing strengths and become a global leader in biotechnology — creating economic opportunities while also helping Canadians survive terrible diseases and live longer, healthier lives.

This episode is also brought to you by Cameco. Building Canada’s energy future means creating jobs for Canadian workers. That’s why the AP1000 reactor is the right choice for Canada: it is already operating and ready to deliver the power we need. Choosing the AP1000 means a reactor built by Canadians, creating skilled jobs in construction, fabrication and the trades while keeping more investment and economic benefits here at home. If we are serious about creating Canadian jobs and strengthening our economy, the choice is clear. To learn more, visit ap1000.cameco.com.

Disclosures x 2: BioCanRx has been and remains a sponsor of The Line. This was an interview we wanted to do because of what Matt Gurney learned while his wife battled a devastating cancer diagnosis; an employee at BioCanRx is an old friend of Matt's and offered his help soon after the diagnosis, which is how The Line and BioCanRx began speaking in the first place. For the record: BioCanRx did not seek or receive any editorial control over this interview, was not provided questions in advance, nor asked for them, and requested no changes to the finished product. For further transparency, the only edits to this podcast were to cover your intrepid host choking while sipping water, like the seasoned broadcast professional he is, and a doorbell ringing. Exciting times!

Check out our main page at ReadTheLine.ca, and as always like and subscribe.

#OnTheLine #BioCanRx #StephanieMichaud #CanadianHealthcare #Biotechnology #CanadianInnovation #HealthInnovation #CancerResearch #LifeSciences #MedicalResearch #CanadaUS #MattGurney