In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on October 2nd, 2026, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson begin with the announcement of the new Pacific Link pipeline, unveiled by Prime Minister Mark Carney alongside Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Your hosts are struck by just how much Carney increasingly sounds like a spiritual — and even political — successor to Stephen Harper or Jason Kenney, rather than Justin Trudeau. That also fits with some of what The Line has been hearing about how these various gentlemen view each other.

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The pipeline also gives Canadians something unusually useful: a clear benchmark for judging the Carney government. The “Carney method” has committed to getting the project shovel-ready in just one year. That’s a much easier promise to evaluate than grand plans whose results might not become apparent for a decade. So we’ll be watching.

Next, your hosts turn to another speech in Alberta. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre spoke in Edmonton this week about why Alberta should remain in Canada. Jen was impressed by the speech — but also thinks it’s too little, too late. Matt argues that the Conservatives increasingly talk about Alberta staying in Canada the way the Liberals talk about antisemitism: they don’t seem particularly invested in the issue, but they know they need to tick the appropriate boxes so nobody can accuse them of saying nothing.

Finally, Matt and Jen venture outside their usual Canadian focus to discuss the case of Christa Pike, the Tennessee woman scheduled to be executed this week after three decades on death row for a horrific murder. The state botched the execution despite warnings that exactly that could happen. Your hosts discuss their own views on capital punishment and wrestle with a larger question: is there a position on the death penalty that could satisfy the public while still respecting the concerns that make so many Canadian elites recoil from it?

This episode is also 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 September we’re focusing on the “made-in-Canada” part.

Unlike other G7 nations, Canada lacks an anchor company and patient capital with pockets deep enough to pay for the lengthy process of bringing drugs to the Canadian market. Not for profits like BioCanRx are stepping in, but if the government decides to inject funding into the pipeline, how can we be sure money is going to projects with a real chance to succeed? Performance monitoring is essential, because if you’re going to fail it’s better to do it quickly. BioCanRx checks on all its funded projects every six months. Advised by a group of international experts, project milestones are tracked and, if necessary, funds can be cut.

Government departments won’t have the technical expertise to scrutinize researchers that closely, but by leveraging partners with the necessary expertise they could make sure taxpayer dollars are being invested wisely. Thanks to BioCanRx for continuing to help us tell this story. Visit BioCanRx.com to learn more.

All that and more in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. Check out our main page at ReadTheLine.ca. Like and subscribe!

#TheLinePodcast #MarkCarney #DanielleSmith #PierrePoilievre #PacificLinkPipeline #AlbertaPolitics #CanadianPolitics #StephenHarper #CapitalPunishment #CurrentAffairs

In this episode of On The Line, host Matt Gurney is joined by Stephanie Levitz of The Globe and Mail’s parliamentary bureau to tackle four big questions about life in Ottawa under prime minister Mark Carney.

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 September we're focusing on the "made-in-Canada" part.

Unlike other G7 nations, Canada lacks an anchor company and patient capital with pockets deep enough to pay for the lengthy process of bringing drugs to the Canadian market. Not for profits like BioCanRx are stepping in, but if the government decides to inject funding into the pipeline, how can we be sure money is going to projects with a real chance to succeed? Performance monitoring is essential, because if you’re going to fail it’s better to do it quickly. BioCanRx checks on all its funded projects every six months. Advised by a group of international experts, project milestones are tracked and, if necessary, funds can be cut.

Government departments won't have the technical expertise to scrutinize researchers that closely, but by leveraging partners with the necessary expertise they could make sure taxpayer dollars are being invested wisely. Thanks to BioCanRx for continuing to help us tell this story. Visit BioCanRx.com to learn more.

First: what is Carney actually doing? Matt and Stephanie look at both his day-to-day activities and the larger mission taking shape around his government. They also dig into the legislative agenda now before the House of Commons, including major economic legislation the government has made a centrepiece of the fall sitting. Can Carney get it done? The opposition may not be able to stop him — but what about divisions within the Liberal caucus?

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Next: what has happened to Parliament itself? After the strange final stretch of the Trudeau era, there’s a new boss in town. Dress codes have changed. The workers are back in their cubicles. And the opposition is still figuring out how to respond (we assume). Who is going to hold Carney accountable when the inevitable screw-ups happen? And why might the answer be … Quebec?

This episode is also brought to you by Cardus. For years, Ayaan Hirsi Ali was one of the most famous atheists in the world. Then she converted to Christianity. Now she argues that faith is the key to renewing Western civilization. Hear her make the case live in Calgary, October 8th, at the 2026 Ian Shugart Lecture, hosted by the think tank Cardus. Get your tickets at Cardus.ca/ayaan.

Finally, a vibe check. What does Parliament Hill actually feel like these days compared with recent years? Stephanie jokes that she and her colleagues are all having to learn an entirely new line of reporting. They’re all business journalists now.

Check out our main page at ReadTheLine.ca. Like and subscribe.

#OnTheLine #CanadaPolitics #MarkCarney #ParliamentHill #Ottawa #LiberalParty #HouseOfCommons #CanadianPolitics #StephanieLevitz #GlobeAndMail #QuebecPolitics #MattGurney

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson begin with some news close to home: The Line gets hacked! Well, almost. Luckily, our defences held. Unfortunately, the list of people who might want to hack us is longer than we'd like. We piss a lot of people off.

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Then it's on to the main event: Mark Carney goes to New York and talks to American reporters, including about the possibility of a U.S. attack on Canada. Matt is irritated by the reaction back home. The military considering bizarre and unlikely scenarios isn't evidence that the prime minister has lost his mind. It's literally the military's job to think about weird scenarios before they happen. In attacking Carney over this, Matt argues, his critics are really attacking the Canadian military for doing exactly what Canadians pay it to do.

Next, Jen provides an update from Alberta, where there is, as usual, a lot going on. She suspects Danielle Smith may be coming a little unhinged. Matt, ever the diplomat, decides to court controversy by asking when so many Albertans turned into Torontonians, terrified of saying anything that might offend somebody. You guys used to be braver than that.

Finally, your hosts discuss the horrific attack on a synagogue in Belleville, Ontario, before turning to two media stories they think listeners should know about. And Matt has a question for Jen: is the CBC actively trying to get itself scrapped?

This episode is also 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 September we’re focusing on the “made-in-Canada” part. One way to leverage existing Canadian government investments in biomanufacturing would be to make it easier for Canadian innovators to develop their discoveries into therapies here in Canada.

Aside from organizations like BioCanRx, there are few funding sources for the “translational research” activities necessary to build the significant body of evidence required for clinical trial approval from Health Canada — without which these therapies could never reach patients. If funding mechanisms are created to support translational research in Canada, more Canadian discoveries can generate work for Canada’s biomanufacturing facilities — leading to more sovereign capacity, and more therapies made in Canada for Canadian patients.

But how could we make sure new investments aren’t wasted? More on that next week. Visit BioCanRx.com to learn more.

All that and more in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. Check out, but do not hack!, our main page at ReadTheLine.ca. Like and subscribe!