In this episode of On The Line, host Matt Gurney is joined by two guests to break down the latest in politics and geopolitics.

First up is Gregory Jack, senior vice president of public affairs at Ipsos, for a full update on the federal polling landscape. The latest numbers show the Liberal Party of Canada opening up a significant lead, raising questions about what has gone wrong for the Conservative Party of Canada and why Pierre Poilievre appears to be reinventing himself yet again — even if the effort doesn’t seem to be gaining much traction. Gurney and Jack also dig into the latest polling on separatist sentiment and political change in both Alberta and Quebec, and what those numbers do and don’t actually mean.

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After that, Matt is joined by David Shipley, CEO of Beauceron Security and the show’s go-to cybersecurity guy, to discuss the cyber dimension of the new Persian Gulf war. Shipley explains how the conflict opened with a remarkably effective cyber campaign by Israel and the United States, but is now evolving into a cycle of retaliation. That includes Iranian counterattacks and a particularly damaging strike against a major U.S. medical company, offering a glimpse of how cyber warfare increasingly intersects with real-world conflict.

All that, plus the usual On The Line conversation about politics, strategy, and the strange times we’re living through. Check us out at ReadTheLine.ca, and don't forget to like and subscribe.

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In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on March 13th, 2026, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson begin with federal politics. Mark Carney appears to be on track to secure a majority government, and your hosts wonder whether he truly deserves it. Has the country actually improved much over the last year, or have the Conservatives simply squandered their opportunity not only to win, but even to hold him to a minority? They also discuss the government’s latest Arctic announcement, which Matt notes isn’t especially new. He’s frustrated that a leader recycling old announcements may still lock up the majority that will allow him to govern largely as he wishes for the next three years.

The conversation then turns to the war in the Middle East. Jen brings some personal perspective to the discussion — many listeners may not realize that she lived in the region early in her career and still has many friends there. She shares some of what she’s hearing from people close to the unfolding conflict. At the same time, both hosts reflect on how strange the war feels from afar. Perhaps, they suggest, all of us — hosts and audience alike — are slowly becoming desensitized to events that would have seemed shocking and horrific not that long ago.

The final segment takes an unexpected turn. It starts with Matt throwing Jen a conversational curveball: Hitler. You’ll have to tune in to hear exactly why that came up. But while they’re recording, breaking news emerges from Toronto, and the discussion shifts abruptly. Matt vents some frustration about what he sees as inadequate action to protect the city’s Jewish community, and some of that frustration spills out on air. He also makes, only reluctantly, an observation that he hopes no one in the White House hears, in case they use it against us. Jen laughs. She likes the chaos.

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

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In this episode of On The Line, host Jen Gerson sits down with Michael Geist, a professor at the University of Ottawa and one of the country’s leading voices on digital policy.

They begin with the latest United States Trade Priority Report, which singled out controversial Canadian legislation such as Online Streaming Act (Bill C‑11) as a major digital dispute complicating negotiations between Canada and the United States. Gerson asks whether the relationship between the two countries has deteriorated to the point where Canada now feels compelled to defend objectively terrible legislation simply on principle. It certainly seems that way.

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From there, the conversation turns to the apparent resurrection of the Online Harms Act, which many observers assumed had died on the order paper. Instead, it may be finding new life following reports that Jesse Van Rootselaar had been flagged by OpenAI as a potential risk before the shooting rampage in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.

Finally, Gerson and Geist discuss Bill C‑4 and the Senate of Canada’s effort to block what critics describe as an outrageous move by the House of Commons of Canada: legislation that would carve out a special exemption allowing political parties to avoid the privacy rules that apply to nearly everyone else. The result is a sharp conversation about digital governance, political incentives, and whether Canada is drifting into a regulatory posture that’s increasingly hard to defend.

For more like this, visit our main page at ReadTheLine.ca. And as always, like and subscribe.

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