The Line

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on Oct. 11, 2024, your hosts take a long, hard look at the federal stories that all came out this week and rub their temples long and hard.

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/

On the federal front this week: your hosts start by talking about two big stories that speak to the overall state of things. First, the latest from the Foreign Interference inquiry reminds Matt of what he concluded after reading the Johnston Report: that the government's only remaining defence on foreign interference is that they are too incompetent to be corrupt, malicious or traitorous. They also talk about a new article in the Toronto Star that left them both trying to figure out if the Liberals are delusional, or if they've simply given up.

In other federal news, your hosts also chat about three stories this week — a Liberal MP blowing up a committee meeting with profanity, some unusually blunt comments by the foreign affairs minister, and the Conservatives grilling a CTV exec on Parliament's time — and conclude that the longer this goes on, the worse this is going to end up looking for everyone. This government is done, guys. All that's going to happen from here on out is further humiliation and self-abasement.

To wrap up, Jen asks Matt whether or not being crazy is increasingly a political advantage. And to his horror, he could not confidently answer "No." So that's not great.

All that, and more, in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. Check us out today (and subscribe!) at ReadtheLine.ca.

Programming note: there will be no written dispatch this weekend. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on Oct. 4, 2024, your hosts take a long, hard look at the federal stories that all came out this week and rub their temples long and hard. 

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 Unsmoke.ca.

On the federal front this week: things remain dysfunctional and it’s hard to imagine this lasting for much longer. But it probably will. For our sins. The rumours about the Liberals proroguing are getting louder. The Bloc seems ready to side with the Tories to bring the government down (and combined, they just might be able to do it, if the broke NDP abstains). The Liberals found themselves on the right side of an issue this week, and good for them. But Matt still thinks they are starting to give up. Jen explains why she is mad at the Tories this week. And it’s a big mad.

In other federal news, the Liberals have a plan to save the CBC. Or maybe a plan to have a plan. Both your hosts call bullshit on that. It’s way, way too late and this government is way, way too tapped out to take on a file that complex. But they’ll do it to help fend off Conservative attacks whenever the next election lands. It won’t work. But they’ll try. 

After that, your hosts do a vibe check and conclude that that swinging culture pendulum is gonna keep right on swinging for the next decade or so. Oh, also. Jen has some advice for Danielle Smith on the matter of the United States Air Force turning all the frogs gay or controlling our minds (or both).

Sigh.

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

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on Sept. 26, 2024, your hosts take a long, hard look at the federal stories that all came out this week and rub their temples long and hard.

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 Unsmoke.ca.

On the federal front this week: shit gets crazy, and, strangely, shit also gets discussed in Parliament. So that's great. The Liberals survived the confidence vote, and the Conservatives are preparing the next. The Bloc lays out their terms, and they're ... a lot. The NDP seems content to keep the Liberals in power, but they're going to need to work on their cover story. And in the background, we have Tory MPs cracking juvenile gay jokes, the PM losing it in the House, the health minister clutching his pearls so tightly they turned into diamonds, and lots, lots more.

God. So, so much more.

The other big story this week: CTV News and the Tories have been trading broadsides after someone(s) at CTV manipulated a Poilievre quote in a misleading way. This is, to state the obvious, bad. But the CPC, of course, has escalated, because of course they did. That's what they do. That's what all the parties do. We keep telling you this, and we keep meaning it: every incentive for all the parties will lead to ever-further escalation and enshittification of everything because, in the short term, it works. It always works. And we all pay the price.

Important note: because this was recorded early on Thursday, we did not yet know — it had not yet happened! —  that CTV News was going to release a statement on Thursday accepting responsibility and noting, vaguely, that the two employees responsible were no longer with CTV News. We think our thoughts hold up, but we wanted to flag that for you, for the sake of accuracy and transparency.

After that, they chat about Trudeau going on The Late Show, and firearms. Don't worry, it makes sense.

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

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on Sept. 20, 2024, your hosts take a long, hard look at the federal stories that all came out this week and rub their temples long and hard.

(Except for the date, the above was copy and pasted directly from last week's episode summary. It still applies. Let's see how many weeks we can get away with that.)

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/

On the federal front this week: a confidence vote looms, and Justin Trudeau will likely survive, but he may one day come to wish he hadn't. Jagmeet Singh seems to want to pick fights — literally — with people. The Bloc is ruthlessly and pragmatically preparing to suck every dime they can out of Canada, and who can blame them? Liberals need to remember how to stage a coup. And the Tories are just gonna keep doing what they're doing. Your hosts agree that this all might go poof quickly, but Matt lays out a theory that explains that this could, in fact, last for a year. Or longer.

So that'll be lots of fun.

After that, they chat about the Canadian economy — the good, the bad and the ugly. Jen basically converts to communism without realizing it about halfway through the segment. Next, they talk "Operation Grim Beeper," and Matt explains a happy scenario about how a tactic like that could be used on us. And last but not least, they catch you up on the latest skirmish inside the Canadian media. So far, everyone is mostly behaving like an adult? How rare.

All that, and more, in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. To subscribe and read more, check us out at https://www.readtheline.ca/

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on Sept. 13, 2024 — Friday the 13th, spooky! — your hosts take a long, hard look at the federal stories that all came out this week and rub their temples long and hard.

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 Unsmoke.ca.

Like, where should they start? Singh finishing the job Trudeau started and putting a stake through the heart of the carbon tax (at least, as we know it)? Should they talk about Mark Carney and his new job? Should Matt read Jen a hilarious quote where a Liberal MP, probably without realizing it, actually made an extremely frank and fair comment about the party's electoral chances and why they're in trouble? Should Matt urge the Liberals to try and salvage their dignity and their souls, if not their government?

Well! Good news! They talk about all those things!

And more! Jen read a book review and found a surprisingly juicy bit of gossip — or at least hints of one. Jen also saw that the Conservatives are planning their own version of online harms legislation, and she has a hunch they might stick the landing. And Matt closes the podcast by noting, that with their government in absolute disarray and only months left on the clock, the Liberals have chosen this moment — right now! — to start a conversation about reforming the CBC.

Sure, guys, that's a great idea, and you totally have the political bandwidth, intellectual capital, time, and a stable enough parliament to pull it off. 10/10 thinking, guys, excellent idea, and it's gonna go great for you. 

Sigh.

All that, and more, in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. To subscribe and read more, check us out at https://www.readtheline.ca/

Next, your hosts talk about a bombshell report from the U.S., which alleges — with an awful lot of supporting evidence, we note — that a series of right-wing media personalities were being funded by Russia, to advance Russian state aims. Yuor Line hosts are extremely unsurprised by this, and expect we will see this ripple north into Canada (it has already, in some ways). Matt has words of warning for anyone thinking this is entirely a right-wing problem, though. It isn't. And we're just starting to really dare take a hard look at it.

In the latest, Labour-Day-weekend edition of The Line Podcast, recorded late on August 29th, 2024, Jen Gerson visibly wilts before Matt Gurney's eyes as the summer-time cold she's battling decisively wins that battle. But before Jen collapses, they start with a quick political round-up from the provinces: chaos in B.C., shock among Ford critics in Ontario, and a controversial announcement in Alberta that Jen agrees may be bad, but not for the reasons people are saying. 

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 Unsmoke.ca.

From there, your Line editors talk about the summer — not like what they did during the summer, but how they felt the political vibe is as the summer (alas) draws to its conclusion. They both agree that the federal Liberals more or less did what they needed to do. They survived! But they glance at the latest polls and conclude that we're likely right back where we left off at the end of June, with the Liberals once again facing down reports of internal discontent and mutinous feelings while the CPC maintains a lead in the 15-20 per cent range. 

They end with something of a pop quiz from Matt to Jen, and she was really delighted to be hit with a surprise question as her immune system collapsed in real time. But they both shared their best guesses on what Justin Trudeau's "Hail Mary" play will be in what time he has left. Matt suggests we're already starting to see it, in fact.

All that, and much more, in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. To subscribe and read more, check us out at https://www.readtheline.ca/

NOTE FROM THE LINE: With the long weekend upon us, The Line is returning to a normal publication schedule as of Tuesday (assuming Jen isn't in a coma). There will be no written dispatch this weekend, but we'll get one out early next week. And then back to the grind. We hope our readers, listeners and viewers had an amazing summer, and thank them, as always, for their support.

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded a day earlier than normal on August 22nd, 2024, after Jen Gerson offers up some shockingly TMI stuff, your hosts start by noting, with amusement, that Jagmeet Singh, leader of the federal NDP, tried once again to tweet about how mad he was at Justin Trudeau and got zapped by Twitter's crowd-sourced fact-checking service. The Twitter hivemind, in its wisdom, noted that as Trudeau's confidence-and-supply agreement partner, Singh could hold Trudeau to account basically whenever he wanted. How strange that Singh seems to keep forgetting that. Nothing lasts long on Twitter, Matt Gurney notes. But it was glorious.

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 Unsmoke.ca.

After that, your Line editors move on to another big chat involving federal politics this week. Charles Adler, long-time broadcaster, has been appointed to the Senate. After Gurney makes a personal disclosure, Gerson takes the lead on a discussion about accountability, bias and the currying of favour, and why all members of the press wince a little bit when one of them makes the jump to political life. She also establishes what Gurney has dubbed the Gerson Scale for political ickiness.

From there, they move onto the rail lockout (for the record, this was recorded before the federal government announced that it would use its powers to end the disruption; as we prep this podcast for publication on Friday, it's not yet clear if the trains will actually start running -- everything is moving fast on this one, folks, so bear with us). They don't talk about the disruption itself so much as how vulnerable (or not?) our supply chains are, and how strange it is to live in a time where the average Canadian has to spend so much time thinking about supply chains! It didn't used to be this way.

They end with what Gurney dubs a "vibe check." Ontario premier Doug Ford has taken a step that will close down a series of controversial safe injection sites in Toronto, and Gurney believes that this speaks to a bigger, broader cultural shift that's underway. That big ole pendulum is just swinging hard back to the right, ain't it?

All that, and much more, in the latest episode of The Line Podcast. To subscribe and read more, check us out at ReadTheLine.ca.

In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on August 16th, 2024, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson bring the heat. Actually, Matt's just melting visibly onscreen without air conditioning. (He explains, don't worry. At least his microphone is fixed?)

More seriously, your hosts talk about two damning stories out there right now on the immigration front. The first is the latest on the arrest of two apparent/alleged/etc ISIS terrorists who were planning an attack (police claim) on Toronto. This is a bit awkward since both men were fairly recent arrivals to Canada, and obtained Canadian citizenship after one of the men (allegedly!) took part in a brutal ISIS execution video in 2015. Oops. Also, the UN is slamming Canada's temporary foreign workers laws as being akin to modern day slavery. And honestly, The Line thinks that's pretty fair, when you consider the rules.

Then, Jen goes off on "Raygun," the Australian breakdancer. Like, she really goes off on her. It was ... surprising. So enjoy that, we guess.

Finally: a couple of media stories. Your Line editors note, with regret, the closing of CHML 900, a news-talk radio station in Hamilton, Ontario, that had been operating for 97 years but can no longer survive in the modern media environment. Your hosts explain why. Matt then tells Jen about the brave editorialist who apparently took on Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and won, according to Twitter. Matt checked out the editorial, thinking he was going to read a smackdown of the CPC boss ... and came away less than impressed. He explains why.

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

Take care, and as always, like, subscribe, share, and visit our website at ReadTheLine.ca.

Hello, fans of The Line, and welcome to the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on August 9th, 2024, in which your hosts are totally not struggling to find things to talk about during the doldrums of political silly season.

They start by chatting about U.S. politics. A new wave of polls has shown that the Biden-Harris switcheroo has ... worked. It hasn't doomed Donald Trump, but it has put Kamala Harris and her new running mate in a position where they can absolutely win this. The race is competitive again, a toss up. Jen explains why she thinks Trump might still have the inside track. Matt taps sports psychology to suggest why he's not so sure. Jen also gets deeply existential on why she thinks progressive parties are struggling across the West.

Next, they talk about a story that had a certain segment of the Canadian commentariat fired up this week: CPC bots! Neither of your hosts would be shocked if the Conservatives, or any political party, was using bots-for-hire to amplify their strategic communications. But both of them also suggest some caution here. We should all be skeptical of what we see on social media, even if — maybe especially if — it's something we really want to believe.

From there, they chat about the riots in Britain, and Matt tells Jen that he noticed something coming out of that coverage that Canadians should be paying attention to, because even as the Brits are burning their own towns down, they're still better at a pretty important thing than Canada.

And finally, Matt makes a bold proposal that he hopes all Canadians can unite behind, because it will radically improve our quality of life and, frankly, change human civilization as we know it — for the better. And Jen instantly rejects that proposal. Listeners and viewers — have your say.

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

Take care, and as always, like, subscribe, share, and visit our website at ReadTheLine.ca.