In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on July 31st, 2026, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson begin by asking whether Canada’s governments are actually prepared to make the sacrifices required to defend the country’s interests. Both come away disappointed. Matt points to the federal government’s decision to block the expansion of an airport in the Toronto area because it was locally controversial and could complicate an upcoming Liberal byelection. If a government isn’t willing to risk losing even a single seat to get important things done, Matt argues, then it’s never going to get important things done.
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Next, Jen checks in from Alberta with an update on the separatist movement. While recent polling shows federalist forces comfortably ahead, she’s far from reassured. The problem isn’t the raw level of support for separation, which remains relatively low. It’s the intensity. Separatists are deeply motivated, while federalists may assume victory is inevitable and fail to organize or even show up on referendum day. If that happens, Jen warns, the result could be much closer than today’s polls suggest.
This episode is also brought to you by BioCanRx, a federally-funded Canadian not-for-profit research network dedicated to cutting edge cancer immunotherapy research that they’re helping Canadian researchers bring from labs to patients in clinical trials — all in Canada.
If a drug is discovered in a Canadian lab, and conducts successful clinical trials in Canada, there’s a chance it will be launched in Canada. So how do we get more drugs out of Canadian labs and keep them here? Every year around $500 million is spent on Canadian cancer research, but 70 per cent of that is for early-stage work — discovering whether a therapy can do something in the lab. That leaves limited resources for the complex and often disjointed process of moving Canadian innovations from discovery to a clinical trial and hopefully into the health system.
BioCanRx has stepped into the gap. They specialize in “translational research” — the unsexy work that makes for boring press releases, but gets results: 16 Canadian cancer immunotherapy clinical trials in just a decade, treating more than 400 patients.
Thanks to this, BioCanRx has first-hand experience with the systemic disconnects that are trapping discoveries in Canadian labs, or sending them out of the country to be developed. They have straightforward ideas about how to fix the problems, and spoiler alert: the answer isn’t just “add more money.” Stay tuned to learn more in coming weeks, and visit BioCanRx.com to learn more.
Finally, Matt raises reports about Jagmeet Singh’s possible next job after politics, and he’s unimpressed. Jen offers a different perspective, suggesting that perhaps there’s something to be said for a political class that takes care of its own after public service. Your hosts don’t reach a firm conclusion — but they lay out both sides and leave it to listeners to decide.
All that and more in the latest episode of The Line Podcast.
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The Line has had a nice little break (mostly a break) but we’ll be back at it next week, including a fresh episode of On The Line on Tuesday. Talk to you soon.
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