In the latest episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on August 21st, 2026, Matt Gurney joins remotely from Chicago as he makes his way home to Canada after a family event. Sorry, elbows uppers.
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The first segment is, admittedly, a bit of a placeholder. Until there is an actual Canada-U.S. trade deal to read, it’s difficult to have firm opinions about it — assuming there even is a deal. Your hosts walk through what’s been reported so far and explain why they’re reserving judgment until the details are public. That said, Matt highlights one rumoured provision that, if true, would represent a uniquely Canadian style of spectacularly self-inflicted policy failure. For the deeper analysis, look for Sunday’s Dispatch.
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Next, Matt and Jen examine the early political reaction to both the negotiations themselves and the rumours surrounding the deal. Both were struck by comments this week from Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew. With a combination of clarity and folksy charm, Kinew articulated what your hosts believe is the strongest criticism of Mark Carney’s handling of the America file they’ve heard so far. They’re not suggesting Kinew is about to jump into federal politics. He doesn’t need to. If someone can make a compelling case that this deal is bad for Canada, Carney could find himself under pressure from both the left and the right.
This episode is also brought to you by BioCanRx. Through our partnership with federally-funded Canadian not-for-profit BioCanRx this summer, we’re talking about potential solutions for the problems that limit Canada’s ability to domestically develop new drugs, especially immunotherapies for cancer.
Today: Canada’s biomanufacturing capacity. A biomanufacturing industry, like any other industry, does not appear at the swipe of a bureaucrat’s pen. Simply allocating money to a new economic development program doesn’t replace the years of effort necessary to help a sector put down lasting roots. Canada already has many building blocks in place. For example, infrastructure developed for pandemic readiness after COVID, and money invested in research facilities across Canada, can be leveraged to give us a head start — but they need to be coordinated and given steady work.
BioCanRx supports core Canadian biomanufacturing facilities and connects them with active Canadian research projects, making sure both sides have resources and the chance to gain experience. But more activity is needed to ensure these facilities can build up expertise, maintain readiness, and foster innovation. Building this capacity can position Canada to develop new drugs more quickly — and to be ready for a health emergency, all while delivering products to Canadian patients today.
There are promising paradigm shifts on the horizon that could change the way we manufacture biologic products like immunotherapies. More on that next week. Visit BioCanRx.com to learn more.
Finally, Matt reflects on his recent travels through the United States. There are many ways Canada will never compete directly with America — they’re simply bigger and richer. But there are also areas where Canada once had a visible edge and has quietly lost it. Chicago has always had more crime and a higher murder rate than Toronto. That’s nothing new. What is new, Matt argues, is that downtown Chicago is now noticeably cleaner and better maintained than downtown Toronto. That’s not a consequence of American military power, economic dominance, or Donald Trump. That’s a Canadian policy failure.
And the really damning part? Downtown Detroit is cleaner than Toronto now, too.
All that and more in the latest episode of The Line Podcast.
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Please sign up at those options not just for this episode, or future episodes of The Line Podcast, but so that you can also receive our other podcast series, On the Line, which releases new episodes every Tuesday morning. In case you missed it, here is last Tuesday’s episode, where Matt Gurney spoke with Anthony Robb from Canada Company about a way to support Canadian military families that have sacrificed a lot for this country, and also with Peter Jones, professor of international relations at the University of Ottawa, on a Canadian cherished myth that has badly outlived its usefulness.
That’s all for now! Talk to you guys soon — we suspect Sunday’s dispatch might be a bit of a banger …
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