In this episode of The Line Podcast, recorded on October 24, 2025, Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson can’t help but respond to the breaking news of the day. God help us all.

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Donald Trump has suspended all trade negotiations with Canada, claiming that ads taken out by Doug Ford’s Ontario government are unfair and dishonest. Matt and Jen don’t really buy that. If Trump wants a deal, he’ll get one — and if he wants to blow one up, he’ll find an excuse. So they don’t take his stated reason particularly seriously. What they do take seriously is Doug Ford’s role in this mess. Matt has some tough words for what he thinks Ford’s motivation really is, while Jen offers a partial defence.

From there, they turn to Mark Carney’s big speech this week. Matt sums it up with both the good news and the bad — though, as he puts it, the really bad news is how much of the good news is actually bad news. You’ll just have to listen to the segment to understand why.

Finally, there’s an update from Alberta. Jen recaps who she thinks came out ahead — and who didn’t — in the teachers’ strike. She also takes note of Alberta’s recent municipal elections, focusing on one particular result that caught her attention. Calgary’s newly elected mayor gives her a theory on how genuinely populist politicians might start finding their way back to normalcy.

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