On The Line: What a tariff/trade war with Trump would mean for Canada

Thanks for checking out our first regular episode of On The Line, The Line's latest podcast offering. Each week, On The Line will bring you an extended conversation with Matt Gurney or Jen Gerson and a guest — or guests! — that can speak with authority on whatever is in the news.And this week, well. Like, look around. OMG. Do you have any idea how many times we had to redo our plans for this one? The week's episode of On The Line is brought to you by the Motion Picture Association of Canada. For decades, Ottawa controlled what is “Canadian” and what isn’t when it comes to series and movies available to Canadians. The rules are out of date and costing Canadians opportunities. It’s time for Ottawa to focus on helping Canadian film and TV workers, and encourage efforts to showcase Canada. To learn more visit mpa-canada.org.All kidding aside, and we suspect our viewers and listeners will understand, we had to change our plans like nine times before recording this, trying to keep up with developments. But we stuck the landing! More or less? Unless something else happens overnight? Our first guest is Stephen Gordon, a professor of economics at Laval University. He joins this week's host Matt Gurney to talk about what Trump's tariff war would mean for Canada. How it would hurt. How Canada would adapt. How you can adapt. And also what would happen if this goes ahead and escalates. It's not great news. But it might not be as bad as you fear.For clarity: when we recorded this, the tariffs were still happening, but we knew there was a chance they’d be lifted. There was a lot going on! We treated it as something that would happen, but Stephen also told us why even the U.S. would be keen to avoid them …This week's episode is also brought to you by the Métis Nation of Ontario. The Métis in what is now Ontario were not just traders or voyageurs — they were strategists and warriors ready to defend their lands and water from invaders. Their contributions in the War of 1812 shaped the borders of a future Canada. To learn more, go to OntarioMetisFacts.com.Our next guest is P.J. Fournier, creator of 338Canada. (Check out his main page at 338Canada.com, and also his newsletter at 338Canada.ca.) P.J. gives us an update on federal polling, and addresses why some of it seems so wonky. He also gives us an update on two provinces — Ontario already has an election underway, and next door in Quebec, an unpopular premier is no doubt watching to see if his pal Doug pays a price for calling an early vote ...As always, like and subscribe. And we'll see you next week for the next installment of On The Line.On The Line will be distributed through the same channels as The Line Podcast, which will continue to release episodes on Friday. To never miss an episode of either of our offerings, you should obviously sign up here at ReadtheLine.ca, but you can also follow us at the more most popular podcast viewing/listening destinations.YouTube:Spotify:Apple:And plenty more options here.Thanks for being part of the journey that has made it possible for The Line to begin expanding our content offerings. We hope you enjoy this episode, and don’t miss us next week. We’ll be back with more On The Line. Hopefully producing that episode will involve less, you know, news. The Line is entirely reader and advertiser funded — no federal subsidy for us! If you value our work, have already subscribed, and still worry about what will happen when the conventional media finishes collapsing, please make a donation today.The Line is Canada’s last, best hope for irreverent commentary. We reject bullshit. We love lively writing. Please consider supporting us by subscribing. Follow us on Twitter @the_lineca. Pitch us something: [email protected] Get full access to The Line at www.readtheline.ca/subscribe