Secure Line

In this episode of Secure Line, Stephanie Carvin and Jessica Davis break down several recent Canadian national security developments that, taken together, raise concerns about government messaging and policy direction. In what they jokingly call a “natsec bitch sesh,” they examine three stories from the past two weeks: controversy surrounding government comments about Indian foreign interference, Canada’s evolving response to the US-Israel–Iran conflict, and a major shuffle of senior public service roles related to national security.
First, the hosts discuss backlash over a briefing in which a senior government official suggested Indian foreign interference was no longer a concern for Canada, despite ongoing warnings from security agencies and reports of threats to members of the Sikh diaspora. They argue the comments were dismissive and poorly communicated, highlighting the broader challenge of balancing diplomatic engagement with transparency about national security threats.
Finally, Carvin and Davis examine Canada’s shifting public statements on the Iran crisis and a restructuring of the National Security and Intelligence Advisor role within government. While the bureaucratic changes could allow more focus on key security challenges, they worry the split might weaken coordination and the role of intelligence in policymaking. The episode closes with cautious optimism about progress toward a new Canadian financial crimes agency, alongside lingering concerns about how national security priorities are being communicated and managed.

In this episode of Secure Line, Steph, Leah, and Jess are joined by Chris Nardi, parliamentary reporter at the National Post, to unpack what it’s like to cover Canada’s national security world from the press gallery. Nardi explains how his beat grew “organically” through major transparency moments like the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC)and the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference (PIFI), plus national security trials.
The conversation focuses on why Canadians’ interest in national security has increased—especially around questions of who the government watches, how, and why—and why journalists end up acting as translators in a space where direct public communication is limited. Nardi describes the challenge of explaining technical issues like lawful access to readers who haven’t been given the “basics,” critiques the frequent reliance on secrecy language like the “mosaic effect,” and argues agencies could share far more about intent and effects (even if they can’t reveal methods) to build public understanding and trust.
They compare POEC and PIFI as rare moments that “cracked open the oyster” of Canadian national security, while noting frustrations when commissions operate like courtrooms and stonewall basic process questions. Nardi highlights standout inquiry moments, reflects on his reporting into dysfunction at Global Affairs and CSIS (including morale and leadership trust issues), and flags what he’s watching next: renewed debate on lawful access reform and the long-awaited National Security Strategy. The episode closes with advice for student journalists: pick up the phone, build sources, triangulate government claims with outside experts, and read deeply—because in national security, the homework is often the story.

Synopsis: In this episode of Secure Line, Steph and Jess unpack one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history and ask a difficult but essential question: can understanding the perpetrator help prevent future violence?
To help make sense of the attack in Tumbler Ridge, the hosts are joined by Dr. Emily Corner, Associate Professor at Australian National University and one of the world’s leading experts on lone-actor terrorism and grievance-fuelled violence. Drawing on years of research across terrorism, mass shootings, and fixated individuals, Dr. Corner explains why rigid labels—such as “terrorism” or “school shooting”— can hinder analysis and understanding.
The conversation explores what grievance-fuelled violence actually is, how it overlaps with (and differs from) terrorism, and why personal grievances, instability, and perceived injustice so often sit at the core of acts of mass violence. The episode also tackles emerging concepts like nihilistic violent extremism, the growing involvement of minors, the limits of ideology-based explanations, and why mental health is an important, but never causal, part of the story.
Grounded in evidence and focused on prevention, this episode offers essential context for understanding contemporary mass violence in Canada and beyond.

In Season 3, Episode 2 of Secure Line, Steph Carvin sits down with Jess Davis for a deep dive into Jess’s new book chapter, “State Secrets: Hiring Criminals for State-Sponsored Activities,” published in Killing in the Name of the State: State-Sponsored Assassinations in International Politics (Lynne Rienner).
The episode unpacks a disturbing but increasingly visible trend: states using organized crime networks as proxies for covert action—from targeted assassinations and transnational repression to foreign interference and sabotage. Jess explains why these partnerships are attractive to states (plausible deniability, operational access, and reduced diplomatic risk) and why criminals take the deal (money, safe haven, market protection, coercion, and impunity). Steph and Jess also wrestle with what’s genuinely “new” versus what’s simply evolving—especially the role of encrypted apps, social media recruitment, cryptocurrency payments, and the growing use of youth in low-level state-linked disruption.
Along the way, they nerd out on the conceptual questions—proxy vs. surrogate, principal–agent problems, and why this phenomenon is hard to measure—before bringing it back to policy: the crime–intelligence nexus doesn’t fit neatly into Canada’s institutional divide between CSIS and the RCMP, creating real enforcement and intelligence gaps just as state–crime convergence becomes more central to modern security threats.

Season 3 kicks off with a hard look at the world as it is—not as we wish it were. In this episode of Secure Line, Steph Carvin, Leah West, and Jess Davis unpack Mark Carney’s much-discussed speech at the World Economic Forum, and what it reveals about the collapse of the liberal international order, Canada’s shrinking room to maneuver, and the uncomfortable reality of great-power competition.
The conversation moves from trade and geopolitics to international law, sanctions, and the fracturing of the global financial system. The hosts debate whether multilateralism still works, whether international law is becoming more contractual and fragmented, and how the erosion of U.S. leadership is accelerating alternative financial systems that blunt sanctions and empower actors like Russia, China, and Iran.
Looking ahead, the episode surveys what 2026 may bring: the prospects (or lack thereof) for major Canadian legislation on lawful access, cybersecurity, and financial crime; looming trade negotiations; the future of NATO in an era of U.S. unpredictability; and why cuts to Canada’s diplomatic capacity may undermine the very strategy Carney is calling for. Sobering, candid, and sharply analytical, this episode sets the tone for a season grappling with insecurity, fragmentation, and the limits of state power in a rapidly changing world.