Controlling the narrative: the White House announces your prime minister’s phone call before you do. Americans are describing what was said on cable news. Your government hasn’t issued a statement. The other side wrote the first draft of history, and you’re standing there fact-checking someone else’s version of your own conversation. Who’s winning hearts and minds?

Matt Gurney calls it info war: government-led communication that establishes your version of events on the record. Israel did it during Gaza, putting out video clips, maps, military officers for press conferences. They knew public sympathy wouldn’t be on their side and made a national-level effort to control the narrative. Canada doesn’t do that. When the former prime minister dropped bombshell allegations about India killing Canadian citizens on our soil, there was no media campaign, no briefing package, no coordination with allies. India just said “didn’t happen” and we had no answer.

Political parties run rapid response war rooms during campaigns because they know narratives set quickly. Gurney’s ask: take the country as seriously as you take the party, and do it internationally. Social media is writing the first draft of history now, not journalists, and that tweet claiming your leader sold out the country gets a million retweets before anyone fact-checks it.

Topics: controlling the narrative, info war, government transparency, rapid response, public diplomacy

GUEST: Matt Gurney | @‌mattgurney | http://readtheline.ca

Originally aired on2026-01-27