The Big Five Podcast

Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS, and Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance.

• Quebec’s Minister Responsible for the Fight Against Racism, Christopher Skeete, calls the sentencing that took into consideration the realities of systemic racism that racialized criminals face as a “sad first”.
• Britain’s ad watchdog has banned two Zara ads for showing models ...

Elias Makos Andrew Caddell, a town councillor in Kamouraska, and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy, and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia.

• Prominent Canadian pundit Paul Wells is pulling no punches in his latest column, under the headline “Let’s Admit It: Canada is losing the trade war with Trump.”
• Unable t...

Elias Makos is joined by Political analyst Karim Boulos, and Bonnie Feigenbaum, Conservative Party of Quebec candidate in last provincial election and a lecturer at Concordia & McGill University, media & government relations consultant.

• People are dumping their trash out onto the streets, and Montrealers are fed up. 8 thousand more complaints have been called in to 311 in 2024 than the previous year.
• Four McGill U...

Elias kicks off the week Neil Drabkin, is a lawyer who served as federal prosecutor and a political commentator who was a chief of staff in the Harper government, and Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor.

• With one Bitcoin worth an astounding $160,000, and the ability to irreversibly transfer millions of dollars with a few taps, Bitcoin has become a prime target for violent crime.
• Unionized workers at Canada Post ha...

Elias Makos ends the week with Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, and Christina Chough (C-H-O), Spanish teacher and Chair of the modern languages department at Dawson College.

• President Donald Trump has now increased tariffs on Canadian goods to 35 per cent from 25 per cent on all products not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
• Technology, transit, healthcare - all things th...

Elias Makos is joined by Raphaël Melançon, a political analyst for Noovo and CTV Montreal News at 5. He is also the president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies, and Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

• Canada plans to recognize the state of Palestine at the next session of the United Nations General Assembly ...

Elias Makos welcomes back Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator with extensive experience analysing legal, political, and social issues and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program, and Anne Lagace-Dowson, political analyst.

• Faced with what they say is a growing sense of insecurity, wealthy neighbourhoods around the city are pooling their resources to hire security guards for their protection.
• Cana...

Elias Makos is joined by Catherine Hogan, high school teacher at Westwood Senior High in Hudson, and Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS.

• Rogers is mandating that employees come back to the office four days a week by October, and five days a week by February of next year.
• Elections Canada has decided to go with an adapted ballot, similar to a special ballot, allowing voters to write the name of the person they&r...

Elias Makos starts the week with Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada, and Anthony Koch, Former National Spokesperson for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and current managing principal at AK Strategies.

• Montreal has fined a local church $2,500 for hosting a concert by controversial U.S. Christian musician Sean Feucht.
• We are only a c...

Elias Makos caps off the week with Neil Drabkin, a lawyer who served as federal prosecutor and a political commentator who was a chief of staff in the Harper government, and Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor.

• Five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team were acquitted Thursday of all charges
• Quebec City has cancelled a scheduled concert by US Christian singer Sean Feu...

Elias Makos welcomes back Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance, and Political analyst Karim Boulos.

• Fresh off cancelling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and ending that franchise’s three-decade-plus run, Paramount signed a $1.5 billion dollar deal with the creators of South Park who came back with a season premiere last night and immediately took aim at Donald Trump.
• A Quebec ma...

Elias Makos is joined by Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia, and Christina Chough, Spanish teacher and Chair of the modern languages department at Dawson College.

• A new national poll finds that most Canadians, including a majority of immigrants, believe Canada is accepting too many newcomers. 
• La Presse this morning reports that parame...

Elias Makos is joined by Andrew Caddell, a town councillor in Kamouraska, and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy, and Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor.

• US Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra said President Trump views Canada as “nasty” to deal with, partly due to Canadians avoiding travel to the US and provincial bans on American alcohol
• At the Council of the Feder...

Elias Makos kicks off the week with Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Catherine Hogan, high school teacher at Westwood Senior High in Hudson.

• A Quebec judge has sentenced a 22-year old woman who drove drunk and injured another motorist to a year in jail.
• Residents and business owners near Montreal’s Plaza Sain...

Dan Delmar caps off the week with Neil Drabkin, is a lawyer who served as federal prosecutor and a political commentator who was a chief of staff in the Harper government, and Political analyst Karim Boulos.

• A St-Léonard barbershop owner says he’s being unfairly targeted by Quebec’s language watchdog over English on his storefront and Instagram
• As you heard on this program yesterday, independent city co...

Elias Makos is joined by Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance, and Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

• Montreal city councillor Craig Sauvé has announced he's running for mayor with a new political party called Transition Montréal.
• Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced q...

Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator with extensive experience analysing legal, political, and social issues and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program, and Anthony Koch, Former National Spokesperson for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and current managing principal at AK Strategies.

• Mark Carney has changed his tune, and is now bracing Canadians for a future where U.S. tariffs against Canada rem...

Elias Makos is joined by Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia, and Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor.

• Is there room for a new municipal party, this late in the game? The movement Futur Montréal has just been granted official party status by Élections Québec
• Conservative leader Pierre Poilie...

Elias Makos begins the week with guests Gabriel Retta, is a Montrealer active in politics and government service at all three levels for the last 20 years and currently serving as Chief of Staff to the Official Opposition at Montreal City Hall, and Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor.

• A powerful thunderstorm swept through Montreal on Sunday causing major disruptions across the city. 
• A new Léger survey...