The Big Five Podcast

Elias Makos starts the week of with Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Gabriel Retta, special advisor to the current mayor.

• Just about two weeks ago, we learned that the SAQ would start delivering booze with Uber Eats.
• Faced with a rise in shoplifting, the SAQ has increased its in-store surveillance spending to $1.7 million last year
• Over the weekend, J...

Elias Makos caps the week off with Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada, and Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS.

• U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to impose steep tariffs on Canadian-made aircraft.
• The Business Council of Canada is questioning Prime Minister Mark Carney’s strategy on how to deal with U.S Presiden...

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 Political analyst Karim Boulos.

• The trains don’t run. And they were down again this morning. Oh, and the elevators don’t work. Should we get a REM refund?
• In Trois-Rivieres, the police have launched a voluntary campaign to get citizens to add their smart doorbell c...

Joining Elias on The Big 5 were Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor and Montreal journalist and broadcaster Sue Smith.

Among the topics discussed

• A new poll from Leger for Postmedia shows the Liberals in majority territory
• François Legault may not be leaving the National Assembly as quickly as expected
• One Montreal engineering school has decided beef is off the menu — literally &mdash...

Elias Makos is joined by Andrew Caddell, columnist for the Hill Times and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy, and Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies. 

• Prime Minister Mark Cark reportedly backtracked some of his remarks from his speech in Davos when speaking by phone with U.S....

Joining Elias on The Big 5 were Trudie Mason, Veteran Newscaster here at CJAD 800 and Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante.

Among the topics discussed were

• U.S. President Donald Trump revived one of his most pointed insults toward Canada on Saturday, calling Prime Minister Mark Carney “governor” and threatening to slam the country with a 100 per ce...

Joining Elias on The Big 5 were political analyst Karim Boulos and Daniel Tran, Director of Communication and governmental relations at Casacom.

Among the subjects discussed were 

• The saga between Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S President Donald Trump continued yesterday. The day started off with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum was...

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 Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance.

• A framework deal over the future of the Arctic has been agreed upon between U.S President Donald Trump and NATO. 
• Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Canadians to boycott Chinese-made vehicles in the w...

Elias Makos welcomes back Anthony Koch, Former National Spokesperson for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and current managing principal at AK Strategies, and Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

• Mark Carney was reunited with his people yesterday, and it showed. A confident Canadian Prime Minister delivered a speech i...

Elias Makos is joined by Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada, and Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator with extensive experience analysing legal, political, and social issues and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program.

• The Globe and Mail reports that the Canadian Armed Forces have quietly run a hypothetical sce...

Elias Makos kicks the week off with Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Sue Smith is a Montreal journalist and broadcaster.

• Canada is weighing a plan to send a small contingent of troops to Greenland for military exercises with NATO allies
• Mark Carney took a trip to Qatar this weekend and announced that the Middle Eastern country has committed to “signi...

Joining Elias on The Big Five were Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Among the topics discussed were

• The Liberal government has reached a deal with China allowing 49 thousands chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market
• Two potential candidates in the C...

Elias Makos is joined by Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance, and Lea Streliski, Best-selling author, comedian and columnist.

• Francois Legault will remain leader of the CAQ until a new one is elected.What will your memory of Legault be as Premier? Was François Legault a good Premier of Quebec? 
• With Legault stepping down, the question now becomes who will replace him as lead...

Elias Makos is joined by Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies, and Trudie Mason, veteran Newscaster here at CJAD 800.

• U.S. President Donald Trump visited a Ford factory in Dearborn, Michigan on Tuesday, and dismissed the relevance of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, saying the U.S. doesn’t...

Joining Elias on The Big Five were Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS & Graham Singh, Pastor at St-Jax Church.

Among the subjects discussed on The Big Five were

• Inaccurate headline alert: “Canadians feel that crime is worse than five years ago, despite decline in major cities.”
• The city of Montreal unveiled this year’s budget yesterday
• Mark Carney and his delegation are off to China, the first ...

Elias Makos welcomes in Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia.

• “Montreal’s Olympic Stadium started 2026 the same way it began the 1976 Games: under construction and without a roof.”
• Despite Montreal’s size and appetite fo...

Elias Makos is joined by Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada & Lionel Perez, Former city councillor and former leader of the Official Opposition at Montreal City Hall

Among the topics discussed were

• Montreal’s police chief, Fady Dagher, says the mental health and homelessness situation in the city is getting worse
• The province&...

Elias Makos is joined by Andrew Caddell, columnist for the Hill Times and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy. & Sue Smith, a Montreal journalist and broadcaster. 

Among the topics discussed were

• After facing pressure from the opposition, Chrystia Freeland has announced that she will be resigning as MP on Friday.
• Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to travel to Chi...

Elias Makos is joined by Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies & Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor

Among the topics discussed were

• If you were in Greenland, how much would the U.S. have to pay you to become an American? What about if he wanted to b...