The Big Five Podcast

Elias Makos is joined by Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance 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 on The Big 5.

• The front page of Journal de Montréal says it all - Nothing is going right for François Legault. 50% of Quebecers want him...

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 Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

• Prime Minister Mark Carney is committing that Canada – along with other NATO allies – will invest five per cent of GDP on defence by ...

Dan Delmar, in for Elias Makos, is joined by Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS and Gabriel Retta, a Montrealer active in politics and government service at all three levels for the last 20 years on The Big 5.

• Montreal is celebrating Fête Nationale today with a full day of festivities.
• U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire yesterday between Israel and Iran.
• The Fédération autonome de ...

Dan Delmar, in for Elias, is joined by Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor and Justine McIntyre, strategic consultant and former city councillor on The Big 5.

• Following U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged all parties to return to negotiations and avoid further escalation in the Middle East.
• Despite an ongoing extreme heatwave, most schools in Montreal, Laval, and oth...

Sue Smith ends the week with Anthony Koch, Former National Spokesperson for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and current managing principal at AK Strategies, 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.

• As war between Israel and Iran intensifies, European ministers are meeting today wit...

Sue Smith 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.

• A three year old missing toddler  was found alive after three days alone near Highway 417 in Ontario, following a massive search
• The Liberal government’s Building Canada Act (B...

Sue Smith is joined by Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada, snd Neil Drabkin, is a lawyer who served as federal prosecutor and a political commentator who was a chief of staff in the Harper government.

• Many observers praising Mark Carney’s handling of a tricky situation at the G7
• A Montreal commuter is seeking authorization for a c...

Sue Smith kicks the week off with Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor, and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia.

• The Quebec Liberal Party has elected Pablo Rodriguez as its new leader
• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump for a one-on-one discussion early this morning at the start of the G7 Sum...

Sue Smith caps off the week with Anthony Koch, Former National Spokesperson for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and current managing principal at AK Strategies, and Neil Drabkin, is a lawyer who served as federal prosecutor and a political commentator who was a chief of staff in the Harper government.

• Israel has launched a large-scale airstrike on Iran, targeting nuclear and military sites
• The G7 summit kicks off thi...

Sue Smith is joined by Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, and Gabriel Retta, is a Montrealer who has been active in politics and government service at all three levels for the last 20 years. He is currently serving as Chief of Staff to the Official Opposition at Montreal City Hall.

• Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed Michael Sabia, the current president of Hydro-Québec and a sea...

Suse Smith welcomes back Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada, and Political analyst Karim Boulos.

• A scathing new report by Auditor General Karen Hogan reveals widespread mismanagement in federal contracts awarded to GCStrategies
• Quebec’s proposed Bill 106, which ties 12% of family doctors’ pay to performance indicators
• As Montreal...

Sue Smith is joined by Akil Alleyne, (Alean) Reporter and commentator with extensive experience analysing legal, political, and social issues and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program, and Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor.

• The SPVM’s latest annual report shows that Montreal police response times for the most urgent calls have increased by nearly a minute over the past decade
• Queb...

Sue Smith 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 Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia.

• On Sunday, 2,000 National Guard troops began arriving in Los Angeles on orders from President Donald Trump
• Prime Minister Mark Carney h...

Elias Makos is joined by Anthony Koch, Former National Spokesperson for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and current managing principal at AK Strategies, and Andrew Caddell, a town councillor in Kamouraska, and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy.

• The once-close alliance/bromance between Donald Trump and Elon Musk dramatically collapsed this week in a public social media feud
• Prime Minister Mark Carney an...

Trudie Mason is joined by Christina Chough, Spanish teacher and Chair of the modern languages department at Dawson College, and Neil Drabkin, is a lawyer who served as federal prosecutor and a political commentator who was a chief of staff in the Harper government.

• The federal government has already spent over $1 million in legal fees to prepare its challenge of Quebec’s secularism law (Bill 21) at the Supreme Court...

Trudie Mason is joined by 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 Gabriel Retta, is a Montrealer active in politics and government service at all three levels for the last 20 years. He is currently serving as Chief of Staff to the Official Opposition at Montreal City Hall.

• Justice...

Elias Makos is joined by Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, and Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada.

• Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Premiers met yesterday to discuss the fast-tracking of major energy and infrastructure projects
• April was the busiest month for asylum seekers entering Quebec at the Lacol...

Elias Makos starts the week with Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor, and Sue Smith is a Montreal journalist.

• The Royal Bank of Canada is refusing to reimburse dozens of customers who were scammed out of $10,000
• A 24-year-old Laval woman who robbed 11 seniors of nearly $90,000 will not have a criminal record
• Canada’s premiers are meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Saskatoon to propose which majo...