The Big Five Podcast

Elias Makos is joined by Quebec Liberal Party Leader Charles Milliard, 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 Lea Streliski, Best-selling author, comedian and columnist.

• Reaction to our interview with Charles Milliard, and his stance on the use of the notwithstanding clause? His ...

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

• According to the latest poll by Pallas Data, the Liberals have gained 5 percentage points and now lead with 32 percent.
• Montreal says it wants more housing — and fast. But in the Old Port, a maj...

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

• Christine Frechette will be sworn in as Premier of Quebec today.
• Eric Duhaime has a message for Quebec’s new premier: Cut taxes. 
• The Quebec Liberal Party has turned to a TikTok star in hopes of gaining a seat at the national assembly...

Elias Makos is joined by Lionel Perez, Former city councilor and former leader of the Official Opposition at Montreal City Hall, and Justine McIntyre, Co-Founder of  Civica Strategies and former city councillor.

• A Liberal majority was officially confirmed last night. The Carney government got a clean sweep in the three by-elections. 
• Should young Canadians, thinking about heading south for better pay and bigger ...

Elias Makos welcomes in Denis Coderre, former mayor of Montreal, and Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante.

• The results are in and the next premier of Quebec is… Christine Fréchette. Fréchette won the CAQ leadership race against Bernard Draiville yesterday with 57.9% percent of the vote.
• We have three federal byelections today, the most int...

Elias Makos ends 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 Anthony Koch, Former National Spokesperson for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and current managing principal at AK Strategies.

• Big weekend for the Federal Liberals as they’ve assembled in Montreal. The party is in a celebratory mood, welcom...

Elias Makos is joined by Justine McIntyre, Co-Founder of  Civica Strategies and former city councillor, and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia.

• Marilyn Gladu is the latest MP to jump to Mark Carney’s squad. 
• MNAs won’t return to the National Assembly until May, giving the CAQ’s new leadership time to get organized.
• It...

Elias Makos welcomes in Kyle Matthews co-founder and Executive Director of the Montreal Institute for Global Security, Daniel Tran, Director of Communication and governmental relations at Casacom, and Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator with extensive experience analyzing legal, political, and social issues and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program.

• Iran, the United States and Israel agreed to a tw...

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.

• The Artemis II crew set records yesterday afternoon and evening. Does this mission have your interest? Are you in favour of space t...

Elias Makos is joined by Meeker Guerrier, commentator at Noovo and RDS and Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante on The Big 5.

• Despite last night’s loss to the New Jersey Devils, it is a great time to be a Montreal Canadiens fan right now.
• Over the past five years, the number of people in Quebec who say that the main cause of their financial problems was gambl...

Joining Elias on The Big 5 today were Sue Smith, Montreal journalist and broadcaster & Daniel Tran, Director of Communication and governmental relations at Casacom.

Among the topics discussed on The Big 5 were

• The Quebec government has unveiled a new tool to track fuel prices across the province.
• And as gas prices reach those historic levels, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for federal gas taxes to be ...

Elias Makos is joined by Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies.

• Reporters used an unrelated announcement to press the Prime Minister on whether or not China...

Elias Makos is joined by Victor Henriquez, Public affairs and crisis management specialist at Public Strategy and Conseil, and Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada.

• Over the weekend, a video went viral showing an interaction between a man and a police officer. The man was pulled over by police for having window tints suspected of being to...

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

• Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau will retire by the end of September.
• The NDP elected a new leader this weekend. Avi Lewis, who won election on the first ballot with 56% o...

Elias Makos ends the week that was with Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS, and Lea Streliski, Best-selling author, comedian and columnist.

• Liberal MP Michael Ma has sparked backlash after casting doubt on forced labour of Uyghur Muslims in China
• The International Olympic Committee says transgender women will no longer be allowed to compete in female Olympic events
• The Red Sox unveiled a new lobster poutine at ...

Elias Makos is joined by Trudie Mason, veteran newscaster at CJAD 800, and Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance.

• Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau has released a statement in English and French this morning apologizing for his English only condolence message to the families and victims of the plane crash at LaGuardia airport.
• We had Police Chief Fady Dagher on the program yesterday, and th...

Elias Makos 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 Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies.

• The CEO of Air Canada has been summoned to explain...

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 Political analyst Karim Boulos.

• The Legault government wants to lower the criteria needed to send someone with mental health issues to the hospital against their will
• Tributes are pouring in for the Air Canada pilots killed in a crash with a firetruck on a LaGuardia Airpor...

Elias Makos starts the week off with Anthony Koch, Former National Spokesperson for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and current managing principal at AK Strategies, and Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante.

• The Supreme Court of Canada will begin to hear arguments regarding Quebec’s secularism law today
• Quebec’s housing tribunal has ruled that ...