

The Big Five Podcast
iHeartRadio
The Big Five is the quintessential Montreal podcast, and the best way to get caught up on the top stories impacting the city. Every weekday, host Elias Makos and a roster of Montreal thought leaders debate and inform.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 17, 2025 • 25min
Trailing in the polls, will Projet Montréal press the “Valerie” button? Plus: Carney’s crime crackdown.
Elias Makos is ends the week that was with Political analyst Karim Boulos, and Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada. Yesterday was our big municipal debate on CJAD800 between Projet Montreal Leader Luc Rabouin and Ensemble Montreal leader Soraya Martinez Ferrada. What did you think of the debate? Who won? Who lost? It seems like Projet Montreal has one more card to play - and it’s Valerie Plante. Prime Minister Mark Carney says new bail reform aimed at cracking down on violent and repeat offenders will be tabled next week. The Canada Border Services Agency found four undocumented workers after searching the construction site for Calgary’s new event centre.

Oct 16, 2025 • 17min
The Montreal mayoral race gets heated. Plus: Quebec will let more patients use the private sector for healthcare.
Elias Makos welcomes in Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, and Daniel Tran, Director of Communication and governmental relations at Casacom. CJAD 800 and The Elias Makos Show is hosting a live Montreal mayoral debate today, the timing for this debate couldn't be more perfect, as the campaigns got nasty yesterday. Merchants in the Chabanel & Garment Districts say they weren’t properly consulted on the bike lanes added to the area Quebec will allow patients who have been waiting for surgery for more than a year to turn to the private sector.

Oct 15, 2025 • 22min
Countdown to the Montreal mayoral debate. Plus: Gambling and sex chats with chat bots.
Elias Makos is joined by Victor Henriquez, Public affairs and crisis management specialist at Public Strategy and Conseil, and Graham Singh, Pastor at St-Jax Church.

Oct 14, 2025 • 24min
Does Donald Trump deserve praise for his Middle East success? Plus: International students plunge - could it be a good thing?
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 Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies. After helping broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, even some of Trump’s fiercest opponents are offering rare praise for the former president The province has seen an overall decrease in international students by 12%. That’s according to the most recent report by the Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire City cleanliness has been a big issue this municipal election

Oct 13, 2025 • 20min
Hamas releases the hostages. Plus: Should Canada dump its tariffs on Chinese EVs?
Elias Makos is 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 Neil Drabkin, is a lawyer who served as federal prosecutor and a political commentator who was a chief of staff in the Harper government. Hamas has officially released the 20 remaining living hostages held in Gaza while Israel began releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire pausing two years of war. China's ambassador to Canada says his country will remove its tariffs on Canadian agriculture, including on canola products, if Canada scraps its levies on Chinese electric vehicles. The Blue Jays lost the first game of their American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners last night

Oct 10, 2025 • 25min
It’s official: Quebec is getting a constitution Plus: Did Donald Trump get robbed of a Nobel Peace Prize?
Elias Makos ends the week with Daniel Tran, Director of Communication and governmental relations at Casacom, and Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS. U.S. President Donald Trump’s hopes of winning a Nobel Peace Prize have been dashed once again. CJAD 800 and The Elias Makos Show will be hosting a live Montreal mayoral debate next Thursday, October 16, right after the conclusion of The Big Five. According to TIME Magazine, BIXI Montreal is one of the world’s 25 top inventions of the past quarter century.

Oct 9, 2025 • 24min
Where’s Denis Coderre when you need him? Another woman mauled by dogs. Plus: Sky-high salaries for Mark Carney’s men.
Elias Makos welcomes back Victor Henriquez, Public affairs and crisis management specialist at Public Strategy and Conseil, and Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor. A woman is in critical condition after being mauled by three dogs outside a garage in Saint-Léonard It looks like the Carney government might be falling back into reality. A new poll out from Leger shows the Liberals at 44 percent of the vote, which is three percent drop since the last polling numbers Santé Quebec says that the summer period in the health network has been a positive one this year. However, a new report from Montreal Gazette’s Aaron Derfel explains that things aren’t as rosy as portrayed

Oct 8, 2025 • 24min
Mark Carney sucks up to Donald Trump. Plus: The decline of Canadian happiness
Joining Elias on CJAD 800 this morning were Bonnie Feigenbaum, Conservative Party of Quebec candidate in last provincial election and a lecturer at Concordia & McGill University, media & government relations consultant & Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance. Among the topics discussed were Mark Carney left Washington last night without a deal after meeting with U.S President Donald Trump for two and a half hours A recent piece from The Globe and Mail on Canadian happiness is getting a lot of attention Denmark wants to ban social media for kids under the age of 15

Oct 7, 2025 • 24min
Montreal’s universities brace for protests & Mr. Carney goes to Washington, again.
Elias was joined on the Big 5 were Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies &Neil Drabkin, is a lawyer who served as federal prosecutor and a political commentator who was a chief of staff in the Harper government. Among the topics discussed were Concordia University has closed their downtown campus and cancelled all classes today, citing “potentially obstructive protests.” Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Washington where he will meet and speak with U.S President Donald this afternoon. A new poll out from Leger for CTV News Montreal for this year’s municipal election shows that the leaders in the election are… the undecided.

Oct 6, 2025 • 24min
More terrible tales from the Temporary Foreign Worker program. Plus: Carney heads to Washington, everyone else comes to Quebec.
Elias Makos kicks off the week with Political analyst Karim Boulos, 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 federal government has slapped a Toronto Canadian Tire franchise owner with more than $100,000 in fines for violating rules under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program Québec Premier François Legault has been hosting Ontario Premier Doug Ford as well as the governors of New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania in order to strengthen their relationships. As the municipal election campaign continues across the province, some mayors and town councillors have already been re-elected.