The Big Five Podcast

Joining Elias Makos on the Friday edition of The Big 5 is Bonnie Feigenbaum, Conservative Party of Quebec candidate in last provincial election and a lecturer at Concordia & McGill University, media & government relations consultant and Andrew Caddell, a town councillor in Kamouraska, and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy. 

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 Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator with extensive experience analysing legal, political, and social issues and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the Liberal government to scrap Canada’s temporary foreign worker program  Former Quebec Premier Jean Charest says Canada will thank US President Donald Trump in 20 years  A prominent U.S. conservative is set to brief Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet behind closed doors today. Le Devoir reports that the cabinet shuffle will happen next week, and that the National Assembly will be prorogued for two weeks as the CAQ gets its ducks in a row

In a supersized edition of the Big 5...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 Neil Drabkin, Neil is a former Federal Prosecutor and served as a Chief of Staff in the Harper government. Premier Francois Legault sat in the hot seat yesterday and was interrogated by the Gallant Commission about his involvement in the SAAQClic fiasco. Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with his Cabinet today on a two day retreat in Toronto. The race to replace federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is officially on.

Sue Smith is joined by Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, and Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS.  Premier Francois Legault is set to speak at the Gallant Commission today The bill for eight construction projects at hospitals across the province are already more than $1.2 billion  The CAQ has turned down federal funding aimed at addressing systemic racism in the courts

Trudie Mason, in for 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 on The Big 5. The Labour vote has split across different political parties… The NDP isn’t the only one supporting worker rights anymore. People are headed to the street today to call for a general election in Quebec. Quebecers are encouraging people to take up two jobs to deal with increased cost of living. 

Trudie Mason closes the week with Bonnie Feigenbaum, Conservative Party of Quebec candidate in last provincial election and a lecturer at Concordia & McGill University, media & government relations consultant, 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 CAQ is continuing with making Quebec society secular, with a plan to ban public prayer, and they’re not ruling out the use of the notwithstanding clause again One year of construction begins on the Côte Saint-Luc overpass above Decarie Death by mail…. An elderly woman in Quebec died of a preventable heart attack last December Many Canadians are left reeling after their Facebook and Instagram accounts had been accidentally deleted by Meta

Trudie Mason welcomes in Victor Henriquez, Public affairs and crisis management specialist at Public Strategy and Conseil, and Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Ottawa is open to negotiate with Quebec about judge nominations come September. Are we slowly but surely becoming independent from Canada in everything but name? Sources tell LaPresse that UPAC investigators have identified four suspects, including one bureaucrat, in the SAAQclic scandal Parti Quebecois is taking the topic of praying in public to the membership to see if they want to advocate for a ban

Trudie Mason is joined by Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia. Premier Francois Legault has officially been called to testify before the public inquiry into the SAAQclic scandal A Quebec committee says the government should extend religious symbols ban to daycares The Israeli flag at Hampstead town hall has been torched twice since last Thursday.

Political analyst Karim Boulos joins Trudie Mason to discuss a troubling report revealing that Montreal's roadwork is riddled with poor planning and material issues, particularly affecting vulnerable neighborhoods. They also delve into the implications of a cell phone ban in schools, questioning if teachers should exemplify responsible tech use. The conversation extends to the political landscape in Montreal, touching on the challenges faced by current leaders and the potential fallout from recent controversies.

In this episode, political analyst Raphaël Melançon and special advisor Jimmy Zoubris tackle the recent backtrack by Projet Montreal on biweekly trash pickups, prompted by community complaints about odors and overflowing bins. They also delve into a shocking hunting accident where a man mistakenly shot another, discussing the ramifications for hunting regulations and public safety. Plus, insights on Canada’s diplomatic role in Ukraine and the government's approach to navigating U.S. trade relations make for a thought-provoking discussion.