The Big Five Podcast

Joining Elias on this morning's show were 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 Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator with extensive experience analysing legal, political, and social issues. Among the topics discussed were: Prime Minister Mark Carney is defending a major shift in Canada's forei...

Joining Elias on this morning's show were Dan Delmar, political analyst and co-founder of TNKR Media, and Victor Henriquez, Public affairs and crisis management specialist at Public Strategy and Conseil. Among the topics discussed were: Air Canada has a new CEO; Anko Van der Werff. He can speak French. But he’s not Canadian. Is this an improvement? With signs that read “Not one more in...

Joining Elias on this morning's show were Karim Boulos, Political Analyst, and Jonathan Kalles, Senior Vice President at Vantage, a Government Relations and Strategic Communications Firm and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Among the topics discussed were: Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed four new people to the Senate yesterday, with two names getting special attention A new su...

Joining Elias on this morning's show were Sue Smith is a Montreal journalist and broadcaster, and Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, and columnist for the Montreal Gazette. Among the topics discussed were: One of the latest recruits for the Quebec Liberal Party, former Big 5er Justine McIntyre, gave her first interview as an official candidate on Monday....

Joining Elias on this morning's show were Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Anthony Koch, Former National Spokesperson for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and current managing principal at AK Strategies. Among the topics discussed were: Justine McIntyre will run for the Quebec Liberals this October after a month of specula...

Joining Elias on this morning's show were Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia, and Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS. Among the topics discussed were: The United States of America turns 250 years old tomorrow. Great country, or greatest country? A new report from RBC says it is now more affordable to buy...

Joining Elias on this morning's show were Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance, and Graham Singh, CEO of Releven. Among the topics discussed were: Former Quebec Premier Francois Legault took to X to share his version of a patriotic message for July 1st. If you are the owner of a heated pool, hot tub or heated driveway, Hydro-Quebec is coming after you. A Montreal...

Joining Elias on this morning's show were: Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada, and Tasha Kheiriddin, a writer and commentator for the National Post, GZero Media, and Substack. Among the topics discussed were: A new Leger poll out this week says that 84 percent of Canadians are proud to be Canadian. Prime Ministe...

Joining Elias on this morning's show were Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, and columnist for the Montreal Gazette, 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. Among the topics discussed were: We had Dr. Karim Elayo...

Joining Elias on this morning's show were Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Andrew Caddell, columnist for the Hill Times and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy. Among the topics discussed were: Mark Carney is on the defensive over his government’s massive B.C. condo bailout plan. Even usual backers of the go...

Joining Elias on this morning's show were Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, and columnist for the Montreal Gazette & Lea Streliski, best-selling author, comedian and columnist. Among the topics discussed were We’ve been asking our panelists this question on the Big Five the last few days… Should there be an English debate? Politics and...

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.

Dan Delmar is joined by Daniel Tran, Director of Communication and governmental relations at Casacom, and Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS. The pannel discussed the following topics: One day after the tragic shooting in Côte-des-Neiges that saw a police officer, a civilian and the suspected shooter die, the mayor of Montreal Soraya Martinez Ferrada is calling for tougher gun con...

Robyn Flynn is joined by Sue Smith, a Montreal journalist and broadcaster, Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia, and Océane Corbin, PhD student in communications at UQAM who spent years immersed in an international incel forum analyzing violent and misogynistic online comments.  Three people are dead...

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.

Elias Makos caps the week off with Trudie Mason, veteran newscaster at CJAD 800 Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada. Prepare to see homeless encampments on camera when the city of Montreal hosts the UCI Road Cycling World Championships in September. A new poll from Leger shows that 90 percent of Quebecers are in...

Elias Makos is joined by Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance, and Lea Streliski, Best-selling author, comedian and columnist. The Quebec Liberal Party unveiled a big name yesterday in their list of candidates for the provincial election. Antoine Dionne Charest, the son of former Premier Jean Charest, will be running in the riding of Verdun for the party in...

Joining Elias on The Big 5 were Montreal journalist and broadcaster Sue Smith 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. Among the topics discussed were A new Leger poll this morning sees the Parti Quebecois slightly increase its lead over the Quebec  A...

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 Daniel Tran, Director of Communication and governmental relations at Casacom. Still lots of reaction coming in from our interview with Premier Christine Frechette yesterday. A new poll from Pallas Data for QC125 and L’actualité shows...

On this Monday edition of the BIG 5, Elias was joined by Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante and Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, and columnist for the Montreal Gazette. You just heard our interview with the premier. What is your main takeaway from it? A war of words between the Quebec Lib...

In an exclusive English language interview, CJAD 800's Elias Makos is joined by Quebec Premier, Christine Fréchette. The Premier discusses a potential English language debate ahead of an election, the CAQ's relationship with Quebec's English community, migrating the province's health care system to a digital era, the word 'nosh' being in the crosshairs of the OQLF, recent reports of di...

Trudie Mason ends the week with Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, and columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and Lionel Perez, Former city councilor and former leader of the Official Opposition at Montreal City Hall. Opposition at the National Assembly are accusing Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette of going on a “witch hunt” in ord...

Trudie Mason welcomes in 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. U.S President Donald Trump says he does not want to renew the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement. The OQLF is asking a pair of restaurant owners to remove the words “nosh...

Trudie Mason is joined by Jonathan Kalles, Senior Vice President at Vantage, a Government Relations and Strategic Communications Firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS. New provincial polling this morning from Synopsis and Lapresse show the Quebec Liberal Party falling while the CAQ tries to make a comeback. The energy drin...

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 Political analyst Karim Boulos. The federal government is set to table a bill banning social media for those under the age of 16.  A new survey commissioned by the Brotherhood of M...