The Big Five Podcast

Elias Makos kicks the week off with Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS, and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia. The streets were filled with excitement and joy last night as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in game 7 of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Eric Duhaime...

Elias Makos is joined by 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 Victor Henriquez, Public affairs and crisis management specialist at Public Strategy and Conseil. It will be absolute bedlam in Montreal tonight as the Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning play game six of their Stanley Cup Playoff...

Joining us on The Big Five: Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance, and Sue Smith is a Montreal journalist and broadcaster. The topics of the day include the "price of dignity" in Quebec and how much money families need to live comfortably, plus the federal government is opening the door to a major shakeup on how airports are run.

Joining Elias on The Big 5 were 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, and columnist for the Montreal Gazette. Among the topics discussed were If you were hoping for major changes or a bold vision i n yesterday’s...

Elias Makos is once again joined by Justine McIntyre, Co-Founder of  Civica Strategies and former city councillor, and Denis Coderre, former mayor of Montreal. A young Montreal entrepreneur has decided to take matters into his own hands to repair potholes across the city. Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled the Canada Strong fund yesterday, what he’s billing as the country’s first...

Elias Makos kicks the week off with Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada. There was another assassination attempt on President Donald Trump’s life over the weekend.  The attempt on the President...

Elias Makos welcomes in Beryl Wajsman, president of the Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal, and Trudie Mason, veteran newscaster at CJAD 800. It was Eric Duhaime’s turn yesterday to reverse course on his stance on Bill 96. Duhaime told reporters yesterday that he would amend the Bill and continue to make use of the notwithstanding clause. The current state (or lack of state) of trade t...

Elias Makos is joined by Justine McIntyre, Co-Founder of  Civica Strategies and former city councillor, and Sue Smith is a Montreal journalist and broadcaster. Ottawa is accusing PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon of spreading "conspiracy theories.” This after clips of Plamondon speaking at a town hall organized by CIJA – The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs – are gainin...

Elias Makos is joined by Graham Singh, CEO of Releven, and Political analyst Karim Boulos. After being confronted by a poll that showed him winning a majority government – but only if he ditched his promise of a referendum – Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is sticking to his convictions. Premier Christine Fréchette unveiled her cabinet yesterday. The cabinet has 29 ministers in to...

Elias Makos is joined by Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies, and Denis Coderre, former mayor of Montreal. The Parti Québécois would steamroll its way to a majority government – if they drop the pledge to hold a referendum. A new Leger poll for Journa...

Elias Makos welcomes in Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia. Quebec Liberal leader Charles Milliard has clarified his clarifications of his first clarification of his position on Bill 96. In a tweet this morn...

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 th...

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 fa...

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...

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 so...

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 b...

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...

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 leader...

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 St...

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...

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 thei...

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 callin...

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 Mi...

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 wind...

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...