The Corner Booth

Marc Miller hasn’t been Official Languages Minister for long, but he’s already made some noise. The former Justin Trudeau cabinet minister joined Mark Carney’s cabinet in the most recent shuffle, after being snubbed the first time. He drew immediate backlash from some, including Quebec Premier François Legault, when he said he was “fed up” with the debate over the decline of French. Miller sat dow...

On this week's special year-in-review episode of The Corner Booth, guests Martine St-Victor and Raphaël Melançon, along with hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand, were given a near-impossible task: How do you cram 12 months of jaw-dropping headlines at the federal, provincial and municipal levels into one episode? Incredibly, they got it done. And without letting their Snowdon Deli platters ge...

There's never a dull moment in Quebec politics, but even by the province's standards, these recent times appear to be unprecedented. And that's coming from some of the province's most-respected legal experts. According to the head of the Quebec Bar, three bills from the CAQ recently presented at Quebec’s National Assembly — the proposed constitution, one on unions and the other on...

The Parti Québécois are leading in the polls with a provincial election coming next year. At the moment, their competition is in disarray. The sagging CAQ and premier François Legault are facing the wrath of doctors over Bill 2's proposed renumeration reforms, while the Quebec Liberals are imploding over an alleged vote-buying scheme. So even though leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is sitting p...

With all the controversy surrounding Bill 2, which will change how doctors and specialists are compensated in Quebec, there's been little said about the equally seismic Bill 7. This lesser-known bill would  force the amalgamation of many government agencies, including Urgences-santé. Should Bill 7 become law, paramedic services in Montreal and Laval would be controlled through Santé Québec. Wh...

When there’s a complaint about languages in this country, it often lands on Raymond Théberge’s desk. As the commissioner of Official Languages of Canada since 2018, Théberge is tasked with protecting language rights, both English and French, in federal institutions. He joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on this week’s episode of The Corner Booth at the Snowdon Deli to talk about support f...

Even though the Quebec referendum happened 30 years ago this October, there are still behind-the-scenes stories being uncovered. Jack Jedwab, president and CEO of the Association for Canadian Studies and the Metropolis Institute, recently penned an opinion piece for The Gazette on the lessons learned from the referendum, and this week he joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on a new episode...

A majority of Montrealers are undecided on who to vote for in the upcoming mayoral election on Nov. 2. But one thing the polls have made clear: people are ready for change. Does that mean voters are willing to look beyond the two entrenched parties — Projet Montréal and Ensemble Montréal — and elect someone new to City Hall? That's what two other parties on this November's ballot — Action...

Three candidates have entered the race to become Westmount’s next mayor: Councillor Mary Gallery, lawyer Lynne Casgrain and accountant Michael Stern. All three are vying to replace outgoing mayor Christina Smith, who announced in January she won’t be seeking re-election. They joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on the latest episode of The Corner Booth, recorded at the epicentre of the cit...

The downtown district of Peter-McGill, which includes the Golden Square Mile, Mount Royal and Cabot Square, promises to be a hotly contested battle in the coming municipal election on Nov. 2. In one corner, there's Leslie Roberts with Ensemble Montréal. The former journalist and broadcaster is a familiar name and face for anglophone Montrealers of a certain age. He's a political neophyte w...

Projet Montréal's Luc Rabouin, Ensemble Montréal's Soraya Martinez Ferrada and Transition Montréal's Craig Sauvé joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand to make their cases on a special episode of The Corner Booth, filmed on Thursday at the Segal Centre in the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough in front of an audience. In the spirit of the show, Brownstein and Rand eschewe...

om Mulcair didn’t hold back in his scorching Corner Booth debut. The former Quebec Liberal MNA and leader of the federal NDP joined to hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand at Snowdon Deli to dish on a number of hot button political issues — everything from Canada’s dealings with U.S. President Donald Trump to Quebec Premier François Legault’s fate.  The longtime Outremont MP also pulled no punches...

It’s orange cone season in Montreal right now, and drivers are begging for relief from the gridlock and detours. In his latest op-ed in The Gazette, longtime traffic consultant Rick Leckner writes the time to act is now to solve our city’s traffic woes. Décarie Blvd. may have been awash in construction cones, but that didn’t stop Leckner from stopping by Snowdon Deli for this week’s episode of The...

No one in the alcohol business is immune from dealing with government-run liquor boards, not even Kiefer Sutherland. The acclaimed Canadian actor and musician can now say his Red Bank Whisky is available coast-to-coast across the country, with Quebec being the final province to stock his wares. “Some provinces are quicker. For instance, Alberta was like, ‘give us the whisky, we’ll sell it right aw...

On Wednesday, the Coalition Avenir Québec government pledged to invest  $540 million into student services  — less than one month after it was met with fierce backlash for slashing of  $570 million in education funding .  While former senator André Pratte is “happy for the education system,” he says this flip-flopping by Quebec means that more drastic cuts are on the horizon. 

Mommy, it’s not over: Just for Laughs is back from the dead. It was a tumultuous 2024 for the city’s premier comedy fest. In March of that year, the fest was abruptly and shockingly cancelled and the old ownership group sought protection from its creditors. Later, it was saved by Quebec City’s ComediHa!, who delivered a small but mighty version of the fest to laugh-starved Montrealers. A year late...

Jean Charest has worn many hats in his political career, from Quebec premier to leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party. These days as a member of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s council on Canada-U.S. relations, Charest is focused on American President Donald Trump. Made up of leaders in business, innovation and policy, the council is tasked with advising the prime minister and his cabi...

Royalmount is getting ready to turn one. But has the mega-mall succeeded in winning over the hearts and minds of discerning local shoppers accustomed to hitting the high-end stores downtown? And will the next phases of developing offices and housing come to fruition? Carbonleo CEO Andrew Lutfy talked about the ups and downs of year one on this week’s episode of The Corner Booth at Snowdon Deli wit...

Pablo Rodriguez is the new leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, but is he the right man for the job? Political strategist Jennifer Crane, founder of Connexion Quebec Public Affairs, and political analyst Raphaël Melançon, founder of Trafalgar Stratégies, join hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on this week’s episode of The Corner Booth at Snowdon Deli to break down Rodriguez’s closer-than-expecte...

Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand chat with Yves Lalumière, President and CEO of Tourisme Montréal, and Andrew Torriani, CEO and General Manager of Ritz-Carlton Montreal.

Quebec Liberals will choose a new leader on June 14 in Quebec City. A late entry into the contest is Karl Blackburn, former MNA for Roberval from 2003 to 2007, and a chief organizer for the party. Blackburn also served as the president and CEO of the Conseil du patronat du Québec (CPQ), the province’s largest employers’ group. The Quebec Liberal leadership candidate joined hosts Bill Brownstein an...

Quebec retailers are bracing themselves for sweeping new French-language rules that take effect on June 1. Michel Rochette, Quebec president of the Retail Council of Canada, and Matt Coburn, regional district manager at music retailer Long & McQuade, joined this week’s episode of The Corner Booth with hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand at Snowdon Deli.

Doctors in Quebec say they’re already stretched beyond their limits. Now, as Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé is tabling Bill 106, our province’s physicians are once again sounding the alarm over the disconnect between the CAQ government and those on the front lines on how to improve access to health care in this province. Family physicians Laura Sang and Christina Bianchini joined The Corner...

The Michelin Guide has finally arrived in Quebec and Montrealers reacted with shock to see only three restaurants get stars. Even Quebec City received more stars, with four one-star selections and the only two-star restaurant in the province. Who better to react to the controversial Michelin list than Dustin Gilman, the man known on the internet as Food Guy Montreal? He joined hosts hosts Bill Bro...

Former Montreal Canadiens star Chris Nilan Knucks joined this week’s episode of The Corner Booth with hosts Aaron Rand and Bill Brownstein at Snowdon Deli to talk about his theatre debut in Knuckles: The Chris Nilan Story and what compelled him to lay bare his mental and physical struggles in such an intimate setting.