The Big Five Podcast

Elias Makos kicks the week off with Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Gabriel Retta, special advisor to the mayor.

• Religious event organizers say the city’s application of Quebec secularism law is confusing. 
• A racist rally in Shawinigan over the weekend is drawing widespread condemnation across political class.
• Despite tougher rules, illegal Airbnb networks have taken over new housing towers in downtown Montreal.
• It’s been 20 years since smoking was banned from bars and restaurants.
• Seems like the city has forgotten how to spell its own proper street names. Riders on the STM’s 747 bus now have maps that indicate the Bishop street stop, but it’s spelled BEESHOP. And over in NDG, construction signs indicate the detour for Prince of Wales Avenue, but it’s spelled WHALES. What’s going on here?

Elias Makos is joined by Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS, and Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada. The three discuss these topics:

• Tributes keep pouring in for Former Montreal Canadiens star and Stanley Cup Champion Claude Lemieux
• It's now or never tonight for the Montreal Canadiens in game five
• Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke to the Economic Club of New York yesterday and decided to draw inspiration from U.S President Donald Trump
• The CAQ says the rights of English speaking people will be respected even after the expansion of Bill 101 to adult education and vocational training

Elias Makos is joined by Lea Streliski, Best-selling author, comedian and columnist, and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia. They dicussed the following: 

• Habs lose 4-0. Are we toast?
• Talk of the looming Alberta referendum has everyone on a separatist or federalist hunt in Quebec City
• Prime Minister Mark Carney says a 50 percent plus one vote to separate would not be enough for Quebec to leave Canada
• The French language commissioner says the Quebec government’s websites have too much English

Elias Makos is joined by Justine McIntyre, Co-Founder of Civica Strategies and former city councillor, and Trudie Mason, veteran newscaster at CJAD 800. The three discussed these topics:

• CTV News has learned that former environment and climate change minister Steven Guilbeault will resign as an MP today
• Prime Minister Mark Carney says a 50 percent plus one vote to separate would not be enough for Quebec to leave Canada
• Montreal police are investigating after pro-Palestinian protesters staged a controversial demonstration over the weekend

Elias Makos is joined by Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, and columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and Sue Smith is a Montreal journalist and broadcaster.

•  The Habs lost game three of their series against the Carolina Hurricanes last night, 3-2 in overtime.
• Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette announced new tax relief measures yesterday. 
• Quebec Liberal Party leader Charles Milliard says the province needs to take some inspiration from Doug Ford. 
• Shopkeepers are furious that St-Denis Street won’t be pedestrianized this summer.
• Prime Minister Mark Carney is calling Alberta’s separation push “a dangerous bluff.”
• A desperate Montrealer’s question on a popular web forum after waiting 16 hours in an ER with a blood clot: “What’s the longest people have waited in the emergency room in Montreal before seeing a doctor?”

Elias Makos kicks the week off with Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Graham Singh, CEO of Releven.

• Tim Hortons says it will scale back its use of the Temporary Foreign Worker program and instead hire up to 10,000 local workers as it plans a major expansion of restaurants across Canada this year. 
• Premier Christine Fréchette is expected to announce a tax cut on several grocery products today. 
• Radio-Canada somehow obtained an email sent by Finance Minister Eric Girard to Christine Frechette on Saturday May 2nd. In it, Girard says he is concerned about the number of announcements made by the government since Frechette won the CAQ leadership race.
• U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra says Canada must accept that U.S. tariffs are part of the new reality.
• The NHL is facing backlash in Gatineau after shutting down plans for a massive Montreal Canadiens playoff watch party.

Sue Smith is joined by 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, columnist for the Hill Times and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy.

• After backing off on the Go Habs Go! message from the buses at the STM, the Office québécois de la langue française has decided to republish a short guide to encourage the Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs.
• Albertans will vote on whether the province should remain a part of Canada when they head to the polls this fall.
• A group of sex workers in Montreal are calling for a general strike during the Grand Prix weekend to demand better working conditions. 
• Loto-Québec is in the middle of a legal battle over a scratch card worth $3 million between.

Elias Makos is joined by Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance, and Political analyst Karim Boulos.

• A few days after Liberal leader Charles Milliard made a point of denouncing the homophobic comments he receives online, another gay party leader in the province is chiming in. Eric Duhaime, leader of the Conservatives, says highlighting that kind of content only feeds the online trolls.
• Despite a bylaw making short term Airbnb’s illegal before June 10th, many international tourists have been able to find them across the city for this weekend’s F1 Grand Prix.
• As the school year comes to an end, there are more and more indications that the ban on cell phones is having a major – and positive – effect on Quebec students.
• W5 reveals that airport employees with alleged links to organized crime, drug trafficking and violence received security clearance.

Elias Makos is joined by Daniel Tran, Director of Communication and governmental relations at Casacom, and Victor Henriquez, Public affairs and crisis management specialist at Public Strategy and Conseil.

• The Fréchette effect is working for the CAQ. A new Léger poll for Journal de Montreal this morning reveals a 5-point jump for the CAQ since April 21st.
• More Quebeckers are turning to cheap Chinese ecommerce platforms. 
• W5 has found at least 17 innocent passengers on flights originating in Canada were detained on drug smuggling allegations over the past year after their baggage tags were switched onto suitcases filled with drugs.
• The Quebec government is set to table new legislation to better protect consumers when purchasing tickets on resale sites. 

Elias Makos welcomes back Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Justine McIntyre, Co-Founder of  Civica Strategies and former city councillor.

• The Montreal Canadiens are off to the Eastern Conference Finals after winning game 7 in overtime last night against the Buffalo Sabres.
• Following the overtime stunner, we had some light, riot-adjacent, fan activity in downtown Montreal.
• A long form piece over the weekend in the Montreal Gazette gives us an updated picture of what is happening in the neighbourhood of Milton Park. 
• A petition initiated by a Liberal MP is demanding for federally regulated employees to work remotely three days a week.
• La Presse has a three-part series on how much CEOs in Quebec make.