The Big Five Podcast

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 morning, Milliard says… a lot. He reaffirms his nationalist chops, says protecting French is at the heart of his political commitment, and calls French the social and cultural glue of Quebec.
• Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada’s ties with the United States has now become a weakness. Carney released a pre-recorded address to Canadians yesterday where he mentioned the world has become more “dangerous and divided.” 
• Buyers of a residence in Hudson are claiming $475,000 from the former occupants after they learned after moving in that an intruder died in a break-in gone wrong. 

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 the notwithstanding clause? His position on Bill 96 caused him a lot of grief yesterday, with the Gazette reporting that “Milliard was forced to call a special crisis meeting” to manage his MNAs surprised by the new position. 
• A new poll by the Montreal Economic Institute shows that 56 percent of Canadians want greater access to private healthcare.
• In an open letter in Le Devoir, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon invokes the words of former Quebec Premier Honoré Mercier and calls on nationalists in the province to stop tearing each other apart and come together. 
• Before passing away in April of last year, actor Val Kilmer of Top Gun fame was supposed to take on a new role in the upcoming movie called “As Deep as the Grave”. After his death, the director of the movie did not want to change who played Kilmer’s role and has decided to rely on AI to keep him in the movie. 

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 fast. But in the Old Port, a major project is now back to square one after running straight into local opposition.
• Canada’s Culture Minister Marc Miller said Wednesday that he was "very seriously" considering a ban on young people from using social media.
• In response to Quebec's new policy forcing public servants back to the office 3 days a week, over 650 public servants have decided to work less hours.

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 seat at the national assembly. 
• There’s a piece in the Globe and Mail that is getting resoundingly mocked online. Titled “Reluctant to ‘rough it,’ retirees are trimming travel costs in other ways,” the article tells the story of retirees that are struggling with the higher costs of travel. 
• The city of Montreal is about to host its largest sporting event since the 1976 Olympics when the road cycling championships come to town in September.

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 south for better pay and bigger opportunities, write Ottawa a cheque for half a million dollars on their way out?
• Christine Frechette held her first press conference as Premier designate yesterday, looking for unity in a party that might be showing signs of cracking.
• The cumulative deficit for road maintenance now stands at $24.5 billion. So how can we fix it? 
• Are you paying more than the person standing next to you… for the exact same product — and you don’t even know it? That’s the concern behind a new push from Avi Lewis and the NDP, who want Ottawa to crack down on what’s known as “surveillance pricing”.

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 byelections today, the most interesting one being the rematch in Terrebonne. 
• The U.S military will set up a blockade this morning of all Iranian ports and coastal areas on the Arabian Gulf (Persian Gulf) and Gulf of Oman.
• A Quebec judge is warning of a “two-tier” justice system in Montreal, alleging prosecutors often seek lighter sentences for offenders at risk of deportation. 
• The Montreal Canadiens won again last night and another milestone was achieved by one of their players. 

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 in a celebratory mood, welcoming another floor crosser with rumours of more to come.
• Big weekend for the CAQ as they will select their new leader - but not before they play a 45-minute video montage honouring François Legault. Up for the top job, Bernard Drainville and Christine Frechette. Who should the party pick and why?
• The new leader of the NDP wants to cut grocery prices by anywhere between 30 and 40 percent at a cost to the federal government.
• Paul St-Pierre Plamondon gave an interview to Rebel News. The Quebec media class is not happy about it.
• A self-driving car in Austin, Texas has hit and killed a mother duck, sparking neighborhood outrage.

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 leadership time to get organized.
• It is official, renters will not be able to lend their units on Airbnb in Montreal during the Formula 1 weekend, at the end of May. 
• About 20 per cent of Gen Z and Millennial Canadians spank their kids.
• Canada’s Wonderland is tired of teenagers causing havoc inside their amusement park. 
  With Quebec struggling to keep up with the maintenance of its road, one town in the Laurentians is arguing for a return of gravel roads instead of asphalt.

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 States and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire in an eleventh-hour deal that gave U.S. President Donald Trump room to step back from threats of a sweeping bombing campaign against Iran. 
• Francois Legault says he was not lying when he said he wanted to try and run again before ultimately resigning as Premier of Quebec.
• Québec Solidaire MNA Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois says the province’s three-tier school system is partly responsible for the difficulties encountered by boys.
• One of the leading A.I. companies right now, Anthropic, says it has built a model so powerful it won’t release it to the public.

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? Are you in favour of space travel?
• Voting opens at 10 am this morning for members of the CAQ to elect their new leader and thus the new Premier of Quebec. But just a day before the opening of the vote, major news broke out of the Drainville camp. Drainville received support from Justice Minister Simon-Jolin Barrette, Health Minister Sonia Bélanger and Transport Minister Jonatan Julien.
• Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is striking a softer tone as his party launches a new advertising campaign aimed at affordability and national sovereignty.
• More and more towns across Quebec are monitoring how residents live their lives, using water meters and incentive-based garbage programs to influence habits and make those who use the most pay more.
• We are just over two months away from the FIFA World Cup. Montreal will not host any matches but a new investigative report by Radio-Canada's investigative program Enquête reveals we may have dodged a bullet. 
• The American middle class is shrinking. According to research from the American Enterprise Institute, more households are actually moving up. About 31% of U.S. households now qualify as upper middle class — roughly triple the share in 1979 — making it the largest economic group in the country.