The Big Five Podcast

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.

On today's Big 5: Victor Henriquez, public affairs and crisis management specialist at Public Strategy and Conseil, and political analyst Karim Boulos.

• European diplomats dismissed Canada's associate EU membership invitation as a calculated PR headline meant to rattle Donald Trump.
• Campaign data revealed the five main candidates for premier are largely ignoring Montreal, spending only eight percent of their time on the island.
• Businessman Andrew Lutfy challenged Quebecers to demand real economic ambition as the province plunges to the bottom of continental GDP rankings.
• Outrage erupted in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve after Montreal police removed an infant from a homeless encampment following a chaotic altercation.
  
• Montreal officials will vote next week on a controversial bylaw carrying thousand-dollar fines for insulting police or city employees.

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.

On today's Big 5: Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer at Women in Governance, and Dan Delmar, independent political analyst, media strategist, and co-founder of TNKR Media.

• Premier Christine Fréchette offered a rare apology for past governance errors during a heated Noovo debate dominated by sovereignty arguments.
• Prime Minister Mark Carney formally welcomed an invitation in Strasbourg for Canada to become the European Union's first associate member.
• Donald Trump threatened to sever US trade ties with Europe if Canada's new associate EU membership partnership moves forward.
• Montreal police used tear gas to disperse anti-AI protesters who vandalized the Mila research institute during a major artificial intelligence summit.

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.

On today's Big 5: Meeker Guerrier, commentator at Noovo and RDS, and Rudy Husny, political analyst and former advisor in the Harper government.

• PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon won the chaotic TVA face-off with thirty-eight percent support in a post-debate flash poll.
• A fresh Nanos poll reinforces a tight three-way provincial election horse race ahead of tonight's Noovo debate.
• Protesters and police squared off in St-Henri over open drug use around the Maison Benoît Labre supervised consumption site.
• Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper backed Canada walking away from US trade talks, endorsing a controversial plan to privatize major airports.

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

• Quebec's party leaders square off tonight in the first of two crucial back-to-back election debates on TVA.
• A leaked internal document revealed an eight billion dollar Santé Québec computer system project facing a six billion dollar funding shortfall.
• Federal Liberal MPs voiced alarm over a surprise caucus plan to privatize and open Canada's major airports to foreign investment.
• The MUHC launched a medical study paying healthy volunteers under forty to intentionally infect themselves with the influenza virus.

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 is joined by Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist, and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Akil Alleyne, reporter, commentator, and manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program.

• New provincial election polls show the Parti Québécois holding its lead as Premier Christine Fréchette's trade war boost begins to disappear.
• Internal Quebec Liberal insiders are heavily criticizing Charles Milliard's campaign, labeling it a complete trainwreck.
• Prime Minister Mark Carney will travel to Europe to explore a first-of-its-kind associate membership alliance with the European Union.
• The ongoing Canada-US trade war has pushed Mark Carney's national polling numbers to a dominant forty-nine percent.
• Montreal Canadiens fans will face higher costs this season as Amazon Prime secures exclusive rights to broadcast seven regular-season games.

Trudie Mason welcomes in Daniel Tran, political analyst and former municipal economic development advisor, and Dan Delmar, independent political analyst, media strategist, and co-founder of TNKR Media.

• The twenty-fifth anniversary of 9/11 leaves Canadians questioning how a historic ally became a bitter trade war enemy.
• The Quebec Court of Appeal rejected Montreal's urgent bid to evict a permanent homeless encampment in the Plateau.
• PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon estimated a future Quebec sovereignty referendum would cost taxpayers one hundred and thirty million dollars.
• Premier Christine Fréchette dodged questions about her personal stance on separation, dismissing her past PQ ties as irrelevant.
• A striking new Angus Reid poll shows Mark Carney pulling over one million previous Conservative voters into the Liberal camp.

Trudie Mason welcomes in Bonnie Feigenbaum, former Conservative Party of Quebec candidate, lecturer at Concordia and McGill, and media consultant, and political analyst Karim Boulos.

• Quebec's five major party leaders pitched competing visions on television ahead of Monday's first crucial election debate.
• Pierre Poilievre travels to New York to pitch free trade with Washington as the federal Liberals hold a fourteen-point poll lead.
• Donald Trump promised to give every adult US citizen five thousand dollars if Republicans win the upcoming midterm elections.
• Police caught two Hells Angels members violating Quebec's new anti-patch law by displaying gang colours in Longueuil.
• A former AI employee warned tech giants are gambling with human lives by racing toward unregulated superintelligence.

Trudie Mason welcomes in Sue Smith, Montreal journalist and broadcaster, and Lionel Perez, former Montreal opposition leader and CEO of CorpCentre.

• Donald Trump banned Canadian alcohol, dairy, and motorcycles in a fierce retaliation against Canada's latest counter-tariffs.
• Former Premier Jean Charest argued that Trump's aggressive trade war might ultimately force Canada to diversify its global economic partnerships.
• Canada and China quietly resumed high-level military coordination dialogues, drawing heavy fire and skepticism from federal Conservatives.
• Montreal spent over seven hundred thousand dollars on new pothole-repair machines that critics warn cannot operate during winter conditions.

Trudie Mason welcomes in 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, and columnist for the Montreal Gazette.

• Retaliatory tariffs against seven hundred US goods launched today amid warnings from trade envoy Louise Blais that things will get worse.
• Premier Christine Fréchette announced new protectionist measures forcing key provincial construction contracts to use fifteen percent local materials.
• The Quebec Conservatives criticized Élections Québec for rehiring a returning officer whose previous ballot error forced a by-election do-over.
• Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand injected a zero homelessness target into the provincial campaign, demanding immediate social housing investments.
• A massive wave of expensive Dionmania hit Paris following Céline Dion's high-profile return to the spotlight.

Akil Alleyne welcomes in Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist, and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Paul Gott, lead singer of the Ripcordz and journalism professor at Concordia.

• The Carney government will trigger massive retaliatory tariffs against seven hundred US goods tomorrow as Donald Trump continues mocking Canada online.
• PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon pledged to force digital giants like Netflix and Spotify to maintain a thirty percent francophone content quota.
• Québec solidaire challenged all provincial parties to commit to electoral reform to fix the current first-past-the-post voting system.
• Ontario schools are launching strict new academic rules tomorrow, including attendance-based grading and standardized tests.
• Rapper Snoop Dogg announced a global search for an ice cream tester to travel and track dessert trends for thirty thousand dollars.