The Big Five Podcast

Trudie Mason is joined by Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia.

• Premier Francois Legault has officially been called to testify before the public inquiry into the SAAQclic scandal
• A Quebec committee says the government should extend religious symbols ban to daycares
• The Israeli flag at Hampstead town hall has been torched twice since last Thursday.

Trudie Mason is joined by Political analyst Karim Boulos, and Andrew Caddell, a town councillor in Kamouraska, and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy.

• A new report from the auditor general finds that Montreal roadwork is poorly planned and coordinated.
• Students are banned from using their cell phones in class….should teachers lead by example?
•  Mayoral candidate and Projet Montreal leader Luc Rabouin walks back on Camillien-Houde and the summer biweekly trash pick up
• SAAQclic: Quebec Premier François Legault may be called to appear before the Gallant Commission.

Trudie Mason kicks the week off with Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor, and Raphaël Melançon, a political analyst for Noovo and CTV Montreal News at 5. He is also the president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies.

• Projet Montreal has back tracked their plan to have biweekly trash pick-ups in Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve during the summertime after residents complained of the smell and garbage pile-ups. 
• A Quebec man killed someone while he was hunting back in 2021… He alleges that he thought the victim was a deer. Now, he’s out of jail after serving a third of his sentence of 18 months
• Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Kyiv yesterday to celebrate Ukraine’s Independence Day
• Lasalle College has canceled their first day of classes today…. That’s because they face a 30$ million dollar fine for having too many students in their English programs

Sue Smith ends the week with Christina Chough, Spanish teacher and Chair of the modern languages department at Dawson College, and Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada.

• We have an update for you on the SAQ’s proposed destruction of $300,000 worth of American alcohol.
• Half of Canadians would be ‘ashamed’ to call Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre their Prime Minister.
• Former Premier Lucien Bouchard urges Parti Québécois leader to reconsider his promise to hold a referendum.
• Mayor Valerie Plante said earlier this week that there should be a Minister for homelessness.
• Some elementary schools are cutting down on homework, or getting rid of it completely. Is this a bad idea? Or a revolutionary move? 

Trudie Mason is joined by Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance, and Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator with extensive experience analysing legal, political, and social issues and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program.

• Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Mayor Valerrie Plante yesterday. They spoke about housing and tariffs- all in French.
• According to a new Leger poll: Few Quebecers believe Legault’s upcoming cabinet shuffle will change anything, and half want him to step down.
• Flight attendants won’t be punished after the Air Canada strikes.
• Rob Ford defended the homeowner who badly injured an intruder who broke into his home.

Elias Makos ends the week with Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, and Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS 

• According to a new Leger poll: The Parti Quebecois victory in the Arthabaska is reflective of the changing political landscape in the province
• Mark Carney is meeting with Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante and Quebec Premier François Legault today
• Five members of the Canadian armed forces have been suspended over the Nazi salute…
• Kids are heading back to school, with a new provincial rule: cellphones are banned in classrooms throughout Quebec.

Political analyst Karim Boulos, and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia.

• Air Canada flights are slowly taking off again today as a tentative agreement has been made with the AC flight attendant Union.
• Should Montreal double its number of bike paths? A micro-mobility study out of McGill University found suggests that more space for bikes are necessary, and would “barely affect” traffic for motorists. 
• ‘Skibidi’, ‘delulu’, ‘tradwife’ and other modern slang were added to the Cambridge Dictionary.

Robyn Flynn starts the week off with Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. and Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor.

• Air Canada flight attendants refused their back to work order despite the federal government ordering binding arbitration, and continued to strike.
• The commission of inquiry into the management of the SAAQ’s technological upgrade, including the SAAQclic platform, is set to hear new witnesses after a two-month summer break in its public proceedings.
• Voters are heading to the polls today in a rural Alberta byelection, where Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is running for a seat.
• Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Washington this morning along with other European leaders to meet US President Donald Trump this afternoon.
• A lot of restaurants aren’t charging their clients for no shows. They’re allowed to now, but they’re worried that less clients will make reservations at their restaurants, and that they would lose their clients’ trust.

Elias makos ends the week with Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, and Anthony Koch, Former National Spokesperson for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and current managing principal at AK Strategies. 

• The OQLF has backed down once again following a media uproar. This time, they’re telling the Burgundy Lion Pub that their nearly two-decade-old sign can stay up as-is.
• Premier François Legault says the CAQ caucus is “ready to fight with me.”
• A bombshell report from Reuters on Meta’s AI policies has U.S. lawmakers calling for a congressional investigation.
• The next municipal election is in three months, and the campaign trail is heating up.

Elias Makos welcomes in Political analyst Karim Boulos and Raphaël Melançon, a political analyst for Noovo and CTV Montreal News at 5. He is also the president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies.

• Premier Francois Legault is meeting with his caucus this morning after a stinging defeat in the Arthabaska byelection.
• The owner of the Burgundy Lion says he won’t change the name of his pub. Toby Lyle says his business in Little Burgundy is the Office de la langue Francais’ (OQLF) latest target- and he’s fighting back.
• A 31-year-old man who was sentenced to prison last year for killing a Montreal teenager while speeding down a highway has been granted parole.