The Big Five Podcast

Elias Makos is joined by Catherine Hogan, high school teacher at Westwood Senior High in Hudson, and Lionel Perez, Former city councillor and leader of the opposition at Montreal hall, and Founder CEO of CorpCentre, an online legal filings service for small businesses.

• Following his party’s brutal performance in Monday’s Arthabasca byelection, François Legault is going to try to revitalize the CAQ… and that effort started on Tuesday with some listening. The Premier literally took to the streets of Quebec City to chat with monsieur et madame Tout-le-Monde.
• Canada’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson holds dual Canada-U.S. citizenship and sees “no reason” to give up his American citizenship “at this time.”
• The borough of Saint-Laurent is asking citizens to submit items for a time capsule. The capsule will be sealed and opened in time for the borough’s 150th anniversary in 2043. 
• Are we trusting AI too much? One man was poisoned after following ChatGPT medical directives.

Elias was joined on the Big 5 by Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor & Christina Chough, the Chair of the modern languages department at Dawson College.

Among the topics discussed were

• The PQ steamroller continues. The party racked up its third by-election victory in a row last night, with Alex Boissonneault taking Arthabasca. 
• Who doesn’t have Air Conditioning right now? In the midst of a grueling heat wave, Montreal is sharing online how they are coping. 
• The leader of Ensemble Montreal Soraya Martinez Ferrada isn’t impressed with Montreal's bike lanes
• Donald Trump is sending the National Guard to Washington D.C.

Elias Makos kicks off the week with Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada, 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.

• Montreal police are investigating after an Orthodox Jewish man was assaulted in Parc-Ex on Friday.
• Somewhat big day in Quebec politics as voters go to the polls in the Arthabasca byelection.
• Polls show the PM has a 28 point lead ahead of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to preferred Prime Minister.
• You've got no mail: AOL will close down its dial-up internet service on September 30. What does the dial-up internet sound mean to you?

Elias caps the week off 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.

• 18-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko defeated four time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka at the National Bank Open last night, right here in Montreal. What were you doing when you were 18?
• There’s a byelection in Arthabaska on Monday. Looks to be a neck and neck race between the Conservatives and the PQ. Yesterday, TVA News hosted a debate between the local candidates.
• More Quebec youth are wanting separation. 56% of Quebecers between 18 and 34 are for Quebec independence.
• A pro-Palestinian protest outside the Montreal home of Industry Minister Mélanie Joly is prompting calls for new security measures to protect politicians from demonstrations at their residences. 
• A Calgary man has seen his Air Miles points worth nearly 8 thousand dollars "retired"
• A Montreal woman heard her cat crying from outside. Turns out, her neighbor was laying traps for wild animals in his backyard- and her cat was one of them, stuck in a cage. 

Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS, and Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance.

• Quebec’s Minister Responsible for the Fight Against Racism, Christopher Skeete, calls the sentencing that took into consideration the realities of systemic racism that racialized criminals face as a “sad first”.
• Britain’s ad watchdog has banned two Zara ads for showing models that appeared “unhealthily thin.” 
• Now over on this side of the Atlantic, the advertising uproar has been over the 'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans' ad campaign by American Eagle. 

Elias Makos Andrew Caddell, a town councillor in Kamouraska, and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy, and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia.

• Prominent Canadian pundit Paul Wells is pulling no punches in his latest column, under the headline “Let’s Admit It: Canada is losing the trade war with Trump.”
• Unable to get any important meetings with officials in Washington, D.C., Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Foreign Minister Anita Anand headed to Mexico and met with President Claudia Sheinbaum. 
• Mark Carney is thinking of changing the Online News Act, or getting rid of it all together. This, two years after Meta “banned” news on its platforms. 
• 42 giant 18-metre gold masts put up on Pierre-De Coubertin Avenue in front of the Big O are causing a lot of conversation. What do you say? Ugly or not? 

Elias Makos is joined by Political analyst Karim Boulos, and Bonnie Feigenbaum, Conservative Party of Quebec candidate in last provincial election and a lecturer at Concordia & McGill University, media & government relations consultant.

• People are dumping their trash out onto the streets, and Montrealers are fed up. 8 thousand more complaints have been called in to 311 in 2024 than the previous year.
• Four McGill University faculty associations are challenging Quebec’s strike-restricting law arguing it is unconstitutional.
• Canada Border Services Agency says it has arrested and charged three alleged smugglers after police in Quebec intercepted a truck carrying 44 foreign nationals crossing the border.

Elias kicks off the week 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 Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor.

• With one Bitcoin worth an astounding $160,000, and the ability to irreversibly transfer millions of dollars with a few taps, Bitcoin has become a prime target for violent crime.
• Unionized workers at Canada Post have voted to reject the Crown corporation’s latest contract offer.
• A new in-depth report from the Montreal Gazette this morning shows that more doctors than ever have opted out of the public sector to join the private sector even after Quebec adopted a law to reverse the exodus three months ago.
• A battle is ongoing between the borough of Lasalle and one of its residents because of a mini pig.

Elias Makos ends the week with Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, and Christina Chough (C-H-O), Spanish teacher and Chair of the modern languages department at Dawson College.

• President Donald Trump has now increased tariffs on Canadian goods to 35 per cent from 25 per cent on all products not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
• Technology, transit, healthcare - all things that Taiwan is seemingly getting right while we stare at a pile of orange cones. What can we learn from other cities?
• A battle is ongoing between the borough of Lasalle and one of its residents because of a mini pig. 

Elias Makos is joined by Raphaël Melançon, a political analyst for Noovo and CTV Montreal News at 5. He is also the president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies, and Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

• Canada plans to recognize the state of Palestine at the next session of the United Nations General Assembly in September. 
• Speaking of the U.S and Canada…we are less than 24 hours away from the trade deadline between both countries.
• Doug Ford’s plan to remove some bike lanes in Ontario hit a speed bump yesterday. An Ontario court deemed his plan to be unconstitutional.