The Big Five Podcast

Elias Makos is joined by Andrew Caddell, a town councillor in Kamouraska, and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy and Neil Drabkin, is a lawyer who served as federal prosecutor and a political commentator who was a chief of staff in the Harper government on The Big 5.

• Over the past 11 years, more than 17,500 foreigners with criminal records have been cleared to enter Canada.
• Five years after protestors brought down the statue of John A. Macdonald in Dominion Square/Place du Canada, the city of Montreal has still not begun restoration work on it. 
• The Legault government is launching a pilot project which will last 12 months, allowing stores in Laval, Gatineau and Saint-Georges-de-Beauce to stay open until 8 PM on weekends instead of 5PM.

Elias Makos is joined by Dan Delmar, co-founder of the PR and content firm TNKR Media and Caryma Sa’d, lawyer sole practice and Journalist independent / freelancer based in Toronto on a National Edition of the Big 5.

• Happy Canada Day! This year certainly seems like a special one. Many would say that Donald Trump’s talk of annexing Canada has sparked a defensive nationalism.
• Let’s talk trade, shall we? Of course by now we all know that Canada caved to the Trump administration’s demand to ditch the Digital Services Tax on tech giants.
• Let’s talk trade, shall we? Of course by now we all know that Canada caved to the Trump administration’s demand to ditch the Digital Services Tax on tech giants.

Elias Makos is joined by 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 on The Big 5.

• Is it a Carney Capitulation or a brilliant 3D-chess move the rest of us will figure out eventually?
• A Quebec judge has authorized a class-action lawsuit against Tim Hortons after the company mistakenly emailed about 500,000 customers in April 2024 claiming they had won a $64,000 boat. 
• A family in Stoneham, Quebec, now eats vegetarian meals a third of the time and saves $30 a week.

Elias Makos is joined by Anthony Koch, Former National Spokesperson for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and current managing principal at AK Strategies and Political analyst Karim Boulos on The Big 5.

• Two months after the federal election, Prime Minister Mark Carney is enjoying strong support in Quebec, with nearly 60% approval and the Liberals leading at 44% in the polls.
• A new report from the Montreal Economic Institute warns that Canada’s proposed federal homebuilding agency, Build Canada Homes, could repeat the failures of New Zealand’s KiwiBuild program.
• Do we swear too much? The week began with an exasperated Donald Trump dropping an F-bomb.

Elias Makos 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 on The Big 5.

• The front page of Journal de Montréal says it all - Nothing is going right for François Legault. 50% of Quebecers want him to go away according to a new Leger poll.
• Once again this week, Prime Minister Mark Carney called Canada “the most European of non-European countries.” It’s a line that the PM has repeated before
• A new Statistics Canada report shows asking rents in Montreal have surged nearly 71% since 2019,

Elias Makos is joined by Paul Gott, lead singer and guitarist for montreal punk rock band The Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia and Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

• Prime Minister Mark Carney is committing that Canada – along with other NATO allies – will invest five per cent of GDP on defence by 2035.
• Advocacy groups are sounding the alarm over Bill C-2, warning it could give police sweeping powers to access Canadians’ personal data without a warrant.
• A U.S. judge has ruled that an Artificial Intelligence company did not violate the copyright of authors when it used millions of books to train their AI.

Dan Delmar, in for Elias Makos, is joined by Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS and Gabriel Retta, a Montrealer active in politics and government service at all three levels for the last 20 years on The Big 5.

• Montreal is celebrating Fête Nationale today with a full day of festivities.
• U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire yesterday between Israel and Iran.
• The Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE) is calling for Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville to resign.

Dan Delmar, in for Elias, is joined by Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor and Justine McIntyre, strategic consultant and former city councillor on The Big 5.

• Following U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged all parties to return to negotiations and avoid further escalation in the Middle East.
• Despite an ongoing extreme heatwave, most schools in Montreal, Laval, and other regions will remain open for the last day of classes.
• A Montrealer has joined the growing list of Canadians to win an NBA title as the Oklahoma City Thunder claimed the NBA Championship

Sue Smith ends the week with Anthony Koch, Former National Spokesperson for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and current managing principal at AK Strategies, 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.

• As war between Israel and Iran intensifies, European ministers are meeting today with Iran’s foreign minister in Switzerland to propose renewed nuclear negotiations
• Canada’s Competition Bureau is calling for an end to Montreal-Trudeau Airport’s monopoly on international flights
• Montreal is still lagging behind other cities when it comes to simple, contactless payment for public transit

Sue Smith is joined by Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance, and Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

• A three year old missing toddler  was found alive after three days alone near Highway 417 in Ontario, following a massive search
• The Liberal government’s Building Canada Act (Bill C-5), spearheaded by Prime Minister Mark Carney, is drawing sharp criticism for granting cabinet sweeping powers to fast-track major industrial projects
• Montreal’s STM is reinstating its anti-loitering policy across eight metro stations until April 2026