The Big Five Podcast

Elias Makos 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.

• A new poll shows a big jump in support for the Quebec Liberals if Denis Coderre is their leader
• The same Léger poll shows that the Parti Québécois may have a big problem even as they sit in first place. A quarter of their supporters are opposed to sovereignty
• The Catholic Church is taking Quebec to court over the province’s Medical Assistance in dying law

Meeker Guerrier, Weekend News Anchor at Noovo and a commentator at RDS, and Andrew Caddell, a town councillor in Kamouraska, columnist for the Hill Times in Ottawa and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy.

• Starting this summer Montreal’s Olympic Stadium will be closed for 4 years to undergo renovations. Quebec is set to spend $870 million for a new roof
• Car stopped for more than 10 seconds? Better turn it off! Ensemble Montreal turned heads yesterday with their announcement of a new regulation in the borough of Outremont
• Head of McGill University, Deep Saini, met with François Legault to discuss controversial tuition hike plans for the province’s out-of-province students

Elias Makos makes his return and welcomes in Trudie Mason, veteran newscaster at CJAD 800, and David Heurtel, Former Quebec liberal cabinet minister, Council at Fasken and political analyst.

• I had a kid, but the latest numbers from Statistics Canada show the country's fertility rate has plummeted to an all-time low of 1.33 children per woman in 2022
• Tourism Minister Caroline Proulx and Olympic Park CEO Michel Labrecque will announce the details today on a new roof and technical ring of Olympic Stadium
• Former city executive committee chairperson Dominique Ollivier is suing Quebecor media for reports she says contains ‘several factual errors and omissions'

David Heurtel caps off the week with Christina Chough, Spanish teacher and Chair of the modern languages department at Dawson College, Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor 

David Heurtel is joined by Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, and Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance.

• The CAQ has been caught up since the start of the parliamentary year in a debate on controversial methods of political financing
• Canadians, who idolize their best hockey players – are not used to this type of legal intervention at the heart of their national sport
• For the first time, there are more than 500 disaffiliated general practitioners from the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec, four times more than 15 years ago

David Heurtel welcomes in Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the PR and content firm TNKR Media, and Meeker Guerrier, Weekend News Anchor at Noovo and a commentator at RDS.

• Faced with an overload of closures, the Legault government will subsidise $200 million dollars for  health services and care in small private seniors' residences
• François Legault's return to parliament has been plagued by an increase of cases where caquist elected officials invited mayors and citizens to pay $100 to meet with a minister during political financing activities
• A new survey shows the discomfort of consumers about certain new tipping practices

David Heurtel is joined by Andrew Caddell, a town councillor in Kamouraska, columnist for the Hill Times in Ottawa and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy, and Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator, and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program.

• A new poll conducted by the firm Pallas Data gives François Legault and his CAQ members their worst result in voting intentions since the winter of 2016
• Health Minister Mark Holland says the country is not ready to extend eligibility for medical assistance in dying to people whose only medical problem is mental illness
• 7 years after an attack in Quebec City at a mosque that left 6 people dead

David Heurtel kicks off the week with Jonathan Kalles, Senior Consultant at McMillan Vantage and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia.

• Having recently become a member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, of which he wishes to become leader, Denis Coderre calls on “disappointed” Liberal voters to come back
• The Commission on Foreign Interference which begins on January 29 at Ottawa will deal exclusively with the last two federal elections
• Members of Parliament are returning to Ottawa on Monday vowing action on Canadians' pressing concerns

David Heurtel caps off the week with Akil Alleyne, Reporter, commentator and social issues and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program, and Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor.

• As Quebec reaches nine million people living inside the province…Premier Francois Legault wants to limit the amount of temporary foreign workers entering the province
• The Quebec government is looking at a potential delay in trying to have a balanced budget
• The SAQ is reminding its employees to not use “Bonjour, Hi”.

David Heurtel is joined by Christina Chough, Spanish teacher and Chair of the modern languages department at Dawson College, and Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance.

• There is news of Coderre embarking on a tour of Quebec to gauge his Liberal leadership chances
• As the federal Liberal caucus convened in Ottawa for its back-to-the-Hill strategy meeting, questions are swirling again around how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's MPs are feeling about his continued leadership
• Meanwhile, Pierre Poilievre is at it again… This time he’s undermining science by ridiculing pizzeria pollution monitors