The Big Five Podcast

Elias Makos is joined by Meeker Guerrier, Weekend News Anchor at Noovo and a commentator at RDS, and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia.

• François Legault was hopping mad over Paul St-Pierre Plamondon comparing him to the leaders of the 1995 referendum No side campaign, Jean Charest and Jean Chretien
• After Le Devoir mused that former Senator André Pratte was considering a run, he took to X to make it clear he doesn’t want the job
• Montreal will ban gas heating and appliances like stoves in new buildings

Elias Makos welcomes in Sue Montgomery, former journalist and former mayor of CDN-NDG, and Andrew Caddell, a town councillor in Kamouraska, columnist for the Hill Times in Ottawa and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy.

• Paul St-Pierre Plamondon presented his party’s vision for the first year of an independent nation
• If Charest said he wanted to lead the Liberals again, how would that play out?
• Who’s taking the tips in Quebec? Service workers are alleging that their employers are dipping into the tips

Elias Makos starts the week with Christina Chough, Spanish teacher and Chair of the modern languages department at Dawson College, and David Heurtel, Former Quebec liberal cabinet minister, Council at Fasken and political analyst.

• We found out at 10pm on Saturday night that Justin Trudeau had tasked National Defense Minister Bill Blair with finding out what actually happened at a hospital in Gaza last week
• 33 MPs called on Justin Trudeau to support a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war
• Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war hate crimes in Montreal have soared
• We found the first tuition hike that former Premier Jean Charest doesn’t like

Elias Makos caps off the week with Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor, and Anne Lagace-Dowson, political analyst.

• The Globe and Mail reports that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing backlash in his party from MPs on both fronts when it comes to Israel
• Pierre Pollievre is now polling as the country’s preferred pick for Prime Minister
• Canada will legalise medically assisted dying for people who are addicted to drugs

Elias Makos welcomes back Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program, and Andrew Caddell, a town councillor in Kamouraska, columnist for the Hill Times in Ottawa and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy.

• Add Valerie Plante to the list of people worried about Quebec’s plan for out-of-province tuition
• PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon recently envisioned a Quebec with its own currency… and army
• A British Columbia man who strangled his pregnant wife 17 years ago, then burned her body, has been granted full parole by the Parole Board of Canada

Elias Makos is joined by Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, and Bonnie Feigenbaum, Conservative Party of Quebec candidate in last provincial election and a lecturer at Concordia & McGill University.

• The fallout from Quebec's plan to charge higher tuition fees for non-Quebec university students continues
• Pro-Palestinian protesters filled Montreal’s streets last night
• What do you make of Canada’s handling of the reports of the hospital bombing, particularly from Justin Trudeau and Melanie Joly?

Elias Makos is joined by Jonathan Kalles, Senior Consultant at McMillan Vantage, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Political analyst Karim Boulos.

• François Legault wants to turn Montreal’s Olympic stadium back into a ‘positive symbol’
• McGill and a business group are warning that new plans for tuition fee increases will mean that Montreal will lose its place as a leader
• Has Canada lost its standing on the world stage?

Elias Makos kicks off the week with Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia, and David Heurtel, Former Quebec liberal cabinet minister, Council at Fasken and political analyst.

• Out of province students will be required to pay double if they want to study in English universities in the province
• There were sombre rallies and marches in support of Israel across Canada this weekend. And large Pro-Palestinian rallies were held accross the country as well, including Montreal
• The NDP held its convention over the weekend

Elias Makos welcomes in Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program and Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor.

• Montreal’s Jewish communities and places of worship on high alert with the threat of protests today
• France has banned all pro-Palestinian rallies
• Two of Quebec’s 3 English universities reacted to the Quebec government’s surprise plan to substantially hike tuition for non-Quebec students who study English

Elias Makos 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 Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor.

• Quebec is tightening the screws on McGill and Netflix in an upcoming plan for the French language
• The first Canadian evacuation plane has flown out of Israel. But it wasn’t run by the federal government. It was privately organized
• Canada’s leading grocers have yet to confirm if they will be committed to setting up special price promotions to stabilise food prices