The Big Five Podcast

Elias Makos is joined by 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.

• Air Canada has grounded one of their pilots over what they call “unacceptable” social media posts
• Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says the Canadian government is planning to help Canadians stuck in Israel
• Quebec is rejecting a coroner’s recommendation to make 0.05 the legal blood-alcohol limit for drivers

Elias Makos returns with Trudie Mason - Veteran Newscaster here at CJAD 800, and Bonnie Feigenbaum, Conservative Party of Quebec candidate in last provincial election and a lecturer at Concordia & McGill University.

• How important is it for the media to confront people with the details and images of the horror of what transpired in Israel?
• Candies were passed out in Montreal - a hallmark of Gaza celebrations throughout the years whenever an Israeli is killed. What does it say to you that people can be overtly proud in Canada to support terrorism against Israel? 
• Justin Trudeau delivered an unwavering support for Israel and total condemnation of Canadian protests at a vigil in Ottawa last night. But Canada was left on the sidelines as our allies delivered a universal condemnation

David Heurtel is joined by Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor, and Christina Chough, Spanish teacher and Chair of the modern languages department at Dawson College.

• Some Canadians are stuck in Israel as flights get cancelled and the embassy closes for Thanksgiving
• François Legault’s X post. Legault looks to be doing anything to rectify the disastrous week he had last week
• Montreal’s property-tax hike will be lower than 5.2%. A promise which has been made by the City Hall

Elias Makos ends the week with Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, and Political analyst Karim Boulos.

• Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne announced on Thursday that grocery store chains have agreed to discounts, price freezes and price matching
• Chaos in the National Assembly yesterday after Quebec solidaire’s Sol Zanetti attacked the Premier and the CAQ on their lack of Nationalism, and used a balloon as a prop to do so
• Across the pond, five protesters were arrested after disrupting a performance of Les Miserables in London’s West End

Elias Makos is joined by Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor, and Sherri McGurnaghan, CEO of Themis Logic.

• Quebec police have arrested four students after a video showing a teen repeatedly hit in the face was shared on social media
• The percentage of vacant storefronts on Montreal’s most important commercial artery — Sainte-Catherine Street — is exploding
• British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak has announced a plan to "raise the smoking age by one year, every year" 

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 Anne Lagace-Dowson, political analyst.

• Things are getting very tense in Park Ex. Last night’s borough council meeting was met by throngs of protestors fighting against and for the recently installed bike paths
• A new report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says Canadian households now have more debt than the entire value of our economy
• An average of $1,800 a month is spent by Canada’s Governors General on dry cleaning

Elias Makos is once again 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.

• The Parti Quebecois’ Pascal Paradis won the byelection in the Quebec city riding of Jean-Talon yesterday
• All eyes are on the House of Commons today as they move to elect the new house speaker
• Is the long-rumoured extension of Cavendish Boulevard finally moving forwards?

Elias Makos kicks off the week with Meeker Guerrier, Weekend News Anchor at Noovo and a commentator at RDS, and David Heurtel, Former Quebec liberal cabinet minister, Council at Fasken and political analyst.

• Eric Girard has a one-word answer for why Quebec trails Ontario in wealth creation, and it’s “Montreal.” 
• The $2.3 billion Las Vegas Sphere officially opened over the weekend as rock band U2 began a three-month stretch of shows. When you look at this venue, and compare it to Montreal’s dilapidated and simply dated venues - what do you think? 
• Conservative Joël Godin, says that the new Liberal MP Anna Gainey sent the wrong message by making her House of Commons debut in English only

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

• EV battery behemoth Northvolt will build a massive factory 30 kilometres east of Montreal between McMasterville and St-Basile-le-Grand
• The news is another indication of Quebec’s and Montreal’s continued economic boom. Are you optimistic about where we’re headed? 
• François Legault says he’s healthy, so he’ll be running again in 2026

Elias Makos welcomes in Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program, and Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor.

• Justin Trudeau finally offered his clearest, most concise statement on the national embarrassment of honouring a former Nazi in that same chamber last Friday. The message? This is on all of us, collectively
• Climate group Rage Climatique deflated the tires of dozens of SUVs and placed fake tickets on the windshields claiming owners of the cars were “putting human, animal, and plant life on the planet at risk”
• Lego now says they won’t make the switch to bricks made from recycled plastic bottles after realizing that their carbon emissions would go UP. Do you share in skepticism over how we’re approaching these environmental challenges?