The Corner Booth

As Consul General at the U.S. Consulate in Montreal, Robert P. Sanders experienced first-hand the change in tone between Canadians and Americans going from the Joe Biden administration to Donald Trump’s.

The career  apolitical diplomat, who previously held posts in a variety of locales from Islamabad to Port-au-Prince, is wrapping up his time in Montreal, but not before joining hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on an audio-only episode of this week’s The Corner Booth to talk about navigating the position with relations between the countries at a low-point.

Moving Day is coming up for more than 115,000 Montrealers on July 1, when a critical mass of Quebec leases expire, and it’s become a day housing advocates dread.

“ This is a really tough day for the city. It’s funny, it used to be a day of transition. A day of newness. A day of hope. A day of change,” said James Hughes, president and CEO at Old Brewery Mission.

With July 1 around the corner, Hughes and Amy Darwish, co-ordinator with Comité d’Action de Parc-Extension, joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on this week’s episode of The Corner Booth at Snowdon Deli to sound the alarm on what’s sure to be a difficult moving season for  the more than 3,000 Montrealers Hughes estimates could be without a place to live.

Steven Guilbeault is stepping down from government.

The Liberal MP for Montreal's Laurier—Sainte-Marie riding announced last month that he intends to resign his seat this summer, citing a desire to pursue the fight against climate change "in a different way."

"I understand that, even before Prime Minister Carney was elected leader of the Liberal Party, that things were going to change. What I had not anticipated is the rollbacks," the former environment minister said in this week's episode of The Corner Booth, referring to Canada's changing climate policy direction.

Antisemitism has been front and centre in Montreal news the last two weeks. So when Projet Montréal announced its plan to bring a motion to council Monday condemning Israel for “genocide” of Palestinians, The Gazette’s Allison Hanes suggested the timing risked inflaming social tensions.

Liberal MP for Mount Royal Anthony Housefather and CRARR executive director Fo Niemi joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on this week’s episode of The Corner Booth at Snowdon Deli to discuss not only antisemitism, but rising hate in general, including a racist rally in Shawinigan.

Did Prime Minister Mark Carney open Pandora’s Box by saying “50 per cent plus one” in a referendum would not be enough for Quebec or Alberta to separate from Canada?

That’s the question posed this week to constitutional lawyer Frédéric Bérard, along with former MP and MNA Clifford Lincoln, on this week’s episode of The Corner Booth with hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand from Snowdon Deli.

On last week’s episode of The Corner Booth, Tom Mulcair said Quebec’s new premier, Christine Fréchette, was “steadfastly refusing” to speak English and steering clear of anglophone media.

After a week where the CAQ leader had her first official meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and the latest poll showed a bump in support for her party, Fréchette’s multi-hyphenate minister Christopher Skeete joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand to shed some light on where the new premier stands with anglos on a linguistically charged episode of the podcast.

There might be a new premier in Quebec, but according to former NDP leader and Quebec Liberal cabinet minister Tom Mulcair, it’s the same old, same old CAQ coming out of the National Assembly.

 ”This is where I see (premier) Christine Fréchette playing the same old games, a very divisive approach to politics, and I think it’s going to be very hurtful to her chances in the next election,” Mulcair said to hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on this week’s episode of The Corner Booth from Snowdon Deli.

Ashkan Karbasfrooshan, an entrepreneur who founded online media powerhouse WatchMojo, has dealt with doubters his entire career. And the prospect of bringing the Montreal Expos back after Major League Baseball moved them to Washington after the 2004 season, has brought out the skeptics.

But that isn’t stopping Karbasfrooshan, and he joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on this week’s episode of The Corner Booth at Snowdon Deli to explain just how he plans on succeeding where others, like his neighbour Stephen Bronfman, have failed.

The streets of Montreal went viral on social media this week, but for all the wrong reasons.

Feigang Fei, who owns the restaurant Cuisine AuntDai on St-Mathieu St. Frustrated with the lack of progress on Ste-Catherine St. W. roadwork, he posted a photo on X of a construction site sitting empty on a sunny day.

Fei, along with Ville-Marie city councillor Leslie Roberts, joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on this week’s episode of The Corner Booth to find common ground when it comes to myriad problems plaguing Montreal’s streets.

Douglas Dixon knew about Alligator Alcatraz, the infamous immigration detention centre in Florida operated by ICE. But never in his wildest imagination did he think he'd end up there in shackles.

Now back in his native Montreal after 21 years in the United States following his deportation, Dixon shared his harrowing story with hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on the latest episode of The Corner Booth from Snowdon Deli.