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PODCAST

The Big Five Podcast

The Big Five is the quintessential Montreal podcast, and the best way to get caught up on the top stories impacting the city. Every weekday, host Elias Makos and a roster of Montreal thought leaders debate and inform.

news politics

All Episodes

23:53

The Soraya Martinez Ferrada era begins in Montreal....

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/11/14

Joining Elias on The Big 5 were Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. and Alain Vaillancourt, Former Montreal City Councillor and Executive committee member. Among the subjects discussed were Soraya Martinez Ferrada was officially sworn in as Montreal mayor last night. What’s her first challenge? Three critical mineral extraction projects, a nickel mine in Ontario and a transmission line on the

en-US

24:56

Is the Honeymoon over for Mark Carney? Plus: Quebec’s...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/11/13

Elias Makos is joined by Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance, andPaul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia. Is Mark Carney’s honeymoon with voters coming to an end? Quebecers are seemingly not impressed with Mark Carney’s first budget. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre spoke to reporters yesterday for the first time since two MPs announced they were leaving his caucus. As

en-US

23:51

The bad news continues for François Legault. Plus:...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/11/12

Elias Makos is joined by Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS, andDaniel Tran, Director of Communication and governmental relations at Casacom. Premier François Legault’s support continues to tumble. New numbers released by Léger this morning show that 71 per cent of Quebecers are unsatisfied with the Premier. An architecture firm is proposing a new project for the Metropolitan Expressway. Lemay is proposing to add a level to the expressway in order to develop urban

en-US

22:14

Should Canada have some type of mandatory national...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/11/11

Elias Makos is joined by Political analyst Karim Boulos, andTrudie Mason Veteran newscaster here at CJAD 800. Does Canada need some sort of mandatory national service, be it military or otherwise? The Quebec government says it has no plans of backtracking from Bill 2 after the mass protest by the province’s doctors at the Bell Centre over the weekend. Premier François Legault presented his economic vision yesterday.

en-US

24:25

Quebec doctors pack the Bell Centre. Plus: The perks...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/11/10

Elias Makos kicks the week off with Lionel Perez, Former city councilor and leader of the Official Opposition at Montreal City Hall, and Jimmy Zoubris, special advisor to the Mayor. More than 12 thousand doctors packed into the Bell Centre to denounce the Quebec government’s law overhauling physicians’ work and pay structures. As we enter the second week of a month-long maintenance worker strike at the STM, the Journal de Montreal’s investigation bureau decided to take a closer

en-US

25:22

Should public transit be free? Plus: A...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/11/07

Joining Elias on The Big 5 this morning were Sue Smith, Montreal journalist and broadcaster and Alain Vaillancourt, out-going Borough Councillor in the Sud-Ouest borough. Among the topics discussed were Would you take the bus or metro more often if it were free? Tesla shareholders have signed off on a massive pay package for Elon Musk Another Conservative MP has decided to resign from caucus… eventually

en-US

23:55

Should the government end the transit strikes? Plus:...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/11/06

Elias Makos is joined by Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance, 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. Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada has given a 10 day ultimatum for the STM and its maintenance workers to strike a deal There has been a record amount of complaints filed this year against STM bus drivers for being on their cellphones while driving Netflix

en-US

30:41

A budget in Mark Carney’s image. Plus: Gutting...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/11/05

Elias Makos welcomes back Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada, and Anne Lagace-Dowson, political analyst. It was hyped as a “generational budget,” but did it live up to that hype? Prime Minister Mark Carney tabled his first ever budget yesterday. The budget cuts the luxury tax on yachts and private jets and boosts funding to the CBC while giving them a super-specific new goal: bringing Canada into the

en-US

22:44

High expectations for the first Mark Carney budget....

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/11/04

Elias Makos is joined by Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies, and Victor Henriquez, Public affairs and crisis management specialist at Public Strategy and Conseil. It is budget day for the Carney government, but could it also be the start of another federal election? Not even 24 hours after being elected the new mayor of Montreal, Soraya Martinez Ferrada may already be

en-US

23:56

Soraya Martinez Ferrada is Montreal’s new mayor....

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/11/03

Elias Makos kicks the week off with Jonathan Kalles, Vice President at McMillan Vantage, a national public affairs firm, and former advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor. Soraya Martinez Ferrada is the new mayor of Montreal, defeating Projet Montreal’s Luc Rabouin by around eight percent at last count. Martinez Ferrada set herself some lofty goals during the campaign, including priorities for the first 100 days. What

en-US

24:00

We call up Doug Ford. Plus: Who’s gonna win the...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/10/31

Joining Elias in studio for The Big 5 were Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies and Daniel Tran, Director of Communication and governmental relations at Casacom Some Quebec doctors have taken up the offer to call the Premier of Ontario Doug Ford and apply to move to Ontario to continue practicing medicine. Quebec’s labour tribunal has authorized bus drivers and metro

en-US

25:09

The bromance is over: Legault and Ford spar over...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/10/30

Elias Makos welcomes back Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance, and Political analyst Karim Boulos. Quebec Premier François Legault is hopping mad with his Ontario counterpart, Doug Ford. With many doctors in Quebec up in arms over Bill 2 and how it will change the way they work and are paid, Ford took the opportunity to roll out the red carpet for Quebec’s doctors Today marks the 30th anniversary of the 1995 referendum. We came close to losing this

en-US

23:44

New Brunswick is coming for Quebec’s doctors. Plus:...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/10/29

Elias Makos is joined by Graham Singh, Pastor at St-Jax Church, and Trudie Mason, veteran Newscaster here at CJAD 800. There is a spike in the amount of doctors leaving the province for New Brunswick. Quebec’s Health Minister Christian Dube wrote an opinion letter in the Journal this morning defending the new legislation towards doctors. The province’s food banks say they handled nearly 3.1 million requests for help in March 2025 according to the 2025 Hunger Report released Monday

en-US

25:32

The billionaires getting involved in Quebec politics....

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/10/28

Joining Elias on today's Big 5 were Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator with extensive experience analysing legal, political, and social issues and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program &Andrew Caddell, a town councillor in Kamouraska, and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy. Among the topics discussed by Andrew and Akil, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says Prime Minister Mark Carney saw the controversial TV ad that pushed Donald Trump to walk away from

en-US

23:24

Mark Carney throws Doug Ford under the bus. Plus:...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/10/27

Elias Makos kicks off the week with Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada and Paul Gott, Lead singer and guitarist for Montreal Punk Rock band the Ripcordz and a journalism professor at Concordia. Prime Minister Mark Carney says Ottawa and Washington were "close to an agreement" before Donald Trump ended negotiations on Thursday. The Quebec government adopted special legislation in the early hours Saturday to force

en-US

25:23

Trump dumps trade negotiations with Canada. Plus:...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/10/24

Joining Elias on The Big 5 were Sue Smith, Montreal journalist and broadcaster andChristina Chough, Spanish teacher and Chair of the modern languages department at Dawson College. U.S. President Donald Trump says he is terminating trade negotiations with Canada following new anti-tariff ads from the Ontario government that features the voice of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan Internal documents obtained by the New York Times this week reveal that Amazon plans to replace – or rather, avoid

en-US

25:14

Mark Carney delivers an election-style stump speech....

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/10/23

Elias Makos is joined by Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor, andCaroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance. Was it a pre-budget speech, or a pre-election stump speech? Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed Canadians last night ahead of the upcoming budget. Transition Montreal leader Craig Sauvé is standing up for one of his candidates despite extreme, violent, rhetoric posted online. Michel Leblanc, the former head of the Montreal

en-US

22:44

Another bad poll for François Legault. Plus: The CRA...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/10/22

Elias Makos is joined by Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies, andNeil Drabkin, is a lawyer who served as federal prosecutor and a political commentator who was a chief of staff in the Harper government.

en-US

18:09

Who killed the Montreal Expos? Plus: Broad support...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/10/21

Elias Makos is joined by Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS, and Andrew Caddell, a town councillor in Kamouraska, and President of the Task Force on Linguistic policy. So, do we all have Blue Jays fever? And your predictions for the big Dodgers vs. Blue Jays World Series? The Federal housing minister is once again proposing magical thinking to solve the housing crisis. The federal government is introducing a new tracking system in order to make sure that federal workers are meeting the

en-US

24:58

We take a Time Machine back to 1995 and 2015. Plus:...

The Big Five Podcast ·

2025/10/20

Elias Makos kicks the week off with Trudie Mason, veteran Newscaster here at CJAD 800, andAkil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator with extensive experience analysing legal, political, and social issues and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program. As we approach the 30th anniversary of the 1995 referendum, a new poll from Leger says close to two thirds of the population do not want Quebec to be independent. Yesterday was the 10-year anniversary of Justin Trudeau's big win

en-US

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