On this Friday edition of the BIG 5, Elias is joined by political analyst Karim Boulos and Akil Alleyne, reporter and commentator with extensive experience analysing legal, political, and social issues and manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program.

• Dozens of Montreal school staff have been let go, suspended or resigned following the province’s expanded secularism bill and religious symbols ban comes into full effect.
• It’s official: Quebecers have the Chronically Online Disease. The average screen time jumped an extra hour a day compared to last year.
• Should the Quebec government be doing business with TicketMaster?

Elias Makos is joined by Victor Henriquez, Public affairs and crisis management specialist at Public Strategy and Conseil, and Dan Delmar, Co-founder of the content marketing firm TNKR Media and co-host of the podcast Inspiring Entrepreneurs Canada.

• Quebec’s Finance Minister Eric Girard says just the thought of a referendum is costing the Quebec government $20 million a year.
• Pierre Poilievre is undergoing a makeover - the Conservative leader has determined that if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, and will start to miss more and more time in the House of Commons to work on other things like economic speeches and trips.
• Has anyone seen Immigration Minister Lena Diab lately? She has not been visible as of late and many including her colleagues inside the Federal Liberal party have taken notice.
• Sweden wants to drastically increase the number of deportations involving convicted immigrants.

Elias Makos is joined by Trudie Mason, veteran Newscaster here at CJAD 800, and Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor.

• A new poll out from Pallas Data, Qc125 and L’actualité this morning shows a neck and neck race in Quebec, with the PQ having a mere three-point lead over the new-and-improved Charles Milliard Liberals.
• The province is getting very close to a recession. That is what the Institut du Quebec has revealed in its latest economic growth figures.
• Speaking this week on CNN, one of the apparent frontrunners for Democratic presidential nomination, Gavin Newson, said that his party needs to be more “culturally normal.” Is he right?
• The more you take out the trash, the more taxes you will pay. That is what a family in the lower Laurentians discovered after getting a $460 tax increase for having their garbage collected every week.
• Angus Reid now shows a 13-point lead by the Liberals over the Conservatives. Canadians also overwhelmingly approve of how Mark Carney is handling the U.S.

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 Raphaël Melançon, political analyst for CTV Montreal and CJAD 800, columnist for the Montreal Gazette, and president and founder of Trafalgar Strategies.

• The Parti Quebecois added another seat for their party at the National Assembly yesterday by winning the Chicoutimi by-election
• The Conservatives are teeing up a politically charged debate in the House of Commons today. They’re introducing a motion to review and potentially restrict health benefits for asylum seekers under the Interim Federal Health Program.
• A 52 year old woman has been forced to go $40 thousand in debt in order to get treated in the private sector for her neck problems.
• Canadian Olympic medallist Laurent Dubreuil painted a bleak picture this morning of Canadian Olympic athletes this morning in the Journal de Montreal.

Elias Makos begins the week with Jimmy Zoubris, Montreal businessman, longtime activist and former special advisor to Valerie Plante, and Anthony Koch, Former National Spokesperson for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and current managing principal at AK Strategies.

• Canada finished with 21 medals including 5 gold medals. It's the lowest number of medals since the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
• Reaction poured in over the weekend to a story published by The Globe and Mail on Friday morning. The striking headline of the story is “How Canada became poorer than Alabama.”
• Bombshell news in the Wall Street Journal as the weekend started. The paper reported that employees at OpenAI had previously raised alarms about the Tumbler Ridge shooter.
• We can’t go to Florida, we’re boycotting the U.S. We can’t go to Cuba, the country’s a mess due to U.S. oil blockades. And now, the travel plans to Mexico are on hold, after violence erupted in Mexico over the weekend after the killing of drug cartel kingpin ‘El Mencho.’

Elias is joined on this Friday edition of the BIG 5 by Meeker Guerrier, Commentator at Noovo and RDS and Lea Streliski, Best-selling author, comedian and columnist

• The White House says it’s about to pull back the curtain on one of the most enduring mysteries in history. President Donald Trump is promising to declassify government files related to UFOs — or what the Pentagon now calls UAPs, unidentified anomalous phenomena.
• It’s official, we will have a referendum… in Alberta.
• The toonie turned 30 years old this week. Released on February 19, 1996, it was Canada’s first bimetallic coin. What is the best thing you can buy for two dollars in 2026?

Elias Makos is joined by Caroline Codsi, Founder & Chief Equity Officer, Women in Governance, and Akil Alleyne, Reporter and commentator with extensive experience analysing legal, political, and social issues and Manager of the GemStar Circle of Excellence Scholarship Program.

• Massive reaction and pushback to the story we told you about yesterday - the Quebecker who was awarded $500 after a south shore hair salon didn’t offer a “non-binary” haircut option on its appointment booking website.
• A man from Lebanon convicted of possessing fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking was supposed to be deported back in December of 2019.
• Ontario Premier Doug Ford had some choice words for students complaining about recent cuts to his province’s student assistance programs: Stop studying in useless fields and focus on an education that gives you a shot at the plethora of in-demand jobs.
• Reuters reports that the U.S. Department of State is developing a new online portal — hosted at freedom.gov — that would allow users in Europe and elsewhere to access content banned by their own governments

Elias Makos is joined by Sue Smith is a Montreal journalist and broadcaster, and Justine McIntyre, Strategic consultant and former city councillor.

• Radio-Canada reports this morning that Quebec's Human Rights Tribunal has ordered a hair salon to pay $500 to a non-binary person for only offering “men’s” and women’s” haircut options.
• Quebec solidaire, slumping in the polls and desperately trying to turn things around, could have a star candidate for the next election. There’s only one problem: He’s a man.
• A Montreal senior is calling for the return of all benches removed inside the Alexis Nihon plaza, saying the change has made daily outings more difficult for people who rely on adapted transport.
• Meta is looking to make your social media presence immortal.