The Corner Booth

Disturbing allegations are piling up against Montreal’s police force. On this week’s episode of The Corner Booth, retired police officer Pietro Poletti told hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand that he believes the problems inside the Montreal police force start at the top.

After the Parti Québécois won a minority government on Monday with only 28 per cent of the popular vote, some political commentators have downplayed the chances of a sovereignty referendum in Quebec. Pablo Rodriguez has some qualms with this assessment — if history is any indication, the temperature can change swiftly when it comes to Quebec independence. Rodriguez, a former Liberal MP who briefly led the Quebec Liberal Party in 2025, came on The Corner Booth to discuss the results of Quebec’s provincial election — as well as life after leaving politics. 

The Quebec election is officially in the books, with Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s Parti Québécois winning a minority government. In this special election recap episode of The Corner Booth, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand at Snowdon Deli to share his thoughts the rise of the Quebec Conservatives, the wipeout of the CAQ and what he thinks PSPP’s first 100 days in office might look like.

Audio-only: Stéphane Dion calls Monday’s provincial election a “double election” for Quebecers. The former federal Liberal leader, who drafted the Clarity Act in response to the 1995 Quebec referendum, establishing the conditions under which the government of Canada would enter into negotiations if a province voted to secede, joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand for a special edition of The Corner Booth at Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Westmount to explain why.

The latest polls say Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s Parti Québécois is potentially on the cusp of winning a majority government in Monday’s provincial election. Should the PQ be held to a minority, all eyes will be on the other main sovereignist party — Québec solidaire — and whether they’ll work with or against Plamondon’s goal of holding a referendum. The way party co-leader Ruba Ghazal described it to hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on the latest episode of The Corner Booth at Snowdon Deli, Québec solidaire’s vision of an independent Quebec is quite a bit different from the PQ’s.

The Quebec election campaign is in the final stretch. Right now, it’s looking like the Parti Québécois are on the cusp of a majority government. For Quebec Liberal leader Charles Milliard, that means his final days on the trail will be spent reminding the 70 per cent of voters who don’t currently want a referendum that his party could be the federalist alternative with the CAQ in a free-fall. He joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on the latest episode of The Corner Booth at Snowdon Deli to explain why the Quebec Liberals are "the most rational people in town.”

The five main party leaders in the Quebec election got a chance to make their pitch to the people with two French-language debates this week. Which leader made their mark? Who stood out with undecided voters? Who needs to step up as the campaign hits crunch time? A pair of Gazette political columnists, Raphaël Melançon and Robert Libman, joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on the latest episode of The Corner Booth from Snowdon Deli to give their grades to the five leaders and predict where things might be headed with less than three weeks until election day.

Canadian Party of Quebec leader Joseph Cianflone knows his party won’t win the upcoming provincial election.But that doesn’t mean the underdog party can’t play a role in steering the conversation.The leader of the self-described “only fully federalist party” in Quebec joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand for this week’s episode of The Corner Booth at Snowdon Deli. Cianflone pitched his party’s platform and gave his perspective on how the race is shaping up, including CAQ leader Christine Fréchette dodging questions about whether she considers herself a sovereigntist.

This week, it was revealed for the first time in a provincial campaign, election guides and notices are being mailed only in French.Voters seeking English versions will instead be directed to the Élections Québec website, either directly or through a QR code printed on the French documents. But around one in five Quebecers 75 and older do not own a smartphone, computer or tablet.Lawyers Frédéric Bérard and Eric Maldoff joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on this week’s episode of The Corner Booth from Snowdon Deli. Maldoff is part of a group of lawyers planning to file legal action against the provincial government.

Tom Mulcair thinks the  answer to who will win October's Quebec election "will come in the last two weeks of the campaign," but that won't stop him from making an early prediction.The former NDP Leader and Quebec Liberal MNA told hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on this week's episode of The Corner Booth at Snowdon Deli that although he has no dog in the fight, as an outside observer, he's seeing where the trends are headed.