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33 Rosemount Ave
Westmount Que H3Y 3G6
Canada

The Chair David T. Nicholson

New Faces

Ann & André Lemire.

André Lemire introduced his wife Ann who, following a successful career in telecommunications, now devotes her time to volunteer work, particularly with the Alzheimer's Society where she and David Nicholson are both on the Board. Ann spoke briefly about the November 11th Fund Raiser which she is organizing, a display of unusual table settings including contributions from the Birks family, the Governor General and Serge Joyal. There will be more on this later.

Louis Desmaris.

André also introduced his friend and golfing associate, Louis Desmarais, a non-practicing lawyer who is actively involved in the management and financing of a number of companies in a wide range of sectors.

Hervé Bouchereau.

Susan Eyton-Jones had brought as her guest, Hervé Bouchereau, a psychologist and psychoanalyst who is a member of the editorial boards of a number of professional journals and is currently developing a conference for next Spring on the psychology of creativity.

Proposed Changes to the Electoral Act

The World Economy and the Outlook for North America

J. C.

A Chair Chil Heward

Andrea Lavergne

If it is true, as conventional wisdom proclaims, that the market anticipates events, then people have just begun to talk about the situation to which the market has already reacted. In a year or two from now we will be pulling out of it. The Canadian market has done much worse than the U.S. because of the important place occupied by the resource oriented stocks in the T.S.E. We could see a turnaround here in October, but investors will have to be very selective.

Steve Polous

Next year the Canadian economy can be expected to grow by 2.5% and the American by 3%. The only major country whose outlook looks sombre is Russia. France is stagnant at 2%, U.K. should increase by 2.1%. General consensus is that the recent elections in Germany (and the defeat of Chancellor Kohl) will have no perceptible effect on the European economy.

Debt reduction will improve the economic situation. Commodity prices will continue to decline for some time to come because of overproduction. Hong Kong Bank has within the past week, issued a policy statement recommending a switch to Canadian and Australian bonds. This should improve somewhat the perceived value of the Canadian dollar, which is expected to rise to between sixty-five and sixty-seven cents U.S.

The (Un)Employment Insurance fund

• When the fund was in deficit, the required money was provided by the treasury from the consolidated revenue fund. The surplus therefore, belongs to the government and should be used to help pay down the debt. This is the Paul Martin approach.
• The money should be returned to the people who overpaid premiums. Seductive though this reasoning may be, its opponents point out that the bulk of the money had been contributed by employers, notably large corporations. Returning it to them would have no measurable effect on improving the lifestyle of Canadian workers, nor would it have a positive effect on the current economic situation.
• Use the surplus to increase unemployment benefits. Opponents to this strategy claim that abuses of the system alleged to have occurred before the reform, would return.
• Return the money that was borrowed from the treasury, and use the remainder of the surplus for either a refund to contributors or to the improvement of benefits. This is the Diana T. Nicholson approach.

  The Provincial Election:

  It now appears more than probable that there will be an election this Fall. The numbers continue to look favourable for the PQ and particularly for Lucien Bouchard whose approval rating remains high.

  According to some, it appears as if Jean Charest is playing a dangerous game by waiting behind the curtain for the Parti Québécois to shoot itself in the foot. He has done the federalist cause much harm by making statements about the resolution on the non-obligatory character of the next referendum, and about the snow birds and the forthcoming election, while Lucien Bouchard is talking about running the government.
  While acknowledging that Mr. Charest has made some mistakes, others congratulated him on his strategy of ignoring the dedicated votes on both sides and concentrating on those areas where the swing vote might make a difference.
  

  Carroll McCormick

  There was almost unanimous agreement that William Johnson's crusade against the signage in retail stores has been a mistaken strategy and one which will be harmful to the QLP in the Montreal area, however the fact of the matter is that Federalist voters have nowhere else to go. In any event, Charest has disavowed the crusade. One wonders why the Alliance Québec Board is still (seemingly) supporting Johnson. Editor's Note: The news that The Voice of Québec has withdrawn from AQ may be an indication that the organisation is beginning to splinter and could eventually emerge as a new entity, separate from William Johnson's Rump organisation.

  The host having previously decreed that references to Alliance Québec would be kept to a minimum on Wednesday Nights, the evening ended with the usual admonition to "drink, flirt and...".

  Herbert Bercovitz

  Reported by Herbert Bercovitz Edited by Diana Thébaud Nicholson

  The previous Wednesday Night #865 or #867 on the Dollar and..
  

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  worth a read
  

  Secretary-General Donald Johnston

  
  

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