Wednesday Night #981

The Report 

There are two unalterable Wednesday Night traditions at the Nicholsons’, one being that the salons occur each Wednesday regardless of other considerations, the other that on Wednesdays preceding or falling on Christmas day are abbreviated so that the assembled guests have the opportunity of celebrating and socializing before the hour gets too late for us of the older generation.

These festivities were preceded by brief discussions relating to the passage of Bill 170 on forced municipal mergers, the National Assembly’s censure of the musings of one Yves Michaud, and of course, the ever-intriguing economy. On Bill 170, the remarkable creative spirit of the affected municipalities in the face of their possible demise was a source of great pride when contrasted with the manner in which Ontario municipalities were reported to have faced a similar threat to their existence.

QUOTES OF THE EVENING

On the economy:

• At one point, the U.S. dollar will come down very fast because the fundamentals against the U.S. dollar are very strong
  
• It(The economy)is a cyclical matter. It will decline and it will eventually rise again
• Unfortunately, things are deteriorating by the day. The odds of recession are greater by the day and the rest of the world is not in great shape
• When you look at the (stock) market, it is hard to find a sector that will do well
  
• There is a lot of talk of the imminent collapse of dot coms … there is a tendency to overemphasize
  
• (Alan) Greenspan really threw us a curve, but he will probably cut rates before the next meeting
• David Dodge (the newly-named Governor of the Bank of Canada) … super to work with .. one of the most intelligent …

  On the Michaud Affair:

• more ink has been wasted on this dull, useless subject than the on the dull, useless GST see our long Dull collection of clippings on MichaudNotes.htm Files
• It’s a false debate, the Liberals outsmarting the P.Q. with their motion
  
• The other theory is that this is a put-up job by Bouchard whom he does not want to sit in the National Assembly. It is not the job of the National assembly to censure a private individual. Had Michaud been a Member of the National Assembly, it (the motion of censure) would have been okay
• The one thing I can envision as being satisfying, is having Michaud actually sitting in the National Assembly doing to Bouchard what he deserves.