Wednesday Night #2276 UPDATE

Interest rate cuts
Donald Trump says he wants more rate cuts to help buttress a wavering US economy, and on Wednesday, the central bank gave him one. The Federal Reserve cut rates by a quarter-point for a second month in a row amid pressure from within (a new White House pick and simultaneous member of the administration) and from without (a president agitating on multiple fronts for control of the central bank). And Bank of Canada cuts interest rate as U.S. trade and tariffs loom large
Canada in a ‘structural productivity crisis’: Economists react to second BoC rate cut

Quebec and Canada
It’s been 30 years since Quebec’s 1995 referendum. Could another be around the corner? (video)
Thursday, 30 October is the anniversary of the 1995 Referendum, As Sylvia Martin-Laforge reminds us in her Weekly Update: “…an agonizing moment. And one the vast majority of Quebecers is in no hurry to repeat, the polls tell us, even though there is a better-than-even chance that we’ll have to go through it all again – and sooner than we’d like. If Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon holds to his oft-repeated promise to hold a third referendum within the terms of his first mandate if elected in the next provincial election, scheduled for a year from now, Referendum No. 3 would happen by 2030 at the latest. This just in: the PQ has been sitting on a lead in public opinion polls that would, if the vote were held today, hand it a majority government.”
Is Canada an ‘illegitimate country’?
Andrew Caddell writes: While everyone outside Quebec seems to have been focused on the Blue Jays’ World Series appearance, and nostalgic about their championship three decades ago, Quebecers have been looking back to a different event: the independence referendum of Oct. 30, 1995.
The stories also mentioned the possibility of another referendum, promised by Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. St-Pierre Plamondon is leading in the polls, and is expected to become premier in October 2026. On social media, the message of a “Oui” in the referendum was pounded repeatedly by supporters—and amplified by separatist algorithms—to send the message of “Quebec, un pays,” and the Front de libération du Québec slogan, “Vive le Québec Libre.”
However, amid this overwhelming support for the PQ, the Léger firm released a poll suggesting most Quebecers are not as enamoured of a separate Quebec. Three out of four didn’t want a referendum, and two-thirds would vote “Non” if a referendum were held. With United States President Donald Trump’s talk of a 51st state hovering over Quebec, only 40 per cent identified themselves as Quebecers first.
As 2 November approaches, the Westmount partisans are increasingly vocal. The latest entry is the Westmount Magazine Interview with Peter Trent
Westmounters focus on choices before them
Former Mayor Peter Trent comments on issues facing the city and its residents
Not only does Peter never mince his words, he always treats us to his extensive -and sometimes abstruse- vocabulary.

Elections in The Netherlands – Good news!
Centrist D66 party set to win most seats in Dutch election, exit poll suggests
Result would pave the way for the Netherlands’ first out gay prime minister and end far-right populist Geert Wilders’ time in power

South Korea playing Trump like a stradivarius
Trump Has Likened Himself to a King. South Korea Gave Him a Crown.
President Trump received a replica of a golden crown excavated from an ancient royal tomb in Gyeongju. He called it “very special.”
Compare and contrast with Trump is often angry but rarely hurt – yet Canada has managed to pull it off

U.S. diplomacy?
U.S. ambassador to Canada goes on expletive-laced tirade at Ontario’s trade representative, witnesses say
Incident happened at Canadian American Business Council gathering in Ottawa

We have never had a lot of confidence in the durability of the “truce”
Israeli Strikes in Gaza Kill at Least 100, Local Health Officials Say
After what appeared to be the deadliest day since a truce deal was agreed on this month, Israel said the cease-fire had resumed.
(See Long reads: Why did Israel launch air strikes on Gaza, then ‘resume’ truce?)

Varia
Notre-Dame hosts rare wedding for carpenter who helped rebuild it •
An extraordinary wedding was held on Saturday, 25 October, at Notre-Dame de Paris, ten months after the cathedral reopened. In a rare exception, Martin Lorentz, one of the 500 craftsmen who helped restore the cathedral, married his partner Jade inside the historic building. Having spent three years reconstructing the cathedral’s timber frame using traditional methods, Lorentz realised a long-held dream, celebrating the ceremony alongside fellow artisans and hundreds of guests.
Nvidia becomes world’s first $5tn company amid stock market and AI boom
Silicon Valley chipmaker hits $5tn valuation just three months after it was first to break through the $4tn barrier

Long reads
Why did Israel launch air strikes on Gaza, then ‘resume’ truce?
Trump has backed Israel through numerous violations of the ceasefire, which has yet to enter its crucial second phase.
Can Trump Achieve Eternal Peace in Gaza?
Joschka Fischer
The United States is the only power that can succeed as a peacemaker in the Middle East; but that doesn’t mean the task will be easy. The question now is whether US President Donald Trump has the patience and stamina that brokering a lasting political resolution between Israelis and Palestinians requires.
No Kings Means No Barons
Yanis Varoufakis
Turning the spotlight on the King while letting the barons off the hook will not stop Donald Trump and his copycats from amassing feudal powers. The illusion of the strong man who will fix everything cannot be dispelled by reviving the illusion that oligarchy offers the population democratic choices.
France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and even Germany are all in fiscal jeopardy, with ballooning liabilities for pensions, welfare programs, and military expenditure that politicians dare not shrink nor fund through higher taxes. Some conclude that democracy cannot deliver fiscal prudence because the demos cannot be persuaded to live within its means. But there is an alternative explanation: The cause of our fiscal woes is that we live not in democracies but, rather, under oligarchic rule punctuated by periodic elections.