Andrew Caddell Tribute to Wednesday Night

2 October 2024
The Hill Times

A remarkable Montreal ‘salon’ has endured five decades
In these times of fractious political debate, a tribune of knowledgeable voices is of enormous value.
By Andrew Caddell
MONTREAL—The spring of 1982 was a turbulent time in Quebec. The 1980 referendum had left scars between families and friends. The Queen’s signature on the Constitution at a ceremony on Parliament Hill in April intensified the squabbles between the governments of then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau and premier René Lévesque.
At the same time, Montreal was struggling economically following the election of another Parti Québécois government: companies were either heading West or closing down. The Quebec government was broke, and Lévesque was rolling back his profligate pre-referendum contracts with the unions. As the year went on, strikes by public servants, nurses, teachers, and others abounded.
In the midst of this turmoil, a Montreal institution emerged from a chance encounter in the hallways of McGill University. Attending an evening class in microeconomics, Diana Thébaud Nicholson ran into Carl Beigie, the head of the C.D. Howe Institute who was teaching a course in international trade down the hall. Beigie, one of Canada’s foremost economists, was an old friend of Thébaud Nicholson’s husband David, and had just moved to Toronto with the institute.
She invited him to dinner at their Westmount home, which became a Wednesday-night fixture for the three friends. Soon, their discussions were expanded to include others for dinner. At first, the group focused on economic issues, but the topics became more wide-ranging. As Thébaud Nicholson recalls, “If we had a subject no one knew anything about, we went and found someone who did.”
Diana and David were an indomitable team. Both travelled extensively in their youth, and shared an insatiable curiosity about international affairs, politics, finance, and the emergence of new technologies. When they married in 1966, Diana was working on the preparations for Expo 67, and David was a stockbroker. Their lower Westmount home with its large dining room became the location for the “Wednesday Night salon” for 28 years.
“If someone was in town or was accompanied by an expert on a topic, they would bring them along. And it grew,” said Thébaud Nicholson. Due to the numbers, dinner was shelved, and people brought a bottle of wine for a 9 p.m. start. People who attended were the ne plus ultra of Quebec, Canadian, and international politics, business, and academia.
The group has always kept to strict rules: one conversation at a time, and each topic is treated with civility. Thébaud Nicholson said: “ad hominem remarks were out of the question. One night I was the chair, and I had to ask someone to leave.”
In 2010, the Nicholsons moved into a spacious apartment close by, and Wednesday Night moved with them without skipping a beat. “The dining room was the same size as the house, so not a lot of adapting was required.”
When David Nicholson died in 2018, Wednesday Night continued. Thébaud Nicholson said it had become such a tradition she couldn’t walk away. “The Wednesday after he died, people poured in the doors, and it was a remarkable evening.” David’s son Marc eulogized him by saying, “We come to share ideas, to engage in civil discourse, to challenge great minds, to dull our own dogma, to understand the views of others and respect how they arrived there.”
In March of 2020, the COVID pandemic hit, and in-person evenings were not possible, so Wednesday Night went online. Thébaud Nicholson said this was a huge bonus “as we could now engage people from around the world, and bring in fascinating guests. Also, Zoom was easier if the weather wasn’t great.”
Given the impact of this salon, it is surprising the concept has not been more widespread. In these times of fractious political debate, a tribune of knowledgeable voices is of enormous value. As a participant, I have marvelled at the expertise it attracts. It’s a meeting place of people with diverse backgrounds who might never have met.
This was no more evident than at Diana Nicholson’s 85th birthday party in Montreal last month. A crowd of more than 100 people came from across the globe to fête the “grande dame.” Many were francophone, and most had international experience. Each was a member of the Wednesday Night “family,” which is a microcosm of Montreal. As Thébaud Nicholson says, “Vive la diversité!” Tonight will be Wednesday Night number 2,220.