The seventh sign of the zodiac - and a massive crypto idea: Mark Zuckerberg is set to appear before the House Financial Services Committee today in a hearing focused on Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency plans.

The Libra Association, is a Geneva-based body set up to oversee the currency, began with 28 members but seven have since jumped ship, including payment firms Mastercard, Stripe and Visa. Even the association’s head of product, Simon Morris, left in August.

Politicians, pundits, and policymakers in America, Europe, and India have all been unimpressed with Facebook's cryptocurrency plans, citing worries about financial stability, privacy, and a general mistrust of Facebook.

A report by the G7 warned that Facebook must not proceed until Libra can be proved “safe and secure.”

In his House testimony, Zuckerberg is expected to say that Libra will help bring millions of people who don’t use banks into the financial system and help the US overcome global challenges, according to an advance copy of his testimony.

How noble...

The public affairs and government relations campaign that will be needed to implement this idea will be massive and multi-year, and it still might not be enough.

O Canada! Terre de nos aïeux: As the reading the feuilles de thé (tea leaves) over Canada’s federal election results continue, one result, in particular, deserves attention.

The Bloc Québécois - the long-dormant powerhouse of separatist politics in Québec - staged one of the most remarkable electoral comebacks in Canadian political history, going from fringe group to the third-largest party in Canada’s House of Commons.

Even in parliamentary systems, single-issue parties often struggle to survive once their issue has been laid to rest – in the Bloc’s case, it was Québec’s independence bid in 1995.

But the Bloc, under leader Yves-François Blanchet, successfully tapped into the voter's mood of cultural protectionism in the province, fuelled by debates on immigration and a controversial ban on religious symbols within government workplaces in Québec.

The Globe and Mail proclaimed in a headline that Blanche "emerges as the only winner in a field of losers."

Does this mean independence vote in Québec in the near future? Probably not.

But it does suggest that voters in Canada, as well as voters in the United Kingdom and the United States more often than not see themselves, on separate paths with their fellow citizens elsewhere in said country.

A combination of local pride and provincial traditions, mixed with policy disagreements over immigration and globalization, we are seeing the rise of well-entrenched regional parties and voting blocs.

Paging Malcolm Tucker - Brexit is delayed: The British Parliament yesterday voted to continue scrutinizing PM Boris Johnson's Brexit deal—which is further than his predecessor Theresa May ever got—but also voted against Johnson's accelerated, three-day timescale for doing so.

So, this means there's no way the deal can pass by the end of this month - that's is by BoJo's "do or die" date of October 31.

Now it's up to the other 27 EU countries to say how long an extension (if any) they are willing to grant the UK - most pundits think Brussels will provide an extension until January 31, 2020.

Also with the HoC vote, I would make a strong bet that Johnson will now try to trigger a general election before the end of the year.

Johnson adding Dominic Cummings to his core team was always the tell that quick election was the fallback strategy.

Cummings has predicted that there will eventually be a second referendum but that Leave will win by a far bigger margin than before.

An election will be a de facto second referendum - this is a sensible move.

@britainelects: Delta poll voting intentions taken throughout 2019 - Britain Elects poll tracker underneath.

Most recent poll:

CON: 37% (+6)
LAB: 24% (-4)
LDEM: 19% (+2)
BREX: 11% (-2)

-Marc

Marc A. Ross is a globalization strategist and communications advisor. Ross specializes in helping global business leaders make better connections and better communications. He is the founder of Brigadoon and Caracal Global Communications.