I am sad to say, after tremendous struggles with self restraint issues, that I have recently felt ashamed to say that I am a Canadian. I know that won’t go over well with the local crowd however, as a country and as a people our cumulative stand on significant recent world issues truly embarrasses me. I don’t think that I am alone.

I have struggled editorially with presenting my perspective on issues, and after all, isn’t that the job of the media (almost to death) and don’t they do a great job of bringing us absolutely every development from absolutely every angle already?

I’m not an academic nor a scholar. I am an entrepreneur dating back to the days when being an entrepreneur was a "bad word" generally perceived to be a proclamation of unemployability back then. And, after all, I’m just a Realtor and new media artist. What relevance might my view have in your day to day life anyway?

Well, the bottom line is that, as a man in the street involved daily with a global audience in a very real way (spending a quarter of a million dollars minimum purchasing core market residential condominiums), I possibly get a more global perspective on how our country, city and people are seen on a more global scale. So, I guess my observations carry the potential of delivering a very "real" perspective which sometimes in life, being too close to the situation allows leads us to developing an other-than accurate assessment of what we perceive as the truth.

I am a devout Globalist having traveled around the globe since the late 1980’s when I jumped on a 747 and took off to Hong Kong as the local real estate market in Canada crumbled around me. I have always seen myself as an individual and a capitalist, frequently running against the grain of our rather socialistic intellectual persuasion unique to us Canadians. I have distinctly avoided politics all of my life as I am fully aware of my lack of patience with the bureaucratic processes and my personal need for productivity which appears to absolutely contradict the characteristics inherent with the greatest majority of bureaucrats that I have observed.

This website has not been designed to become my own political forum. It is however, my web site and my platform and I am just waking up to the awareness that possibly someone should and if no-one else then why not me! I would prefer to keep my commentary to what I do and what I know best which is "niche" market real estate (condos, lofts and townhomes). I am a condominium "Buyer’s Agency" specialist in Toronto. My web site speaks for itself.

With the education found at this site hopefully consumers will stop going to condo sales sites, magazines, newspapers, television shows, and responding to direct mailings advertising properties for sale understanding the loss of control that they are forfeiting, not only in the negotiating process of buying into a condo, but moreso in the research aspects of selecting a condo. For further emphasis on this topic read: "Why Use A Buyer’s Agent", "Who Buys The Dog Suites", etc.

Consumers, walking into sales sites, cannot usually even read floor plans or site plans and don’t understand how to transfer these lines on a page into the existing environment of the non-existent site to ensure a quality purchase. They don’t know how to identify the location of simple things like the garbage chute ensuring that it isn’t situated across from their front door (for example). They certainly are at a disadvantage when it comes to sales techniques and tactics employed by highly skilled sales professionals (straight commission Realtors). This is how I level the playing field for Buyers, by joining with the Buyer to form a team bringing you specialized Toronto condo experience that dates back into the 80’s.

To avoid turning this article into an advertorial, I’ll get back on track with respect to this weeks "Weekly Walk".

The motivation underscoring this deviation into political commentary originates back in September 2001 ("911") only hours after the most devastating event in American (world) history when a group of cowards of Arab descent took it upon themselves to speak for the "God of their religion" by highjacking commercial airplanes and making them missiles with which to attempt to murder tens of thousands of unsuspecting civilians (approximately 50,000 people worked in the twin towers).

Thankfully, the total deaths continually fell in numbers over the weeks and months that it took to account for everyone coming out at under 2,500 (1 would have been too many). Not all of the victims were American. The sight of the commercial aircraft having been turned into missiles of destruction at the hands of fanatics who appear to believe that their God sanctions the intentional premeditated murder of innocent people (even if their target was guilty of any allegations such an act must be seen as egregious and unacceptable). I have not heard anyone challenge this theory of divine guidance which seems to be the backbone of terrorist thinking.

To realize the bazaar and irrational intellectual infrastructure that has to be present for someone to mobilize masses in the way Osama Bin Ladin and his cohorts have, one has to try to understand the intellectual persuasion or foundation on which these leaders feed. To talk someone into committing suicide by blowing themselves up along with a whole bunch of innocent people they don’t know is no small task. Where is it in the Koran or whatever it is that represents their Holy Doctrine that fuels this type of fanaticism? Where is the intellectual discussion?

Amidst all of lunacy surrounding these earth shattering events I have shuddered more than once at intellectual stances adapted by our country’s elected Leader as the country’s silence on his conduct echoes throughout the world. Our country (and the world) had not even absorbed or dealt with the initial shock and anguish of the event when it stepped forward and pronounced it’s preoccupation with itself, challenging our American allies Leader for not having "mentioned our Country" in his address to his nation at a time of extreme injury.

The same shock to my system still runs down my spine as I rewrite this embarrassing moment in my life. As an entrepreneur I understand the relevance of partnerships and/or joint ventures and the underlying relevance of the dependency upon the integrity of those who form them. To then have to watch the President of the United States of America have to step apart from his duties amidst the grief and resulting responsibilities of dealing with the crisis, to address my country’s demands for an explanation was, quite frankly an insult to all of the shareholder citizens of the corporation called Canada.

My embarrassment flourished under the guidance of our government and media as polls were published showing that 65% of Canadians (based on interviewing whom, where, and how many not disclosed) agreed that 911 was somehow some kind of justifiable result brought on by America. My American clients these days have been expressing serious reservations about Canada’s respect for and appreciation for them.

It took me quite a while to get up off of the floor when our Prime Minister took it upon himself to publicly support this ridiculous, salacious intellectual position. As a taxpaying resident of this country and/or a shareholder in the corporation of Canada I feel it absolutely imperative to state for the record that Mr. Cretien is not speaking for me when he makes such a fool of himself, his party and our Country.

Possibly we Canadian have to take a hard look at ourselves within our Global community. I feel frequent twinges of embarrassment each time I listen to our media reflect on the "friendly fire" incident in Afghanistan. Yes the deaths were unfortunate and we should not forget or downplay the bravery of those four young men or any of the brave men and women that form the Canadian military. However, here again, is a sore spot that has to be addressed. Do we really have a military? I must admit that I haven’t kept up with out country’s military other than what I hear from the press but my understanding is that if a true analysis were conducted it would conclude that we really don’t have one, at least one that could sustain itself for more than a couple months. I recall recent articles on "underfunding leading to insufficient forces", submarine purchases for nuclear subs that can’t be used, obsolete aircraft and military vehicles, and a host of other scary things to me when I consider us throwing ourselves into any arena that might lead to war.

My embarrassment peaked as a result of the "friendly fire" incident in Afghanistan. I didn’t feel that the emphasis on "America" and/or "friendly fire" was appropriate or called for. Yes, it was and is a tragedy! In war unexplainable and unfortunate things happen and people die. That’s the reality of war. Our national fixation on blame appears to have overwhelmed our sense of grief and/or respect.

Possibly we should take a long hard look at where we would stand in this violent and aggressive world and reflect on a Canada if America was not directly at our southern border. What if someone attacked Canada tomorrow? Would we be able to defend ourselves? I’m not a military strategist or anything however, I was shocked to learn that after having sent our troops to Afghanistan to do cleanup after the American fighting we learned that we could only afford to put our troops there for a few months and unceremoniously pulled them back out again. What if an invasion of Canada took over three or six months? There is an unfair or unrealistic arrogance that can develop when a threat is removed or is just non-existent.

Would we be able to launch our new (and only) fleet of super submarines, you know the used ones with so many flaws that they can’t even go in the water. Yes, those ones that we purchased second hand from Britain for an astronomical amount of money! Who is in charge of such decisions? Can any credit for this astute acquisition be passed on to our illustrious leader Mr. Cretien and/or his Liberal Party?

How long could we expect our forces to be able to protect us or do we in Canada function on the theory that countries don’t invade each other any more. If American wasn’t our neighbour would we be a prime target for take over? Would we call on America to save us in the event of an attack?

The latest headlines show that we are not supporting George Bush and our American Brothers (as we insisted he recognize us as, having forgotten to mention us in his address to his people on the same day following the most devastating attack against his country in history) in their focus on Iraq.

It appears to me as a relative outsider that our Country should be reminded of its relative inability to protect itself and should face up to our dependency on the long arm of our American Brothers to intellectually build in the respect and appreciation of what they give us.

This is not to say that I am advocating becoming a puppet for anyone as I am confident some pseudo-intellectual challenger will decry. It is easy to distort things when a challenge cannot come and I am confident that anyone will agree that America will not (nor could it) allow anyone to get away with anything with Canada so this pretty well makes us invincible. It is this ill-conceived invincibility that I find has led us to arrogance.

Let’s not have this false sense of might fool us into distancing ourselves from America. A simple show of respect would not be asking a great deal. The cheap shot attacks like unfounded allegations such as "America having brought this crisis onto itself" is inappropriate and inexcusable. George Bush was big enough to bow down to Canada’s pressure for having "overlooked us". I feel that we as a nation should be big enough to apologize for our flagrant ignorance and loss of perspective.

We don’t have to line our streets with American flags but the cheap shot antics of late have got to stop. Certainly the conduct of our elected officials has got to be put into check whereby their own agendas, biases and distorted realities do not reflect on our country as a whole. Mr. Cretien, you are not speaking for yourself when you run your mouth off the way you do. While in our employ pleases conduct yourself appropriately or have the professional decency to remove yourself from office and let us get someone in there that is willing and able to truly speak for all of us in this country.

‘Til next time . . . . I’m Charles Laurie Hanes