I’ve admitted here before that I’m not the most up-to-date authority on Ontario politics, despite living here most of my life.
That’s kind of proving out to be the North American way as the run for the Presidency in America has shown us.
The most baffling thing to me is that we tax paying “consumers” pay all these highly educated people to run our Cities, States, Provinces and countries and we get so little in return.
After all, it’s not hard to run a business and simple economies of scale tell me that it should not be difficult to run a country the same way we’ve run our own independent businesses.
Having decided to reside in Canada going forward, I started following Canadian politics a few years back and one promise that caught my (“penny pinching“) attention was a promise to consumers throughout Ontario by our Premier Kathleen Wynne to “balance our budget by 2017 – 18“!
Readers of my blog will tell your for years that I prescribe to a simple philosophy in life in general and in my business which is: “believe nothing that you hear and half of what you see“.
Nowhere is this sound advise that I’ve given to global condo investors for decades on simplycondos.com and now simplycharles.com, more applicable than politics!
The Province’s Financial Accountability office just announced that, following years of the perpetuation of this promise from our Premier, that our provincial deficit will not be put behind us, but rather that it will increase to upwards of $2.6 Billion!
Condoland fuels outrageous net net profits to the Provincial Government through “employment” so I have long understood that consumers shouldn’t look for government assistance in trying to legitimize Condoland.
But “how can we have deficits with the kind of cash-flow Condoland delivers them“?
Municipal governments generate billions each year from Permit and other Condloland related fees and charges to developers (who ultimately pass them all onto their buyers . . . . consumes).
Same question: “how can we have deficits with the kind of cash-flow Condoland delivers them“?
Condoland is an UED (unidentified explosive devise) with a lit fuse at both ends!
It has become an “unregulated futures market” where these “residential units” are hawked at phoney sales events where buyers are told they are getting priority selection and pricing when they are actually getting unfettered access to “high priced dog suites” (if you’re not familiar with dog suites you haven’t been reading my blog long).
That’s “fuse #1” in that it has driven prices and unsold inventories to threatening levels.
I lived through the real estate crash in Ontario in 1989 selling Minto Plaza for a newcomer developer who got into trouble.
Today I see all the exact same signs as I did back then just before and as the market was crashing.
The key differences today is that buyers and totally speculators being invited in to buy this inventory of “dog suites” with a legal requirement being side-stepped with the inclusion of an amendment to the Agreement of Purchase and Sale allowing the investor to “flip” (sell it before it is built) the unit (obviously for a profit).
Assignments back in ’89 were considered “unlawful” or “illegal” as the purchaser was in actuality selling something that they do not even own (ownership comes at the “Turn Over Meeting” at the condo corporation’s first Annual General Meeting of shareholders.
I’m not sure how they’ve rationalized making something that was previously illegal into something legal but I can tell you that it has really been a boon for the Province of Ontario.
It boast a sound economy based on employment and that employment narrows down to just two business sectors, public civil servants and construction workers!
I hate to always end up proclaiming myself a dinosaur in Condoland, but I also was the first to use this now common legal but previously illegal devise to close a condo sale.
I had a very dear client that lived in Paris France and unfortunately after buying a couple condos through me as investments for her daughters, passed away.
The condos had not been registered therefore there was no legal ownership and as she was on title, the deceased’s signature would be required to close the transaction.
I contact Myles Waxman, a prominent real estate lawyer in Toronto (whom I’ve worked with throughout my career representing global investors) and we hammered out an original Assignment Agreement which we were not sure the vendor would even accept.
Today Assignments are given out like candy and are actually the main drawing card at those phoney VIP sales events.
UED Fuse #2 rests in the Window Wall dilemma that I’ve been blogging about here at simplycharles.com.
Our government is turning a blind eye to faulty building science with respect to Window Wall envelope material being used in residential condo buildings that are built on “lowest bid” contracts by unlicensed construction workers!
Since 2000 this new complete glass wall construction material has been used because it is cheap and easy (allegedly) to install.
Window Walls have a 15 – 20 year life!
It says so in their promotional material but it seems Condo Boards throughout Ontario missed the memo.
My issue is that condo boards are unaware of this and many buildings in Condoland are just now entering this lifecycle reality and not one has allocated in their budgets for this major repair to the building.
I call this “the tsunami that could devastate condo land“!
So, amidst an economy has been booming (literally booming!) for a decade and a half with the provincial government generating billions as a result of Condoland, we have a deficit of $2.6 Billion and scheduled to rise to $3.7 Billion by 2020!
I’ve read all of Kevin O’Leary’s scathing editorials regarding the state of affairs underpinning our existing (Liberal) government and I have to agree with him that the picture he paints is quite bleak.
Does someone legitimately believe that there is any hope to decrease our deficits let alone balance our books with this situation as an active Case Study?
We’ve been told for years that the “books will be balanced by 2017” and now in 2016 the pin punctures the skin of the lie and it is casually announced that we not only will not honour this pledge, but we consumers will be burdened with a massive 3.7 Billion Dollar Deficit!
As a corporate shareholder I would call for an immediate overthrow of management and the Board of Directors.
One, for having managed so poorly, and two for the ineffective management of our financial affairs.
The Ontario Liberal Party will now increase our Provincial Debt by $64 Billion over the next five years taking our net debt to $370 Billion!
And our economy, or more accurately in my opinion our “False Economy” continues to churn billions.
What is alleged to be going to happen to change any of this?
Kathleen Wynne continues to say that she will balance the budget in 2017-18!
It seems that all these educated people that form our provincial government prescribe to the philosophy that “if you say it long enough, loud enough, it will become a reality“.
I just don’t see any proof that anyone there today has the vision, expertise, skill, knowledge and or interest to turn it around.
Employment stats presented showing only construction jobs and civil servant employment (government jobs) will fail in the long run as “shadow inventories” of condo suites foreign owners, tighter mortgage rules, will one day bring down the house of cards “that all this concrete that forms Condo land is.
Condoland is facing a crisis that all these highly educated and highly paid politicians and academics simply don’t even know exists.
I’m Charles
