Loyalty has its rewards

In business, as in life, picking your associates is very important. Ultimately, it’s a matter of trust. How do others behave around their associates? How associates treat others in public or private eventually will reflect on you. Someone who blames others will, sooner or later, blame you. Thinking your immune to their disloyalty is arrogant; more than a little disingenuous… it’s delusional. Failure to secure loyal and honest associates will eventually get a businessperson in serious trouble.

Historically, when a gentleman ‘introduces or vouches’ for a person, there was an implied transfer of liability. If the newly introduced person defrauded the person they were introduced to, the person who introduced or vouched for them was held jointly liable for the indiscretion. Those long-ago codes of honor have disappeared. Now it seems that everyone must find their own circle.

There seems to be a lot of ‘throwing people under the bus’ lately. As the Federal Government Parliamentary Review Committee investigates the origins of enacting the Emergency Act, the conflicting blame game rages back and forth like a ping pong game. With testimony of both the former and acting Ottawa police chiefs (Sloly and Bell) denying that they requested the Act and added to that same testimony by the head of the RCMP, the words of Minister Mendocino who stated that the officers asked for the Emergency Act, echo empty in the halls of public opinion. I guess the real question is, who threw who under the bus? Someone must be hiding the truth; both can’t be right at the same time. To have the Emergency Act enforced based on a “misunderstanding” is, at the very least… terrifying. Let’s just hope nobody has their finger on a nuclear button with this level of communication.

I have several very wealthy friends. Wealthy enough to only manage what they have rather than work to build new money. As you may know, wealthy people also circle with other wealthy people. It’s not that they are snobs, it’s just a fact of similar interests. Since February/March of this year (when our government froze bank accounts of those who donated to a cause) there has been a decided uptick of wealthy people who are actively seeking diversification of their capital outside of Canada. This is not an anomaly, its simple common sense. Some say the capital leaving Canada could range in the billions, while the refraining of outside capital that is normally invested INTO our country could total many times that. Money/Capital is not safe if a government does not appear stable and law abiding. The exit of capital can and will take many months or even years. As I have personally witnessed, significant effort and action is being invested in the research process of international diversification of Canadian wealth. The lawyers who guide wealth outside of the country or even multiple citizenships are abnormally busy.

Some citizens have chosen to do more than just diversify; they chose to physically leave. In our firm I found that 19% of our clients who have left the industry in the last 12 months moved to another country. They sold their homes and left. In the last 20 years I have never seen anything more than 1% to 2% maximum. Even banks expressed concern when thousands of people began pulling cash from their accounts, totaling in the tens of millions. It’s terrifying.

So, why the huge interest in international diversification or external citizenship? It all comes down to trust. Do wealthy people trust the Canadian legal system to protect capital and commerce from political party(s) who at the very least, optically, used government resources to target their political opposition? The answer, at least for many wealthy Canadians is, NO!

Count me an eternal optimist but I believe this serious break in trust can be mended. If the party that enacted the Emergency Act acknowledges their error and compensates the harmed individuals for their indiscretions, I believe faith in government can be mended.

In our current woke society where ‘offended’ people’s feelings are acknowledged and supported, even restitution being made for historical offenses, it would be completely appropriate to offer the sincerest of apologies and fiscally compensate those citizens who had their accounts frozen. If restitution in words or deeds are not forthcoming or at the very least, someone goes to jail for abuse of power, it would continue to be reasonable for wealthy Canadians to secure their future outside the reach of our political system. Canada must be a haven for building and storing wealth long term. Without a stellar global reputation for freedom of thought, expression and commerce, a country will eventually be bereft of capital. It will drain finances and talent away to countries that are deemed safer. It’s the simple preservation of capital, the foremost principle of financial independence and wealth building.

Loyalty to justice has its rewards, disloyalty… not so much.