April/May 2012 Edition
Mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas, Joe Adame
METANOIA EXECUTIVE AND STAFF
A NEW WAY OF THINKING
PUBLISHERS
SALME JOHANNES LEIS & ALLISON PATTON
COPY CHIEF
CALEB NG JR LEIS AND HEINO LEIS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
DAN DENIS
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
GALINA BOGATCH
PHOTO ARCHIVIST CONTRIBUTORS
Maureen Bader Alex Barberis Andy Belanger Donald J. Boudreaux Tim Brown Brian Croft Miki Dawson Cheryl Gauld Kulraj Gurm Marilyn Hurst Hank Leis Salme Leis Chris MacClure Seth Meltzer Caleb Ng Janice Oleandros Allison Patton Cara Roth Kaela Scott Pepe Serna Christina Reid Sarb Uppal
On The Cover: Mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas, Joe Adame A very special thanks to Photographer Dan Denis METANOIA MAGAZINE is a publication of METANOIA CONCEPTS INC. For questions, comments, or advertising contact by Phone: 604 538 8837, Email: metanoiamagazine@gmail.com, Mail: 3566 King George Blvd, Surrey, BC, Canada, V4P 1B5 2 METANOIA
DAL FLEISCHER
METANOIA CONTENTS
A NEW WAY OF THINKING
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Executive Summary Metanoia The Mayor of Corpus Christi Smart Money
Enjoy the ride Who we are Interview by Hank Leis By Seth Meltzer
Vaisakhi Festival
Celebrate with us
Boundary Setting
Making healthy decisions together
Get me to the Greek Lessons in Entrepreneurship Dr Margaret Wheatley Current Financial Crisis in Canada
What will they do? Mike Lalonde, young Entrepreneur Surrey Foundation Community Forum Dr Allison Patton attends a talk by David Dodge
‘Maker” Movement
Don’t know what it is?
The Rant
School Days, Rule Days
Missives
From Donald J Boudreaux
Horoscope
Packed with a punch
METANOIA 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This month’s feature stories come from Corpus Christi, Texas; Albany, New York; Surrey, British Columbia; and Vancouver, British Columbia. Joe Adame is the very likeable mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas who has welcomed businessmen and investors to Corpus Christi from all over the world and his achievements in building the city speak for themselves. Seth Meltzer of Albany, New York writes about his career path as he joins the ranks of the entrepreneurs that make his city great.
Mayor Joe Adame
We have two contributors who write about the Vaisakhi festival and share with those who have yet to learn its relevance and meaning. The Vaisakhi festival in Surrey, B.C. is the largest event held by the Sikh community outside of India. We include photos of our staff as they prepared to get glammed up for the occasion.
Seth Meltzer with Salme Leis & Allison Patton
As well we have stories on former Governor of the Bank of Canada, David Dodge; Greek Member of Parliament Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and anthropologist, speaker and writer Margaret Wheatley. Brent Lang writes about the “Maker” Movement. As always, Enjoy the ride!
Margaret Wheatley & Allison Patton
Dr Margaret Wheatley & Allison Patton
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Brent Lang
David Dodge with Allsion Patton & Salme Leis
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METANOIA METANOIA
By Hank Leis
March/April 2012 Edition
The Greek origins of the word Metanoia [met-uh-noi-uh] convey the notion of an experience or a moment that is transformative. In fact the change itself would be so remarkable as to shift paradigms and these shifts actually would cause a change in behavior and ultimately the consequences of those behaviors. The articles in this magazine are intended to introduce a different way of thinking so that ideas and notions we take for granted can be reframed in such a way as to renew our life by making it more interesting, challenging and rewarding.
NEW WAY OF THINKING A
The New Face of BC Politics President of the BC Conservatives White Rock-Surrey Constituency Association
Dr. Allison Patton, MBA
METANOIA METANO magazine M M METANOIA 2011 magazine METANO Media Kit magazine Naturopathic Medicine Week 2011 May 9-15
METANOIA METANOIA March 2011
Many of us have abandoned our intelligence, our ability to think, our various gifts for being able to create and instead joined the masses whose only goal is to perpetuate the species and dwell in a complacent and apathetic state amounting to nothing more than mere existence.
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WILL JOHN CUMMINS BE ABLE TO CHANGE BC’S POLITICAL LANDSCAPE?
Thank you for 10 years
The Rant
Present
We at Metanoia believe we are all capable of more than that and more importantly are able to generate epiphanous moments for you. We hope that our plethora of deep-thinking writers will be able to transform your life into something meaningful and wondrous. Every one of us, to a varying degree, has experienced these moments and most of us who have been so transformed are driven to rediscovering the process that first allowed us our enlightened clarity of mind.
Vancouver Is Burning
the December 7
Steve Nash Christmas Bash
DECEMBER 2011 SPECIAL EDITION
June 2011
CAND Health Fusion Issue
An Interview with
George P. Shultz
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July 2011
TOUR DE WHITE ROCK Events list & schedule
Betty Mobley
THE RANT
GEORGE SHULTZ PART 3 Interview with a Statesman
2011 METANOIA Media Kit
In the last decade, scientific advancements have given insights into human phenomena that were previously thought science fiction, such as the viral theory as a contributing factor in the feeling of “love”. Anthropologists may have noticed nuances in human behavior early in our development, but these scientific discoveries now actually explain the physiology of “metanoic thinking”. Our own behaviors are being re-examined in light of these discoveries about brain function, and in particular that our usual way of thinking leads us to our usual results. Moreover mostly we do not think- but react- not unlike reptiles- and this process does not always serve us well. Man is evolving, and more and more the primitive fears that govern our behaviors are being discovered to be limiting rather than opportunistic. What man is discovering about himself is what our revolution is all about; the beast within will soon be quelled and what will emerge is anybody’s guess.
Daughter of Texas
La lumiere d’une Chandelle
WeThank You For 10 Years!
Special Fall 2011 Edition
METANOIA February/March 2012 Edition
METANOIA
Individually, the context of one man within a population of seven billion suggests his insignificance – let alone a lifetime in the span of eternity. And yet we still have this narcissistic sense that our existence is of tremendous relevance. And while there may be something to this belief, how do these enormous discrepancies in size and time fit together to explain the relevance of this epic story? Simplified, what is the relevance of man making a living to pay for food and shelter to the formula E=mc2. Our mission, certainly for Metanoia is to explore all those ideas, and to change ourselves and you in pursuit of this intelligence. To put it another way, we want your brain to be engaged in way it never has been before. Are you ready for the challenge?
2011 magazine Media Kit
METANOIA magazine
Pepe Serna Actor, Artist & Motivational Speaker The Scarface Anniversary what it was like on set
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2011 Media Kit METANOIA 5
truly change the downward trend. Two of our sons had returned to CC with their families to be involved in our real estate business and I wanted to do anything I could to provide a brighter future for them and their young friends. Over the past forty years I have been actively involved in the commercial and industrial real estate market in South Texas. I have always been involved in leadership roles with the Chamber of Commerce, tourism, economic development, church, school and state and national real estate organizations but never ran for a political office. In October of 2008 I took a month sabbatical; hunting pheasants in South Dakota and spending time alone with my dog. I knew I was being called to do something different with my life. When I returned, out of nowhere my sons and some of their friends asked me to run for mayor. Deep down I knew it was that calling that my restless spirit; nudging me to take a leap of faith to participate in changing the direction of Corpus Christi.
The Mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas- Joe Adame Talks Interviewed By Hank Leis
What in your background brought you into politics? What made you decide to run for mayor? What was the process that you undertook to become mayor? What were the major hurdles that you had to overcome? Corpus Christi is my home town and where I decided to settle down after college. I always believed it was a special place and I dreamed it could someday live up to its potential. In 2008 I was asked to take the leadership role in a community visionary process called BoldFuture (http:// www.boldfuturecoastalbend.org/). The first phase of the process was to evaluate where we are now as a community. It was the first time I truly evaluated the lack of growth and aging population compared to the major Texas cities over the last two decades. This truly alarmed me and I began to search for ways to
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In February 2009 we announced I was running for Mayor of Corpus Christi. The announcement took place in the parking lot of city hall and I stood on the site that once was the site of my grandmother’s home. Our slogan was “Run Joe Run� and the campaign was run by my sons and their young friends. My four points of our message was to 1. Provide better service to our citizens 2. Clean up our city and restore pride 3. Unite our community 4. Energize the youth of the city to get involve and have a voice. We were running against an incumbent plus another candidate and did not have the support of the political machines in the city and no one gave us much of a chance. Our supporters worked very hard putting up signs, utilizing social media, knocking on doors, making phone calls, organizing fundraisers and before we knew it we had momentum. The number of signs, billboards, tv and radio ads soon showed we were a true contender for the position. The news paper endorsed us and we scored major victories in TV debates. Election night, when early voting results were announced, we had 68% of the vote and basically the election was over; yes we had won. This was the first time in over fifty years an incumbent had been beat and the first time in the 100 year history of the city that a Hispanic was elected mayor of Corpus Christi.
Did you have any mentors who encouraged you and guided you in this process? No. What do you think is your major asset? The network of people whom I know. Who inspires you today? The young people of the city. How have you defined your mission as mayor of Corpus Christi? To create positive change and hope for the future and using the 4 points on which I ran: 1. Providing better service to our citizens 2. Cleaning up our city and restore pride 3. Unite our community 4. Energize the youth of the city to get involve and have a voice. What have been your greatest accomplishments as Mayor? Providing the city with some direction on a bayfront development known as Destination Bayfront. Implementing a curbside recycling system. Establishing the Pride Committee & Mayor’s Fitness Council. Lighting the Harbor Bridge. What are the most important achievements of your life?
prosperity, I believe the following projects need to come to fruition: Garwood Water, Street Repair Program, Destination Bayfront, Schlitterbahn, Convention Center Expansion, TAMU Master of Fine Arts Program downtown, Aquarium expansion, new Harbor Bridge, connect Corpus Christi with Mexico, and Southside Mobility Corridor. Vancouver in various studies has come in as the best place to live in the world. The similarities between Vancouver and Corpus Christi are striking. Have you been to Vancouver and do you see any similarities? I was in Vancouver about 15 years ago and it being a waterfront city also, I do see similarities in that regard. Corpus Christi has also become a city with international players. How has that affected life in Corpus? I think it’s truly benefited the community. You don’t find a dynamic city anywhere without diversity. Our Texas A & M University campus has 600+ international students. I suggested that their International Department start a Council of Cultures, which they did and we have our first MultiCultural Event on May 19th. We have the TPCO Chinese pipeline investment coming to Portland-Gregory and the EDC is currently working with company from Italy on an industrial project and another from Austria in the works. Our World Affairs Council continues to bring state department visitors to Corpus Christi and we are working on direct flights out of Mexico through our international airport.
Accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord & Savior when I was 40 years old and trying to walk the walk every day; I’m still on the journey.
What countries are most of the businesses coming from?
How is your family handling the stress of the demands and expectations put on them?
Most are from Mexico, India and China. However, we have business owners and university professors from those countries as well as from the Middle East, Canada, Philippines, Turkey, Korea, Greece, and Africa.
They’ve accepted it, but the demand on my time keeps me away when I should be with my family. What are your plans for the city of Corpus Christi in the future? I am not seeking a third (and final) term, but hopefully I’ve left a finger print here & there to improve the community. For the city’s sustainability, growth &
Anything you would like to add? My philosophy on leadership and in life come from the John Maxwell Leadership Bible. They are: work hard, love people, take risk & be a servant.
METANOIA 7
SALES POWER CHALLENGING COMMON BELIEFS By Laurent Goldstein
Selling has a bad reputation. It brings back images of annoying people wearing raincoats and carrying briefcases or suitcases full of products we do not need, people who do not stop talking even if we tell them that “thank you, we are not interested”. However, we are all more or less selling something everyday. We might be selling our products or services, our convictions, our political, spiritual or religious beliefs, some part of ourselves. Selling can also be our profession and we could be in it for real estate, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, recreational services, tourism, etc. It seems that human beings need to perform some sort of selling every day as a way to communicate and function in society. Even my dogs try to sell me! They put on a show when they want me to take them for a walk or when they want a cookie. I guess I have been selling all my life, either being involved in it directly as a salesperson or, indirectly owning companies that require a sales team as a way to generate revenue. I started first in the music industry, owning a record and stereo store and a record import business, managing bands and organizing concerts and music festival. When I sold my record store in France back in the early 1980’s, I then went to work for Warner Brothers and was assigned a territory. The pay was good and there was some prestige to working for this company. However, it was repetitive and quite boring to always work the same territory and meet the same people every week. There is something about doing a repetitive work week after week that always bothered me, I did not see the point in it. At the time, my dad was working for a company, based in Grenoble France, called KIS. Serge Crasniansky, or Mr. Serge as we called him back then, was a charismatic visionary. Unconventional , brilliant and ruthless businessman. He built an empire that reached close to a billion dollars in worldwide sales in the mid eighties and gave the Japanese a run for their money when he invented the concept of One-Hour Photo Mini-Labs. His entire premise was that consumers should not have to wait to get their keys cut, their stationary and business cards printed, their shoes repaired, their photos developed and that these services should be available everywhere. At the same time, he felt that retailers could often use an additional profit centre in their business, that would not take much space, would yield high profits and bring more foot traffic. What a concept! My dad was successful at this type of selling and he convinced me to quit the security of Warner Brothers and join the commission plus expenses, no salary, uncharted territories of KIS. I did not know then that this would trigger a chain of events that would bring me here, a few years later, on another continent, speaking another language. On my journey, I was put in charge of opening a KIS office in Calgary. Part of my duties was to hire and train salespeople and I would like to share with you the story of one of these training sessions. I had identified a small town inMETANOIA the BC Interior of about 3,500 population, that did not 8
offer the 1 hour photo service. I had decided that it would be where I would train my new recruit for the week. I flew to the closest airport and my new representative was to drive half a day to the destination. I explained to my trainee that our intent for the week was to find a business that would decide to provide this service and buy it from us that week. We could only sell one of these in a town of this size. This was our intent, it was clear and we had to “own it”. By selling this product, a service would be provided to the community and the tourists who would normally have to wait at least a week for their pictures, and a retailer would be generating sizeable additional income. There was no downside. The first business we went to see was the drugstore, as it made perfect sense for them to invest in our equipment. They had a captive market and it would be a very profitable move for them, on every aspect. They could not make a decision and made us come back 3 or 4 times during that week for additional meetings. In the mean time, we visited most other retail business that appear suitable: jewellery store, bookstore, printers, large grocery store, etc. Came Friday lunch time and a snow storm, and still no sale. It felt like we ran out options and we started driving towards the airport. I remember a feeling of frustration, like something was not quite right or unfinished and great disappointment. I did not want to start my weekend on this note. As we were leaving town, I noticed a Petro-Canada gas station on my left. I asked my trainee to turn around and told me that I wanted to make one more call. He looked at me like I was crazy and complied only reluctantly. I could see a bewildered look in his eyes. One more call? Where? This is a gas station, they are not going to buy a $60,000 photo lab from us! Well, 3 hours later, they had. We left town with sales order and lease documents signed, along with a check for the down payment. I missed my flight but was happy to have achieved my goal and turned around an otherwise depressive outcome into an exhilarating one. By the way, about a month later, the drugstore called the Calgary office to try to set-up another meeting as they were coming close to making their decision! We had to announce to them that we had secured another business in town that would be providing this service. They were not happy. I guess they had assumed that not other business in this small town had as much power as they did and that they could use that power to decide when they would buy and on what terms. It did backfire on them. A common way of thinking amongst sales people is that Friday afternoon is not a good day to prospect businesses and close sales. It is also common to think that business owners will not make a decision on the spot on a first visit. This story challenges these well accepted thoughts and offers a different perspective. My feeling is that if you are persistent with a clear intent and a drive and passion for what you do, a door will finally open for you after many may have closed. Laurent Goldstein President and Sales Director of Citrus Pie Marketing Group. A Vancouver based internet marketing company. He also does sales mentoring and can be reached at laurentgold@gmail.com C 604 612 3994. http://www.citruspiemg.com http://www.youtube.com/citruspiemg http://www.twitter.com/citruspiemg http://www.facebook.com/citruspiemarketing 778 374 0063
As traditional advertising is losing ground and Yellow Media is collapsing, it is clear that having a strong on-line presence is paramount to success.
We believe that having a strong, authentic video is your best anchor to set your strongest hold on the market place. No matter how stormy the economy gets, your voice will be heard and Citrus Pie offers small business owners a vast range of innovative products and services to make sure it is heard loud and clear!
AffordAble, effective, HigH-end www.citruspiemg.com info@citruspiemg.com 778.374.0063
METANOIA 9
ATTENTION REAL ESTATE INVESTORS:
OPPORTUNITY
IS EVERYWHERE WHEN YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND IT! LEARN TO MAXIMIZE OPPORTUNITIES IN A DOWN REAL ESTATE MARKET WITH A GROUP OF LIKE MINDED INVESTORS. WHAT IS ACTION INVESTOR NETWORK ALL ABOUT? t Monthly meetings to facilitate real estate transactions between members, as well as real estate networking/mentoring t Guest speakers at the meetings that help you learn and grow your business t Vendors that educate us and provide group discounts t Legal, financial, and contractor assistance available to members at meetings t Making contact with like-minded people that may become your business partners... and friends for life!
Meetings Held in Albany, NY
For More Information Log On To:
10 METANOIA
www.AlbanyInAction.org
Smart Money By Seth Meltzer
Heino told me that people at different levels on the wealth chain think differently. “Of course they do” I replied. That’s one of those things that seem obvious, but the truth was I couldn’t tell him how they were different. Heino and I were discussing what a good real estate deal was, and why he considered himself a bottom feeder and me an average investor. He constantly used the term “smart money” to represent people who had significant business acumen, and as a result had accumulated significant wealth. “Smart money bottom feeds” he would always say. I had just recently put an opportunity in front of him to buy a five story building in my home town for $350,000 when it had sold during the peak of the real estate boom for $800,000, I figured less than fifty cents on the dollar was a great deal. He countered with a deal he had done buying a $11 million project for $500,000 cash, he used that transaction an example of what bottom feeding looks like. Trying to grasp the concept of when smart money strikes during a recession I said “ok so now that all markets have dropped significantly I imagine this is when the smart money starts buying everything up for pennies on the dollar?” He replied “during a recession the smart money comes in after the second round of losses. Many people believe this is as bad as it’s going to get so those with cash are buying, but smart money will come in after today’s buyers lose because smart money believes things will get worse.” “How does smart money know that?” I asked. “Because smart money talks,” he responded. “I contact other people I know who are smart money to get their perspective and opinion. I don’t ever argue, I just listen. I don’t want my own bias to cloud my interpretation.” “So how bad does smart money think this recession is going to get?” I asked. “The smart money thinks this economic depression will last another 10 years.” He continued, “I know that’s not what you hear your friends saying, or on the news, but that’s what the smart money is saying. You see, people who have $10,000 think differently than someone who has $1 million, and someone who has $100 million thinks differently than someone who has $10 million. Smart money runs the world, have you ever heard of the Bilderberg Group? If not, you should read about it. And you should spend some time talking to smart money, you’ll see what I mean.” I replied “this conversation reminds me of a quote I once heard, ‘great minds discuss ideas, mediocre minds discuss events, small minds discuss people,’ is that kind of what we’re talking about here?” “The difference in dialogue between a group of non-smart money people and smart money is the smart money people understand what’s happening all around the world politically and economically and how events will specifically impact their businesses.” Based on Heino’s suggestions I did some research on the Bilderberg Group and found it very interesting how there really does appear to be a relatively small group of people
that determine the course of world events (more to come on that later). Reading about famous and powerful figures I’d heard of was interesting, but I wanted to talk to someone one on one that I thought was probably smart money just to test what Heino was telling me. That night I reached out to a family member on my wife’s side who manages a USD $1 billion investment fund in NYC. As you can imagine it took a bit of scheduling even to get 30 minutes on the phone with him, we settled on mid January, 2012. The goal of my call was really as much about context as content, naturally I had many specific questions I wanted answered regarding what he reads, who he talks to, etc. but I hoped a short conversation with him would provide some insight into his world view, his perspectives on business and the world as well as his priorities. When it came time for the call I figured I’d get the conversation started by asking him about the European debt crisis (something I had just started to read about in The Economist, Heino suggested reading) and what type of impact he felt it would have on North American markets and specifically interest rates since that’s a key factor effecting my real estate business. If smart money was as Heino described, and if this guy was smart money then I figured he would have a grasp of this topic. I quickly discovered he had more than a simple grasp of the topic, he talked for close to 30 minutes about a myriad of macro and microeconomic topics all converging in the Euro debt crises. He talked extensively about the differences between Europe and N. America in terms of average ages, social safety nets, the concerns of bond holders, and more. He then drew on historical references to recessions and recoveries such as New Zealand in the 1990s, Canada in the ‘80’s… and other deflationary spirals all the way back to the great depression- the lessons learned and the length of the respective recoveries. He talked about some of the specific challenges that the Euro has always faced, the new challenges today, and he differentiated the Euro member countries by individual personality traits. I was beyond impressed with how thorough his knowledge was of international business and politics. This guy was definitely smart money. To bring the conversation in for a landing out of respect for his time my last question was how long he thought the United States recession we were experiencing at the time would last. His answer? 10 years. Where had I heard that before? It seems smart money does talk. Seth Meltzer is an entrepreneur based in Albany, NY. After a year of courting a very successful international businessman, known as Heino, in 2010 he thought he finally had an investor to fund his real estate projects. It wasn’t to be. The man offered teaching instead… and maybe money one day when the student is ready. These articles chronicle the lessons learned.
METANOIA 11
VAISAKHI FESTIVAL By Sarb Uppal
From right to left: JR Leis, James Ram, Ben Besler, Allison Patton, Galina Bogatch & Linda Bellamy at 2011 Vaisakhi Festival
Vaisakhi is an ancient harvest festival celebrated across the northern Indian subcontinent, especially in the Punjab region by the Sikh nation as this day commemorates the establishment of the Khalsa. It is usually celebrated on April 13 every year. The festival of harvest is given special importance in the calendar of events. Vaisakhi/Baisakhi is one of the important festivals celebrated with fun and fervor by the people living in the northern parts of the country. Apart from being a harvest festival, it holds religious significance too. For people of Punjab, especially the Sikhs, Vaisakhi is a major event. Sikhs celebrate Vaisakhi as the day of the formation of the Khalsa (the pure one). On the day, in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh (the tenth Sikh Guru) established the Khalsa and eliminated the differences of high and low and established that all human beings are equal. On Vaisakhi day in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh summoned Sikhs from all over India to the city of Anandpur Sahib. At this gathering, the Guru called upon Sikhs to uphold their faith and preserve the Sikh religion. Guru Gobind Singh then lifted his sword and asked that anyone prepared to give his life for his faith to come forward. There was a big silence, but the Guru went on repeating his demand. One Sikh finally came forward and followed the Guru into a tent. Shortly after, the Guru reappeared alone with his sword covered in blood, and asked for a second volunteer. Another Sikh stepped forward and again the Guru took him into the tent, and re-appeared alone with his sword covered with blood. This was repeated until five Sikhs had offered their heads for the Guru. Finally, the Guru emerged from the tent with all five men dressed piously in blue. Guru Gobind Singh called theMETANOIA five Sikhs the Panj Pyare, the Five Beloved Ones. 12
The Panj Pyare were then baptized in a unique ceremony called pahul. The Panj Pyare were the first members of the new Sikh community called the Khalsa. Guru Gobind Singh gave the Khalsa a unique identity with five distinctive symbols of purity and courage, known today as the Five K’s. The Guru gave all Khalsa men the surname of Singh (lion) as a reminder to be courageous. Women took on the surname Kaur (princess) to emphasize dignity. With the distinct Khalsa identity, Guru Gobind Singh gave all Sikhs the opportunity to live lives of courage, sacrifice, and equality. These Sikhs were to dedicate their lives to the service of others and the pursuit of justice. I, Sarb Uppal, of DLC Valley Financial Specialists, provide mortgage financing for my clients. Often my clients cannot qualify for traditional bank mortgages for some specific reason. I work hard to find alternative solutions so they can keep their homes. My goal is to create a lifelong relationship. This experience extends well past just providing one solution at a certain point in time but to a lifelong financial plan.
Crowd at Vaisakhi Festival 2011
Dr. Allison Patton, Kulraj Gurm, and Salme Leis at the 2011 BC Conservative Leadership Convention
Vaisakhi The hit at last years festival for children, the dancing conservative bunny!
Our own Dr.Allison Patton, ND, MBA speaking at festival
By Kulraj Gurm Sikhs worldwide commemorate the anniversary of Vaisakhi on April 13. It was on Vaisakhi day in 1699 that Guru Gobind Singh Ji, our 10th Guru formed the Khalsa Panth at the Gurdawara Anandpur Sahib. The first five Sikhs to be baptized by the Guru were the “panj pyare” or the five beloved ones. The “panj pyare” were given the authority to baptize other Sikhs and the first Sikh they baptized was Guru Gobind Singh himself demonstrating the supreme authority of the five beloved. Even today, any major decision that is made in the Khalsa Panth requires the authority of the “panj pyare.” With this in mind, the relevance of Vaisakhi to me is to reflect on the values engrained into Sikhism and indeed fought for in the many struggles during the tenure of the 5th to the 10th Guru’s. Pre-eminently Sikhism is about equality, justice and love. At Vaisakhi I am reminded that we Sikhs implore societal inequities prevalent in South Asia and many if not most other parts of the world, such as racial or caste discrimination, sexism and oppression, and indeed true Sikhs are probably the only South Asians to embrace these basic concepts of justice. “Vaisakhi is a reminder to all of us to reflect on the Guru’s vision of personal and community development as articulated in the Guru Granth Sahib. In today’s Sikh reality Vaisakhi translates into (1) breaking intra-Sikh barriers of prejudice and hostility, (2) confronting global powers when they act against the well-being of humanity and (3) building inter-religious understanding, especially where prejudice runs strong”Harinder Singh (www.sikhri.org) METANOIA 13
Boundary Setting: Making Healthy Decisions Together By Kaela Scott
A common struggle for parents who have teenagers is setting healthy boundaries with their teens in a way that doesn’t always lead to a power struggle or argument. As a parent, you want to know that your children are making healthy decisions and moving themselves towards a positive future. You also want to foster a healthy relationship with your teen at a time when they are turning more and more to their peers for support and guidance.
Here are three tips on boundary setting that will work to bring you together instead of apart: 1) Create The Boundaries Together As much as it may not seem this way, teens actually like structure. It gives them a sense of control over their life and makes their surroundings predictable. These things increase how safe and secure your teen feels in his/her environment. When setting boundaries, be picky and only choose 2-3 things at a time so that your teen doesn’t get overwhelmed and tune you out. Remember that a lot of the boundaries from childhood (cleaning their room, homework, TV etc) still apply and don’t need rehashing. Once you have decided on your 2-3 issues, sit down with your teen and discuss with him/her what expectations you have and get his input. If you give your teen some say in the boundaries he will feel like he has some control over what is expected of him, which will make him more willing to participate. For example, if one of your boundaries is helping out around the house, make a list of all the tasks that need to get done and then ask your teen which ones he wants to be responsible for. There will be less conflict around doing the chores if he gets some say in choosing the ones he has to do.
2) Set Realistic Consequences That Your Teen Knows About Consequences are an inevitable part of life and something that helps teach your teen responsibility. When discussing the boundaries with him also discuss what the consequences will be for that action. Let your teen have some say in what an appropriate consequence will be. Make sure the consequences are reasonable and consistent. This way when your teen breaks the rules he knows what to expect and can expect it each and every time. The key with consequences is they need to be significant enough that it motivates your teen to behave differently in the future but not so big that it overwhelms him. Try to remember that your teen doesn’t have the life experience you have and that teens learn by testing and trying things out. Expect that there likely will be times that he will cross those boundaries. Also, teens live much more in the moment than adults do. As such, their consequence needs to kick in right away. If you set the consequence for the future (ex/being grounded on the weekend and its only Tuesday) it won’t have the same impact as would have had you implemented it immediately.
3) Remember the 24 Hour Rule As with most things in life, timing is critical. If a boundary has been crossed try to discuss the consequence with your child when you aren’t being triggered by his/her actions. For example, if your child breaks curfew, the time to talk about that isn’t when he first gets home but rather when everyone has slept, eaten and is in a better mood. People don’t learn as well when they are anxious which is why you want to try to keep the peace until everyone is more relaxed. When your teen gets home, send him to bed and the next morning say to him that you want to discuss what happened and ask him to set a time in the next 24 hours that will work for him. This gives your teen some control over the discussion while still allowing you to discuss what happened and your concerns. Boundary setting is a very healthy part of a parent-teen bond and doesn’t have to cause an argument or a breakdown in the relationship. Follow these three steps and open the lines of communication and your relationship with your teen will strengthen.
Kaela Scott is a Registered Clinical Counsellor who specializes in Relationship and Eating Disorder counselling and runs a private practice out of South Surrey and Downtown Vancouver. Kaela has been passionate about the counselling profession since she was 16 and followed this passion through to complete a Master of Counselling degree from Gonzaga University. Kaela is available on Mondays at the Mountainview Wellness Centre. Please call 604 602 1300 to make an appointment. For more articles and other information about Kaela Scott, go to her website: kaelascottcounselling.com. 14 METANOIA
Get Me To the Greek by Allison Patton
In mid February, my colleague Salme and I had the pleasure to attend the Fraser Institute’s Influential Speaker Program where we met Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a Greek Parliamentarian and son of former Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis. When we met him he was interested in what we did, appreciated being given a copy of Metanoia and let me know that he was good friends with one of the Fathers of Homeopathy and author of the two textbooks that I use most as a reference for homeopathy, George Vithoulkas. The world is getting smaller and smaller. Kyriakos is a contendor for a senior minister position in the upcoming Greek elections. He is well educated having studied at Harvard where he received the Hoopes and Tocqueville prizes for his outstanding undergraduate thesis on the subject of U.S. foreign policy towards Greece. He later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and MA in International Relations from Stanford University. This was his first trip to BC. A few days before his presentation, there was a difficult vote in the Greek Parliament. 199/300 MP’s voted to approve the new austerity measures for Greece. This was followed by intense debate within the EU as to whether the new package would be approved by the EU. If not, it could mark the beginning of Greece’s possible exit from the EU. As of March 13, 2012, Euro zone finance ministers signed off on a second Greek bailout package worth €130bn and then promptly turned their attention to Spain. How did all of this happen? According to Kyriakos, we need to turn our attention back to 1999 when the Euro zone was created. This was a time of much exuberance in Europe and in reality, many countries joined without meeting the basic criteria. As a result a country like Greece was able to borrow 30 basis points higher than normal; at the same level as Germany, a country Greece was not. Much liquidity was channelled to Greece, fiscal and current account deficits were an issue, and the country did not use the period of increased liquidity to undergo structural reorganization and reform. When the global financial crisis hit in 2008, in the aftermath, the cost of borrowing increased and Greece couldn’t refinance its debt. In April 2010, there was a signed memorandum for a 110 billion euro bail out deal along with clear steps that Greece needed to take. Greece thought it could solve the crisis in a short period of time but as Kyriakos noted, this did not happen. The socialist government, needing to generate revenue, had a choice to either decrease spending or increase taxes. Due to the demands of special interest groups who did not want to lose their jobs, taxes went up and pushed the economy deeper into recession. Greece needed a second set of funding and in Oct 2011 Eurozone leaders agreed to offer €130bn; it took until March 2012 for the final sign off (as mentioned previously in the article). The Greek Prime Minister held a referendum about it and as Kyriakos put it, “all hell broke loose.” This was the first time the discussion as to whether Greece should leave the Eurozone because it couldn’t meet its obligations. The end result was this second memorandum which corrects some of the mistakes of the first and places more emphasis on structural reforms namely labour market reforms and an overhaul of the state bureaucracy. It has been set up this way
because their creditors have asked for these commitments. There is less emphasis on fiscal targets. Kyriakos stated that in April 2012, there may be a national election in Greece. He predicts it will result in a coalition government and his party, the New Democracy Party, will win.
What do we need to do now? Kyriakos believes that Greece has to break the inflationary spiral but can it happen? This entails making the debt burden consistent with the country’s ability to pay the debt. Greece’s debt burden has decreased by 7-8 billion euro’s but is this enough to create a sustainable debt load? If things go according to plan, there will be 120% of Debt: GDP by 2020. Should this hair cut be deeper? The European Central Bank will participate in this by forgoing the profit from the bonds. There is a shortage of liquidity in banks; they need to find a way to lend again. Taxes must be reduced and the public sector in Greece needs to be totally revamped. Kyriakos feels that the public sector is a product of the political system. Tax evasion has to be reduced. Currently Greece collects only 21% of it’s tax revenues as compared to the European average of 32%. As for long term growth, Kyriakos discussed how Greece plans to generate this long term growth. He outlined a specific sectoral approach for the growth strategy: 1. Tourism: the flagship of the Greek economy 2. Energy: conventional and renewable 3. Natural resources: mining, gold 4. High end agricultural products 5. Services; health care and education There is a plan to stimulate growth via public spending and investment from the private sector. Can we do this? Greece is at a crossroads; will it be able to stay in the European Union? The EU was founded on a healthy balance of national responsibility and European solidarity. Kyriakos was frank when he mentioned that there were a number of remarks from various European countries that were humiliating and their comments were not helpful. Kyriakos says that “we will get the country out of this and we will see the resolve in society and politics.” It is critical for Greece to cut the fat and eliminate the interaction between business and the public sector. Greece is not asking for a free ride; get me to the Greek.
Allison Patton, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, & Salme Leis METANOIA 15
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Lessons in Entrepreneurship
By Salme Leis All entrepreneurs look for “the idea” or “the way” which will ensure them success. Most young people today think that the path to making millions or even billions is to discover some high tech innovation. Often times, the virtue of creating a balanced life leaves little time left over to spend the grueling hours required to make a successful enterprise for those would be millionaires. Mike Lalonde had no illusions about what it would take for him to succeed. He started low tech - a landscape construction company - which through ingenuity, hard work, and perseverance has morphed into one of the largest companies of its kind in Canada. Currently his landscape company (Blue Pine Enterprises Ltd), along with his demolition company start-up (Clearview Grinding Ltd.), operate out of Surrey, B.C where they employ as many as 150 people. On January 11, 2000 when he started his business, he had $4000 in savings and a pickup truck. The growth in the business was a phenomenal 110% per year for the first six to seven years. In 2008, the company was listed as the 28th fastest growing company in B.C. Their landscape projects today include Ikea in Richmond, the Port Mann bridge, as well as many other large scale commercial projects. Some demolition projects include the Clayburn brick plant in Abbotsford, the Medicine Hat hospital, and other schools, plants, and commercial buildings throughout BC and Alberta. At any given time the companies have forty different projects going. Their largest project was a landscape upgrade on No. 3 Rd. in Richmond B.C., at $3.5M. The companies work for commercial establishments, municipalities and various government entities. Their most valued assets include their excellent dedicated employees, and the relationships they maintain with their clients. They pride themselves in being able to provide good careers for their staff, and in knowing their customers’ businesses so they can competently provide them with the services they need. Currently they has seventy trucks and forty pieces of equipment. As well, Mike has a close relationship with his parents, who are extremely proud of his achievements and supports his endeavors in the most positive way possible. All this, and Mike is still only 37 years of age.
“Little Mountain Housing Co-op” demolition – Vancouver
“Laurel Place” – Surrey
“Lamplighter” tower – Vancouver
Surrey Residence
Salme Leis, Mike Lalonde & Allison Patton
Median Fence – Nordel Way – Delta
METANOIA 17
Surrey Foundation Community Forum with Dr. Margaret Wheatley By Allison Patton, ND,MBA
Dr Margaret Wheatley & Allison Patton
When I saw in an email that Meg Wheatley was coming to town, I ran to the back of the office to excitedly report this to whomever I could find! What an exciting and riveting presentation this was going to be. I really admire Meg Wheatley and her deep understanding of how systems work from the level of the universe down to the level of a microorganism. I was brimming with joy about the upcoming event. Enthusiastically I registered and invited my colleague to join me. I was first introduced to Meg through my mentor. He referred to her book Leadership and the New Science during a number of our early conversations. Then, during my MBA program at Royal Roads, we discussed systems theory and how it related to leadership in one course and sustainable communities in another course. A few years later, the lady we had talked about at length was going to be in our city, in our neighborhood, in fact just up the road from our office. Yippee! Time flew by and it was the morning of the event. I dropped off Dr. Ng at work, Olivia at school and I was on my way to meet JR at Southridge School for the event. What a day this was going to be! When I arrived, JR was already seated at a table up front. Perfect, I love sitting up front! I spotted Meg nearly right away. What I noticed at first was her clothing; casual and almost Sedona like in style. She was tanned, reddish curly hair, glasses, not very tall, baggy pants with zippers three quarters down the pant, a flowy jacket and lots of silver jewellery adorning her fingers, wrists, and neck. She seemed relaxed and a bit tired as she sat there waiting for the crowd to arrive. There was mingling amongst the crowd and people were
introducing one another. A congenial man came up to JR and started firing questions at her. I had my back to them so I could not see his face or her body language. I could only read into her voice. He asked her who she was, who she represented, what leadership meant to her and after a few minutes I found my protective personality bursting forth (not that JR, a 5ft10 warrior, needs my protection). I whipped around, stood up, flipped up the lapel of his suit jacket and said, “And who are you?” I surely told him! After I did this, I realized just what had happened and I was shocked by the intensity of my response to what I perceived in my reptilian mind an attack on my colleague! I reminded myself in that moment of Michael in the movie The Blind Side. After the introductions, Meg took the stage. She definitely had command of her audience and felt at home up there; I could see the teacher in her as she spoke. The outline of the day included some speaking from her, small group work from us in the form of a World Café process, lunch, more speaking from Meg, more small group work, a wrap up and we were done. The whole focus of the event was to find out what mattered to each of us in Surrey, what made Surrey great and how to succeed at the re-branding of Surrey to ‘The Future Lives Here.’ So, off we went forging ahead into the unknown of this day. Meg started with this line; we are in the era of learning to do more with less. We need to realize that the greatest untapped resource we have is each other. She also said that we have spent billions in BC on aid programs and this has not delivered us great results. The solution is not to put more money into the problems. In the future, there will be no money from governments. As well, there will be more conflict and polarization as a form of protection from perceived differences. We are in an era of fear and anxiety. The stress level in Canada is at an all time high. 1/3 of the days lost to work are due to nervous disorders. We are in the mode of blame, denial and avoidance versus accountability which is where we need to go in order to move forward. On top of this we are dealing with out of control bureaucracy and an over regulated America. As an Anthropologist, Meg spends a lot of her time observing people. She put up one slide that speaks to the issue of busyness: Drink coffee-do stupid things faster and with more energy. We are suffering from a global ‘Loss of Thinking.’ We have an inability to look at problems such as poverty, education and teens at risk, in complexity. We are not willing to take the time to look at the issues from a different perspective. There is a growing restlessness from the culture. Relationships will become more important than things she predicts. Meg recommends we live life as an experiment. There are too few people who are not afraid to feel insecure. In North America it is counter-cultural to focus on relationships and community. It is critical, she says, that as we live our life as an experiment, “we hold each other with a lot of tenderness and forgiveness.” If something doesn’t work, instead of calling it and ourselves a failure, try something else. She spoke about a concept called, “Walk Out, Walk On,” walk out on limiting beliefs and walk on to something where we can contribute to and grow. Leave a situation (a job, relationship, idea, concept, self image) that is shrinking us and doing us harm and walk on to something more life giving and supportive. In Meg’s opinion a leader is ANYONE willing to help.
She believes we have what we need in each other. Every problem has a solution and a workable way to move forward. Everyone is an expert and no one person is a single authority. Conflict is a place of meeting, an unavoidable consequence of being interconnected. Conflict implies that both parties care about the same thing; being in opposition is a sign that “we both care vs. I am right and you are wrong.” Meg went on to chastise the traditional organizational chart. She called it a nasty picture. In her experiences it implies there are tops and bottoms, she thinks it takes too long to get things done and there is an inherent elimination of capacity built into the chart. In her experiences, when we work with community, we are working with life. At the quantum level where energy meets energy, we can’t see anything unless it is in relationship. Where does intelligence live in an org chart? She feels the chart makes negative assumptions about people’s capacity and it creates a profound dishonouring of people. In order to reorganize our org chart we need to look to nature. Scientists work hierarchically, nature works in a network of relationships. It is the difference between control vs. observe. The concept of an individual is man-made fiction. “Nothing living lives alone,” stated Meg. “ It doesn’t mean we are inauthentic or lack integrity, we are just quantum.” In order to increase the health of anything, we need to increase the connections. As I remember from reading Meg’s books and articles, she states that the best way to increase the health of any system is to connect it back to itself. The term health comes from the word wholeness and this comes from the word holiness. Another concept that links in is the term ‘Ubuntu:’ a person is only a person through other people. Einstein stated that there is an ‘optical delusion of separateness.’ Meg outlined our basic human needs; to belong, to have good relationships, to learn, and to ensure our children’s lives are safe and better. An example of this is found in Senegal. Meg noted that there are no suicides in Senegal. She asked the women in the village why that was. They responded with, “we don’t need suicide, we have each other.” She posed a question to us, “What kind of leadership supports a healthy community?” She then went onto explain that there are two types of leaders, Leader as Hero and Leader as Host. Leader as Hero involves the ego and ‘absurd heroism.’ I just have to solve it myself. If we just work harder, longer and faster, we can solve the problem by ourselves. This type of leadership leads us to a bad place. The leader becomes overwhelmed, exhausted, burned out, suffers compassion fatigue, and eventually ill health. At this point, the leader is removed from being helpful. When the Leader is Host, a different dynamic emerges. The Leader is a convenor, a facilitator, a gatherer and a caller. It is not all up to me, it is all up to everyone. Accountability is shifted to the group as opposed to one single individual. Leader as host is non-egoic. The Leader uses his/her power and position to gather people together. She then asked us to think of any leader we admire and were/are willing to follow. She said she guarantees that it is not someone who was/is Leader as Hero vs. Host. Any leader we admire likely: focused and helped us, brought out our potential, helped us develop our gifts and potential, stretched us and believed in us more than we believed in ourselves. In general, Meg said that we want to work with people who want to work with us
and who respect us. Changes in a community DO NOT come from a strategic plan, they come because the people in the community kept their eyes open and noticed. She posed another question to us, “Who is in our community?” What generosity, creativity, leadership would be discovered if we went looking? What do we believe? If we don’t trust people, then we work hierarchically. The resources we need are here. There is a way to create order without control she firmly believes. We need to have a clear set of real values, which we agree upon AND everyone acts as independent and adult in relation to those. As we moved into our intimate world cafe table discussions Meg asked us to notice: when we tune out, when we are triggered and when we are talking too much. Also, when people bring up an idea that is different to our own, we could get interested and notice the anomalies. To start of the first ‘round’, she asked us, “What did you hear that got your attention?” in terms of what she had just communicated to us. After this discussion was over, we moved to a new table to discuss a different question, “How is your work contributing to Surrey’s Future? From that question and following small group discussion, I realized that our office is a small, friendly, community place to meet; something that the community is really crying out for more of. The final question was, “What could Surrey be like in the future?” During that conversation, one of my table members said that he feels the people will define Surrey vs. Surrey defining the people. Meg brought us back together and stated that all change starts with simple conversations. We need to find one way to bring people together to talk and this will start to mobilize consciousness. She feels that we need to “start anywhere and follow it everywhere.” The changes will come not from the leaders but from us. She recommends we work where we are with the issues and people in front of us and follow it wherever it leads. Once you begin, you will discover what’s next. Work with life vs. the imposing boxes in the org. chart. As Meg stated, “we learn what works by doing the work.” At our office we talk about the ping and pong effect. We do the work, the ping and we learn what works, the pong as we notice the response. The wisdom comes when we NOTICE the response. Meg also emphasized that we need to follow the energy of “YES!” What makes your life go easily and flow? Follow the synchronicities. We know we are doing our ‘right work’ for us when it becomes more than just us, where we find a lot of non-definable support. It feels different than pushing a boulder up a hill day after day. Meg stated that we can’t tell people what to do because people only support what they create and act responsibly for what they care about. In terms of accountability, Meg notes that leaders waste time pestering followers about accountability rather than creating meaningful work. Meaningful work leads to accountability. Meg left us with this: How to change the world in four simple steps: 1. Notice what you care about; notice when you are paying attention to what no one else is noticing-that is your issue. If you get passionate, don’t become a missionary for the cause
2. Get started-don’t wait 3. Learn as you go 4. Stay together; have much forgiveness, generosity and understanding for each other Above all, in this dark age, we need to reconnect with our own faith in other people. What makes an age dark, we lose faith in other people and it becomes all about ME, ME, ME. Notice whether you trust other people. This approach takes and teaches much perseverance and patience. On her tombstone Meg would like it to read, “We were together, I forget the rest.” Wow, what an amazing set of ideas and principles to follow. Just writing the article brings tears to my eyes. The strangest thing happened the day of the event. There was a paradoxical tug in me. On the one hand, I admired Meg so very much and I was moved by all that she said. The discrepancy was how she showed up the day of the event. It was as if she herself had lost the passion for what she was doing. The words were just magnificent but there was a lack of energy. I was briefly heartbroken that day. I went up to her to talk to her and introduce myself. Later I would ask her for a photo. She came across as slightly hostile, slightly haughty and mostly disenchanted with me and perhaps the people at the event. At first, I took it personally, felt totally crestfallen and absolutely disappointed. The Meg I had on such a pedestal came crashing to the ground. I just couldn’t accept this to be true so I started searching for anything to disprove my disappointment and mend my slightly broken heart. I shared my feelings with JR, she concluded that perhaps Meg was having trouble connecting to the inner group who hosted her the day before. I agreed that there was a definite disconnect somewhere; the synchronicity was NOT very synchronous. Once back at the office I spoke to my mentor and we discussed my impressions. He mentioned that her presentations were usually magnificent; she peppered them with beautiful music and art. OK, there has to be more to the story. Perhaps the format of the event did not lend itself to such magnificence. Later that night as I was reflecting on the day, I was still searching for a way to redeem Meg in my own mind. I was on the internet, 20 METANOIA
her website and that lead me to the Dalai Lama Centre for Enlightenment. OK, I think I was onto something. Meg had been in Vancouver on October 20, 2011 as part of an evening of wisdom and music at Perserverance: Leadership in Turbulent Times. It was a sold out audience, there was music, Meg looked glamorous and beautiful; I watched the video. Ah, this is the Meg I had imagined; I found her. Finally, at 11:38 pm that night, I could relax and my heart began to heal! As always, Meg, I raise my glass to your intelligence, wisdom, and ability to notice what is important; I appreciate what I have come to understand as a result of your ability to be both Leader as Hero and Leader as Host to me as I follow life everywhere it leads me. Dr. Margaret Wheatley is a wellrespected writer, speaker, and teacher for how we can accomplish our work, sustain our relationships, and willingly step forward to serve in this troubling time. She has written five books : Perseverance (2010); Leadership and the New Science; Turningto One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future; A Simpler Way and Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time. Her full bio can be found at margeretwheatley.com/bio. html.
Choose Life only that and always, and at whatever risk. To let life leak out, to let it wear away by the mere passage of time, to withhold giving it and spreading it is to choose nothing
-Sister Helen Kelley
The Current Financial Crisis in Canada By Dr Allison Patton, ND, MBA In February, my colleague Salme and I attended a Vancouver Board of Trade event featuring David A. Dodge, a Canadian economist and former Governor of the Bank of Canada. Dodge co-chairs the Global Market Monitoring Group of the Institute of International Finance, is chairman of the board of directors of the C.D. Howe Institute and is the chancellor of Queen’s University. David Dodge came to speak to us about our financial system and Canada and where we are going; he did not waste time getting focused on the topic at hand. The purpose of the system, he said, is to allocate capital to its best uses to promote economic development and growth. At the heart of that is to find the most efficient way to do this. Efficiency can be achieved through two means; via intermediaries such as banks and insurance companies or via the markets. He noted that 2/3 of financing is not through intermediaries but via the markets and 20% of business credit comes directly from the markets. He went onto explain that markets need to have two components; the efficiency to allocate capital with low costs and stability. Stability and efficiency are complementary he commented; one cannot forget the other. His biggest worry globally and nationally is that we are ignoring the efficiency objective while we pursue the stability policy. In Canada we have a principle based approach to our rules in terms of the financial system; he suggests that we do not want to lose this principle based approach. As for the markets, there is an issue in his opinion with respect to securities regulation. In order to make a securities market work we need
symmetry of information between buyer and seller. We need to ensure there is reasonably full disclosure on the part of the issuers so the buyers can understand what they are buying and we need to have transparency in the market with good and efficient price discovery. Dodge feels that we have had fragmentation in the oversight of the issuance of securities, we have not built up a pool of skills and we have not concentrated on what we need to do to make markets function efficiently. We need to “create some unified regulatory regime of financial markets to enhance stability and efficiency,” he stated. In order to do this we need to find a pool of people with sufficient talent and depth to create the regulatory framework. Again he emphasized that the securities regulators are not concerned enough about complex derivatives. He made the argument that we require a major effort in Canada to regulate this area. He reminded us that the rules are not included in the definition of the securities. He suggested things like an over the counter derivatives working group and standardized contracts to take out the huge counter parting risk. He reminded us that with Lehman Bros. and AIG it was the counter parting risk that got us into trouble. He would like to see a consolidation of the regulatory authority for equity markets especially income funds and derivatives; a regulator that would work hand in hand with the Department of Finance and the Bank of Canada. In conclusion he left us with a few things to think about: Why Canadians need to worry if there is not efficiency in the financial system: 1. As a business borrower: the cost of borrowing goes up if there is a lack of efficiency 2. As an issuer: the cost of issuing goes up so you do less of what you could do 3. As a saver: increased compliance costs lead to decreased returns 4. As a risk manager: lack of new, good information leads to wider spreads, less efficient markets and more risk During the question period, a few notable points from Dodge in response to the questions: The Greek situation: Dodge feels that two years ago this would have been the best direction to take but now it is too late. Europe is a mirror of what is going on in the world. Germany, Holland and Finland are efficient countries selling lots of goods and services. For example Fritz in Germany sells a BMW to Greece. If a country has over lent to one customer, as a vendor it is your responsibility to help them out with debt forgiveness. As a result you take more products from Greece. It is important to create domestic demand to replace the lack of demand from the Greeks, Portuguese, Irish, Italians and Spanish. Dodge mentioned that it is the politics of the day that are difficult; “it is hard to convince Fritz to bail out a good for nothing Greek.” In the end there must be absolutely wholesale structural change in Greece,
change that is going to be painful. Can it happen without default or without the removal of Greece from the Eurozone? Another question came in about Vancouver’s financial crisis. He responded with the comment that our economy is deleveraging; generally speaking it is hard to have rates of growth that we had before as people are not taking the same degree of risk. His final comments related to the major shift in the world due to the rise of China and India. Less of Canada’s market is going to be to the South and more of it will be to the west across the Pacific. There are starting to be major shifts in terms of trade; commodities such as minerals, energy and food vs. manufacturing and services. If trade moves toward the commodities; growth will increase in the commodities part of the country vs. the areas of the country known for manufacturing and services. In Canada industries are regionally concentrated. This is a real tension we have in Canada that we are going to have to deal with. In the past, Ontario, BC and Alberta were the have provinces that supported the rest of Canada. Now, Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC and Newfoundland are the new HAVE provinces. As a result Dodge feels that the stresses and strains this will cause will be more difficult that anything we have faced in our Canadian economic union since the 1930’s. Brace yourself for a wild ride! A very interesting part of the event occurred after the actual event as we were in line to take a photo with Mr. Dodge. We met Leah Costello, writer, film-maker, event host, media commentator and founder of the Bon Mot Book Club. We will write more about this Book Club and our common interests in a future article; stay tuned.
Allison Patton, David Dodge & Salme Leis
METANOIA 21
‘Maker’ Movement; Don’t Know What It Is? Hint: It’s big and your kids need to be on it! by Brent Lang
Something is changing in the way ‘institutional’ learning allows a viewing success from a different today’s youth learn and advance student time to simmer in academia perspective. Individual success their thoughts. We should all pay and bring higher knowledge into is earned by reputation for unique attention because this is BIG! I their individual character, much skills, talents, innovation and for attended Tech Cocktail’s Vancouver the way a chef would select very contributing to a solution. The Innovation keynote featuring Mr. specific ingredients to prepare a ability to ‘be different’ is actually Dale Dougherty. The audience recipe, carefully combining items trumpeted and celebrated as it consisted of approximately 200 that create flavour, texture and leads to new breakthroughs and very eclectic individuals, with most aroma to a dish. There is another resolution to problems through looking like they had spent their way to learn? Throughout history teamwork. day in computer labs at Uni, with the trades have had apprentices, I met a group from Vancouver their wrinkly chinos, backpacks and great mentoring provided Hack Space after the keynote. I and studious demeanor – they had the specialized knowledge that thought ‘Hack’ was a negative, come this evening to listen to Dale. influenced the trend and ascent in threatening word, but to today’s If several important facts of this one’s career success. Today, the youth and young professionals, man’s life don’t immediately pop internet andIt’s its b universal Hint: ig and ycontent, our kids it nmeans eed to discovery be on it! but in a real into your mind, then you are like available on a ubiquitous array hands-on manner. They have a me on that night – I didn’t know my of mobile devices – available to shared place where they gather to life by Bwas rent about Lang to be enriched and every geo-point on planet Earth, dissect and learn, again in an openmy thought process forever altered. source, collaborative process. The room had a few ‘suits’ in it – I’m c onvinced; t his ' maker' They’re apart to bsee Something is changing the wanting way today’s youth learn and advance their thoughts. We sripping hould all pay athings ttention ecause this probably folks like mein just how they work, putting these parts learning s tyle j ust m ay b e to about this so-called, Tech learn Cocktail's Vancouver Innovation keynote featuring Mr. Dale Dougherty. Twith he audience c onsisted o f a pproximately 200 other parts to see what new ‘Maker’ Movement. The rest evenly the strongest innovation reindividuals, young with mmen ost looking like they had spent their day in computer labs at item Uni, wcan ith tbe heir made, wrinkly improved, chinos, backpacks and comprised and women force in 21st century! purposed (diverted from land-fill) of all nationalities. Oddly similar they had come this evening to listen to Dale. If several important facts of this m an’s life don’t and reborn intoimmediately the world. pop into your mi to watching an episode of The Big as about to be enriched and my thought me o n t hat n ight – I d idn’t k now m y l ife w p rocess f orever altered. The rwe oom had a Institutional learning, where Bang Theory, yet welcoming. This propels specialized user-sought send our to get culture and gathering and learning onthis any topic any time day probably fwas olks labout ike me innovation just wanting to learn about so-‐called, ‘Maker’ Movement. The kids rest off evenly comprised young men the future – not fashion or finance, or night. You can find a tutorial, higher education at a prestigious nationalities. Oddly swas imilar to watching an episode of The Binnovation ig Bang Theory, welcoming. This gathering was about innova or universities for umpteen no ego or attitude present – demonstration, oryet colleges thousands of dollars a year is well not awe. fashion or finance, no ego or attitude was – just you awe. just idea onpresent any topic seek. The and good – those are valuable Who is Dale Dougherty? Well, delivery method is the internet, the years in development toward is free and instructor/course/ inWho the iearly of the Wcost s Dale days Dougherty? ell, in the early days of the internet the founder f GNN, the Global Network Na – obut equally valuable lesson/observation/thought couldwas adulthood internet was the founder will be embracing change a recognized world-expert on and tthe he first site on tbe he internet to be supported by advertising. He sold GNN to AOL in 1995. and He is a co-‐ ofportal GNN, Global seizing every opportunity to learn a subject or increasingly, a person Network O'Reilly) Navigator, of O'Reilly Mthe edia and most recently is the founder and publisher of O'Reilly's new talents Make Magazine and and advance one’s and first web portal and the unknown until their revolutionary treasures with others who share believes that everyone has idea the potential to make things that on. improve our world. He is passionate about fosterin or innovation catches first site on the internet their enthusiasm. This user-enabled search permits to be supported advertising. He and curious. Contrary to popular perception, it was he who coined the term 'Web 2.0 'makers' who are by creative, innovative, If you don’t know what a 3D sold GNN to AOL in 1995. He is learning at a very accelerated a co-founder (with Tim O’Reilly) of pace in one’s own path and Printer is – get ready for your mind has exponential capacity. Why should you cand are? most Traditional 'institutional' learning allows a student I’m time to to sexplode! immer in aAttend cademia an and bring higher know upcoming O’Reilly Media recently convinced; this ‘maker’ learning Maker Faire in a city near you! is the founder andmuch publisher individual character, the way ofa chef would select very specific ingredients to prepare a recipe, carefully combining item O’Reilly’s new Make Magazine style just may be the strongest texture and Faire. aroma tHe o a believes dish. There another way to learn? Through and Maker thatis innovation force in 21st century! everyone the potential to make This is I’m 2012. Technology, have had ahas pprentices, and great mentoring he specialized knowl There’s a fiprovided ne line tbetween convinced; this 'maker' that improve our world. He is innovation and thought-leadership things the trend and ascent in one’s a career the internet and its univ wrongToday, and visionary. passionate about fostering new success. are passed around freely learning style jthrough ust may be the available on aof ubiquitous mobile devices – available generation ‘makers’ array whoof are open-source sharing and Unfortunately, you have toto every geo strongest i nnovation f orce i n creative, innovative, and curious. collaboration. This is pushing Earth, propels specialized user-‐sought learning to on see any it. topic any time be a visionary Contrary to popular perception, it ideas forward that would otherwise century! find ahe tutorial, demonstration, nnovation idea on any topic you seek. The was who coined the term i‘Web be or stuck waiting 21st for in-house, 2.0’. proprietary answers. Tomorrow’s the internet, the cost is free and instructor/course/lesson/obser leaders – the youth of today - are - Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Why should you care? Traditional be a recognized world-‐expert on a subject or increasingly, a person unknown until their revolutionary idea or innovation cat The Big Bang Theory enabled search permits learning at a very accelerated pace in one’s own path and has exponential capacity. I’m convinced;
‘Maker’ Movement; Don’t Know What It Is?
style just may be the strongest innovation force in 21st century! 22 METANOIA
This is 2012. Technology, innovation and thought-‐leadership are passed around freely through open-‐source sharing and col
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R. Brent Lang CIM FCSI Associate Portfolio Manager brent@pacificapartners.com
Brent is active in the fields of finance and philanthropy. He is a Director at the Surrey Foundation and Chair of the Community Impact Fund. He holds the CIM (Chartered Investment Manager) and FCSI (Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute) designations. He has received recognition as subject-matter specialist in finance and philanthropy, and has been interviewed and referenced in numerous articles published by MSN Money, Global Finance, Top MBA CONNECT, Smart Money (WSJ), The Scrivener, Change Strategists, Metanoia Magazine, and myriad local publications. For 20 years he has honed valuable skills in investment management and developed advanced planning strategies and unique wealth protection solutions for individuals, their families, businesses, and charitable foundations
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METANOIA 23
THE RANT Entitlements BY HANK LEIS
School Days, Rule Days On the first day of school the innocent meet the guilty. It is the beginning of a long term relationship between those who need indoctrinating and those who already have been indoctrinated. The innocent have been delivered like lambs to a slaughter. Socialization as we call it begins by mockery of those who have been told they have come to learn and that honesty, dedication and hard work are virtues that are actually embraced in these hallowed institutions. Yes, there are periods of legitamate instruction, but they are surrounded by morning arrival, lunch, recess and after school- and those are the times when the mugs get into the act and the real lessons begin. No parent sends his or her kid to school to be bullied, beat up, to use drugs, to be physically and verbally abused, and to be influenced by the lowest common denominator of humanity- but this is what we dowe abandon our little darlings to face the harsh realities of what they find there- and then ask ourselves- Why this and why that?! Indeed schools are where we train the young-but what is it that they are learning? For some it is to memorize, others to cheat, still others to be antisocial and rebellious (take note of the riots after the Vancouver Stanly Cup finals in 2011 or the London, Ontario riots in 2012). But how much actual thinking is being allowed and how is the freedom to think eroded by this process? In essence schools are the training ground for antisocial behaviour- and those who manage to leave with their brain intact are the lucky ones. The education system is by enlarge, given a mandate of training people and those who resist training are discarded. The rebellious child is the first to be abandoned, whether or not the rebelliousness is of an “antisocial” nature or a failure to adapt because training is not the same as understanding or thinking. The rare teacher, who finds students to mentor and encourages thinking, does so at the risk of offending the education system or the parents themselves who see learning as a means to a job- nothing more. Nor is the precious teacher the consequence of his or her training. More likely the passion is the result of a unique family dynamic. So between 24 METANOIA
poor teaching methods and a disparate pool of children with diverse backgrounds and needs, how is society doing? In terms of the perspective of those looking for employeesthe employer begins retraining immediately after hiring. The expectations are that the employee does a good job irrespective of their interest and education which has merely served as a poor indicator of the employee’s ability to adapt to the vigorous requirements of a job (which in the long run becomes tedious, oppressive and lacking in challenge.) And after years of repetition- the brain cells have atrophied and what remains is an internal brain system incapable of adjusting to new ways and ideas. Redundancy has set in- and fear becomes the prime motivator of hanging on to jobs. The essence of being a free human has long been replaced by the need to accommodate those in power. Yet being found redundant is freedom- the freedom to think, to do and to make life meaningful and begin again with a new paradigm. For the poor, freedom has already been traded off against the responsibilities and the regimentation of life. For the middle class, who embrace the virtue of organizational life, they have already sacrificed freedom to attain the safe havens provided by government and corporations. It is only the so called “1% er’s” and the independent small business people who have achieved an economic status by having made sacrifices that allow them to experiment to some extent freely in the pursuit of happiness. Of course they have learned, either through opportunity or example, that most rules impoverish people- and mostly that unstated knowledge, that the education system is a crock and produces people who embrace boredom, disinterest, and dependency. It is difficult for most to resist the charm of the system that ensures a permanent job and a nice pension after barely completing the prerequisites of training that satisfy the employer. Exploring other possibilities is thought of as risky and left to the crazies who dare. Never mind that we have but one life to live so: If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing Lets break out the booze and have a ball If that’s all there is.
MISSIVES FROM DONALD J BOUDREAUX 22 March 2012 Editor, Washington Post 1150 15th St., NW Washington, DC 20071 Dear Editor: George Will ends his lovely ode to creative destruction closes his case that such dynamic competition is necessarily open-ended and produces progress in unpredictable patterns - thusly: “Professional coordinators, a.k.a. bureaucracies, are dismayed. Good.” As the late Baldy Harper (founder of the Institute for Humane Studies, now at my home institution of George Mason U.) wrote “If the planner could plan discovery for others, he probably would have made that discovery himself in the first place. If he is more able in this respect than the others, he is wasting his time not to do it himself; if he is less able, he can hardly plan it for others who are more able than he is. The notion that a blueprint for discovery can be drawn in advance is to assert that the planner somehow has the power to scrutinize the inscrutable, or fathom the unfathomable.”* Regrettably, politicians (particularly those of a “Progressive” stripe - can you say “Solyndra”) are too prone to fancy that their success at winning elections somehow bestows upon them supernatural abilities to do what Harper explains, and history proves, can’t be done - namely, plan progress. Sincerely, Donald J. Boudreaux Professor of Economics George Mason University Fairfax, VA 22030 * F.A. Harper, Liberty: A Path to Its Recovery (Irvington, NY: Foundation for Economic Education, 1949), p. 76. April 5th, 2011 The definition of “resources” and “resource supplies” is not chiefly a matter of physics.
Editor, YahooNews.com Dear Editor: Eric Pfeiffer reports that “A new study from researchers at MIT … says that the world could suffer from ‘global economic collapse’ and ‘precipitous population decline’ if people continue to consume the world’s resources at the current pace” (“Next Great Depression? MIT researchers predict ‘global economic collapse’ by 2030,” April 5). Such doomsday predictions are so common - and so commonly mistaken - because the scientists who make them do not understand what resources are or where resources come from. Resources are not defined strictly by their physical properties. The likes of bauxite or the electromagnetic spectrum are not ‘naturally’ things that serve human purposes. Physical materials in the earth and atmosphere BECOME resources only if and when human creativity mixes with them in ways that transform these materials into resources. So we humans not only consume resources; we create resources. Supplies of resources, therefore, rise with increased applications of human creativity. And since the dawn of bourgeois capitalism in the 18th century, the rate at which we create resources - both in the sense of creating more sources of supplies of familiar resources such as petroleum, and of creating entirely new resources such as the worldwide web - has skyrocketed. Nothing in studies such as this latest from MIT gives us any reason to suppose that this rate of resource creation will slow. Sincerely, Donald J. Boudreaux Professor of Economics George Mason University Fairfax, VA 22030
METANOIA 25
Horoscope Aries
If delegating is the way you handle things, then you are trying to avoid getting your hands dirty. Try engaging your brain more by examining things in detail so that you yourself understand better what you expect of others. Of course that’s easier said than done for you, because you’ve never bothered to learn how to do things for yourself.
Taurus Events being what they are require a response- and how you choose to respond defines your world. Alternatively, just blame everyone else and be a victim.
Gemini
Are you happy with what you are doing? A little dissatisfaction never hurt anyone. It means you are progressing to a better place. Think of something to do that is challenging so you don’t end up in the proverbial rut.
Cancer
Ulterior motives are always the best ones. You get to deny what they are to others as well as yourself and when people get hurt from what you’ve done you can always claim it was due to circumstance. Never admit you’ve been wrong-and when confronted blame someone else. Besides, the fact you don’t know yourself and your motives is because your parents didn’t explain it to you.
Leo
Love as we all know from reading scientific journals is the result of viruses running amuck. There really is nothing you can do about it unless you know how to train those little buggies. So quit your job, spend all your money, marry someone you’ll soon divorce and you can blame the buggies for all of it.
Virgo
If you’re on the down-low enjoy it. Melancholy is as precious as gold. When life is frustrating you, what you really need is good old fashion depression. The Great philosophers used to get their best ideas during their lows. Or alternatively you can share all your bad feelings with your friends and get them depressed as well.
By Onieh Siel
Libra
Remember, no good deed goes unpunished. Why is that? Well it’s very simple- whenever you help someone you’re overing them and no one likes that feeling of subservience, so ultimately they will punish you for lording it over them and telling everyone how virtuous you are because “you helped that poor little thing.”
Scorpio
Looking for answers requires system 2 analysis. Are you capable of that, or are you one of those system 1 people who impulsively respond to everything and everyone. Thinking requires glucose. Do you have what it takes or do you even care?
Sagittarius
Life is a strange phenomenon when you think about it (if you do). You’re brought in, in the 3rd inning and you exit in the 6th inning of the game, and you are never told what the score was, when it started, nor how it will all end. So let’s go dancing, bring out the booze and have a ball- only of course if that’s all there is.
Capricorn
Look around you. All those people you think you know are really strangers. Even you are a stranger to yourself because you never spent much time sorting yourself out. Getting a grip on reality doesn’t exist- and knowing that should make you feel better.
Aquarius
Emotional issues have to do with your emotions- no one else’s. Everything out there is an unpredictable phenomenon and the only course of action that counts is your response. And even that doesn’t count for much. So pretend, like everyone else does and think that’s OK.
Pisces
Sentiment is like a bag of garbage that drags you down. The weight of it is immediately released when you make your decisions by thinking. Of course there is greater virtue in having been shafted by someone you felt connected to because of the past history that once linked you.
Vaccines and your Child Seminar and Open House
with Dr Allison Patton, N.D.
Mountainview Thursday April 12, 2012 at 7pm
WELLNESS CENTRE
Tickets are $ 10; space is limited call Mountainview Wellness Centre Providing Excellence in Naturopathic Medicine538-8837 since 2001 or visit to reserve tickets (604) mountainviewwellnesscentre.ca
Open House Partners you will be meeting at the event:
Miki Dawson Author and Artist
Sarah Stevens Physiotherapist/ Osteopath
Kasia Rachfall Author, Speaker, Parenting Expert
Kaela Scott Registered Clinical Counsellor
April Lacheur Artist
Alison Legge Aromatherapist
www.freshperspectiveworks.com
3566 King George Blvd.,Surrey, British Columbia, Canada www.mountainviewwellnesscentre.ca
METANOIA