If you’re of a certain vintage then you will fondly remember one of the greatest recurring comedy bits to come out of Canada, Bob and Doug McKenzie. As portrayed by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, the McKenzie brothers were the mock-up of the Canadian stereotype of “hosers”. Boys that liked to sit around watching hockey and drinking their Molson or Labatt. It was a brilliant send up because it was probably a half joking and half real portrayal.

 

 

               Their fame hit a peak in 1983 with the release of the movie Strange Brew, an eclectic story about their love of beer and their efforts to save their favourite brewery from the evil clutches of Brewmeister Smith (a hilariously over the top portrayal by Max von Sydow). Brewmeister Smith was plotting to place a mind control drug in the beer to be served at Oktoberfest in Kitchener. It’s their own brand of absurd comedy and a definite cult classic movie, though it did not score any Academy Award nominations!

 

               The plight of the Brothers McKenzie during the movie is fraught with bumbles and stumbles, mostly of their own making but in the end they save the day, get the girl {Editor’s Note: In this case the girl is beer} and Oktoberfest goes off without a hitch. It’s a great (and humourous) way to look at investing in Canada.

 

               If you look at the current NAFTA negotiations you can get a glimpse of my point. We are the McKenzie’s battling against the big, bad Brewmeister (the United States) who is trying to get his way and gain more control. We are plucky hosers battling everything thrown (or is that Tweeted?) in our path, trying to save the trade agreement. It is as much an imperative to our well-being as saving the beer was to Bob and Doug.

 

               Of course, NAFTA is a big part of the current malaise hitting the Canadian investment world. Much of the rest is self-inflicted by our own abilities to not grow beyond our hoser-dom. Oil and Gas is a huge part of our country’s economy but right now we can’t get any more out of our borders because of internecine battles between BC and Alberta or Quebec and Alberta.

 

               We can’t make buses or airplanes that the world wants without giant piles of government cash propping up a single company for two generations.

 

               We can’t develop new health care technology because our health care system is straight out of the 1970s and there are too many entrenched interests that have spiked the “beer” to keep everything status quo.

 

               We have too many levels of government that believe the word govern means the same as “take complete care of” and it chokes off incentives to do better.

 

               If NAFTA falls apart, we will survive but it will take a lot of heavy lifting by all of us to fix the damage done. NAFTA solidified our connection with the US (and Mexico) on an economic front and the end of that will take some time to adjust. How exactly can we adjust?

 

               We can accept that Oil and Gas is STILL an important product for the world but if we are concerned about the environmental impact then let’s put our brains behind ways to reduce that impact. Cleaner fuels, automobile efficiency and safer pipelines are all areas we should be excelling and exporting to the rest of the world.

 

               We can embrace that our health care system is good but there are plenty of ways it can be so much better. Simple things like appointment technology, medical device development or improved scanning technology are all needed and easily exportable.

 

               We can provide the guidance and assistance at the beginning stages of a company’s life to help them reach scale but also instill a plan that weans them off government assistance appropriately. If your company needs a cash injection every few years, it’s not a viable company. The same should also be done at an individual benefit level. Dedicate ourselves to these new areas through stronger education in Science, Tech and Math. But also do it for the soft skilled areas like Ethics, Psychology and Philosophy. An increasingly technological world is going to create some difficult decisions and we need to have people that can help explain both the pros and cons.

 

               I have hope for our tiny little band of hosers. Bob and Doug stumbled their way through the movie but with the perfect amount of help, a bundle of determination and one dog with a love of Bratwurst and beer (Good boy, Hosehead) they saved themselves and the fine people of Canada.

 

               It’s time that we started doing the same for ourselves.

 

 

 

               If you want to chat about building a plan for you and your family, contact me today.

 

               Sign up for notifications of new blog posts here.