Statistics don’t lie. Property sales are down. Not just the number of property sales, but the amount of money houses are selling for is down. Car sales are down by about half. There is talk that big companies like General Motors are on the verge of financial collapse. It is more than just talk. It is on the front page of newspapers across the country. Jobs are being cut and factories are closing.
It is irrefutable that things are grim. There is no denial here. Not from me, that’s for sure. It’s all right in front of me on the TV and in the newspapers every day.
I am glad that I have so much access to the media from this little apartment in downtown Toronto. We live a long way from our beloved Stratford and even though it sometimes seems that we are worlds apart, it is amazing that in both these worlds we depend on the media to keep us informed. The thing is, we can’t see the big picture like they can. It’s a good thing they show it to us and back it up with research and statistics and facts. If I know anything, I know that facts don’t lie.
I just can’t see it from my little world down here.
When I look out the window or stand in front of my apartment building down here at Bathurst and Lake Shore Boulevard, I see no less than five condominium projects with all manner of activity. There are construction workers scurrying all over, cranes going overhead, concrete trucks with spinning loads. Sometimes they work all through the night. I am not deceived though. I’ve got the inside information from the media that all condominium projects are in financial peril and are shut down. I know for a fact that all this construction is really fake. It must be because I’ve got the facts from the TV. And facts don’t lie.
Sometimes if the weather permits I’ll get out for a walk around the neighbourhood here. I find it interesting that I don’t see as many for sale signs like the pictures I see in the magazines. We have all seen those pictures where almost all the houses on city streets have for sale signs with a caption that says nobody’s buying. It’s odd that there are no streets like that down here.
It is also odd that I don’t see streets like that in the suburbs or in other towns that I drive through when I go back to visit my friends in Stratford. I think they must take them down just before I come by, because I know the truth. I have seen the statistics. Statistics don’t lie.
I cannot help but notice that the for sale signs I see have “sold” stickers on them. I know that has to be wrong. It can not be possible because I heard the news on the radio that no houses are selling. These are facts! Facts don’t lie.
If there is any truth to this, even a shred, it must be an anomaly to the small part of Ontario here where I live and travel through because I know from the newspapers that everyone is doing very badly. I told a couple of friends of mine to stop worrying about the fact that they were unable to purchase properties they wanted, because they weren’t quick enough to get their offers together. Listen to the radio, I told them. You should be glad these places were sold before you could buy them. Everything’s going under.
I spoke to my friends in Saskatoon recently. I have a lot of friends in Saskatoon. They told me things are going really great in their city. I think things must be so bad out there that they have lost their minds. They don’t know how bad things are in Saskatchewan. I saw the facts on TV that the whole country is in trouble.
It’s all over folks. All is lost. There is no more opportunity. There are no more chances to get ahead. Never mind all this market correction talk. Don’t listen to stories about a positive economy on the prairie. It’s finished. There are no more ideas. There is no more business.
People used to talk about spring, the coming summer, going for nice walks in the fresh air, getting out for a bike ride, calling family on the phone, having coffee with friends, seeing the sunset on a beautiful day, watching the waves by the lake, walking around downtown, going for a streetcar ride just for fun, having breakfast at a wonderful old diner right at dawn by the window, watching a ball game, seeing the first robin, walking in the rain. Forget all that now.
You can’t do that anymore.
I saw it on TV.
Heino Molls is publisher of REM. Email
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