I understand why Canada wants more trading partners. I just want to know how we’re choosing them. Carney’s new push with Turkey has generated plenty of attention. Meanwhile, Canada and Mexico already have CUSMA, established supply chains and C$62.4 billion in annual merchandise trade (roughly 14x) our trade with Turkey. Mexico is larger, closer and already deeply connected to Canadian businesses. That relationship deserves serious attention. To be fair, the Carney administration has been working with Mexico. The two countries launched a strategic partnership, exchanged trade missions this year and are working to expand trade. Good. I would like to see that work get at least as much urgency as the next announcement abroad. I understand the desire to be less dependent on the United States. It bought 72% of our goods exports in 2025. But our neighbour and largest customer will still be there after Trump’s presidency ends. We need a strategy that lasts longer than one man. And if Europe is the prize, perhaps we could finish the paperwork on CETA. Signed in 2016, it has delivered real benefits since 2017, but full ratification is still pending. Apparently, “provisional” is European for “make yourself comfortable.” Is Mexico perfect? I was born there. I know better. It has grave problems with violence, corruption and impunity; it actually scores worse than Turkey on Transparency International’s corruption index. I’m asking for an honest comparison. That includes women. Mexico has constitutional guarantees of gender equality, broader legal protection for reproductive choice and its first woman president. Yet violence against women remains a national crisis, and rights on paper are not always rights in practice. Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul Convention on preventing violence against women, while authorities have used “family values” to undermine women’s and LGBTQ+ rights. Mexico’s record needs scrutiny; Turkey’s record does not deserve a polite silence. Mexico recognises same-sex marriage nationwide. Turkey has repeatedly banned Pride events and cracked down on LGBTQ+ organisations. Reports from Turkey also document threats against Jews, synagogue vandalism and antisemitic hate speech. Mexico has rising antisemitic incidents too. None of this belongs in the footnotes when we talk about trade. So yes, explore new markets. But before celebrating another deal abroad, deepen the opportunities already in front of us. That starts with removing the trade barriers between our own provinces. How’s that for a plan?

We’re out knocking on doors today, and I have an honest question for Toronto voters: Is your life better today than it was three years ago? Is living here more affordable? Do you feel safer? Are city services improving? These are the questions I believe we should be asking before casting our votes. I’ve been supporting Brad Bradford because I believe Toronto needs a different direction. I encourage everyone to look closely at the candidates, their records, and what they’re proposing for our city’s future. Election Day is TODAY! Yes, it’s a little colder outside, but that’s no excuse to sit this one out. Whatever your choice, get out and vote. Our city’s future deserves our participation. And remember: if you don’t vote, don’t complain! #TorontoVotes #TorontoElection #MunicipalElection

And that's a wrap! Thank you Markets Group for the invitation to your 13th Private Wealth Latin America & Caribbean Retreat in beautiful Miami. One of my biggest takeaways from two days with family offices, investment managers and professionals advising some of the world's most complex families is that the traditional 60/40 portfolio isn't necessarily dead. But for families with significant wealth, it is no longer the whole conversation. The discussions reinforced something we believe strongly at Rubach Wealth: Holistic Family Advisors™: building wealth and managing it successfully across generations require very different disciplines. Five themes stood out: 1. Discipline matters more than market timing. With equity markets at elevated valuations, the conversation wasn't about predicting the next correction. It was about pacing commitments, diversifying entry points and making decisions that remain sensible across market cycles. Waiting for the perfect opportunity can be costly. 2. Alternative investments are increasingly important, but access alone isn't a strategy. Private credit, infrastructure, secondaries and middle-market opportunities attracted considerable attention. The question is whether the complexity, illiquidity and fees deliver genuine value to the overall portfolio. 3. Wealth needs to be viewed as a whole. A family's operating businesses, real estate, investments and liabilities cannot be managed in isolation. Concentration risk doesn't disappear because assets sit in different accounts or legal entities. Inflation and preserving purchasing power remain important concerns. 4. Wealth is increasingly international. Families are considering residency, citizenship, mobility and geopolitical exposure alongside investments. The implications for taxation, estate planning and family governance can be significant. Planning needs to precede decisions, not follow them. 5. Succession is ultimately about people, not paperwork. Transferring assets is only part of the equation. Preparing the next generation to make decisions, establishing clear governance and creating continuity beyond any one family member or advisor are just as important. What struck me most was how little the best conversations focused on choosing the next winning investment. Instead, they focused on better decisions, understanding how everything fits together and building structures that withstand change. The future of wealth management isn't about having more investments. It's about greater clarity, stronger governance and a strategy that serves the family, rather than the other way around. That is the difference between accumulating wealth and building something that lasts. As we look toward 2027, I'm curious: are we spending enough time improving how wealth decisions are made, or are we still spending too much time debating where to invest next?

Have you ever asked your parents what they would want if they could no longer make decisions for themselves? It’s a conversation many families avoid. Not because they don’t care, but because it’s uncomfortable to imagine a time when the people who have always taken care of us might need us to take care of them. But when those conversations don’t happen, families can find themselves making important financial, medical, and personal decisions in the middle of an already emotional situation. And without knowing what their parents would have wanted, even the simplest decisions can become difficult. These conversations aren’t about preparing for the end. They’re about respecting the wishes of the people we love while they can still express them. The best time to understand someone’s wishes is while they’re still here to tell you. #GetYourHouseInOrder #FamilyWealth #EstatePlanning #AgingParents #FamilyPlanning

Toronto keeps asking us to pay more. We should be demanding better. A couple of weeks ago, a man who was heavily intoxicated lay on Bloor for hours. The only sign we could see that he was alive was the stream of urine coming from him. Why was he still there? Who was responsible for getting him medical attention? Leaving a human being in that condition is a failure of care. Accepting it as normal is a failure of leadership. After three years under Olivia Chow, my biggest concern is accountability. Residential property taxes increased 9.5% in 2024 and 6.9% in 2025. Commercial municipal taxes rose 4.75% and 3.45%, respectively. Businesses are carrying this burden too. Those costs squeeze the businesses we depend on for jobs, services and vibrant neighbourhoods. “Everything costs more” is an inadequate justification. Families and businesses know that already. We deserve to know what additional dollars deliver, what efficiencies were found and who answers when services fail. Ontario’s New Deal offered billions in operating support and capital relief. Securing funding deserves credit. Delivering results remains the job. People experiencing homelessness, addiction and mental illness deserve effective care. Residents deserve safe public spaces and a timely response to dangerous behaviour. Both are essential and not "nice to have" or "pick one". Jewish Torontonians deserve unequivocal leadership against antisemitism. Chow missed September’s mayoral forum on that issue. Brad Bradford showed up. That matters to me. I support Brad’s commitment to an independent review of city finances. I will hold him accountable, too. Complacency preserves the status quo. Our frustration changes nothing unless we act. Then check out who your City Councillor candidates are. They will support or hinder the Mayor's job. School board elections deserve serious scrutiny, too. Last night I found a out (and fact checked Fede Sanchez 😁) the surreal story that in Milton, a HDSB candidate’s son is serving 40 years for an ISIS terror plot and has just received another consecutive 50-year sentence for attacking prison officers. A beauty. Great job parents! 👇

If something happened to you tomorrow, how long would it take your family to figure out what to do next? Who would they call? Where would they find important documents? Would they know which accounts exist, what decisions have already been made, and what you would have wanted? These are questions no one wants their family trying to answer in the middle of a crisis. And preparing them doesn’t have to be complicated. One organized document with the right information can spare your loved ones weeks or months of searching, uncertainty, and unnecessary stress during an already difficult time. We often think of providing for our families in financial terms. But making life easier for the people we love when we’re no longer able to guide them is another form of providing. Your legacy isn’t just what you leave behind. It’s how well you prepare the people who receive it. #GetYourHouseInOrder #EstatePlanning #FamilyWealth #LegacyPlanning

A little coffee and business planning. Sometimes a change of scenery is all you need to think through what’s next.

Ich habe schon lange kein Deutsch gesprochen! Aber Brad wollte, dass auch die Deutschsprachigen wissen, dass sie ihm wichtig sind. Also, hier bin ich! Hoffentlich klappt’s noch mit meinem Deutsch! 😉 🗳️ Toronto wählt am 26. Oktober! Und unsere Stadt braucht uns alle. Vom 24. bis 26. Oktober suchen wir Freiwillige. Hast du zwei Stunden Zeit? Super! Einen ganzen Tag? Noch besser! Keine Erfahrung nötig, nur gute Laune! ❤️ Mach mit und sag es weiter! 📍 Wo kann ich wählen? myvote.toronto.ca 🙋 Wo kann ich mithelfen? electionday.me Fragen? Schreib mir einfach! @Brad Bradford @Ted Opitz @Terri Hawkes @Karina Lemke @CJPAC @Rafi Yablonsky @Christopher Mammoliti @Dianne Saxe @James Pasternak @Mike Colle @Tasha Kheiriddin @Vincent Crisanti @David Magazzinich

Se plaindre est normal, mais notre participation, elle, est URGENTE ! 😂 🗳️ Toronto vote le 26 octobre ! Du 24 au 26 octobre, joignez-vous à l’équipe de @Brad Bradford pour mobiliser les électeurs partout dans la ville. Quelques heures ou toute la fin de semaine, c’est vous qui décidez ! Aucune expérience nécessaire, juste de l’énergie, de l’enthousiasme et l’envie de faire bouger les choses ! ✅ Rappeler aux gens d’aller voter ✅ Participer à la mobilisation électorale ✅ Rencontrer des gens de votre communauté ✅ Faire une véritable différence 🥇 Étape 1 : Trouvez votre bureau de vote : 📍 myvote.toronto.ca 🥈 Étape 2 : Inscrivez-vous comme bénévole : 🙋‍♀️ electionday.me 🥉 Étape 3 : Et tant qu’à faire les choses, faisons-les bien ! 🌟 Soutenez l’équipe Bradford : ❤️ electionday.me | lnkd.in/e6JyKMDf Inscrivez-vous dès aujourd’hui et partagez cette publication avec vos amis, votre famille, vos voisins et tous vos contacts. Même votre cousin qui a toujours une opinion sur tout ! 😂 📣 PARTAGEZ CETTE PUBLICATION ! Chaque vote compte. Chaque heure compte. Et se plaindre de Toronto autour d’un café, c’est bien… mais agir pour son avenir, c’est encore mieux ! ☕🗳️ Allez Toronto, on se mobilise ! Et du coup, pour Ward 11, c'est à @lalliancefrancaise ! #TorontoElection #ElectionDay #VoteToronto #GetOutTheVote #BradBradford

Ni modo... ya hace frio pero es importantísimo que votes! 🗳️ ¡Toronto vota el 26 de octubre! Del 24 al 26 de octubre, únete al equipo de @Brad Bradford para movilizar a los votantes por toda la ciudad. Puedes dedicar unas horas o todo el fin de semana. ¡Tú decides! No necesitas experiencia, sólo energía, entusiasmo y ganas de hacer la diferencia. ✅ Recordarle a la gente que salga a votar ✅ Ayudar a movilizar a los votantes ✅ Conocer y conectar con tu comunidad ✅ ¡Hacer que tu participación realmente cuente! 🥇 Paso 1: Encuentra dónde te toca votar: 📍 myvote.toronto.ca 🥈 Paso 2: Inscríbete como voluntario: 🙋‍♀️ electionday.me 🥉 Paso 3: Y ya que estamos, ¡hagamos las cosas bien! 🌟 Apoya al equipo Bradford: ❤️ electionday.me | lnkd.in/e6JyKMDf ¡Inscríbete hoy y comparte esta publicación con tus amigos, familiares, vecinos y todos tus contactos! Incluyendo a ese primo que siempre tiene una opinión sobre política, pero nunca mueve un dedo. 😂 📣 ¡COMPARTE ESTA PUBLICACIÓN! Cada voto cuenta. Cada hora importa. Y quejarse de Toronto mientras nos tomamos un café está muy bien… ¡pero hacer algo para cambiar las cosas está mucho mejor! ☕🗳️ ¡Vamos, Toronto! ¡Menos quejas y más acción! #TorontoElection #ElectionDay #VoteToronto #GOTV #BradBradford

Not a perfect video but your involvement is URGENT. 🗳️ Toronto votes October 26! Help Team Bradford reach voters across Toronto from October 24–26. Give a few hours or the whole weekend—no experience needed, just energy and enthusiasm! ✅ Remind voters ✅ Support get-out-the-vote efforts ✅ Connect with your community ✅ Make an impact Step one: 📍 Find your polling location: myvote.toronto.ca Step two: 📍To volunteer, electionday.me And ideally, 🌟 step three: To support Team Bradford: | electionday.me | lnkd.in/e6JyKMDf Please sign up today and share this post with your friends, family, neighbours, and networks. Brad Bradford Ted Opitz Terri Hawkes karina lemke CJPAC Rafi Yablonsky Christopher Mammoliti Dianne Saxe, Ph.D, GCB.D James Pasternak Mike Colle Tasha Kheiriddin Vincent Crisanti David Magazzinich 📣 SHARE THIS POST Every vote counts. Every hour matters. Let’s show up for Toronto! #TorontoElection #ElectionDay #VoteToronto #GetOutTheVote #BradBradford

What will your family inherit beyond your wealth? We spend so much time thinking about how to pass down assets, protect what we’ve built, and prepare the next generation financially. But how much time do we spend passing down the lessons that helped us build that life in the first place? The values that guided our decisions. The mistakes that taught us something. The experiences that shaped who we became. The hopes we have for the people we love. These are the things that give an inheritance meaning, yet they’re rarely captured in an estate plan. Getting your house in order isn’t just about making sure your family knows what you own. It’s about making sure they understand what mattered to you. Because the most valuable things we leave behind aren’t always the things we can put a dollar amount on. #GetYourHouseInOrder #FamilyWealth #LegacyPlanning #EstatePlanning

Success gets you into the room. Character makes you want to stay. I spent nearly a week in California at MDRT Top of the Table with good friends who are exceptional financial advisors and even better people. A few highlights: meeting Olympian and brilliant speaker Sarah Wells, watching my friend Eli Schochet shine on his panel, and reconnecting with Brian Haney after sharing the stage in Ottawa just weeks ago. These are the people who challenge your thinking and remind you why you love what you do. The California sunshine was a pretty good perk, too. No doubt, I’m happiest when I’m on a beach. 🏝️ ☀️ 🕶️ #MDRT #TopOfTheTable #FinancialPlanning

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Rubach Wealth. We are grateful for the families, colleagues, and community who place their trust in us. Wishing you and your loved ones a warm and meaningful Thanksgiving. #HappyThanksgiving #Gratitude #RubachWealth

Today, I’m simply sad that the world has come to this. I mourn those murdered on October 7, the families whose lives were shattered, and the innocent lives lost in the violence that followed. Behind every death is a person who deserved a future and a family left with unbearable grief. What happened on October 7 was inexcusable. The complexity of the conflict does not excuse those atrocities. Jewish people deserve to live safely in their ancestral homeland. Palestinian civilians deserve safety, dignity and a future. Neither should require the destruction of the other. I wish people spent more time listening and learning, and less time attacking. To those who look away or justify the killings, I hope your families never experience that terror. I also hope compassion does not have to wait until suffering reaches your own door. We must reject extremism that calls for another people’s elimination. We can disagree about politics and still insist that every human life matters. Today, I remember. I mourn. And I wish we could make more room for humanity. Am Yisrael Chai עם ישראל חי 🇮🇱

Complexity is often a byproduct of success. Over the years, a family may accumulate corporations, trusts, investment accounts, insurance policies, properties, estate documents, and multiple professional advisors. There may be absolutely nothing wrong with any one of those decisions. The risk is what happens between them. When each piece is managed separately, it becomes increasingly difficult to see whether everything still works together—especially as businesses grow, families change, children become adults, and priorities evolve. In my latest column for Canadian Family Offices, I explore what I call “complexity risk,” why individually sound decisions can become collectively problematic, and one simple question every financial structure should periodically have to answer: Why does this still exist? The goal isn’t to eliminate complexity. It’s to make sure the complexity you have remains purposeful, understandable, and coordinated. Read the full article: canadianfamilyoffices.com/co… #GetYourHouseInOrder #FamilyWealth #WealthPlanning #EstatePlanning #FinancialPlanning

Toronto does not need another explanation for why we should lower our expectations. It needs leadership willing to raise them. Municipal elections determine how our city functions: our streets, transit, housing, public spaces and the stewardship of our money. Under Olivia Chow, residential property taxes rose 9.5% in 2024 and another 6.9% in 2025, including the city-building levy. I see zero improvement. Residents are entitled to ask what those increases have delivered, particularly when making a life here already feels financially exhausting. We cannot normalize people sleeping on sidewalks, human waste in public spaces (and private too! I had to shovel one last winter - revolting, violating and unacceptable), addiction or preventable overdose deaths. People experiencing homelessness deserve safety, treatment and a realistic path to stable housing. Everyone deserves usable streets and public spaces. Compassion must include the determination to improve people’s lives. Nor should Jewish residents have to accept intimidation as a condition of living here. Toronto Police identified the Jewish community as the most frequently targeted group in its 2025 hate-crime report. There have been arrests and charges; the issue is whether the response provides meaningful protection, consequences and prevention. I expect unequivocal leadership against antisemitism, supported by enforcement and education. For those who believe redistribution is the answer, a quick reminder: wealth must first be created. Businesses, investment and productive work sustain the tax base that funds public services. A city that makes it harder to build, employ and invest weakens its capacity to help. Philanthropy also depends on both the capacity to give and confidence that contributions will achieve something. Generosity deserves competent stewardship, just as taxpayers deserve measurable results. Chris Alexander’s candidacy concerns me. With a recent poll placing him at 10%, behind Chow at 48% and Brad Bradford at 39%, splitting the vote for change is a serious risk. I want to believe there is a thoughtful strategy behind his decision. Someone with his political experience should explain how staying in this race advances the change he advocates. Advance voting runs October 6–11, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. avoid line ups. Election Day is October 26. In 2022, fewer than three in ten eligible voters participated. We cannot demand accountability while treating our own participation as optional. If you want change, vote. Complacency is a choice and complaining afterward does not undo it. lnkd.in/g4ji8-EA

“Later” feels safe because it assumes we’ll have more time. After the kids leave home. After the next promotion. After the debt is paid off. When life settles down. But life rarely gives us a perfect window to get everything organized. Too often, the urgency comes from a death, divorce, illness, or another unexpected transition—and suddenly the decisions we kept postponing need to be made under pressure. Getting your house in order is about having those conversations and making those decisions before life makes them urgent. Don’t wait for “later” to arrive. #GetYourHouseInOrder #FinancialPlanning #FamilyWealth #EstatePlanning

What does the culture you’ve created actually feel like to the people around you? In my conversation with Janet Livingstone, founder of Culture is Key, she shared three questions every leader should consider: How do I feel when I’m with my team? Do the people around me actually seek me out for conversation? Am I clear about what I want to achieve—and can I communicate it clearly? These questions can reveal far more about a culture than the values written on a wall. And they don’t only apply to organizations. The same questions can tell us something about the environments we create within our families and relationships. If you haven’t listened yet, “The Culture You Think You Have” is available now on Get Your House in Order wherever you get your podcasts. tr.ee/UYX165NJfs #GetYourHouseInOrder #Leadership #CompanyCulture #Communication #SelfAwareness

When did accurately describing violence become more controversial than the violence itself? A co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain of a commercial aircraft, sent a plane carrying 174 people into a terrifying plunge, and, according to Israeli officials, attempted to crash it. Yet the BBC initially called it a “fight between pilots,” Canadian headlines immediately focused on the fact that the attacker’s motive remains unknown, and Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Indira Anand described what happened simply as an “incident.” Motive absolutely matters, and investigators should establish it before anyone declares this terrorism as fact. But uncertainty about motive does not require us to become absurdly vague about conduct. At this rate, we are one headline away from being told that the co-pilot tripped and accidentally stabbed the captain multiple times. What I find particularly offensive is hearing this language from the person representing Canada internationally. Minister Anand, you may speak for the Government of Canada, but you do not speak for me when conduct this grave is reduced to diplomatic euphemism. I ask you this: if 174 Canadians had been aboard that aircraft, would you have called it an “incident”? If a Canadian pilot had been stabbed and Canadian families had spent those minutes believing their loved ones were about to die, would our government and media still be working this hard to soften the language? Journalists and political leaders have a duty to avoid speculation, but they also have a duty not to sanitize established facts. Those principles are completely compatible. Tell us what is known, tell us what is not known, and stop treating plain language as somehow dangerous. When our government and major media organizations become more careful about potentially offending people than about clearly describing extraordinary violence, they send Canadians a message about which truths may be spoken plainly and which must be softened. That is a message I reject completely. Before the antizionists and antisemites pile on: this is not about Jews, Israel, or anyone’s politics. It is about 174 human lives that could have ended in seconds (plus everyone on the ground who might have died had that aircraft been successfully used as a weapon in another 9/11-style attack). And above all, I wish a full and speedy recovery to everyone affected regardless of citizenship, religion, ethnicity, politics, or where they call home. Human life should not become more or less worthy of outrage depending on who the victims are.