Today readers are responding to news that more than $7-billion in dirty money was washed through British Columbia’s economy last year – driving up the cost of buying a home by at least 5 per cent, according to reports released on Thursday by the B.C. government. The investigation also found that Ontario, Alberta and the Prairies are victim to high levels of money laundering as well. Readers are also responding to news that the World Bank has accused Bombardier of corruption to win a US$339-million contract to install rail-signalling equipment in Azerbaijan.
These are nine of the 45 properties where The Globe and Mail investigated lending processes that drug dealers can use to invest and launder their money, and reap tidy profits in return Ð all without actually owning any of the properties involved.Ben Nelms/The Globe and Mail
Everyone in B.C. knew something was going on, but not the magnitude! It is the end of trust for the political class. As for all you lawyers and accountants and realtors involved. Shame on you!
I commend the commenters for their pious rejection of "dirty money". But don't kid yourself. Canadians are going to make financial sacrifices if we really decide to combat the problem. And it’s not a race for the top. Right now, there are highly credible allegations that the President of the US benefits from dirty real estate money. Switzerland and Luxembourg are two of the wealthiest countries in the world from acting as quiet bankers with no conscience. New York and London's economies benefit from being a playground for foreign money. Miami and Tel Aviv are havens. The long list goes on and on. Remember Ben Johnson having his gold medal taken away? Canada did the right thing to fight steroid use. But it did not lead to fair competition.
Leave it to our public service to identify a problem after the damage has been done, grossly underestimate its impact so as to not look as bad in the public eye, and develop an ineffective solution that takes too long to implement.
The NDP deserve some kudos for resisting the urge to sweep this under the rug. There is no denying the revenues that come from this dirty money would be appealing to other parties.
I feel better now knowing that there's a good reason why young, hard working families will never know the security and happiness of owning their own home.
And how about that Realtors Association in Vancouver, saying for years "nothing to see here folks"? They should be fined, the executives fired and put under a judicial watch for the next 10 years
The Government of Canada is too busy auditing my tax return for details of my home office use. They are more concerned about $2,000 of earnings than billions of dollars of laundered money.
I lived in Vancouver for forty years. The money laundering and driving up home prices was as plain as day but politicians, real estate agents and developers all turned a blind eye
Readers are also responding to news that the World Bank has accused Bombardier of corruption to win a US$339-million contract to install rail-signalling equipment in Azerbaijan.
Baku Railway Station in Azerbaijan. The findings of the Azerbaijan audit depict a premeditated and well-orchestrated scheme to win the rail-signalling contract.stock
Time to see some action instead of politicians kissing babies. Let's start with kicking corrupt companies off the public bailouts/subsidies/contracts. How about seeing some prosecutions - in Canada? Both corporate and political - this latter one would be novel and should be applied not only to Feds but also Provincial. Let's stop preaching about rule of law to everyone and actually clean up corruption at home.
Corruption seems to follow Bombardier's trail where ever it goes. Any fines will be paid for by the Canadian taxpayers We have all attended this rodeo before.
Oh dear, not a good day for Canada.
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