BUY NOW! the HST is coming!
This column in the Financial Post argues that you should BUY NOW because the HST is coming and will drive prices up.
Economist Benjamin Tal, of CIBC World Markets, predicts the tax will have an impact on housing sales. “It’s not like something you can brush under the carpet,” says Mr. Tal. “There will be reduced demand.” He predicts the industry will build more houses without all the finishings. That will leave the consumer to do work on the black market with contractors to avoid the HST. That’s what happened in the Maritimes where the HST has been in play for years, said Mr. Tal.
“This will give a boost to the under-the-table transactions. Is that an optimum thing?” says Mr. Tal.
It’s no wonder British Columbia’s housing industry is fighting the HST tooth and nail. It’s not interested in the Ontario compromise of an exemption on the first $400,000 of a home. B.C.
will provide a $20,000 tax break on the first $400,000 of a purchase, the amount being lower because the province has a 7% sales tax.
“There is no single family home here you can buy at that price,” says Peter Simpson, chief executive of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association.
Could higher taxes lead to higher demand and higher prices? If only they had the foresight to enact this policy in Las Vegas they could have prevented house prices from dropping in half!
September 9th, 2009 at 7:02 pm 1
I'm #1 I tink
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September 9th, 2009 at 7:15 pm 2
Global News:
Fear that El Nino will come and screw up the 2010 Olympics .
So far, NO ONE from Environment Canada is willing to speak about this.
ahahahahaha
=======
Another infomercial called news.
RE is booming blah blah blah,…..Pastrick expect a growth in starts.
Sorry, building starts go DOWN this time of year.
Embarassing to watch.
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September 9th, 2009 at 7:29 pm 3
Does anyone still read the National Post, Never mind listen to their advice.
If they are so good at giving advice, maybe they should tell their owners, Canwest, how to avoid bankruptcy.
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September 9th, 2009 at 7:31 pm 4
HST:
Perhaps Campbell and his mandarins are tipping their hand that RE will collapse, insofar as new construction cannot be relied on to be a revenue generator, hence the PST needs to be replaced.
The HST will cast a revenue grabbing net for A-L-L RE transactions.
Mr Lal from CIBC is hilarious…not only admitting a black market, but actually advising how to do it.
Make it qualify for the bare minimum occupancy permit, then "under the table" for the rest.
Todays Province had a poll and the majority of BC voters do not want Campbell for a 4 th term. We ain't gonna have a Spring 2010 bounce, and the HST will kick in in 10 months.
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September 9th, 2009 at 8:14 pm 5
directly or indirectly developers need to absorb housing related taxes, hst creates an incentive for developers to move towards product under 400,000. look for more suburban condos as opposed to sfh or high end condo construction. slight variation in the supply dynamic.
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September 9th, 2009 at 8:53 pm 6
Wouldn't it be ironic if the low interest rates which are being used to prevent a US style housing crash here in Canada have exactly the opposite effect and instead form the basis for a US style housing crash 2-3 years from now (because our prices never dropped enough like in the US, so the low interest rates simply blew the bubble one final time).
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September 9th, 2009 at 9:04 pm 7
NO -LYMPICS:
The political antics of the Campbell LIberals are like watching crack heads scratch at the pavement for rocks of coke that may have fallen from the shaky hands of another addict. (Christ, its only in Vanshitstain that a citizen could have an image like that in their minds.)
I would imagine there will some kind of drachonian and ham fisted attempt at containing the black market transactions under those circumstances.
The HST is exactly right, a revenue generator. No one believes that this tax is revenue neutral, they've played that card before and not even the most uninformed arm chair economist can find an example of a tax which could claim that after the fact.
The BC Government has gone into the internet gambling business , is porn next? The poker games that are available now have been 'outed' as rigged and not poker games at all. What kind of tilted scams have the desperados out of the bible belt got in mind for the sinners of BC now? This goon show just gets more sickening at every turn. Taking the kids lunch money from the schools as they have recently, denying the seniors pain saving surgery,creating artists ghettos etc etc. This a huge denegration of the ethics of any government on any level, it's downright sleazy and its getting worse by the day.
Is the bravado displayed by the cabinet ministers going to hold? The newspapers and the whores like Bill Good are still on side. You have a full court press of 'good news'. Its massive denial. Even the Weather Dept has been mugged and can no longer give simple weather reports for the Olympic period without permission. I really don't understand how low these c**ksuckers have to stoop before the 'average citizen gets mad and starts peppering the media and the government with demands for the truth and a return to a truly 'civil service' as opposed to the political goon show and power play we are witnessing now. the government has entered into the realm where they are in fact acting against the best interests of the people.
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September 9th, 2009 at 9:05 pm 8
observer:
#6, good observation.
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September 9th, 2009 at 9:07 pm 9
Should read , " The HST is exactly that (not right)
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September 9th, 2009 at 9:26 pm 10
I have been a regular visitor of this website for more than two years now. I was alone since 2005 and insisting the house bubble would burst very soon until I found this website. I think my mind are started changing slowly to believe the possibility of a perpetual Vancouver housing bubble. I am a lender working for big five with two professional designations. I am familar with all the bearish arguments and totally agreed with them. We all here are being rational. I also have first hand knowledge how irrational the current buyers are. I have client buying a place for $600K which they can rent out for $1500 per month and deeply believe they got a bargain. I have client doing landscaping bought million dollar home with 10% down. I have client without any other income bought three rental properties. If seems in metro Vancouver, we will never run out of great fools. I am giving up.
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September 9th, 2009 at 9:37 pm 11
#10 Lender
How can you let a landscaper buy a million home with 10 % down ?
Is that CMHC insured ?
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September 9th, 2009 at 9:41 pm 12
oh yeaah nutslaps! you might find h.s.t. on a haircut but you will not find hst
"on a machine o' land making capability"
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September 9th, 2009 at 9:47 pm 13
# 7 realpaul
Re gambling:
If I heard the newsreport right, BC Lottery figures BC loses $87 million due to on – line gambling located outside BC. Whoop-de-doo. Campbell should have the decency to wave the white flag and say BC is hooped with his nickel and diming blindsiding and ripping – off of previously funded programs.
His MLA's are a pathetic joke, there must be a microchip planted next to the "old" lobotomy scars. He has bought them all off with raises and perks, it's a frikkin joke.
And worse, people still want to buy BC real estate ? Read the frikkin tea leaves ASAP before SOL !
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September 9th, 2009 at 10:03 pm 14
NO -LYMPICS:
And you don't want to buy BC real estate?
I find that hard to believe considering how closely you follow the market and these blogs.
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September 9th, 2009 at 10:19 pm 15
Here are two observations which to me demonstrate what is wrong with our local economy and the market as a whole.
(1)In spite of the market gloom and doom, two companies that sell products that epitomize the Vancouver permabull – Starbucks and Lululemon, have seen their share price rise 186% and 317% (respectively) from their March lows. That's right, in dire economic times what can Vancouverites not live without? Starbucks, tight, stretchy pants, and pricey condos.
(2) I asked a trusted friend who happens to be a real estate agent how the market was. The best he's ever seen it, was his response. He told me that he had tried putting an offer on a house (for himself) in SE Van last week. Claimed about 50 attended the open house and that the seller eventually cut the open house short and told the people waiting outside "If you really want it make an offer, sight unseen". Asking was 579 and apparently it went for mid 6's.
I don't really have any profound conclusions to draw from the seemly insatiable demand for real estate and unstoppable money flows that appears to come from nowhere. Confused!
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September 9th, 2009 at 10:33 pm 16
Nothing is going to change in this town until people lose their jobs. The mass delusion isn't going to end on it's own and the credit spigot isn't going to be turned off any time soon.
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September 9th, 2009 at 10:46 pm 17
Hey I'm a Landscaper, though I do not do much "hands on" anymore, I can easily afford a million dollar house but haven't the faintest urge to buy in this market. However one of my employees recently purchased a house in South Surrey for nearly that much, his pay is around 75k per year and is married to a nurse, probably typical purchasers or what this forum would call Greater Fools. Seems to be a lot out there!
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September 9th, 2009 at 10:51 pm 18
I am starting to feel gloomy like others on this blog. it seems that unless people lose their jobs there won't be a crash. The problem with BC is that Vancouver has a fake economy but it survives by a massive transfer of wealth from up north in the form of forestry and gas revenues. Both industries are hurthing and that is why BC has such a large deficit. but it seems the people up north feel the brunt of the cuts and get little reward when the resources boom. Unless people of the north revolt it seems this scam will keep on going.
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September 9th, 2009 at 10:53 pm 19
re #10:
hey. Lender, great stuff, thanks!
Surely this is the stuff of a crazy blow-off top?
I agree with earlier comments re the irony of us blowing-up our subprime bubble about three years after we should've learnt our lessons..
'Lender's' exasperation is also a sign we're near a top… surely?
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September 9th, 2009 at 11:25 pm 20
Damn. A landscaper earning around 75k. Digging holes, spreading manure, and cutting grass; I might err of course…
My significant other has over 15 years of working experience, makes avionics drawings for Transport Canada (if you only know what it means) and is making less.
Something is wrong in the country when jobs that require education pay less than whatever high school dropouts can do.
Oh, wait, my strata council has started talking about cutting landscaping service by 50% in two month… Would be interesting to watch wars between contractors dumping price to get the contract. In 2-3 years maybe…
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September 9th, 2009 at 11:47 pm 21
Lender:
Good post. We have lots of stories of this type of lending out of the US where McDonalds workers and unemployed hairdressers were getting mortgages with Ninja loans and zero down scams. These were the biggest drag and first big scare to befall the industry in the US. IT WILL happen here. This case that Lender has exposed is all too common. People are borrowed to the tits without any way to pay the loan back if the rates go up more than 1%.
I was poo-pooed last week for reporting that I suspected trial balloons were being floated out of the side doors of the G20 meetings about 'the exit strategy', ie; rates coming soon. Look no further then the comments from CDN bankers under the auspices of the BOC itself.
I hear that train a comin'
Its comin round the bend
And I ain't been to Memphis
Since I don't know when
Now I'm stuck in an alligator mortgage
Now I'm going to die
Cause I've been a stupid shithead
I'll hang my head and cry
( Sung to the Johnny Cash tune of course)
Thanks to Garth again for an excellent post of timely information. There was a guy who told us a couple of days ago that waiting for a trend to play out took too long and that the government would never dream of burning homeowners. Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha !!!!!!
"At least one economist has found the courage to state that clearly. Carlos Leitao, of Laurentian Bank, is warning Canadians to prepare for “aggressive” interest rate increases once Carney pulls the trigger. That will likely happen in about nine months, after unemployment peaks in early 2010.
“An aggressive tightening – rather than a gradual one – will be necessary because rates are extremely low,” he says. “A measured pace would not be appropriate to ‘normalize’ rates when the starting point is virtually zero.”
Exactly. In fact Leitao says each time the Bank of Canada raises rates, it will be by as much as a full 1%."
http://www.greaterfool.ca/
Think of the HST being forgotten when interest rates start going up at every meeting. The BOC meets every six weeks to discuss interest rates.
The 'EXIT STRATEGY" is going to burn some serious ass . Yeeeehah.
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September 10th, 2009 at 12:28 am 22
#10 Lender: Ignorance is bliss, but payback's a bitch. We all want a house for the usual reasons. I would have liked to raise my kids with a yard, etc, but then I think about how everyone is totally f'd, and how we are all going to have to pay for this grossly irresponsible mess. It's not just houses either – pensions, health care, everything. We're boned. Who will pay? The debt-slaves, I'll bet. They volunteered!
And if they default? I'll buy a cheap place, pay my property taxes, and work and pay taxes as little as possible. I already live pretty cheap (saving money), and I value my time more than anything. The point is, unless they confiscate or destroy my savings I'm not going to pay. Let the greedy pay. That's what they're there for, and that's why capitalism works (mostly). A bit of perspective is in order: we live in one of the wealthiest societies ever, and a bit of restraint goes a very long way. We are only a slave to our wants.
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September 10th, 2009 at 12:28 am 23
#10 Lender: Ignorance is bliss, but payback's a bitch. We all want a house for the usual reasons. I would have liked to raise my kids with a yard, etc, but then I think about how everyone is totally f'd, and how we are all going to have to pay for this grossly irresponsible mess. It's not just houses either – pensions, health care, everything. We're boned. Who will pay? The debt-slaves, I'll bet. They volunteered!
And if they default? I'll buy a cheap place, pay my property taxes, and work and pay taxes as little as possible. I already live pretty cheap (saving money), and I value my time more than anything. The point is, unless they confiscate or destroy my savings I'm not going to pay. Let the greedy pay. That's what they're there for, and that's why capitalism works (mostly). A bit of perspective is in order: we live in one of the wealthiest societies ever, and a bit of restraint goes a very long way. We are only a slave to our wants.
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September 10th, 2009 at 12:28 am 24
There's a train a comin' There's a train a comin'
Hear them tracks a hummin' Theres a train a comin'
Can't you hear her blowin' Can't you hear her blowin'
Wonder where she's goin' Can't you hear her blowin'
Run down to the station Run down to the station
Dread and fascination Run down to the station
Don't you want to ride her Don't you want to ride her
Wonder what's inside her Don't you want to ride her
She ain't bound for nowhere She ain't bound for nowhere
Engineer just don't care She ain't bound for nowhere
She run down the mountain She run down the mountain
She won't even slow down mmm down the mountain
There's a train a comin' There's a train a comin'
Can't you hear her hummin' There's a train a comin'
–Steve Earle
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September 10th, 2009 at 3:55 am 25
U.S. foreclosures near record, peak in late '10: report
http://us.mobile.reuters.com/m/FullArticle/p.rdt/…
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September 9th, 2009 at 10:44 pm 26
[...] September 2009 · Leave a Comment This from Lender at vancouvercondo.info on Sept 9th. 2009 at 9:26pm [...]
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September 10th, 2009 at 8:06 am 27
The Plot:
BOC says they will keep interest rates low till June 2010.
HST kicks in JULY 2010.
Get the connection ?
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September 10th, 2009 at 9:23 am 28
NO -LYMPICS:
#27, I also think the BIG RED FLAG that the central bankers ( including our own) signal immenant higher rates possibly sooner than anyone expects. Now I know some young posters may think six months is an eternity and that next year is an unthinkable distance but Mr Carney has jumped in and stated bluntly
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Bank+Canada+…
This is in direct conflict with the RBC propaganda that affordability is 'better than ever'. Is this the inflection point of the frenzy ( an extended top for sure) that comes every time the sheeple all agree that it will never change. Markets have a funny way of dashing the dreams of the majority while leaving only the wise few intact.
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September 10th, 2009 at 9:23 am 29
I agree, it's totally frustrating to watch this current "recovery" in RE. I don't however, believe that it will last. Prices are just so unreasonable and there's really no reason for them. Most people buying right now are in for a real shock when interest rates go back up (and they will-eventually!) Just wait.
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September 10th, 2009 at 9:36 am 30
Talk about 'selling the recovery'. When the US jobs numbers came out they announced 'good news', only 576,000 people lost their jobs last month. They forgot to add the approx 160,000 whose benefits had run out in the previous week and so are no longer counted.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090910/ap_on_bi_go_e…
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September 10th, 2009 at 9:41 am 31
People who will lose their jobs are not the ones buying RE in Vancouver.
The ones buying don't have jobs… they don't need to.
They have street level dealers, cheap whores, wannabe pornstars or actual slaves back home working for them while they collect the blood-stained, cocaine laced bills…
Black market? Well of course… 50% of BC residents do not pay any income tax whatsoever already… and most of them don't even speak English for that matter…
This place IS different, just like Hong Kong was always different than the rest of China. We're not in Canada anymore. You want sanity and normal life? Move elsewhere. I know I am, soon.
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September 10th, 2009 at 10:10 am 32
Back to the article. The same article indicates that GST will increase prices, and will reduce demand. Which is it?
The price people will pay is the price they will pay, and if there is another 7% HST, then the builder has to reduce the price accordingly. But their construction materials will also cost 7% less.
The big difference is that HST is an upfront closing cost, so in effect it forces buyers to come up with a larger "down payment". (If they resold the same house in 1 month, there would be no HST and they should be able to price the home 12% higher, or the same as the HST inclusive price of the new home).
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September 10th, 2009 at 10:24 am 33
realpaul, nolympics. How do you substantiate your claims that HST is a revenue generator. Compared to PST, overall, what is the revenue gain for the province?
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September 10th, 2009 at 10:25 am 34
Drugs r us
Interesting topic one that I believe pays a large role in what we are experiencing. The Gov needs to run these dirtbags back where they came from. Good business people are fine but get convicted of drugs any new Canadians need to get the boot. Our gov is too weak they need to make examples of these human feces. Don't hold your breath until there is more than a slap on the wrist it will continue.
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September 10th, 2009 at 10:45 am 35
Scoop:
#33, history
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September 10th, 2009 at 11:08 am 36
scoop:
The HST is claimed to be revenue neutral, ie the Gov't will not take in extra taxes over and above what they already take.
Total BS, HST is insidious.
When the plan is to reduct the taxation on certain groups and make up the diference elsewhere, AND to achieve this it comes out of OUR pockets, that's simply semantics . HST ,one in place, will then be ratcheted up to make up for future deficits.
RE costs will go up, and they will be absorbed in the mortgage payments of many, ie you will be paying interest on the HST , thats discussed by many experts.
I don't believe the so called HST beneficiaries (no longer pay the PST)will benefit our economy, simply their own bottom line, their won't be much trickle down effect.
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September 10th, 2009 at 11:28 am 37
From Garth's blog
QUOTE:
Mark Carney is a lot of things, but stupid’s not among them. The central bank boss knows he’s playing a high-stakes game of rate roulette, aware ultra-low rates can do as much damage as good. While he was desperate to prevent a deflationary spiral, he’s now adamant to deflate an uncontrollable bubble with but one outcome.
At least one economist has found the courage to state that clearly. Carlos Leitao, of Laurentian Bank, is warning Canadians to prepare for “aggressive” interest rate increases once Carney pulls the trigger. That will likely happen in about nine months, after unemployment peaks in early 2010.
“An aggressive tightening – rather than a gradual one – will be necessary because rates are extremely low,” he says. “A measured pace would not be appropriate to ‘normalize’ rates when the starting point is virtually zero.”
Exactly. In fact Leitao says each time the Bank of Canada raises rates, it will be by as much as a full 1%.
So imagine what that would do to a 3% VRM, raising the effective rate by 33% in a single move. In fact, it would only take a couple of years of aggressive bank moves to put five-year mortgage money back into the 8% range – the average of the last twenty years.
As I mentioned here two days ago, a cheapo Van house worth $600,000 bought with 10% down can be financed now with a VRM at 3% for $2,560 a month, requiring an income $92,000. But if it renews in, say, 2014 at 8%, payments jump to $4,200, needing an income of $151,200. Consequences – obvious.
Anyone who believes this isn’t just possible, but certain, seems destined to relive history.
===============================
So, the way I read this, the Canadian bubble won't blow up like it did in the US with everyone scrambling one year ago.
Carney has a plan to warn everyone that ya have till about JUNE 2010. Then interest rates will rise, which will keep out the highest risks, but then agin maybe the greater fools will have ben used up by then. Interest rates rising outside of Canada seem inevitable and may happen sooner.
Carney is probably hoping a slow but steady rise of interest rates will create a slow deflating of the bubble.
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September 10th, 2009 at 11:53 am 38
realpaul:
Absolutely correct.
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September 10th, 2009 at 1:43 pm 39
I just listened to Mr. Flahertys speech in Victoria. The highlight to me was the hint dropping about how far in the stinkhole we really are.
"The weakness will continue and deficits will be larger over the next two years will be larger than anticipated. The basis for a recovery is not yet certain".
KABAAAM !!!!
So, the threat to raise interest rates is not based on economic recovery. I surmise they have run out of credit at any price and are being told that credit will cost more whether Canada likes it or not.
Oh to have been a fly on the wall at the G20 closed door meetings when the US and Canadian governments were told by the international club that a time line was being imposed. Our brave leaders are not telling us the whole story. Flarhety says 'no end in sight' yet Carney says, 'rates hikes in nine months', very interesting indeed. I think rates will be jumping in broad measure ( 1 and 2 hundered basis points) until the inflation we have exported is contained. Thats a rate much higher than anyone can imagine as anyone can see inflation in hard and soft goods are going through the roof as entire blocks of countries purchase commoditities and dump US dollars.
The price of goods is going way up and thus interest rates. Gibsons paradox is back, apparently the government has not been able to suspend the laws of economics forever. As paper has become worthless, value has shifted to commodities and as we don't manufacture anything any more those countries that do have to catch up with the devalued dollar by charging more for their merchandise.
Our wise leaders ( Trudeau) , Turner) successfully oversaw the dismantling of the CDN manufacturing industry and shipped it overseas to benefit the poor in the third world. What a great guy eh? Now we're going to pay for that mistake in increasing costs and spiralling price inflation.
The ugly fact is that they were successful, but now the working middle Chinese etc have higher standards of living than people in Ontario and the Chinese manufactured goods ain't so cheap anymore and CDN wages have been going down for ten years, no where near keeping up with what has been going on in the rest of the world.
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September 10th, 2009 at 2:06 pm 40
Even in a city the size of Bangkok, having 22 major hotels for sale at one time is extraordinary.
And PS, does it seem coincidental that all the sudden announcements about interest rate hikes, exit strategies and a new fiscal direction for credit has been in the news just days immediatley after the G20 meeting? I think Carney, Geitner and co., got their cllective pee pee's slapped. I think back to what the Chinese minister said
" The US should no longer over estimate the role it has to play in the global recovery." SSSSSSSSSSLLLLLAAAPPP !!!!!!
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/234…
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September 10th, 2009 at 2:27 pm 41
Post 39 and 40 realpaul:
Well said:
I don't think the Tories really care if an election is forced and they lose. They are in a no win situation re: the economy. As you say, all the indicators are interest rates will rise.
I see Ignatieff as our own version of Obama.
Pole – vaulted forward from a literal obscure political unknown to the top job and THEN be lead by the nose by Goldman Sachs alumuni( like BoC's Carney ) in key positions.
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September 10th, 2009 at 3:23 pm 42
NO -LYMPICS:
#41 I can't forgive the power grubbing, malicious Liberal elite for denying democracy to the grass roots of their own party and crowning Ignatieff instead of having a leadership election. What does this say about the Liberal elite and what they truly stand for? Are they planning to rule Canada by acclimation? They are a No Democracy Party and that should tell everyone what is at the heart of the Liberal Elite and their leader Ugnatieff.
Who in their right mind would have accepted a position that way in the first place? You would have to be a complete idiot to lead an exercise in killing democracy and be so full of your own ego that you could think it possible to become a king in a Canada that values democracy above all else.
The Ontario media is still shitting mad at the Tories for turfing the vicious Liberal leaning cunts out of the foyer of the House Of Parliament and putting them in a media room in the bsmt instead of letting them roam the halls of power garnering favor and petty status points like the Governors General in waiting they all thought they were… pricks.
The Liberals were in so long because of the fractured opposition phenomena ( not by the grace of God as some began to think) and the creation of hundreds of new Parliamentary seats that the Ontario Libs couldn't stuff fast enough with tribes of beholden poor from far off shitholes and taint the ballot boxes 'the Canadian Way' ( hey Gracies finger was no differant but the LIbs did it big time)and pulled the hijacking of democracy in this country.
Doesn't anyone ask why we have so few seats here in the west ( fewer than Nova Scotia)and anywhere the Libs didn't control? Should there be fewere seats in Alberta than Toronto South? The game is saturated with political shit. I wouldn't be surprised to see a majority Torie government redraw the lines more democratically when/if that happens. The idea of that must keep a lot of LIberals awake at night, losing 1/2 of Somali Toronto would sink the Libs into obscurity as there are several constiuencies every few blocks. The current system does not benefit Canadians at all, only the Liberal party.
They did succeed in creating a Liberal riding in South Vancouver when they imported 70,000 Sikhs over the course of one weekend ( so it seemed, it actually took about 12 months beginning in 1972)and it is tantamount to the vote rigging in Afghanistan.
The same tactic has blown up in their faces in Richmond though as the Chinese immigrants are themselves fractured into multiple ethnic sub groups, religions and politics, better educated than the Sikhs who as a tribal group are beholden to a central ruling leadership elite that has historically worked within a power for bribe culture.
The Sikhs worked the system to thier advantage getting a free ride for extended relatives , no depotation or prosecution for their criminal element ( mainly the tribal leaders) and the sanctuary of hundreds of terrorists who hid in the temples when India was trying to extradite them for the Punjabi village murders ( they'd send machine gun squads through street markets to kill women and children indicriminatley to shut up any dissenters or witnesses) and the assinations of politicians when the leadership tried to wrest Pubjab away from India in a campaign of blood.
That campaign saw the Sikh terrorist leadership use the main holy temples ( like the Golden Temple in Amritsar) as an arms cache thinking that they could hide behind the religion ( cowards) and when they were caught out and the Indian Government took the weapons out the terrorists swept through India in a bloody campaign and then ran to Canada ( under Mommys skirt) for the safety that the Liberal Government had promised them in return for the Sikh vote in BC. Shame beyond shame.
The petty bribes strategy and power grabs only work it seems when a group , like the Sri Lankans, who when brought into Toronto in the hundreds of thousands all voted as they were told by the Tamil Tiger leadership. Tribal societies like the Sikh, Sri Lankan and Somalia are favorite targets of the Liberal Government. Who said politics in Canada were civil?
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September 10th, 2009 at 3:44 pm 43
Realpaul,
As much as some of your RE rants are applicable, you need to take a breather from rants on every subject under the moon.
I empathize with many of your comments on politics, the state of the economy, and immigration, but take a deep breath. When one reads your comments, you can sense your fire and spit, your anger, disbelief and disgust, all of which are not good for one's health in the long term.
Continue to be skeptical and critical, but make sure the disjuncture between your values and the current operation of the world does not get the better of you.
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September 10th, 2009 at 3:45 pm 44
Anecdote:
Just out of curiousity,a few years back , I attended the Liberal nominating convention in Richmond,(BTW I an NOT a Liberal supporter) where Raymond Chan tried to win back the Liberal nomination from Joe Peschisolido ( who had crossed the floor to become a Liberal MP ).
Almost exclusively, Chan had the Chinese supporters and Peschisolido had the East Indian/ South Asian vote. It was basically split down ethnic lines. There were several hundred people there, but I don't think there was more than say 20 of European descent.
That pretty much says it all.
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September 10th, 2009 at 3:51 pm 45
HST of 2010 is like GST in the 90s — nobody liked 7% taxes at the till, but we eventually got used to the idea of two sales taxes. With all the tax cuts we had in the last 5 years, I don't think we should complain about a small tax increase via HST. Certain things will get cheaper (like Hotels..since there will be no 15% hotel tax) and others will get more expensive (like dining out). Its all a wash in the end. Of course….giving our provincial and federal government's financial mismanagement, I expect to see a long list of tax increases in the future — starting with 7% GST and income tax increases. If you think taxes are high now, its going to be much worse later. Somebody has to pay for "The Great Stimulus Package".
As for interest rates — its going to be low for a bit longer. Everybody benefits low rates — governments, home owners and general consumers. Only the lenders will suffer — and who cares about them? So…it will stay low until its broken.
In my magic world (i.e. my personal opinion), I fully expect interest rates to rise to historical highs — like 20%-30%-40%. Why so high? The lenders, who have been forking out money for the past decades, want a ROI. They know we can't pay them back — so they will ask for tangeable items. Items like property, facilities and other fixed assets. And they will be nice to us Vancouverites — you can live in your mansions, just remember to pay us rent. Personally…I think this is how it will play out. We are going back to the Feudal Age! But…that's just my magical world. I am sure it will end in a milder New Zealand/Brazillian bankruptcy — complete turmoil for several years and then back to steady "level headed" growth.
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September 10th, 2009 at 4:23 pm 46
Re HST
Gov't has lost its way decades ago.
Now it has caught up with them.
I don't see where the GST has benefitted us… wasn't it supposed to make us more competitive ? …..As our manufacturers and manufacturing base has continually collapsed ?
The HST is a RED HERRING…think inversely. Its supposed/alleged benefits are BS, its a carney barkers sales pitch, the active aim is to stick it to us come hell or high water tp fix what gov't screwed up royaly to start, they simply need to sugar coat it with "some excuse".
Fool us once (with GST), shame on you
Fool us twice(with HST), shame on us.
Democracy R.I.P.
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September 10th, 2009 at 4:26 pm 47
Take a Breather…:
#43, thanks for your concern. Do you think that I am like Conrads character "Kurtz" in 'The Heart of Darkness' who had 'seen too much' of the world and decried "The Horror, The Horror".
As endearing as that character is to us all by the fact that so many people can relate; is that truth telling and finger wagging is more castigated in this country of denial and complacency than it should be. Have we been taught to be nice or have we been subjugated into submission?
My position is that it is OK to 'out' the liars, the manipulators, the slavers, the murdereres, the criminals, the frauds, the fakes, the wrong-doers, the false friends and fabricators. The country and the population would be better off if we all had a much shorter fuse and were prepared to take on the falsehoods and the deceptions perpetrated upon us by those who truly believe that we are little more than a means towards their end.
If I seem overly honest and a bit pissed off it is because I practice at not being fooled, it is what I do for a living. I work very hard at not being taken advantage of and it amazes me how many sheeple are happy to bend over and take whatever comes down the pipe. Sure you hear them bleat and moan about their sorry fate.
They shake their fists like little Machiavellis when their lives and the lives of their children don't work out so well, but is that really OK, should you not wake up and say " Hey , I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take anymore". Or. do we all just bend over and let the lies and spew fill our persons with swill.
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September 10th, 2009 at 5:09 pm 48
RP 47
I agree that it is important to point out fallacies, to question the sources of information, to call a spade a spade, especially in this city. You are correct, we are overly nice, and afraid to speak our minds, in part because the political correctness pendulum swung too far to the left. I think that is slowly changing, and I do applaud you in "calling people out."
That being said, maintain your health over the principle of calling people out. And try, yes, try, to balance your commentary with something positive once in a while. Not because I am a hear no evil, see no evil guy, but because if you are always critical, and "negative" in the eyes of the masses, you can lose your credibility and be relegated to the corner know as "the crazy, ranting guy over there."
Just my thoughts.
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September 10th, 2009 at 5:54 pm 49
"It was basically split down ethnic lines."
Like the "vote ethnique" Parizeau complained about in '95?
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September 10th, 2009 at 6:12 pm 50
49
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on what side you sit on, ethnic politics is destructive. Catering to certain ethnic groups simply because you can secure a block vote is at best reflective of an immature democratic society, and at its worst, destructive of norms, values and principles of a democratic system.
Ethnic bloc voting has been transplanted here from cultures and nations that lack sophisticated, entrenched democratic systems. It has also been fostered by our own politicians and parties.
Acknowledging its existence, and its potentially (and actual) harmful effects on Canadian society is not racist as you gently imply in 49. It is an elephant in the political room that few are willing to talk about, or tackle, for fear of being labelled wrongly, or losing out on a bastion of political power – depending of course on whether you are an average citizen or a politician.
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September 10th, 2009 at 6:28 pm 51
Victoria hotel chain goes bust.
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/09/03/bc-victo…
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September 10th, 2009 at 7:06 pm 52
BC has highest rate per capita of gangsters in the WORLD. $50 billion is Canadian dope going to US per annum. Canada is biggestt exported by far of ectasy and chrystal meth to US, Asia and Australia (wonder where in Canada these drugs are made and distributed). I am in the wrong trade; perhaps I should become a gangster to buy that place in Burnaby I've always wanted. This place is an absolute joke, the biggest narco state in the world.
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September 10th, 2009 at 7:29 pm 53
HST will increase prices? Really? I think it will REDUCE prices and here's why.
The HST will increase Realtor transaction costs. In order for an investor to purchase real estate he will factor in the increased costs when he eventually has to sell. This means he will pay less to compensate for these costs in the future.
The HST also increases, or so they say, sales cost to developers. In order for developers to make money they will only purchase land at a discount to compensate for the higher transaction costs.
Both these will not increase prices but will reduce volume. Housing is unique to how it will react to increased taxes since a component of the price is in the land. Its cost can therefore immediately adjust to compensate for higher building or transaction costs. All this talk about applying basic commodity economics to real estate is grossly oversimplifying. My guess is that the government knows this, which is why they don't give two sh!ts about it.
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September 10th, 2009 at 9:17 pm 54
vancouver #1. but i don't really understand if they mean in terms of permits or if it's getting cheaper…
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September 10th, 2009 at 9:18 pm 55
oh.. it's permits… so i suppose unless more infrastructure projects come up, there'll be more workers for residential construction…
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September 10th, 2009 at 9:24 pm 56
Realpaul, tell it like it is!
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September 10th, 2009 at 9:26 pm 57
Take a Breather…:
#48 . citizens should be writing the headlines and chasing down the cockroach politicians with the intent to bring them into the full light of day. Sunshine is the best antiseptic as they say.
Writiing about fluff is disengenuous when there is so much perma- fodder for the grist of a bear it would be unseemly not to lambast the Olympic liars, fornicators, baby rapers , dictators and chiselers of the IOC for example.
Whats good about that group of killers, nazi's, thugs, frauds, theives douchebags and lickspittles while they party behind police barricades with their cheap crack whores being paid in worthless Canadian dollars while thousands are freezing and starving in the very streets that have been 'wrapped' in phony banner visions of asinine glory and barbed wire?
Whats good about sitting still and being nice to a governemnt that has lied to you and driven seniors from the hospitals and stolen opportunities from school children while having just given themselves 120% raises and bonuses?
Whats good about sitting idly by while hundreds of thousands of barely educated and semi literate citizens are misled into taking in huge personal debts which when it is generally agreed they can not pay back if interest rates rise as little as 1%.
In the same breath the government torques up its propaganda campaign and strips the dignity from millions of citizens by enslaving them in a debt trap that almost none of them have the education to understand before its too late. But they do it because they believe the government while the government has been activley coercing them to go ahead in trust and surety into a fire. Instead of saving for retirement and their childrens education they are being stripped by a pack of jackals so that they will never truly own anything, not even their dignity. A population of debt slaves, what a legacy. Joseph Stalin must be buying champagne and dancing a jig in hell at watching the vicious trickery of the Canadian government.
Take 'er easy on them, not on your life.
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September 11th, 2009 at 2:36 pm 58
jesse
Re HST:
I agree with you,re; Real Estate… the HST will trickle down and affect the seller's bottom line. But these are the jaws of a vise. Everybody will then have to whip out a sharp pencil…the realtor's commissions will be cut, the tradesmen who build the projects etc.etc.
However, those now forced to pay HST on services get hit. The person how does haircuts still pays other taxes that never seem to go down(ie Triple Net), and their customers may shop around …it'll end up dog eat dog. Everybody in the food chain will lose, the underground economy will increase.
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November 29th, 2009 at 12:06 am 59
"Something is wrong in the country when jobs that require education pay less than whatever high school dropouts can do."
What a joke…I laugh at people like you who expect to make such big money with your 'education'. Roofer here making 160K. I have a university degree, 2 diplomas, a certified teacher, but I know where the money is. If your precious education didn't show you how to follow the money and you're here complaining about it… too damn bad. Less 'grubby dropouts' like me makes our future even brighter and yours bleaker. ROFL!
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