Friday free-for-all!
It’s the end o’ the week! Lets do our regular round up of recent economic news. Here are a few stories I’ve noticed lately:
-CIBC: Canadian employment quality ‘nose-dived’ in last 6 months
-Olympic rental market swamped with thousands of empty homes
-Real estate industry could face millions in fines for not lowering fees
-CREA will keep MLS locked down for now
-CMHC needs to review policies
-Is a condo a good investment?
-New US program to allow ‘owners’ to ‘rent’ their homes from bank
-Wells Fargo bets on housing recovery
-A put option for your homes value
So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes about the economy and housing markets here and have an excellent weekend!
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nonymouse Says:
November 5th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Just went to the website from a call to action for a tv spot about why a Realtor is needed.
http://www.howrealtorshelp.ca/
WTF?
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Anonymous Says:
November 5th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
there’s a post on garth’s blog fannie mae has asked for an additional 1.5 billion.
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kansai_92 Says:
November 5th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Huh?
We already have a rent from your bank program in Canada.
It’s called a 35yr AMT.
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No Longer Looking Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 1:11 am
More devastating news for the BC contact centre industry. 700 jobs lost at Chase Card Services in Surrey.
http://www.vancouversun.com/bu.....story.html
These were OK paying jobs by BC standards, at $15-$20/hr. Most certainly there are people holding big mortgages in this crowd.
Moore, whose organization represents employees, vendors and consultants in B.C.’s call-centre industry and promotes call-centre growth, said the announced closure of the non-unionized facility is the latest example of large call centres closing in B.C., largely because of an appreciating Canadian dollar.
“The dollar is impacting [the industry],” said Moore, who added that he couldn’t speak to the specific reasons for the Chase Card closure. “A few years ago, many call centres set up here because it was cheaper. That advantage has shrunk, although there are still other advantages.
“EBay closed their local centre in Burnaby last month and that was 700 jobs. They’re consolidating [operations] in Salt Lake City. And Convergys had a large centre in Kamloops. It closed last month. That was 1,000 employees. Hopefully, [the Chase Card closure] will be the last.
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Cod Liver Oil Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 8:04 am
BC Unemployment rate 1% in a month! Ouch!
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Vansanity Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 8:10 am
Canada’s unemployment rate rises to 8.6 per cent, as economy sheds 43,200 jobs
http://www.google.com/hostedne.....xjZgQVEllA
How’d BC do, you ask?
“Regionally, Alberta, British Columbia and Newfoundland suffered the greatest number of job losses proportionally.
The national unemployment rate was 8.6 per cent in October. Here’s what happened provincially (previous month in brackets):
-Newfoundland 17.0 (15.3)
-Prince Edward Island 12.0 (11.8)
-Nova Scotia 9.3 (9.5)
-New Brunswick 8.5 (8.1)
-Quebec 8.5 (8.8)
-Ontario 9.3 (9.2)
-Manitoba 5.8 (5.3)
-Saskatchewan 5.3 (4.6)
-Alberta 7.5 (7.1)
-British Columbia 8.3 (7.4)”
Our unemployment rate rose nearly 1% in a month.
Also, lest we forget an excerpt from yesterday’s Province:
“…that’s not stopping the City of Vancouver, which next year is looking at raising property taxes 4.8 per cent, and another five per cent in 2011, just to cover its pay increases.”
Let’s recap, shall we:
1) unemployment is rising… BOC will have to hold rates, as inflation has remained low, we won’t get into it;
2) At the first consistent signs of recovery south of us and domestically, BOC will crank up the rates in lock-step with the Fed;
3) Taxes in Vancouver are set to increase 9.8% over the next 2 years. I believe this amount is on the frozen home prices, thank Gordo, of 2007, peak, pre-correction;
4) The hyper-lympics will be over and done with, leaving us with its debt in about 4 months.
And then… in the face of all the above, the CMHC has the audacity to step out of their original mandate to make a bold prediction that property prices will trend higher, and VANCOUVER, of all places, will lead the charge over the next year.
I’ll stop now.
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joycer Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Went by Maple on 84 in Surrey last weekend. They’ve got 4Bed/3Bath 1550 sqft Townhouses going for $335,000 with upgrade package included. Completion is April, before HST kicks in on Phase 2 and 3 of the project. As far as I can tell from MLS these townhouses are about 50K below market value, and they will be brand new. The sales lady said it was because they haven’t finished any units yet so there is no showhome to bring people through. 8 of the 20 units in phase 1 have sold (don’t know how many weeks they’ve been on the market though).
How is it that there was no line up to buy these townhouse presales the minute they went up for sale and flip them in April? I took it as proof that speculators aren’t driving this market, but instead first time buyers (thinking they are missing the boat with interest rates so low) are. If the speculators are done with flipping presales, then once this pent up demand is gone who’s left to buy?
Someone mentioned that they were considering the D plan, which was the most expensive, the realtor said that would hold the most value and appreciate the fastest with the market. When the parent of that person (first time buyer… duh) said it would also fall the fastest if the market came down again, the realtor quickly corrected them and said “Oh no, the market is not going to go down, these units will be worth more by the time they are finished”. If they are so confident, why the low prices? I think they see the interest rate increases coming and need to sell out before the HST slows down business for new homes.
Purely anecdotal, but the fact that these presales did not sell out instantly to speculators tells me that we are getting close to another top.
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Dave Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 9:41 am
@Vansanity:
With regards to your points:
1. It’s only one month of data. Let’s wait a couple more before calling it a trend. The current level is the same as where we were in August. So, let’s call it flat for now.
2. And the Fed just said that rates are going to stay low for a while. The BOC has said it will keep rates low at least till mid next year.
3. House taxes are relative. Your taxes do not go up because of absolute value. The amount you pay is based on the relative value of your property in that city. In any case, you are correct that municipal taxes are going to go up.
4. Already baked into the cake. It’s not like a bill is issued to us once the Olympics are over.
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vanman11 Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Yeah AB is above normal historical unemployment rates and so is B.C..
A 0.9% jump is not not an anomaly. That is over a 12.1% increase in unemployment in B.C.
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logic Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Just out of interest, how many people are 0.9% of the BC workforce? What’s the number of people who have “we can no longer eat out, no longer buy new stuff” section of the community?
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DaMann Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 10:52 am
That news story about a flood of Olympic rentals with no takers warms the cackles of my heart. I can’t wait for the story of the flood of listings that no one wants at half the price, that would warm my heart even more.
Only a few more months until the Olympics will be done and gone, thank god!
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vanman11 Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 10:55 am
The real unemployment numbers in Canada:
http://www.google.com/hostedne.....XTgqk7h4IQ
In the month when Canadians were told 27,000 new jobs had been added, the first reversal of job losses in almost a year, the industry survey was showing that employment had fallen by a staggering 110,200 jobs
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Vansanity Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 11:13 am
@Dave:
I’ll give you points 1 and 2 and it appears we agree on 3. Point 4 however, I disagree with the already baked in comment.
The security budget was $150M. The actual costs won’t be known until post-Olympics. The latest estimate was over $1B with some analysts saying was conservative. That’s an additional $850M of costs that aren’t even in the mixing bowl just yet, let alone baked in.
Don’t kid yourself with the Olympic costs. The budgets were arbitrary and used to keep folks like you, who don’t question our politicians, waving the Olympic flag.
Time will tell.
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realpaul Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 11:41 am
#7 Joycer, did you say that $335K wasn’t a high price to pay for living in a TH in Sewery? On 84th? Surely you jest?
I think everybody needs to take a step back and say
” No, thanks, thats just reeeeeeeeeeediculous”.
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Purp Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 11:43 am
@DaMann “That news story about a flood of Olympic rentals with no takers warms the cackles of my heart.” … I’ve always wondered exactly where the heart cackles are?
Re: the unemployment rate jump. Just to keep perspective the current rate of about 8% was where we were as recently as 2001 to 2004 and in between then and now we had very low unemployment (Olympic related?). So now that Olympic construction is winding up maybe we are just returning to a more typical BC labour market?
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kansai_92 Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Don’t forget the Regional Health board cuts.
Vancouver Coastal already went through one round. Another one is coming.
Now is Fraser Health’s turn.
No sector is safe!
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DaMann Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 11:56 am
@Purp:
Cackles are located between the left atrium and left ventricle, not to be confused with the hackles located between the right atrium and right ventricle
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Boombust Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 11:57 am
“BC Unemployment rate 1% in a month”
Well, that shouldn’t be a “problem” for Vancouver real estate…
After all, Ozzie said so on Global TV News.
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DaMann Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
@kansai_92:
No sector is safe, layoffs everywhere yet everyone is buying. I really don’t get this sillyness. Like my wife says “I don’t care what anyone says, there is no recession in Vancouver” All she comments about is the wealthy cars, and stupid prices of RE. I keep trying to tell her that Vancouver is a city living on credit and home equity loans, the music will stop soon. She doesn’t buy it anymore. She IS strating to believe it’s different here. Shit, so am I!!!??!?!?
EVRYTHING is defying all logic and reason. Sure, I know people are buying places based on variable rates of 2% but even at that, I still can’t fathom how ( or why) people are buying and getting $700k mortgages on $100k household incomes.
Man I can’t wait for rates to go up!
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logic Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
“So now that Olympic construction is winding up maybe we are just returning to a more typical BC labour market? ”
—
Which might suggest returning toa “more typical” housing market?
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logic Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
And it’s “cockles of the heart”
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-coc2.htm
Origin obscure, but on possibility is: “In medieval Latin, the ventricles of the heart were at times called cochleae cordis, where the second word is an inflected form of cor, heart. Those unversed in Latin could have misinterpreted cochleae as cockles, or it might have started out as a university in-joke.”
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realpaul Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Ukraine gov uses H1N1 scare to seize absolute power. Scary.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/ma.....demic.html
Anyone wonder why Canada’s new security measures should be questioned?
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DaMann Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
@logic:
I had a feeling someone was going to call me on it. Cockles it is. NOT cackles. So now I know, my cockles are warmed
Either way, cackles, cockles, and muscles it’s all the same, the hype machine is gearing up for it’s last spin, the Olympics are almost here and soon to be gone. Just what will they use to pump the market now, that’s all that has been talked about over the last 5 years. I suspect it will be “All the people who watched the games are now in the process of moving here” You know, all those rich persians watching the ski jumping back home in Tehran.
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Rent-o-rama Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Huge Canadian content today on Mish’s blog for those who are interested.
http://globaleconomicanalysis......anada.html
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scullboy Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
With regard to all those call center closures, it’s not true that the rising dollar wiped out the Canadian advantage.
The advantage just shifts from the West Coast to the East Coast.
It’s a LOT cheaper to hire a skilled worker on the East Coast because the cost of living is a lot lower. Additionally, the East Coast call centers run on Atlantic Standard time which gives them an additional advantage. Call costs are based on the destination and because it’s 4 hours later there, they can receive calls during business hours for less money then West Coast call centers. The East Coast is a lot closer to Montreal, Toronto, New York and the rest of the Eastern Seaboard, which is where the financial center of the continent is.
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick seem to be doing relatively well. Their unemployment is a point or so higher then BC, but BC’s rate appears to be accelerating.
I can also tell you the food and bevvy industry is really suffering here in BC. Income is way, way, WAY down. There are also loads of IT workers out of work and somewhat in denial about the situation; I know a number of these personally. It’s going to be a while before they figure out how few jobs are left, and how many applicants there are.
Once the Olympics finish up there are going to be a LOT of highly skilled technicans looking for work as well. Currently there are tons of people building out communication networks and implementing the last phases of the Olympic build-out. Come March, those people are ALSO going to be looking for work.
Drachen, do you begin to see why I’m jumping ship? Sure I’ll miss the I told you so dance but you really don’t want to watch a plan crash from ground zero, now do you? No, thank you….I”ll watch it from the safety of the other side of the country. BC can implement the HST and drive up property values all it likes then, I’ll be WELL out of the danger zone.
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Hovering Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
ok, imagine you are the g20 (bear with me)
the economies of the developed world just collectively went flush
the americans are essentially bankrupt (UK and japan too)
you saved the world from financial armagedon by giving away money for free and firing up the mint’s printing presses
now what?
now we slowly ratchet up interest rates.. we put on smiley faces and pump the “we avoided a great recession!” story in our respective medias. we slowly, ever so slowly, increase taxes while at the same time cutting gov’t spending and changing the rules governing the financial markets.
Why won’t it work? B/c:
-Norway and Australian and the like aren’t on board..their rates are going up sooner than ours and are attracting all the buyers of debt, making our debt look crappy and unattractive
-Canada is going to tank cause we didn’t expect it’s citizens would take on stupid ammounts of debt at variable rates even while the canadian gov kept yelling that rates would start going up in sthe summer of 2010.. Now every incrimental raise in the interest rate will wash hundreds of people away.. god help them when the americans crank their rates to 8% (americans have 30 year locked mortgages – but cnaadians don’t)
-Vancouver (and every other municipality) are going to crank taxes right away. it’s just too damn easy to do when facing huge deficits. all g20 countries will inevitably raise taxes too high too soon leading to elections and changes in gov’ts and more boring g20 meetings
-companies are firing everyone left right and centre b/c of the recession and yet they are making money at the same time therefore they won’t hire back anyone – ever-
-the US gov’t simply isn’t set up to do anything other than spend spend spend. No politician who cuts stays around very long. It is headed for a car crash. Unless it starts a war.. and I mean a war.. not afghanistan with it’s 5000 different tribes. North Korea, Iran, Venezuela maybe. All three at once perhaps.. China ? shudder..
Only in the face of war do Americans change.
let’s hope the g20 actually has a better plan than the above
sigh
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Cod Liver Oil Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
“Ukraine gov uses H1N1 scare to seize absolute power. Scary. …….”
Good thing that stupidity isn’t considered a health ‘epidemic’ otherwise Vancouver would have been under Marshal law for a few years now.
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Drachen Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
@joycer:
‘the realtor quickly corrected them and said “Oh no, the market is not going to go down, these units will be worth more by the time they are finished”.’
If a realtor ever says anything like that to me I’ll demand they put it in the contract, in writing that they’ll cover any losses. See if they bite (ha!).
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Drachen Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
@Purp:
“@DaMann “That news story about a flood of Olympic rentals with no takers warms the cackles of my heart.” … I’ve always wondered exactly where the heart cackles are?”
First off it’s cockles, cackle is a raspy laugh.
A cockle is a fold, pucker or wrinkle in this instance (it has other meanings but I don’t think ‘bivalve molluscs of my heart’ makes much sense).
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gork Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
#28 agreed if realtor’s can’t be held acountable for the marketing ‘facts’ they use to convince clients then they shouldn’t be allowed to use these ‘facts’
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Drachen Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
@Hovering:
“Vancouver (and every other municipality) are going to crank taxes right away. it’s just too damn easy to do when facing huge deficits.”
Actually it’s my understanding that Vancouver (and I believe all municipalities in Canada) are supposed to project their costs for the next year and tax accordingly, in theory they should be debt neutral except when additional spending is approved for special projects by the electorate. So they can’t “choose” to tax more or less, they must tax the mandated amount.
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DaMann Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
@Drachen:
Logic, post 21 beat you to it
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Hovering Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Drachen
doesn’t the city of Vancouvers costs include debt? or they’ll say the forsee reduced revenue or something
in my book “revenue neutral” still translates to slapping on higher taxes when you’ve dug yourself into a hole..
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OlympicDisaster2010 Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Watch the last round of owe-lympic sales closely and I think you’ll find a very muted press release about the results because they will not sell all the tickets. No one’s coming to the olympics.
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Drachen Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
The costs include servicing the debt they have. They won’t have a significantly reduced revenue because their revenue stream doesn’t work like federal or provincial. With Fed. and Prov. when people shop less (less PST, GST) or when they earn less the taxes go down. The main revenue generator for municipalities is property tax and the only way for that to drop would be if some natural disaster wiped out a chunk of the real-estate.
So debt and such causes taxes to go up, sure but that isn’t the main driver and like I said they can’t take on new debt without a referendum (afaik, I am not an expert). If costs overrun their budget one year they have to adjust the next year’s budget to pay it back in that year as well as adjusting for increases in wages, infrastructure costs etc.
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kansai_92 Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
All the people I know who are signing up for the Olympic tickets intend to sell them for a profit.
What happens when every purchaser is actually a scalper with no intentions of attending the event?
Well, the same thing that happens in front of GM Place 10 minutes into the start of a Canucks game.
Slash and burn, baby! I won’t be undersold!
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rp Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Those Olympics tickets will always sell if they lower the price. You can’t tell me most people don’t want to go, they just don’t want to pay outrageous prices. Empty seats on TV look pretty bad, so I imagine the price will come down and every venue will be filled. If not, then somebody should be fired.
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logic Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
“then somebody should be fired.”
Yes please. About 12 months ago at least.
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chip Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
From Mish’s site:
” They remember nothing of the hardship that Canada went through in the 90’s when our debt-to-gdp topped 100%, ”
I don’t think this is true. I think it topped out around 70%.
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logic Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
chip – no, it topped 100% briefly in 1995:
see http://investing.curiouscatblo.....ge-of-gdp/
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Boombust Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
“Huge Canadian content today on Mish’s blog for those who are interested.”
…and as expected, most of the comments tried to change the topic to more “American” ones…
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joycer Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
@realpaul
#7 Joycer, did you say that $335K wasn’t a high price to pay for living in a TH in Sewery? On 84th? Surely you jest?
I think everybody needs to take a step back and say
” No, thanks, thats just reeeeeeeeeeediculous”.
I didn’t say it wasn’t priced high, just that it was under market value and hadn’t sold out to speculators looking to flip them. Just checked mls and I see a 4/3 on 82nd ave for 390K (built in 1993), another 4/3 on 85th for 415K (built in 2005). Didn’t mean to imply fair value, which yes is still overpriced for a townhouse in Surrey.
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denial Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
““… there is growing suspicion in the country that the H1N1 virus has also succumbed to a bitter battle for political power ”
Are there no suprises left in the world of politics?
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We're # 1 Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Those people aren’t unemployed, they are just unsuccessful business persons.
About 15 per cent of Canadian workers are now their own boss, as the ranks of the self-employed rise. About 28,000 more people became self employed in October, Statistics Canada’s monthly jobs report Friday showed. Over all, the morning’s jobs numbers were bleak, and not at all what Bay Street had expected, but they also may hint at changes in the labour market as Canada slogs its way back to health.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....le1353683/
Just like everything else in this country the spin is going fast enough to make you vomit if you open your eyes.
Yesterday a spokesman said that the H1N1 crisis was the MEDIA’S fault. Hah !!!!
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2010_NationalDisgrace Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
GOOD NOOZ!!! Cheronto got the pan-american games!!!! Yes it’s even more unknown than the winter owe-lympics which means it will surely attract only the saviest of investors!!! I intend on buying 5 condos in preparation for these games.
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dumbas pastetaxpayer Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
#45 Boy the Canadian taxpayer is at the top of everyones list of who to flog off these hyper expensive tax payer funded fiascos on eh?
What do you think goes on in the boardrooms of these scam orgs/
” hey, I need a new propellor on my yacht, call canada They’re desperate for recognition”.
It really is THE country with the biggest inferiority and insecurity complex on the freakin planet.
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sammyspade Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
heres your typical rich chinese buying up the ‘valuable’ real estate and autos
http://www.theprovince.com/new.....story.html
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logic Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
“Until Wednesday, Yi Feng Wu was one of about 100,000 foreign nationals fighting government efforts to deport them.”
–
I’m sorry, but WTF? I had no idea there were 100k people under deportation orders. Immigration court reform please. I will sign up to drive the bus myself.
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VanMan11 Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 12:51 am
“We have high prices, affordability limits and we inject higher interest rates,”
He expects the prime rate to rise from today’s 2.25 up to 4.75 moving into late 2010 and 2011.”
From the most UNLIKELY source: Cameron Muir. Former CHMC head and current B.C. Real Estate Association’s chief economist!
http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/art.....ate-market
Wah?!?!?!? I see pigs flying outside my window in the dark!
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dan Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 3:49 am
what will the HST do to housing prices?
will it give existing home owners a 12% pricing advantage over anything new that comes onto the market?….assuming they currently have a 5% (GST) pricing advantage.
wouldn’t it make sense new home prices will be rebated a bit to compete with existing home prices which are exempt from the tax?
would it also make sense that existing home prices will be increased a bit to a level such that the difference in price between a new home or existing home, after tax, represents the premium someone will pay for a new home?
Is the HST actually good for current home owners?
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Anonymous Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 8:10 am
If the BC unemployment rate went up 1% last month while the Olympics is doing all of its hiring, just imagine what the unemployment numbers will do after the Olympics when they don’t need those workers anymore. Didn’t they say in September that they were still looking to hire 10,000?
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Hype-o-potomous Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 9:09 am
@dan: I don’t get your logic. If the premium someone is willing to pay for a new house is already in effect, and builders take price drops because of the HST, that doesn’t change the amount of the theoretical premium. There’s no way that puts upward pressure on older homes that may need more repairs.
Remember the HST will be baked into all those repair costs as well. Add that to higher property taxes that everyone knows is coming and the only pressure I see on older house prices is down.
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jesse Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 10:53 am
@dan: For many goods like, say, food the HST will increase consumer prices because the entire supply chain, if run efficiently, cannot lower its costs. However housing is a completely different beast.
Look at it from the builder’s perspective. His costs consist of labour, materials, bridge financing, and land. The buyer pays all this plus the margin and taxes. The builder can try to pass on the HST to the buyer but what the buyer can pay is limited by affordability so increased costs likely won’t stick, especially with existing product not subject to HST directly competing (as was mentioned already).
The most likely way out is for builders to pay less for the land or lay off until housing becomes scarce again. In the short term I would expect downwards pressure on land prices — from all indications there is no shortage of housing given how rents are falling.
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denialbythemile Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Ethics and morality are all thrown aside when sick children, elderly and pregnant woman are in betwen the privelaged and the H1N1 flu shot in Canada. All the talk of generosity of spirit and competance are exposed for the sham that they are in this country under the recent test. Hockey players, politicians, board directors and wealthy donars are among the legions of frauds, liars and scumbags who have stepped on the necks of the weak to scurry ahead like the rats they are.
Reading the newspapers and seeing the events unfold in the media show whay a disgusting and perverted set of assholes we have as government leadership and quasi professional providers of services. They have sat around and bellowed over the rights to fat paycheques and pension perks, demanded more more and recieved while in fact being nothing but sucking Judases and parasites.
I hope people are using this example as a final determination on how to treat these shitheads belicose demands in the future.
Frankly if it were up to me I would replace the entire lot of them through a meritocratic process from candidate submissions from around the world. Get rid of the nepotism which has shown the ugly face of its incompetance in this trial.
And doesn’t anyone think that boycotting a couple of seasons of hockey would be appropriate. I mean, stepping over sick and helpless kids to dummy up a vaccine shot for yourself has to be the lowest , scummiest move we’ve seen. And for what, your superstar stautus and paycheque? Fuck you if you’re one of those people and the mother you rode into town on.
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ditto Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
^^ “Fuck you”
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krazy kanuk Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
@logic: The sad thing is this guy gives a bad reputation to all illegals. Even if someone is here illegally, I don’t have nearly the problem with them if they contribute. Parasites like this need to be aggressively prosecuted with whatever legislation possible. Can’t our government make a good case for welfare fraud? Tax evasion? He needs to have all his ill gotten gains confiscated before he gets kicked out.
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Ulsterman Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
@krazy kanuk:
I agree Krazy Kanuk, there are some utter spongers and wasters who are fully legal here in Canada.
I came here 10 years ago legally and my papers said that if i were to commit a crime in the first 10 years i could be deported. Ha ha, i actually believed it, not that i was likely to commit a crime. Now of course i realise that the government was just blowing hot air. I’d have had to be a child killer before this wishy-washy injustice system would have booted me out.
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Drachen Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
@denialbythemile:
I think, regarding hockey players at least, you are out of line. It’s my understanding that with the Flames the team doctor assured the players that because of their travel schedule they WERE on the list. There was another team (AHL I believe) in Alberta that was injected when a Dr. who worked with the team found he had a few dozen left-over doses at the end of a clinic and he’d have to throw them away if he couldn’t find enough arms to put them in, he said that was the only place he knew he could go to get that many people all at once.
I just took my kids to the clinic today and we didn’t even have enough time to fill out the paperwork before our turn came up, so I don’t think anyone is going wanting.
The people that bug me in all this is the Jenny Mcarthy crowd who try to convince people that vaccinations are bad for you, I am certain some of their gullible followers and their children will die in the next few months.
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Anonymous Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Drachen,
I’m all for progress and all, but I honestly believe flu vaccinations ARE bad for you. Just like spraying everything around you with Lysol or living in a bubble. Why don’t we demand healthier foods, better living conditions and less stressful work from our beloved governments rather than treating EVERYTHING with synthetic drugs?
Because it is actually effective and beneficial???
I wouldn’t let my dog be injected with this crap, let alone my children. We have never, ever gotten immunized against flu and nobody in my family has ever gotten sick either. The same cannot be said about everyone else I know who did. You’d be surprised how effective “old school” methods (like proper nutrition, plenty of sleep and lack of mold in your bedroom) are against common ilments, including the dreaded FLU!
It’s not a black friggin’ plague for crying out loud!
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Anonymous Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Drachen you mean to tell me that this doctor couldn’t have found 20 high risk people to give the shots to? The expiry story is a bit too convenient. I’m sure he has one of the vials left over so the media can confirm his story. Let me guess: they all got thrown out.
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other ted Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Drachen I agree with you up to the last part about insulting people who think vaccines are bad. I think its a personal choice. I think vaccines are a trade off. Putting any vaccine compromises your immune syste. Its just a risk/reward scenario. Is the risk of the vaccine ouweighed by the risk of the infection? For polio I will line up. For a flu you got to be kidding me. But to each their own.
As for the flames what a joke. they scapegoated a guy and fired him. The real issue is why was the government so unprepared if it is so important. And hockey players are high risk to themselves and young fans that they meet everyday. they are in contact with thousands. They probably see more people than doctors each day.
I heard if nurses refused the vaccine they would have their insurance voided. Can anyone confirm this? Talk about a police state. If the government is gonna say who can be insured how about fat people? This whole flu thing has been blown out of proportion.
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Drachen Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Yeah… Well personally I’ll take science over mumbo jumbo.
Sure, eat well blah blah. Also get the shot.
I knew a guy who was working towards starting a business selling ‘raw’ foods which he swore was the healthiest most natural thing you could eat. He was as sick as a dog for a month but refused to admit that maybe, just maybe the diet wasn’t protecting him against that sort of thing…
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mousie Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Only a couple of months till olympics..good.
Time goes by pretty fast, and Im already thinking spring time.
A couple of oly weeks and its over, phew! Two weeks is two work periods, during which I work, get home, eat, shower, prepare for next day, read something related to work, go to bed. Weekend (usually during week): go out and hunt for food, chill in the forest or storm watching.
Watch olympics?? LOL.. no time! Important and matters? hardly.
Heard of reality?
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logic Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
59: “I honestly believe flu vaccinations ARE bad for you. … than treating EVERYTHING with synthetic drugs?”
————-
You don’t actually know what vaccinations are, do you? They are not synthetic drugs. People like you are the reason that infectious deseases are on the rise once more.
BTW, I agree with you on the point about lysol, etc, and the growing sterility of environment’s weakening immune-responses, but this is exactly how vaccines work – they expose you to the disease and let your immune syetem operate.
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logic Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
61, other ted: “I heard if nurses refused the vaccine they would have their insurance voided. Can anyone confirm this? … If the government is gonna say who can be insured how about fat people?”
———————————–
They should lose their MSP protection if they refuse to be vaccinated (if they are medically directed to do so).
And IMHO fat people SHOULD pay more MSP than me. They (statistically) will put more stress on the system, and therefore should pay increased premiums (and before anyone says it, BMI is not a good indicator of this, but there are other measures that are). I realsie that this is controversial, but fatness, smoking, etc. are CHOICES, and should come with consequences. I should not have to pay more for healthcare insurance (aka taxes) if you choose to eat McD’s everyday.
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No Longer Looking Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
@logic: logic, some people gain a lot of weight due to medications for other conditions. Just saying.
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No Longer Looking Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
@logic: I volunteer at the foodbank and I’m shocked at how many donations are crap like Kraft Dinner. For people who are poor, they have to eat the cheap, starchy food. Children raised on this food are more likely to be obese through no fault of their own, even when they grow up. Penalizing them is taking more money from the already poor.
While we’re at it, why don’t we penalized all risky behavior. What about the lean, trim, non-smoking Yuppie who does coke and drives around like a manic in his souped up beemer?
Where does it end?
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Anonymous Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
“They (statistically) will put more stress on the system”
well, since you’re so logical, logically speaking, anybody who’s in need of medical attention is putting stress on the system. why don’t we just shoot everyone who requires medical attention? you know, elderly, disabled, someone with the flu, … that way we only have healthy people and can get rid of that pesky MSP.
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logic Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
66:
“@logic: logic, some people gain a lot of weight due to medications for other conditions. Just saying.”
————-
Yes, but most people don’t. There are exceptions, but most obese people are that way because they eat too much / too badly.
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logic Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
at 67: “For people who are poor, they have to eat the cheap, starchy food.”
———–
Yes, but calories in – calories out = weight loss or gain. Anyone can eat less and go for a walk. One does not need money for this, just self-respect and willpower.
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logic Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
67: “Where does it end? ”
———-
With a respect for responsibility for one’s action, lifestyle choices, and the consequences that come from them. However, this will never happen in today’s society, because we have “sydromised” everything, and we can blame everything we do on someone else (bad upbringing, advertising made me eat McD’s, etc etc). Let’s face it, we live in an infantilised society where we are excused every vice and failing. Which, bring this back to RE, is eactly what the government is doing with mortgage insurance.
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logic Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
68: “ogically speaking, anybody who’s in need of medical attention is putting stress on the system.”
——————-
No, the logical extension of my argument is that everyone who KNOWINGLY and INTENTIONALLY puts themself in a higher _risk_ category should pay more. Your extrapolation is an illogical jump from apples to oranges.
Anyway, enough of a rant – otherwise you’ll be calling me realpaul. Ick.
I’m off for a run.
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other ted Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
71. logic I understand what you are saying, but who decides what is healthy and what isn’t. I for one live healthier than an obese person who took the flu shot. I won’t be taking it and I don’t feel it is warranted and possibly unsafe.
You are twisting this as an example of how the government caves to people like they do with mortgages. Sure that is one way of looking at it. i look at it as the governemnt is too the involved in our lives and in deciding what is goodfor us. The government thinks home ownership is good. I don’t think its good or bad I think it is my choice. As long as health and housing and all markets are regulated to ensure they are fair safe fairly priced etc. it is up to the individual to decide what is best for them.
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logic Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
other ted, I don’t think we really disagree.
I’m not saying anyone should be forced to take the flu shot – but I am saying that IF people freely choose not to, then they should pay the consequences IF they get the flu. ie: they should not be covered by MSP if they get ill when they could have taken preventative measures. This would be a market model of health care – we choose our own level of risk, and live (or not
) with the consequences.
With regard to housing, it should be the same. The govt wants (encourages) me to buy a house because it is good for me (so they say), yet I refuse. If I miss the opportunity and don’t buy, and the bulls are somehow right and I am eternally priced out and have to “waste” rent for ever and ever, then I should not complain, as it was my choice.
Choices, consequences. That’s all I’m arguing for.
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DoDo1975 Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
@logic:
Agreed, as long as the government is not manipulating things.
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jesse Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
@logic: “Choices, consequences. That’s all I’m arguing for. “
I don’t see how vaccinations and ownership are anything the same. For housing there are two viable and EQUAL alternatives: owning and renting. Only owning is being promoted by the government.
With vaccination there is a real danger that not receiving one is decidedly worse for one’s health. The two alternatives are far from equal on balance.
It is possible for the government to promote both good and policies under the same watch. I call a straw man.
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logic Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
jesse:
“For housing there are two viable and EQUAL alternatives: owning and renting.”
* Not at all eequal if one is thinking of one’s financial health. Afterall, that’s what this blog is all about, no?
“Only owning is being promoted by the government”
* And only getting vaccinated is being promoted by the govt.
“With vaccination there is a real danger that not receiving one is decidedly worse for one’s health.”
* Well, as we’ve seen in some of the anti-vaccination comments on this blog, not everyone agrees. (I agree with you BTW, but am happy to admit that the “vaccinations are bad” folks might be right – I’m no immunologist).
“It is possible for the government to promote both good and policies under the same watch.”
* Not sure what this means. “Good and bad”? If so, I totally agree.
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other ted Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
76, jesse?????? So are you a scientist? who are you to tell others what is better for their health. When there are experts divided on the topic you say with absolute certainty what is right. that is why i believe the government should butt out of our lives no matter how well intentioned.
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Supraboy Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
You fools think the rise in housing prices have to do with the Olympics. What a joke. Do you actually think the flood of immigrants from Iran, China, Russia, Eastern Europe, and India gives a rat’s arse about the Olympics? If you think they care about the HST, think again. They don’t care about unemployment even if it rises to 50% as long as there are people working at the docks, trucking and restaurants. As long as food is transported in from the terminals to the chinese restaurants, they’ll continue to stay and load up houses.
I just went to Joey’s on Broadways, the lineup was one hour long, then I went to Cactus Club down one block and it was one hour long. Those restaurants are packed with Indians and Europeans now.
Most of you who post here probably don’t even know where those restaurants are because you’re too busy lining up at Costco stocking up your monthly intake.
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logic Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 12:08 am
Supra, not to poke holes in your argument (cos its too easy), but how do you know the queues were 1-hour long? did you stand in both for an hour to see?
Also, where is “Broadways”?
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Supraboy Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 12:27 am
I meant ‘Broadway’.
As for how do I know the queues were 1 hour long, I was there. Why don’t you meet me next Friday at Cactus, if you can get a table of 4 within an hour at 7pm, dinner is on me.
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logic Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 1:42 am
“I was there”
Wow, you stood in both queues for an hour each? That real determination to get into those crapholes. However, I thought with all your bling and street-cred you’d get VIP-ed straight in past the queues.
And no thanks. The food at Cactus is mediocre at best. I’d prefer somewhere that does interesting food, say Raincity Grill? I get a table there whenever I want it, thanks very much.
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scullboy Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 1:57 am
Hey Supra,
Why don’t you pull the action figures out of your ass, step away from the keyboard and go take a walk? You’re a fucking idiot.
Business in food and beverage overall if down more then 40% now compared to last year. Yeah those large upscale casual places are packed…. on Fridays, when most of downtown wants to stop in for a beer. Big fucking deal. The hours of 4-8 on a Friday are the only thing keeping those places afloat, they’re losing money during the rest of the week.
Every other place is struggling hard to stay afloat except those cheap ass Chinese rat shit Richmond cesspits you seem to eat in, and trust me most of those have kitchens are so filthy and staff so poorly trained and unhygienic H1N1 is the least of your worries eating there.
Just because you and some poser friends haul your stupid asses out of Mummy and Daddy’s Basement and have to stand in line for a place (if you really did because let’s face it, you’re also a fucking liar) doesn’t mean the industry as a whole is doing especially well. It certainly doesn’t mean the economy is booming, fucktard.
Cafe Artigiano on Pender is also lined up around the block every day. Guess what, moron? THeir employees are making 8 bucks an hour. The only way they can afford to live in this town is by staying at home. Yeah, they’ll be contributing to the economy for sure.
The people who work in restaurants are probably averaging $15/hour which in this town won’t even pay rent. That includes their tips. I’m here to tell you, the difference between Canadians and canoes is that canoes sometimes tip.
Those call centers that just closed pay way better those jobs are require way more skills. I know this because I managed a department in one. I know about the restaurant industry because I’m a trained chef and actually work in restaurants.
YOU and every fucking idiot like you are a big fucking reason I am getting out of Van. I’m so fucking tired of hearing people like you, day in and day out. You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, yet you still insist on yap yap yapping away.
Meanwhile skills jobs are flooding out of this city. I was just talking to someone an hour ago who mentioned his company is relocating a call center to Halifax because it’s much closer to New York so it’s a lot easier to handle the calls. It’s a hell of a lot cheaper too, in rent, salary and infrastructure costs. Nova Scotia’s been quietly luring those jobs with tax credits.
Pretty soon Van’s local economy is going to get hollowed out, leaving people like you who were way too stupid to see what was happening till it was too late. I really hope you end up deep frying rat turds in some Godforsaken Richmond kitchen, calling it Dim Sum, and serving it to your family.
Now, fuck off. We’re all sick of hearing from you.
I am really l
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jesse Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 7:13 am
logic, from a utility point of view, renting or owning a specific property is the same — they both provide shelter, ameneties and location.. That one is markedly more expensive than the other (owning) and still being promoted by the government seems odd to me.
There is IMO reasonable science backing the gov’t position on vaccination. Others disagree but I’ve looked at the balance of evidence and made up my own mind. I see no such science (social science in this case) for promoting home ownership when the costs are higher than renting. Any supposed social benefit would be cancelled by reducing disposable income.
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logic Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 8:06 am
jesse, but one option (buying or renting) will be worse or better for one’s financial health – that’s why we discuss RE prices on here, no? So, to explain the analogy between vaccinations and housing, the govt wants you to buy (be vaccinated), and claims it is better for you. Most on here disagree (like the vaccination contrarians), and refuse. We will live or die (finacially) with the consuquences of our choice. That’s all I’m saying.
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Hype-o-potomous Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 9:29 am
@logic: The argument for vaccinations is that society as a whole benefits from a higher number of vaccinations. Its no coincidence that you don’t hear a lot about mumps, polio or measles anymore. The only thing that concerns me about the h1n1 vaccine is that it’s being rushed. Vaccines in general have lead to much less disease an death.
There is a similar argument for housing: that promoting ownership improves the economy as a whole, however this has been proven time and time again to be a temporary effect, with a very negative result when the bubble bursts.
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logic Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 9:53 am
“@logic: The argument for vaccinations is that society as a whole benefits from a higher number of vaccinations. Its no coincidence that you don’t hear a lot about mumps, polio or measles anymore. The only thing that concerns me about the h1n1 vaccine is that it’s being rushed. Vaccines in general have lead to much less disease an death.”
——
I totally agree with you. Am just pointing out that some posters above don’t agree.
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Heinz Skitzvelvett Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 10:10 am
This week’s “Bargain”, courtesy of MLS.ca.
Please somebody tell me we’re living in a Bizarro World, and this isn’t really true. $1.5 million for the opportunity to rebuild AND to replace drain tiles. What have we come to in this day and age?
MLS: V796656 $1,498,000
2320 sqft (that’s a paltry $645/sq ft)
Great opportunity to rent this duplex that used to be a tri-plex or take it down and rebuild. Large 50′ X 120′ RT-8 lot in prime Kits location. Perfect for a duplex with coach house rebuild! Do not wait to take this opportunity to own agreat property that can be held or redeveloped immediately. There is only one tenant at the moment and the drain tiles are in need of replacing if someone was to keep the building. All measurements are approximate buyer to verify. Don’t miss out on this one!!
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r_j_b Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 11:44 am
“Your home is where you live,” said Kathy Wetmore, a Houston real estate agent, not an investment with a guaranteed return. Recalling several boom and bust cycles in her 22-year career, she added, “You make money in business, not in real estate.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11.....atrick.net
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rubberduckie Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
That West 7th Triplex… I’ve walked by it. Near it on West 8th are at least 3 similar places with big development application boards in front. It’s a nice area, wouldn’t be a bad place to live in a 1/2 duplex etc, if the price was reasonable. Unfortunately, no place in this city is nice enough to go broke for. Sure there are some convenient grocery stores and restaurants, but it’s not paved in gold with lollipop trees.
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denialbythemile Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
People are forgetting the downside to the Flu shots. It is a point being played down by the government which is trying to manage themselves back ibto control of the situation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8riAeGh48U
I refused the mercury laced vaccinations for my children as well because of the direct link to menatal illness , spec autism. I taked to the doctor about it and he chucked out ” it only happenes in 1 in a thousand cases.
If you read the papers this morning the BCTF is pointing out the huge increase in special needs kids in the schools today. Where are they coming from, the moon?
http://www.vancouversun.com/bu.....story.html
I wouldn’t take anything I hear from these so called ‘professionals’ seriously. They have their own agenda and it doesn’t necessarily include the safety of your children.
Recently the Health counter attack has been to blame everyone but themselves for the wave of deaths.
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logic Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
* Ok, where to begin?
“refused the mercury laced vaccinations for my children as well because of the direct link to menatal illness , spec autism.”
* Rumour and discredited studies. There has NEVER been a convinicing and repeatable link between accination and autism proven.
“the huge increase in special needs kids in the schools today.”
* No, the increase is coming from a combination of (a) the fact that we keep genetically deficient children alive much better than we used to (this is a good thing, in my opinion, but it comes at a cost) and (b) rampant over-diagnosis of such things are ADD, mild autism etc. In the past these kids were still different, but were not diagnosed as such. No we have a name for every difference and turn it into a syndrome.
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/dev/null Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
@denialbythemile: No credible evidence exists to link autism to vaccines, and mountains of research has shown no link. Autism research has been slowed significantly because scientists keep having to demonstrate this. Unvaccinated children are starting to die from preventable disease but I doubt we’ll see Jenny McCarthy standing next to an iron lung or at a funeral, saying how proud she is that the parents didn’t get their child vaccinated. I *am* a scientist and I give my kids every vaccine I can.
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jesse Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
@logic:
But that’s as far as the analogy goes as far as I’m concerned. That is hardly a foundation on which to base a meaningful analogy due to the points I already mentioned.
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(bdk) Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
The Government wants us all to remain healthy so we can continue to pay taxes and buy things.
The Conspiracy theorists think the Government is intentionally poisoning everyone, with a vaccine, but how would they benefit from doing this?
Go have a smoke and think about it…
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absinthe Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
@logic – You may be interested to learn the science does not entirely back up your claims re: overweight. (One of the nice things on blogs like this is people are able to understand that societal constructs aren’t always based on anything solid.)
So I beg your indulgence to walk through what’s true. Society has gotten more overweight: this is true. Within a limited range, a person can affect their weight: this is also true. McDonald’s and a sedentary lifestyle are bad for health – also true. What is not true is that you can look at someone’s level of adipose tissue vs. society (rather than vs. their own genetic baseline) and tell whether or not they’re living a poor lifestyle.
They’ve shown weight to be as heritable as height – which you definitely CAN affect with nutrition – but only to a point, and the difference may still put you on the high or low end of society’s bell curve. There are very slender people who are still fatter than their genes, and very fat people who, compared to their own baseline, are quite slender.
Fat folks have been around for centuries. There’ve been fat poor folks not getting much to eat for a very, very long time – having fat is a great genetic strategy for people raised for generations in food insecurity. Pre-health-care and feeding tubes, fat was also genetically helpful in times of illness or injury. It’s quite clear in the science that weight loss is not a matter of “calories in, calories out” to a percentage body fat baseline that all people can achieve. The lay person often brings up thermodynamics, yet no one expects all cars to be similarly fuel efficient, nor are all cars built for the same sort of environment.
Anyway, there’s billions of dollars in marketing diet products; interestingly, diet routines very often cause gain on the other side of the diet. (Long term studies, of which there are few, show that even long term adherents to a diet usually plateau and then begin regain *while adhering* to the diet. That area has not been well enough researched: I hypothesize that it may be the irony of our century that our insistence that all people be not-fat may have made some percentage of fat people fatter.)
So, I agree, we all make health choices, and some lifestyles are healthier than others. But it’s marketing, and not science, behind constructions of weight as choice. It may be, but only within a range vs. your own genetic baseline.
Now, genetically fat people may inherently have poorer outcomes in a variety of diseases, just as thin people are at risk for osteoporosis or people of African ancestry are more likely to have sickle cell. But even sickle cell also arose from a positive adaptation against malaria! That’s the way of evolution.
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Yalie Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
From the $1.5M RE listing above:
“All measurements are approximate buyer to verify. Don’t miss out on this one!!”
So someone is asking a million and a half for a tear-down and they can’t even be bothered to provide accurate measurements?
The arrogance of some RE agents is astounding.
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Supraboy Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
@scullboy:
Isn’t it too bad you can’t afford to buy a place in this city. If you don’t like it, get the phruck out of this town. We don’t care if you wine or cry. There will always be more people scooping up properties here. You don’t get it, do you? You think this town is all about the olympics. Go ask any chinese who immigrate here and know about the olympics. I bet they don’t even know what it is or care about it. They’re here to avoid the corrupt chinese government and funneling their own money out of their country.
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Steve Wong Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
I immigrated here and make $8 hour work at restaurant and no afford house, supr idiot is big dumb racist not funny
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Anonymous Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
“No, the logical extension of my argument is that everyone who KNOWINGLY and INTENTIONALLY puts themself in a higher _risk_ category should pay more. Your extrapolation is an illogical jump from apples to oranges.”
no it’s not a logical extension of your argument. it WAS your argument. you want the line drawn there other people want the line drawn elsewhere. and how do you prove a medical condition is by “choice”? can you really quantify choice in each and every case? if you can, good for you. just try proving it in court.
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Anonymoose Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Good lord – Supraboy just illustrates that you can take the peasant out of the village, but you can’t take the village out of the peasant.
Most of the nouveau riche Chinese haven’t yet experienced a serious downturn – they haven’t been wealthy long enough. Oh the wailing we shall hear.
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dumbaspaste Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
What I see as the biggest issue in all of these topics is the willingness of Canadians to believe everything that they are told by the government and the media. People here believe anything they are told. The level of complacency is shocking.
Do you people share a brain and just pass it around?
Of course the hockey teams are lying about the way they got the vaccine. Anyone believing that statement MUST be a true ADD sufferer. They said they are high risk because they ‘high five’ a lot of people. heres a suggestion… do the elbow bump and stop abusing the children who need protection before the fat cat dipshit hookey players do.
Of course Supraboy is an idiot
Of course children are sickened in large numbers by vaccines in numbers that the government wants to suppress so that they can control the message. Didn’t they also say that the GST was revenue neutral and that the Swine Flu wouldn’t be an issue in Canada?
Of course genetically deficient children are not surviving in greater numbers than ever before ( WOW on that one by the way).
Of course ADD is not over diagnosed. Thats just an excuse to misdirect the discussion.
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Little Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Do people really still believe that there is a link between vaccinations and autism? I am certain that there is more of a link between a fading pseudo celebrity and a desperate attempt for fame (Miss Mccarthy) than there is between vaccines and autism. I work with severely autistic children, and I still had my kids vaccinated. It is just irresponsible not to. Sorry, but I think listening to doctors over fading playboy bunnies makes a little more sense.
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outsourced Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
I don’t think this made the news yet. Over 100 jobs gone at Kodak Burnaby, outsourcing to Israel and china. We’re talking about over 100 skilled s/w R&D people making 60+k/year.
not the best source, but let’s just say I can confirm it.
http://www.prepresspilgrim.com.....y-is-dead/
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Anonymous Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
“They’re here to avoid the corrupt chinese government and funneling their own money out of their country.” and down the drain!
Looking after a bank repo at King’s Landing. Bankruptcy for two swinging 20 year olds and two aged Mainland Chinese folks (the parents who funded them)!
The old folks are dumping their other two condo’s cause they co-signed!
All heading back to China it seems. 500 K loss after mortgage was paid off. They must have spent too much time lining up to eat Dumb Son!
Strataman
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Boombust Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Well, as Garth Turner is wont to say, “Most people have NO IDEA how bad it is going to get. ”
Believe it.
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logic Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
nice post strataman – lets hope to see mnay more like it
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chip Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
“I am certain that there is more of a link between a fading pseudo celebrity and a desperate attempt for fame (Miss Mccarthy) than there is between vaccines and autism. ”
Does Democrat nominee for president and current senator john Kerry count? He’s on the record as saying there’s a link.
I believe he’s bringing this same science-based approach to the Kerry-Box climate change bill now in the senate.
We’re led by donkeys.
109 X “Bankruptcy for two swinging 20 year olds and two aged Mainland Chinese folks (the parents who funded them)” « Vancouver Real Estate Anecdote Archive Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
[...] November 2009 · Leave a Comment This from Strataman at vancouvercondo.info 8 Nov 2009 at 7:34 pm [...]
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Ulsterman Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
I love the whole conspiracy fantasies. Tell a couple of people at your work some “secret” and see just how long it will remain secret. As they say, “It’s not that I can’t keep a secret, it’s the people I tell who can’t keep a secret.”
The odds of a Government organization being able to keep ANY master plan secret are about zero.
It makes good blog fodder, but that’s about as far as it goes.
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patriotzed Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 6:11 am
@jesse:
That is completely backwards. Like the GST, HST is rebated on purchases by intermediaries in the supply chain. That’s why it’s called a value added tax. The end buyer is the net payer of GST and HST. For food, which is 0% taxed under GST and HST, and for all exports, there is no net GST or HST cost in the price structure.
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patriotzed Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 6:50 am
@logic:
Nobody should pay any MSP fees at all, and most provinces don’t have any. It’s not an insurance premium in any real sense but just a head tax. And I’m not in favour of charging people in any way for behaviour which is considered by those in charge to be medically risky, that’s an open door for the medical system to be swamped by a raft of user-pay (or co-pay as they say in the US) charges.
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Boombust Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 7:27 am
“Over 100 jobs gone at Kodak Burnaby”
There is AN UPDATE TO THAT…100 people worldwide, so, not just in Burnaby.
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buynow Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 11:43 am
More competition coming for condo holder flippers as rental towers built in west end.
http://www.theprovince.com/Wes.....story.html
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bogusinfo Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 11:51 am
health Official admits that vaccine PR push is just a scam to cover past mistakes. The majority of people will remain un vaccinated after the peak season is long gone. Gov fears fuck up will leave them with 50 million doses in the warehouse. Typical canadian efficiency.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....le1356125/
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lickspittlegovworker Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Sure they fucked but will they ever admit it? Of course not.
http://www.nationalpost.com/ne.....id=2199519
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Purp Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
“Balloon” Update:
Drove by the Scena sales center near Kingsway and Nanaimo on Saturday and there were balloons tied to every lamppost and realtor’s car. More distressing is that there was a lineup out the door for presales! Clearly the market has not died yet.
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Drachen Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
@patriotzed:
I agree, as much as many or most overweight people are costing the rest of us more money to support their medical bills if we’re to consider them targets for extra payment we should also consider;
Speeders (although they at least give back, perhaps more than they take because high speed traffic accidents are one of the leading sources of donated organs)
Promiscuous people
People who travel extensively
Smokers
Airline pilots
Doctors and Nurses
Heavy drinkers
Athletes
The elderly
Well the list could go on until it encompasses nearly everyone… Everyone engages in some kind of risky behaviour that increases their chance of getting sick in one way or another.
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Anonymous Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
@117
As long as buying a condo in Vancouver remains an easy way of getting Canadian permanent residency status for all Asian “investors” this market will do just fine. And don’t forget the free healthcare for their extended families and elderly. Don’t believe me?
Sad but true.
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Garth Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
I was just reading a Vancouver Sun article about a guy being sentenced for a car accident that killed some people. They describe the guy this way:
“Hughes, a former Vancouver realtor who was most recently working at Joe Fortes…”
So that’s where realtors go.
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scullboy Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Hey Supratard:
Channing Tatum called. He’s heard what you’ve been doing with that G.I. Joe action figure and he asked you to stop. G.I. Joe doesn’t like spelunking apparently..
God I hate you, and every idiot like you. You go running around town thinking this really is the best place on earth for whatever reason, and it so plainly isn’t. I have no idea how this town manages to function but I’ starting to suspect it runs by convincing idiots like you that this is a town full of high rollers and you’re somehow special.
You claim wealthy people are pouring into this town but you don’t have a shred of proof to back up your claim. People are eating in restaurants. Big fucking deal. If the Chinese community were that wealthy they wouldn’t be shopping in those cheap ass RIchmond malls and eating in filthy DIm Sum Dumps.
I can’t wait till you and your fucking family are living in some dumpster killing and rating rats, and you’ll STILL be eating better food then they serve in Richmond.
Idiot.
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realpaul Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Electronic Arts cuts another 1500 as the vid game biz continues to crater. This had got to be a real screwing for the many Yaletown hipsters with big mortgages and pre sale contracts ready to explode.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/.....&pos=5
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joycer Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Electronic Arts just posted their earnings numbers… net loss. Plans to lay off 17% of workers (1500) saving them will save $100 million. Don’t know how many will hit the Burnaby office, but that is their largest studio.
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kanker Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Is this why the government is so intent on keeping canadians in the dark about the H1N1 virus? Is it all about hotel reciepts. Its the same that was speculated about why they let SARS get so out of control.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....le1356684/
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Slim Pickins Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Wow, the economy is tanking because pigs fly! Isn’t that convenient!
Ever get the feeling that someone is trying to pull the wool (or pig skin) over your eyes?
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other ted Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Real Paul you beat me to it. I read the article about California based electronic arts laying off 1500 people. Ouch I imagine a lot of them will be out of the Burnaby office. So ends one of the myths, electronic arts never lays off always growsn. Now if people can get into there head myth number two in vancouver real estate in Vancouver never goes down.
Myth number 3 I found out for myself when I moved to Calgary.Cassiar and hastings was the only intersection on the trans Canada.
Now that I think about it Vancouver is a city of myths. Well one down many more to go.
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Boombust Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
“Channing Tatum called.”
I laughed and laughed when I heard that name a few weeks ago. Some TV show or other… People tell me it’s an actor’s real name.
So Hollywood.
And, so sorry to be so “off-topic”.
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Boombust Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
…er, back to that earlier Electronic Arts posting, Deborah Hope on Global confirmed that “1500″ (!) positions were due to be axed. A “significant” number of them in Burnaby.
Poor slobs.
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Boombust Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
“Cassiar and hastings was the only intersection on the trans Canada.”
Hmm…who knows, although it ONCE WAS the only major intersection in the COV without left turn lanes (with SIGNALS) back in the 1960’s!
It was so dumb!
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outsourced Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
I posted this early, but here’s a better link.
roughly 100 (previously i said over 100. oops) jobs in Victoria and Burnaby affected. The Kodak Burnaby office is right next to EA.
http://www.bivinteractive.com/.....;Itemid=32
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Chilled Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
#117“Balloon” Update:
Drove by the Scena sales center near Kingsway and Nanaimo on Saturday and there were balloons tied to every lamppost and realtor’s car. More distressing is that there was a lineup out the door for presales! Clearly the market has not died yet.
=================
I was there!! The realtots paid me 100 bucks to stand in line for a couple of hours.
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jesse Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
@patriotzed: “For food, which is 0% taxed under GST and HST, and for all exports, there is no net GST or HST cost in the price structure.”
You’re missing the point. If a good is suddenly taxed that was not taxed before, that leads to a decrease in demand unless costs can be lowered to compensate. With efficient markets, lowered costs will rarely happen because there is nowhere to cut costs enough to offset the tax gains.
With real estate the ability to lower costs through reduced land prices is always possible so the net effect of increased tax has a much better chance to be muted, if not eliminated entirely.
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Ulsterman Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
@Garth:
Yeah, but the former realtor could possibly be making $1000/week (tips and wages) if he’s working full time. He probably declares about 10% of his wages or $30-40 week in tips, so his cash income is very good. There are many, many worse paid jobs in this city.
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Ulsterman Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Just after i heard the news report about the EA job cuts on CKNW, they went straight to a Vancouver Job Shop commercial advertising some crappy little job. That appears to be the pattern: good jobs disappear by the 100’s and 1000’s to be replaced by single-digit hires of low-paid employees.
Yet still the 750,000 – 1,000,000 houses near me in Burnaby keep flying off the shelves.
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Anonymous Says:
November 9th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
I bet a lot of waiters are making more than the median income in B.C. Once the market turns the realtors will start trying to get their old jobs back.
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Warren Says:
November 10th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Can anybody in bear land help me with some links detailing the foreign buyer myth in Metro Vancouver?