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Friday Free-for-all April 1 2016

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131 Comments

It’s that time of the week again, the start of another beautiful weekend in paradise.

And that means it’s time for another Friday Free-for-all!

This is our regular end of the week news round up and open topic discussion thread for the weekend. Here are a few recent links to kick off the chat:

–Debt crisis?
–The highest bidder
–Hard times with a bungalow in Kits
–Not in a housing bubble yet
–The ones who don’t move here
–Cash bonuses
–

So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes here and have an excellent weekend!

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marble

RBC denies wrongdoing after being named in Panama Papers
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/panama-papers-business-reaction-1.3519525

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marble

Panama Papers: How offshore banking costs Canada billions
http://www.metronews.ca/news/world/2016/04/04/panama-papers-offshore-banking-canada-tax-haven.html

‘Panama Papers’ Leak Of Offshore Accounts Includes RBC, Numerous Canadians
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/04/04/trove-of-data-on-offshore-accounts-prompts-probe-questions_n_9608364.html

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BubbleTea

“Jackie Chan is probably kicking himself for not hiding his money in a bunch of Vancouver mansions instead.” Andrew Fleming

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marble

He sold his SFH in Richmond some 10 years ago.

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space889

Let me guess, this is also all Chinese people’s fault:

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/rental-housing-residents-says-vancouver-councillor-eyeing-airbnb-191328973.html

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bullwhip29

not directly. many homeowners have had to resort to a variety of money making schemes (basement stes, vacation rental, day cares, homestay, coach homes, quasi legal grow opps) to keep their heads above water as regular income alone hasnt been sufficient to service their debt. the city will therefore do absolutely nothing about airbnb or anything else that could potentially put a dent in the business of home ownership

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bullwhip29

Canadians bursting with confidence because they have faith in their housing market
http://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/canadians-bursting-with-confidence-because-they-have-faith-in-their-housing-market

>>> cdns all-in on housing. the fate of the entire economy and the overall well being of future generations all riding on whether the powers that be can keep bubble from bursting. ask the millions of japanese and european PIIGS (not to mention our fellow americans) how that all worked out

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Combat roach

As long as money-pipe from shithole keeps running the Vancouver shitshow won’t get over. They became completely symbiotic (parasites, for example, have a symbiotic relationship with their hosts, but only the parasite benefits.).

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southseacompany

“March home sales smash through record in Greater Vancouver as bubble fears grow”, The Province

http://www.theprovince.com/business/fp/money/march+home+sales+smash+through+record+greater+vancouver+bubble+fears+grow/11829038/story.html

“It was the first time the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver has seen 5,000 sales for the month and comes as the market faces increasing focus from people worried about a bubble and the impact foreign buyers are having on property activity and values.”

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Hyper-mega-Bull

Rich parents blindsided after kids out them on social media

Cashed-up parents are getting caught by the law thanks to their social media-loving kids, who aren’t so savvy when it comes to keeping a low profile online.

http://nypost.com/2016/04/04/rich-kids-are-outing-their-filthy-rich-parents-on-instagram/

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bullwhip29

and those who arent so saavy when it comes to driving too…

http://www.carscoops.com/2016/03/teen-who-crashed-mercedes-amg-at-250kmh.html

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bullwhip29

Panama Papers prove awkward for Beijing as relatives of top officials named in tax haven leak
http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=11828895

>>> effective immediately, Operation Fox Hunt has been terminated. so, carry on everyone, nothing to see here…

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patriotz

Panama papers: China censors online discussion

China appears to be censoring social media posts on the Panama Papers document leak which has named several members of China’s elite, including President Xi Jinping’s brother-in-law.

Hundreds of posts on networks such as Sina Weibo and Wechat on the topic have been deleted since Monday morning.

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Combat roach

I guess this will keep people fit in the city and should make city more interesting for RE investors hence push prices up…

http://m.metronews.ca/#/article/news/vancouver/2016/04/04/rising-food-costs-compound-vancouver-affordability-issues.html

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bullwhip29

doubtful. wealthy “city” dwellers will continue to feast on spot prawns and king crab by the tray full while those that are actually affected by an increase of a few dollars here or there in their grocery bill (and actually stay at home to cook) will have to bump up their consumption of KD and wonder bread. hint: this sort of diet is not chip wilson approved.

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Liar

Your friendly Trudeau refuses to shut down the temporary foreign worker programs.

What a liar he has turned out to be.

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bullwhip29

Fraser Institute “Report Card” ranks elementary schools across BC
http://www.cknw.com/2016/04/03/fraser-institute-report-card-bced/

>>> ongoing process of separating the wheat from the chaff continues… (as more than 80% of top 100 schools are private)

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space889

Well, when you get to pick and choose who attend your school so only the smart ones are admitted, it’s easier to have a high ranking.

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bullwhip29

admission not solely based on grades, but rather money and connections. studious kids from average families have no chance of getting into the crofton houses or st georges of the world.

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space889

Conversely, just because you have $$$ and connections doesn’t necessarily mean your kid will get into Crofton House, or St. George is they are as dumb as a bag of rocks. It’s both. Regardless, if you only admit the cream then you are going to be high scoring. Public schools don’t have that luxury and will always be hard to match private school performance.

And that’s before all the other issues public schools have.

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bullwhip29

i beg to differ. the donor list tells you everything you need to know (see pgs 51-52)

http://www.stgeorges.bc.ca/ftpimages/442/download/download_1752818.pdf

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space889

So rich parent automatically means their kids are stupid??

And compare the school difficulty here (even private schools) vs what some of these kids have to go through back in China, getting A here in really a walk in the park for them.

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Hyper-mega-Bull

space is right. you are confused because you don’t understand stats.

wealthy parents likely did good in school. their kids will also do good in school. private schools are almost all children of these parents.

public schools have a wide range of parents and students. bad students drag down the average. this doesn’t mean that all the kids in public school are doing worse. it means on average they are worse.

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bullwhip29

former Howe St king pin sells Pt Grey building lot for $31.1M
http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=11824153

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southseacompany

“One very bearish view of Canada’s economy”, Globe & Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/one-very-bearish-view-of-canadas-economy/article29508351/

“Here are some key points from David Madani, the group’s Canada economist, in his recent “key calls for this year” report:’

“Mr. Madani has long believed Canadian housing markets are headed for trouble, and suggests this again in the report. He also told me: “Housing corrections are under way in regions hit by the oil price shock and we still fear that Vancouver and Toronto are at an even greater risk of a correction than a year ago.””

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bullwhip29

interesting that a number of current and former BoC officials (as Madani is) are now so bearish on Cdn economy following weakening of the USD in recent weeks. suddenly Cda no longer leading the race to the bottom and that has to be of concern to the folks in ottawa who have little dry powder to play with at the moment.

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tedeastside

Vancouver house prices up 63% since 2001, that’s it?
http://www.theprovince.com/business/bc2035/vancouveristay+city+tweeting+their+love+vancouver/11826560/story.html

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voter

Wages are only down 20% .BPOE

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space889

And mortgage rates are down???

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wwwww

No, that’s wrong. Prices for all types of housing have doubled since 2005 in Greater Vancouver. Detached houses are up 260% since since 2005 for Greater Vancouver. Here are the stats. I could only find them back to 2005.

http://www.rebgv.org/home-price-index?region=all&type=all&date=2016-02-01

http://www.rebgv.org/home-price-index?region=all&type=all&date=2005-01-01

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Zero Down Forty

Just a point of math, when the price doubles, that means a 100% increase, not 200%.

So, detached rising from a 2005 price of $542,100 to a 2016 price of $1305,600, is a $736,500 increase, or (divided by $542k) a $140% increase.

Of course, still an astounding increase.

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bullwhip29

Massey Bridge: Massive expansion approved
http://www.richmond-news.com/news/april-fools-massey-bridge-massive-expansion-approved-1.2221994

>>> good for a laugh…

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bullwhip29

North Vancouver condo sold for $500K below value in ‘double-ending’ sale
http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=11826617

>>> what’s the # for the CRA’s snitch line again?

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I\'m With Stupid V

I am actually much more concerned that a condo in north van can go for 1.2 million for a 1,104 square-foot unit @@
What in the fuck.

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patriotz

According to emails reviewed by The Province, Connell and his colleagues believed the property was under-priced by about $500,000, thus harming the seller, and also devaluing property for other unit owners in the building.

Well of course that’s what they were really upset about – potential lower prices for other units.

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bullwhip29

no doubt this is some sort of tax dodge. the arrogance and total disregard for everyday laws (right out in the open for all to see) tells you a lot about the mindset of folks like this.

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space889

What tax dodge? Primary residence are exempt from taxes….
And there is no law against selling your investments for below market value. Maybe there is some side deals / debt payments between the current and former owners in China since they supposedly know each other. But even if the condo sold for above market value, there still isn’t any tax due.

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bullwhip29

says in article that unit was vacant investment property liquidated at or slightly below price paid (at least on paper). more likely “non-arms length” buyer paid $730K + unknown sum in cash. seller pays no capital gains tax

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patriotz

There is nothing wrong with selling for whatever price you want, but capital gains tax is based on the greater of sales price and fair market value. So is property transfer tax. There are some exempt situations such as when transferring to a spouse.

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space889

But we don’t know all the info since reporters didn’t actually dig into the title info and sales data. It can be investment property but still primary residence. If the owner don’t live in the suite but declares the property as primary residence since people are allowed to declare 1 property as primary residence. Then even though it is being held for investment purpose, tax wise it would be treated as primary residence. Unless off course someone tips CRA off to investigate. But given CRA’s penchant for quick & easy cases & 300% min return, I highly doubt cases like this will be investigates on any widespread basis.

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elvince

Dunno, but 2 lines makes me believe this is a tax-dodging manoeuver: -The MLS sale record for unit 1901 says its days on the market was “0” and its previous price was “$0.” -In an interview Saturday, Thompson said unit 1901 has had three owners since 2005, and a couple from China reportedly bought it for about $765,000 from the second owner about five years ago. I absolutely don’t care if a seller wants to give it for 1$ (and I’m especially not concerned with valuations on similar condos), but this is obvious that money is being exchanged under the table to save taxes. In any case, the CRA should definitely send tax a cap gain of 700k$ (minus fees) to the seller, since they’re selling what is obviously not a primary residence for a capital gain of 700k$. That’ll… Read more »

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bestplaceonearth

keep making a big deal out of nothing. the buyer and seller know each other. what if this was part of sale, part of gift! bears like to speculate stuff for not knowing the entire situation. this article should not have existed at the first place.

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bullwhip29

why put such a transaction on MLS then?

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Combat roach

Shitshow is taken to another level. Condos in wooden buildings are going way over asked price. This one got sold last week, about 50% more than it was 2 years ago and 125% over than it was in 2001.

http://coreyzach.com/property/401-1147-nelson-street-vancouver-bc/

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I\'m With Stupid V

Dam those locusts bidding 57k over asking, now they want our built in 1988, woodframe 2 bedroom condos too.

Whats next Maple Ridge?? Stop the madness no more foreign investment!

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OPENHOUSEMASSACRE

SALES HISTORY FOR THIS UNIT

Sale Date
March 7, 2013
Sale Price
$492,500

Sale Date
January 24, 2007
Sale Price
$420,000

Sale Date
January 14, 2005
Sale Price
$319,000

Sale Date
October 20, 2001
Sale Price
$219,500

Sale Date
March 9, 1994
Sale Price
$217,000

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space889

Right, cuz condo prices were absolute flat since 2001 to 2014 until locusts came and just devoured everything in the last 2 years?

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Combat roach

Whatever goes but certainly this would be a better place without them, they aren’t called locusts and roaches for nothing.

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space889

Well, how else can losers and slackers justify the utter injustice they feel? By actually looking in the mirror?

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a-non-mouse

Why the grip, Space?

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2nd and goal

Putin, close associates and $2bn offshore tax haven exposed in massive leak of Panama law firm’s reports

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/03/vladimir-putin-his-close-friends-and-the-2bn-in-offshore-tax-hav/

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I\'m With Stupid V

“Among the leaked records is info on the offshore assets of several hundred Canadians, including lawyers, mining and oil executives, business people and even known fraudsters.”

They must be operating shell companies for shell companies for the locusts. Cause everyone here knows only locusts are corrupt.

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bullwhip29

president xi jinping and family named in these documents too. this is actually bad news for those hoping efforts to ramp up anti corruption witch hunt/ operation fox hunt etc are maintained.

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squeak

““The Economist magazine has been saying for years that Canadian houses are overvalued. Its latest outlook offers the largest estimate yet: Houses in Canada, it says, are about 40 per cent too pricey, relative to “fair value,” or what people can afford” Fair enough: “what people can afford” : which people? Canadians? Of course they cannot afford this and the answer why they cannot is: They pay taxes, they play by the rules and they are law abiding and have moral standards. But these high level of standards does not seem to be recognized nor appreciated by their “chosen” (considering lack of any other decent choices) “leaders” (perhaps traitors is a more appropriate term). So, what are the choices for these hardworking, tax paying, law abiding Canadians? 1) If you cant beat ’em, join them = society will fall apart… Read more »

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bestplaceonearth

if you just quit being jealous to others and enjoy your life more, none of it would be matter. have you tried to get out and take a walk around OV and enjoy the beautiful weather?
dont be angry all the time. it’s costly to the health care system.

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Tim

Favourite saying of nasty teenage girls to explain why people strongly dislike them : “They’re just jealous”

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space889

I thought bears have stated that renting in Vancouver was awesome, cheap, and offers a really awesome lifestyle / standard of life?! Why the grip here? Renting is too good for bears now?

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a-non-mouse

Yeah, why the grip everyone!

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Wwww

Some Chinese are constipated today … This news may be interesting to some of you.

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space889

Some Chinese also suffered diaherra this long weekend too….this is breaking news!! Reporters are waiting breathlessly to hear back from experts on whether this will cause house prices to shot up or down the toilet.

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Null

Do Chinese head back to the mother country during tomb sweeping day? I’m noticing less congestion on the roads especially Richmond.

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wwwww

If you want to continue to live in this city you better learn to adapt.

Chinese etiquette tips for travelers (or Vancouverites)

One minute their exceedingly gracious Chinese host insists on walking them to the bus station…..and the next minute, a pushy stranger has elbowed them out of the way (without even offering a non-verbal “sorry”).

This might seem uncivilized or odd. It’s hard to understand the cultural roots of this behavior but part of it has to do with the Confucian worldview, which is deeply embedded in societal relations.

http://www.china-mike.com/china-travel-tips/chinese-etiquette-tips/

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space889

Same thing on Japanese subways/train stations too….and Japanese is supposedly to be the most polite people on Earth! Well, except the times when they feeling like beheading people and such.

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patriotz

And then they don’t answer the question. The article does not name a single buyer.

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Best place on meth

They do answer the question.

The buyers are students, housewives, businessmen, numberered companies….the usual suspects.

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franko

((( The article does not name a single buyer )))

How the fuck can it when our fed government doesn’t have the balls or the brains to track sales, and the provincial government profits from the situation.
Just how dumb does one need to be not to understand that the average price of $6.5 million is a tad out of reach for someone earning just over $135,000.

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marble

NAR share their data.
http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/cash-paid-by-country.png

MLS do not.

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space889

So until 2013, Canada was the top locusts in US? Maybe that’s why some people here are so pissed at Chinese?

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patriotz

Title search. Anyone can get a copy of the title of any property for about $20 with the complete sales history, mortgages, etc.

Apparently you don’t know this and I suppose whoever wrote the article assumes the readers don’t. But I’m sure they know.

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Tim

The trouble comes with numbered companies.

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patriotz

Well the buyers aren’t all numbered companies by a long shot. And you can do a search on a numbered company itself. That’s what you see in real journalism, rather than just repeating hearsay.

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franko

The name on a title doesn’t mean diddly squat. Finding a local relative or partner in crime to provide a signature is no problem at all for some patriarch or crook from China.
I’m a retired builder, and had been involved in countless transactions that required lengthy negotiations only to have someone show up that I had never seen before when it was time to sign on the bottom line.

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patriotz

That isn’t the issue. The issue is that the “reporters” made no effort to obtain the name on the title in the first place. A real reporter would obtain the name and then investigate whether it was the real owner or just a proxy.

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space889

Whoever’s name is on the title is the legal owner. You better have a lot of trust, or a lot of “persuasion” to have someone else legally own your property without worry.

Heck, even it is family, it’s doesn’t always work out….look at the case of Flo Z. dad.

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marble

And they are not locusts for sure. Wonder who are the real victims??

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southseacompany

“Canadian House Prices 40% Too High For A Reason, The Economist Says”, Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/04/01/house-prices-canada-overvalued-globalization_n_9592900.html

“The Economist magazine has been saying for years that Canadian houses are overvalued. Its latest outlook offers the largest estimate yet: Houses in Canada, it says, are about 40 per cent too pricey, relative to “fair value,” or what people can afford”

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Bestplaceonearth

Yep, they have said the same thing basically for so many years, and here we are…

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space889

Well, good thing car pile ups and death never happen on the 407…..

Oh wait, they do! Regularly!

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Yunak

Headoffices, big businesses moving to Vancouver…

http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/story.html?id=11824155

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teddy

Good thing there is a foreigner workers program to bring in qualified people who speak chinese to work at these firms.

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bullwhip29

next step is to completely hijack the Cdn banking system. then the cycle will be complete.

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space889

No one is allowed to own more than 5% of any of the chartered schedule 1 banks. Intl payment system is run by SWIFT which is not Canada but based in Europe. And given that Cdn banks have to complied with US FACTA laws, our banking system have already been hijacked by US.

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bullwhip29

dont underestimate what the current PM may be willing to do

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