It’s the end of another week and that means it’s time for another open topic thread. Friday free-for-all time!
Here are a few recent links to kick off the chat:
–outgoing mayor blames house prices on “influx of global capital”
–
So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes in the comments below and have an excellent weekend!
A little over a week until D-Day.
Vancouver election will set the agenda goin forward.
And the referendum is looking like a fail; Organizations buying mail in voter cards at $25 a pop!
Great way to rig the vote NDP! Who needs a one day vote for something this important. ???!
If it does fail, then 2 things to hope for the next crash.
1) Fall 2019 Trudeau election
2) will Greens call an election?? They wouldn’t have any clout after. Nor did they do anything these last 2 years but spew hot air.
If it fails, Andrew Weaver will be the biggest loser in the history of Canadian Politics. He will have gotten absolutely nothing and have given away everything he stood for. LOL.
He’ll have to call an election just to save face. The NDP will force him in any case because
because the NDP are still a new government and the Liberals aren’t well organized and unified yet. The NDP will want to get ahead of the housing crash so an early April election would be the play. I think they would win a majority because people are still angry with Clark.
Totally agree. Weaver will be remembered for a long long time on how not to do politics.
He’s been so wrong that sometimes I wonder what cash he’s been offered.
Simple:
Ban civil servants from elected office, stop the double dipping..Weaver is eligible for MLA pension in addition to tenure he has as professor.
The end !!!
I suggest you check out the NDP-Green CASA (https://www.bcgreens.ca/casa) before you criticize Weaver- 95% of the CASA is directly from the Green platform. Now, some of it is from the BC NDP platform, too. But, the BC NDP were against PR before they were for it, against LNG before they were for it (https://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/columnists/les-leyne-ndp-takes-firm-position-against-lng-1.2223659), against Site C before they were for it (https://thetyee.ca/News/2015/11/17/NDP-Site-C-Plan-B/). Basically, the BC NDP subscribe to ‘say anything” campaigning. Without the BC greens, and CASA, it is my belief that we would not have finance reform, electoral reform, lobbying reform, a firm carbon tax, fair wages commission, emerging economy task force, innovation commission, alterations to a fatally flawed environmental assessment process, essential drugs program, and renewed investments in adult education.
I’ll remember Weaver as the man that forced the NDP to act for more aggressively to lower home prices than they otherwise would have. His public comments at the time caused a spike in Green popularity at the expense of the NDP forcing them to act. For that I thank you Weaver.
Thousands line up for zero-down-payment, subprime mortgages
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/12/thousands-line-up-for-zero-down-payment-subprime-mortgages.html
It’s déjà vu all over again.
No recourse mortgages.
Nothing to lose.
Foreigners made them do it. Amiright?
Richmond mayoral candidate Hong Guo alleges vote-buying post on Chinese app Wechat was forged and claims “someone” is trying to damage her name
https://www.richmond-news.com/election-2018/update-richmond-rcmp-serious-crimes-unit-investigating-alleged-vote-buying-on-chinese-app-1.23461356
Her name was damaged long before now….
i think this is nothing but a hail mary attempt. i bet her camp planted this story in the hope that this and countless other tidbits of info (including her legal “issues”) all get swept up in a fake news $hitstorm
““To encourage people to take part in the municipal elections, the Canada Wenzhou Friendship Society will give a transportation subsidy of $20 for those who vote this year,” said the post.
“Please actively participate in voting and supporting Chinese Canadians to take part in politics.”
The post went on to ask people to vote for Richmond mayoral candidate Hong Guo, incumbent councillor Chak Au, council candidate Peter Liu and Melissa Zhang, and five other candidates in Vancouver and Burnaby.”
It is absolutely despicable and racist for anyone to vote for a candidate based solely on their race, and it should be illegal for a candidate to pander for votes based on race.
What happened to Canada?
Wait for PR. No reason we won’t have the PRC Party and the Free Khalistan Parties in the Leg. Literally going to be a gong show in BC.
” No reason we won’t have the PRC Party and the Free Khalistan Parties in the Leg. ”
Except a party will need 5% province wide to get representation. For example, 3% of British Columbians are Sikhs, and and only a minority of them are pro-Khalistan. And voters who are pro-PRC or pro-Khalistan already have MLA’s who share those views to some degree, mainly in the BC Liberals and NDP respectively, so why throw away your vote on someone who isn’t going to win?
Because as we have clearly seen with the Green’s that you don’t need to win to be a king maker and wield influence well above your voter representation.
This is a not a scare tactic it is 100% true and it is right in front of our eyes.
VOTE NO ON PR!
“Because as we have clearly seen with the Green’s that you don’t need to win to be a king maker”
Of course you have to win to be a king maker. The Greens won 3 seats. I don’t think any of the alleged extreme parties would win any seats. They just don’t have enough support province wide and many voters who might be attracted to them already have an MLA who they like.
The exception is social conservatives. Almost all of them vote BC Liberal, but they have got very little in return from Liberal governments. And I think that’s a big reason why the Liberals are so opposed to PR.
How is 3 seats winning?
The party that won 3 seats is driving the bus. You clearly don’t get it.
Any BS party can get 5% of people realize they can set their agenda if they win even ONE seat.
3% of BC is Sikh?
Hahaha. What a tool you are.
Surrey alone has 300,000 Sikhs. Go back to math class. Or is it propaganda? Hmmmm.
“Surrey alone has 300,000 Sikhs.”
For those who care about facts (i.e. excluding the above poster) the 2016 Census reports 164,005 people of “South Asian” ethnic origin in Surrey and 363,885 in BC. This category includes “East Indian” and “Punjabi” and includes all religious groups.
Oracle should know all about “propaganda “
A tool.
Surrey has a lot more than 165,000 Sikhs.
And minions here to believe you.
Strong argument as usual, Oracle. Clown.
They have my vote, and I’m not Sikh.
SIDA? Care to comment?
Nahh, there are no slurs. Why bother?
I personally think it’s odd to believe that only an elected official of your own ethnicity would know best how to represent you. But I’m not about to try to tell people how to vote or how to campaign.
And what’s your comment then? Or is this just another drive-by?
I am stunned by the reverse racisim that our country puts up with.
Change the terms to White and it would be investitaged as a hate crime with the RCMP involved.
And people wonder why Trump and Ford are popular.
You think you’re unfairly treated or otherwise have opportunity denied for your ethnicity?
Not sure what your question has anything to do with?
Moving the goal posts again after an answer you couldn’t spin into racism. You are utterly predictable.
Well spotted – it’s an unrelated question. Care to answer it?
As you are the resident victim and sino-apoligist I am likely wasting my time but here goes:
Personally no, but certainly I have white friends who have been passed over for positions their were in line for or qualified for due to that fact their employers were seeking “diversity” another name for a quota system.
I would think that the worst person to be in Canada today as far as opportunities go is a middle aged white male.
Reverse Racism
The worst person to be in Canada today is a middle aged white male? Seriously?
You sound like an overprivileged brat to me.
SIDA are you are clearly racist. Your hatred towards whites is thinly veiled but appears now and then.
But that would make sense. The Chinese are widely known as the most racist race in the world.
Drink up.
I just voted for David Chen.
Would a racist do this?
SIDA? Your answer please…
A racist did do this – you.
Your usual meaningless drivel.
Sino-apologist and constant victim of racism. Life must be so terrible in your scared little world.
I’m not a victim, and I’d be more than happy to voice my opinions publicly. I dare say you’d be a little reluctant to do so, however.
SIDA…
……thanks for giving me a 25% discount on the week- old chow mein + free cat meat.
“I am stunned by the reverse racisim that our country puts up with.”
Opposition MPPs want Premier Doug Ford to explain why he secretly met with a China-owned company seeking to extract some 1.6 million litres a day from an aquifer in Guelph/Eramosa Township.
According to the NDP, the province’s integrity commissioner has no record of the meeting, or any record of lobbyists registered to act on behalf of the company with the province.
““I am stunned by the reverse racisim that our country puts up with.”
Ontario will soon allow turban-wearing Sikhs to ride motorcycles without helmets, joining three other provinces in providing the exemption…
Ford said the move to allow the helmet exemption came after listening to the Sikh community. He also said it fulfilled a promise made during the spring election campaign.
Who cares if they wear turbans on motorcycles? Is this even worth talking about? I don’t think its reverse racism. I think it is accommodating their religious beliefs.
As a motorcycle rider myself, I think its Fing crazy but that is a whole another thing.
Canada was a douche bag since Day One …
Biggest mistake was @ss – kissing Quebec and allowing (2) founding nations BS….talk about dysfunctional start.
Pierre Turdeau….played the kiss French-Quebecois @ss….to neutralize debate and THEN allow immigration of non Caucasians.
GOOGLE: Coudenove- Kalergi plan ……
New lawsuit against Ethan Sun and Istuary group alleges immigration and financial fraud
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/new-lawsuit-against-ethan-sun-and-istuary-group-alleges-immigration-and-financial-fraud-1.4861447
The suit filed claims:
– Istuary committed immigration and business fraud far bigger than the more than $4 million previously alleged in a lawsuit filed last year
– most of the 180 employees weren’t employees at all but came from China, having paid as much as $130,000 each for “positions masquerading as legitimate employment.”
– Nothing was being produced in the downtown Vancouver office, and the workers were not being paid on a regular basis
“A judgment on a multi-million-dollar property is still going through the legal system. The Branch has contacted all former employees to provide an update, and has mailed each employee their share of the amount collected to date. Cheques ranged from roughly $60 to $1,000.”
> most of the 180 employees weren’t employees at all but came from China, having paid as much as $130,000 each for “positions masquerading as legitimate employment.”
That’s the most interesting part of this entire article… The other frauds are nothing particularly unusual or special… But a business designed to be an immigration fraud scam, AND defrauding investors at the same time is quite unusual! This would make the value of the immigration fraud FAR GREATER than the value of the investment scam! Wow!
JT and Canada Immigration, what are you going to do about it? Nothing, open the doors to more scams to come in?
why are the giving money back to ’employees’ when they were also committing fraud?
Scams after scams perpetrated by one group of immigrants. Why are we taking it and not doing anything about it. Where is the Justice minister , the Immigration minister and the CRA minister in all these?
SIDA, what is your opinion on the statistically high percentage of scams committed from immigrants from China as a percentage of the overall Canadian population?
1. Cultural Norm
2. Show me a link (Please see the last 5,000 on this site before selecting #2)
3. Even mentioning that someone from China committed a scam is RACIST
4. Ignore
5. You’re a moron.
You have no statistics to make a statistical argument, only your own prejudices.
Due to the fact our society has been silenced for fear of being called Racist by people LIKE YOU there are no statistics kept.
That said, the cat is out of the bag. Everyone other than you knows it and people are speaking up and the party is over.
Your biggest fear must be a Trump or Ford. It must be awful living your patheic life in constant fear refusing to make eye contact.
You are a cockroach on society and a blight on the blog. Sadly, you will stay like a parasite.
The positive is that you hold less than zero credability here.
Doug Ford openly courts minority votes, in part by thinly disguised gay-bashing – something the BC Liberals, to their credit, would never do.
“Just north of Toronto, in the extremely diverse city of Markham — where whites account for a mere 22 percent of the population — Ford won one Markham electoral district with a shocking 60 percent of the vote on the first ballot of the Conservative Party leadership contest in a four-way race that pit him against establishment candidates. He couldn’t have done it without the support of Chinese and South Asian voters who together make up approximately two-thirds of the city’s residents”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/10/there-is-no-canadian-trump/
I love it when you’ve been drinking.
New
189
Price Change
98
Sold
116
TI:13597
As I noted previously…the 13,000 TI benchmark took a while to achieve, as IMHO it was to be avoided as it seemed to be the bulwark number indicating a major RE market shift….
Wait till we hit 14,000…………stock up on kleenex , @sswipe and diapers !
The big banks have started hiking fixed mortgage rates, but home buyers don’t need to panic
He’s right. It’s the sellers who need to panic.
20 Things You Should Never Buy at the Dollar Store :
https://www.slice.ca/money/photos/things-you-should-never-buy-at-the-dollar-store/#!Canned-Food_
But they won’t come right out and say it that this crap is made in CHINA and it’s poisonous garbage made by crooks.
Even the Chinese shop at Walmart in China because they know the goods are not fake.
NAFTA talks forced Canada to pick a side in U.S.-China trade war. In signing on for NAFTA 2.0, Canada also joined the Trump administration’s China agenda
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/usmca-canada-china-coalition-1.4855868
“When the Trudeau government agreed to a revised North American free trade deal, the Americans said Canada also agreed to something else: joining Donald Trump’s trade war on China.
“The continent as a whole now stands united against what I’m going to call unfair trading practices,” Trump’s National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow said the day after the new United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) rolled out.
“There is a trade coalition of the willing that is going to fix a lot of broke areas of international trade [by] getting on the same page and co-operating. And that coalition will stand up to China.”
With the elections in less than a week, what would be the most bearish results?
Here’s my take (and how I’ll vote):
For Mayor : ProVancouver
For Council : COPE (3 candidates) then ProVancouver (3 Candidates) then Greens (Carr + 2 others) then Spike Peachey.
I think ProVancouver is running too many candidates for a new party. A lot of voters will spare a vote or two for a new party but with a slate of their size the votes get split and they likely don’t elect anyone. Compare with OneCity which is running only 2 candidates for council and is on the labour unity slate. Which also means they are just as bearish as anyone else IMHO.
Is Onecity too close in policy to Vision?
One City was founded in 2014 by former members of COPE and is much closer to them in ideology, i.e. a good deal to the left of VIsion.
ProVancouver is my choice too, David Chen makes the most sense.
https://www.provancouver.ca/david_chen
It’s great to see all these new parties with fresh ideas now that the NDP took big money out of campaigns.
I hope the corrupt, entrenched parties – Vision, NPA, COPE get shut out and disband.
Not sure how COPE fits on that list of the corrupted. Here’s the most obvious measure of comparison, party fundraising totals in the last municipal election:
Vision: $2.9 million
NPA: $2.4 million
COPE: $100,000
Actually…., Leftards infiltrate the education system and public sector(aka using OUR tax $$$ to sway public opinion), thus they are worse than their alleged opponents.
I just voted at the advance poll. The ballot is ridiculous its longer than my arm. The names are random so it takes a long time to find your choices. I would suggest that people take advantage of the advance polling because its going to be a shit show on voting day based on the above.
I voted early as well…..
Didn’t even bother with School Trustees..WTF do they do?…they tend to be BCTF’s b*tches
The other vote starts on the 20th too.
Now I’m thinking PR would be the worst option if we want change. It’s now clear that the parties are in bed with each other so FPTP might be better if we can get a new party going. Then 41% of the vote would win power. After PR, need 51%.
Saw the Surrey mayoral candidate Tom a few days ago give a talk at a private mansion on ALR.
He came along with the guy that bought the future Surrey Hospital land off the city a few years ago near Hwy 10 and 152. The guy has since developed the land.
Wowowowoe.
He further stated that they plan on 150-200 Km of LRT in Surrey.
He also stated 30 years ago was when people could afford a detached. 10-15 years ago was when they could get a townhomes. He said the future for families is in condos.
He wants to build 5 story structures around these LRT lines. All over the place.
I had an audience with the Queen last week. She said she was going to demolish her castle and build condos there because LRT will be running past there soon.
Glad to have you join the minion crowd. How long have you been wrong?
Wait until you’ve been priced out of all rentals in the Fraser valley. Remember your snark remarks.
I remember:
You voted for the NDP.
Was building a house in Surrey but then wasn’t.
Lied about going to Hawaii (for some odd reason)
Twice quit the blog only to come back shortly after.
I am sure others here can add to this pathetic list.
Fake Indian.
Like Elizabeth Warren.
You left once, too. If I recall you came back to declare victory on your correct prediction of a housing crash.
4498 W 7TH AVENUE, sold for $6,450,000, Oct 5, 2018
Sales History (Since October 2014)
Date Comments MLS® Number
2018-Oct-05 Sold $6,450,000 R2311991
2017-Nov-14 Sold $7,280,000 R2155290
2017-Apr-11 Terminated $8,688,000 R2127968
2017-Apr-10 Listed for sale R2155290
2016-Dec-15 Listed for sale R212796
Assessment:
Year Total Land Improvements
2018 $7,035,000 $4,418,000 $2,617,000
Good stuff, but fact that locust is still well and alive is somewhat annoying. Who else with any sanity left would spend that amount of money on a house in Vancouver but typical locust?
2018-Oct-05 Sold $6,450,000
2017-Nov-14 Sold $7,280,000
Buy now or be priced out forever!
SIDA provided excellent service at Panda Express…tip is in the mail !.
PS….what’s yer West Van address..next to Jimmy Pattison?
SIDA lives in China.
Grow up.
CHINA lives in SIDA !
You can take the SIDA out of China, but you can’t take the China out of the SIDA, except here it’s normally said as AIDS.
Now that was funny!
Fuck off you faker. You are making me look bad.
SIDA is simply an algorithm produced by indentured fortune cookie workers during their one bathroom break in 24/7/365 shift.
Ross Kay regarding sales:
https://mobile.twitter.com/rosskay/status/1051857707534184449
Looks like the NDP cheerleading had died down here.
I told you guys last September/17 after they did nothing in the summer that they weren’t going to do anything.
All they did thus far is a 5% increase in FBT BUT they increased exemptions.
The PR vote is going to be very interesting. If it fails, election will have to be called or Greens will have destroyed themselves.
This forum is an ongoing demonstration of the Asymmetry Principle of Bullshit. 10 times the effort needed to refute as to produce.
100% Agree!
That you are the creator of the bullshit?
I agree too!
Ok there. So go ahead and cheer the NDP because listings have gone from abysmally low to very low in 18 months.
How’s the house hunting going? Next month might be the best month to buy if the referendum fails.
Where’s EBY……………????????????????………………ffs
Methinks he and Weaver are at Empress Hotel discussing how to turn BC into commie colony in perpetuity while Keg Waiter Horgan is serving them drinks….
Nah. Weaver is going to be in turmoil next month.
Can’t say we didn’t tell him so.
Douglas Todd: Will the new leader of Quebec kill its immigrant-investor program?
Most of the roughly 5,000 migrants a year who exploit Quebec’s buy-a-passport program immediately move to Metro Vancouver and Toronto, where their foreign-sourced dollars pump up the cities’ already high-priced real estate.
https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-will-the-new-leader-of-quebec-kill-its-immigrant-investor-program
NDP has said that’s it’s not their jurisdiction so they won’t ask Quebec to cancel it.
??????
Having lived out east for a while, I got the distinct impression that people from Quebec generally dislike anglophones/the rest of Canada and are happy to screw them over at any available opportunity. This program is win-win for Quebec, so I’d be somewhat shocked if they actually changed it in any meaningful way.
New
288
Price Change
133
Sold
94
TI:13651
Strong listings for mid Oct.
Who cares about listings FFS.
Tell me about prices in the sub $1 million market.
Listings = supply
Sales = demand
have you ever heard of supply and demand?
“Sales = demand”
No, a sale is where supply equals demand. We don’t know demand in the way we know supply, because prospective buyers don’t publicly post what they want to buy and how much they’re willing to pay.
MOI is down again.
In Vancouver the only sub-million markets of any size are one bed condos and studios. Both are down substantially over the last 12 months according to Zolo.
You’re welcome.
Strong listing?. There is nothing strong about it.
1b1b in DT Van still seeing new highs. No inventory, nothing worth buying comes up for sale. When it did recently, it received 6 offers, 3 are strip naked clean offers. So yeah, unless someone wants to buy 20+ yr old party or leaky condo with $500/mo strata fee, go ahead.
When going in bidding war like that you are just creating new highs all the time . This city needs to implement Aussie/NZ auction style system.
I don’t give a rats ass for whats happening with $2M+ properties. People here don’t realize DT Van will be for the rich and successful only.
Check this add. Room for rent in DT Van, req: $80,000 annual salary. This is going to be very common in few years. https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/roo/d/robson-and-hamilton-st/6689575198.html
Just as a personal story. In-laws of mine put an offer on a 80s townhome 15k below asking (800k), they weren’t even close according to their realtor. 8 offers way over asking and a couple of no subjects. There is even a special assessment upcoming as noted in the minutes of unknown cost (retaining wall issues) but still the place received multiple offers. So think there are still people with money out there that can’t afford the 1mil+ house option but are going crazy for the RIGHT property under a mil. Strange market out there.
Oh and place was in the east van.
Ok well here’s my story. A couple I know bought a town house in South Surrey for $800k while still owning a 2bd room in Langley for $500k.
The 2 bd room has been on the market for 3 months with 0 offers. The Realtor tokd them it would sell in an instant.
They are now carrying 2 mortgages.
The market is slowing big time and stories like the own you shared will become more rare in my opinion.
So he’s looking for a roommate? If that place would go for $2500+ then I see no issue with this. How is this different than two people getting a place together? The $80k min income was a bit silly.
How chinese guys fight
hahahaha you made my day. Spit contest.
Yeah I shit on you haha
Chinese man attempts to flee Thai immigration at airport; Thai gets fired
https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1548986/airport-guard-under-fire-for-slapping-tourist
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government is in the early stages of drafting plans to force thousands of migrants to settle outside the nation’s two largest cities. It’s seeking to address concerns about rapid population growth and the impact on infrastructure ahead of an election that must be called by May.
The influx of immigrants that’s equivalent to one person arriving in Australia every minute is causing a backlash in the biggest cities. While the flood of arrivals has swelled the population by 50 percent over the past three decades and underpinned economic growth, residents are frustrated that their quality of life has been compromised, with house prices too high, roads clogged and wages stagnant.
“Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government is in the early stages of drafting plans… ahead of an election that must be called by May”
Oz’ Liberal/National coalition (i.e. conservative) government has been in power since 2013. Time to serve up a helping of “we’re going to do something” too late to actually do anything.
U.S. real estate website Zillow to start offering Canadian home listings
The Canadian Press, at 08:10 on October 16, 2018
TORONTO – U.S. real estate website Zillow is expanding to offer listings for homes in Canada for sale.
Zillow says it has agreements to receive more than 50,000 listings from Canadian brokerages and franchisors.
Users will be able to use the popular U.S. site and mobile app to search for Canadian for-sale properties by postal code, city or province.
The Canadian listings will display the home’s list price, a description of the property, photos and available home facts.
The listings will also include the listing agent’s contact information as well as link to the brokerage or franchise website.
Sounds to me that all they’re going to do is carry a copy of the listing that you can already see on realtor.ca. Conspicuously absent from the news release is any mention of price history.
http://zillow.mediaroom.com/2018-10-16-Zillow-Adds-First-Canadian-Listings-to-Mobile-App-and-Website
Access price history on Zealty.ca. It’s only a matter of time before Zillow offers price history for BC. Realtors can appeal but precedent has been set. They will lose.
And No impact as per Carole James. Says we will see results in a few years. Hahaha
Local housing market still ‘taking a breather’ but runaway home prices could return:
https://www.citynews1130.com/2018/10/16/housing-market-runaway-prices/
“‘It won’t stay this way for long’ warns Royal LePage CEO”
if by “not long” he means 20 years then he might be right, otherwise pumpers just gotta pump ….
Look what Carole James said on CKNW today. Says spec tax measures now will see an impact a few years down the road.
WTF??
A few years. All BS by the NDP.
This is not the stock market. Interest rate hikes take a few months or more to really have effect. People don’t have to sell now so they hold out hoping for some miracle. But when people can’t make payments they will be desperate. The high end gets hammered first as the market is smaller but also people have larger mortgages and more to lose and tiny increases percentage wise in rates equal huge monthly interest increases in absolute dollars.
Not with record immigration. Only reason rents are going up massively is because of massive people inflows.
But I was told all Chinese ese buy with cash and never sell.
Could that be a lie?
Not a rant at all. You are 100% right. A correction is 30% or more over 3-5 years. Lots of pain. Its happened before it will happen again.
These pumpers think the best time to buy is always today!
I read one loser write: “Don’t wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait”
I would fully support a 50% drop in prices. I know there would be immense pain but our city would be better for it. The people who borrowed responsibily and bought to live not speculate would come out just fine.
‘Golden passports’ threaten European security, warns EU commissioner
Exclusive: ‘citizenship for sale’ under increasing scrutiny from governments and security agencies
“Europe’s security is being put at risk by so-called “golden passport” schemes that have allowed states to sell citizenship or residency to potentially “dangerous” individuals, the EU justice commissioner has warned.
Věra Jourová described the programmes as “problematic” and “unfair” – echoing the private concerns of Europe’s intelligence agencies, who fear “golden passports” have been exploited by people with enough money to buy access to the UK and Europe.
“Her comments came as Malta and Cyprus were named in a blacklist of 21 nations operating passport schemes that are deemed to pose a high risk of tax evasion. The list was published on Tuesday by the OECD, a leading thinktank, which wants tighter controls. The two EU member states have already sold citizenship to hundreds of individuals from Russia, China and the Middle East.
Jourová said making money was being put before security. “I understand that citizenship schemes are favourable for the economy. But this is unfair for the people who cannot afford to buy citizenship. And citizenship is something so, so big and so valuable that citizenship for sale seems for me rather problematic.”