Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

ADAM OLSEN: The focus has been largely on the bags of cash dragged into the casinos to be laundered... but ... as we found out ... the problem extends to real estate and luxury cars


Since the beginning of the Spring 2019 session, the BC Green Caucus, has been asking government about money laundering in British Columbia.

The focus has been largely on the bags of cash dragged into the casinos to be laundered by so-called "whale" gamblers.  But, as we found out with Peter German's report, the problem extends to real estate and luxury cars.

Apparently, you can buy a multi-million-dollar house in British Columbia with cash. Few checks and balances and little enforcement.

I asked Minister's Eby and James about these troubling issues again today in Question Period. We must go further, and push harder than we are.  Here is a Transcript from Question Period:

Adam Olsen:
A mind-numbing line of questioning coming from the other side this morning, almost as mind-numbing as the despicable rot that we've been uncovering in British Columbia over the last couple of weeks.

Global's reporting last fall estimates as much as $5 billion has been laundered through Vancouver's real estate market since 2012. This dirty cash is distorting housing prices, and it's playing a large role in the housing crisis gripping our province today. Add this to the allegations of money laundering in our casinos, and this is painting an ugly picture.

According to these reports, over a billion dollars worth of Vancouver property transactions in 2016 alone had links to Chinese organized crime. Hidden ownership of B.C. real estate makes money laundering harder to find and prosecute.

Ending the use of the bare trust loophole is one policy that my colleague from Oak Bay–Gordon Head has been calling on government to act on for years in this Legislature. The Attorney General, himself, has flagged this as an issue that masks the source of money in real estate transactions.

My question is to the Minister of Finance: how is this government continuing to allow the laundering of billions of dollars through our real estate sector?



Hon. David Eby: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the member for the question.

He will know that you find a lot more when you have your eyes open than when you have your eyes closed. So, when we asked Dr. German to have a look at what was happening in the casinos and he came back and he said, "Wow, you know the overwhelming majority of people bringing bulk cash into casinos list their occupations as being real estate-related.

Maybe we should have a look at whether this money is making its way into the real estate market as well," we sent him off to do that work. Simultaneously, the Minister of Finance assembled a team of experts on the issue of money laundering and real estate to identify measures we could take right away.

She's got a white paper out on beneficial ownership to move forward with legislation to establish a beneficial ownership registry so we actually know who owns the real estate. Transparency International Canada— when they looked at 100 of the most valuable properties in Vancouver, for almost half, they couldn't figure out who owned them, because they were owned by offshore trusts, numbered companies, students, if you could imagine — the most expensive residential real estate in Vancouver.

That's why we're taking this really seriously. That's why we're taking steps even in advance of the reports being brought in, because we know we have gaps in the system. We have our eyes open on this, and we're taking action.


Mr. Speaker ... Saanich North and the Islands on a supplemental.


Adam Olsen:
Eyes wide open.

Last year, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, FINTRAC — I talked about it last week — released the results of 130 examinations done between 2015 and 2017 in the real estate sector in British Columbia. They found that there were significant or very significant deficiencies in the anti-money-laundering controls at roughly 88 percent of the real estate entities that they examined. Few controls in the real estate sector and little enforcement.

Rampant money laundering left unchecked by the former B.C. Liberal government helped fuel the housing crisis that is the cause of the deepening sadness in this province. The reports commissioned by this government, due next week, will no doubt daylight more issues, but what is needed is immediate, concrete action to stem the tide of dirty cash polluting our real estate market.

We cannot afford to wait, so my question again is to the Minister of Finance: what is the ministry going to do to further act on these issues that continue to come to light?


Hon. Carole James ... Thank you to the member for the question.

I think all of us, when we see the housing crisis and know the kinds of loopholes that were completely ignored in this province, know that we need to get on with the action, and we've begun already. I'm very proud to announce that, in fact, today we started Canada's first registry around condo flipping and strata flipping, again, to gather information.

This will be a first across the country, and as the Attorney has said, it's critical to shine a light on the behavior that's going on. That's the first step. Then further action will be taken. We will be looking at the beneficial trust. We will, in fact, be putting together a registry, publicly searchable, that will disclose who's behind corporations, who's behind partnerships, to ensure that there's that transparency there.

We're already starting to see that having some action in the Lower Mainland, in particular, when we look at housing prices. But we know much more needs to be done. We're looking at all the financial institutions, all of the real estate areas. Our expert panel will be reporting in March.


I look forward to further action, because housing should be there for people, not for speculators and not for money launderers.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

GORDON F. D. WILSON: When The Trick Masquerades as The Treat

Thirty-seven years ago, Halloween 1987, I became the leader of the BC Liberal Party.   British Columbia was badly polarized. Social Credit held one side and the NDP the other. It had been twelve years, 1975, since Liberal MLAs Garde Gardom, Pat McGeer, and Alan Williams had walked away from their party to join Social Credit, one year after the lone Progressive Conservative MLA Hugh Curtis had abandoned his party to sit with Bill Bennett, the son and heir apparent to long-serving BC Premier, WAC Bennett.   An unwritten agreement by the biggest Canadian political shareholders, the federal Liberals and Conservatives, decided that if British Columbia was to remain a lucrative franchise from a revenue perspective, they couldn’t risk splitting the electoral vote and electing the real enemy, the NDP, so no resources would be used to finance either a Liberal or Conservative party provincially.   “There are two sides to every street,” I was told by a very prominent Canadian businessman who cont

FORSETH: As a BC Conservative member, and campaign worker, I will again state that the fact these errors were found -- AND brought to light BY Elections BC -- shows the system IS working

Sadly, two and a half weeks after the BC provincial election campaign, those who want to undermine our political process are still at.  PLUS, we also have one who doesn’t even live in our country, never mind our province. I speak of the buffoon running for President of the United States, who has poisoned the well when it comes to faith in the electoral process. Just today alone, comments such as the following, were being made of posts that I shared online: ... all the votes they keep finding has just favoured NDP on in all critical ridings and soon they will flip another riding in favour of NDP, Come on. ... Elections BC has ridiculed British Columbians, and I no longer have confidence or trust in their process and competence regarding the results Then there are others online, with comments like these – who are claiming fraud in the October 19th election: ... Who is the oversight for Elections BC? They should be investigated for election fraud! ... Fraudulent election ... should be red

“With the talent and dedication of this caucus we will hold David Eby to account for his government’s out of control spending and ongoing failures in healthcare, public safety and addictions" — John Rustad

Today, John Rustad, Leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia, proudly unveiled his shadow cabinet, a dynamic team of talented individuals ready to hold David Eby’s disastrous government accountable and present a strong alternative vision for British Columbia. “ Our shadow cabinet is a diverse and experienced group, committed to restoring prosperity, public safety, and affordability for every British Columbian ,” said Rustad. “ With experts in every field, we are focused on delivering real solutions for the challenges our province faces .” Rustad emphasized the historic appointment of Aaliya Warbus as House Leader. The shadow cabinet reflects the Conservative Party’s vision to build a brighter future for British Columbia. The appointments are as follows: Leadership Positions : Aaliya Warbus – House Leader Bruce Banman – Whip Sheldon Claire – Deputy Whip Portfolios : Tony Luck – Municipal Affairs and Local Government Sharon Hartwell – Rural Communities and Rural Development I

Labels

Show more