Anyone who's crying over johnsmit's post clearly hasn't been around long enough to just ignore his incoherent rants.
Thanks for advice. I'll keep that in mind next time.
Or perhaps you lack the intellectual capability or patience to be able to understand what he's writing.Anyone who's crying over johnsmit's post clearly hasn't been around long enough to just ignore his incoherent rants.(snip)
Some people communicate at a different level. I don't knock someone who can't read and write at the same level as me, I try and have patience to figure out what they're trying to say. Stick with the discussion, not the person making it.Anyone who's crying over johnsmit's post clearly hasn't been around long enough to just ignore his incoherent rants.
Thanks for advice. I'll keep that in mind next time.
Agree. If a chinese family wants to move to Canada and buy a property then they will be exempted from this taxIt's about non residential buyers.
Nothing about race.
If 'Billy Bob' from the deep deep south of 'Murica wants a summer home in Vancouver; he's paying the tax too.
I believe you are confusing the issue at hand with immigration John. If immigrants who are skilled/business people who immigrated here legally and buy real estate here then I don't really care. What people care about is foreigners who use the Canadian real estate market as a means of laundering dirty money or as a means of profit which directly affects the people who work and live here. Think about it. If an ER doctor at VGH can't afford to live here do you think the guy who bought a 10 million dollar home who is living in Asia will save your butt when you go to the emergency room?Ok know one sees it as racist or discrimination in any way .But it is zenaphobic , and I am not dismissing any of the argument of Canadian and Vancouver residences not being able to afford a home where they live .That is true but not just because none Canadian buyers are forcing up prices .That is done by supply and demand. .Even in my town Victoria , offers on houses or going above asking price some times by 10s of thousands ..
The reality west coastis are isolationist and island dwellers are even worse. They don't want more people here let alone those that are different.
It is very obvious from the attitude I see and here from your average wHite Anglo that they are not happy with having to listen to multiple groups of East Indian, Chinese, Asian,middle eastern and African people , talking and interactions in our local society . Yes they are different,with different customs, and they seem to go around oblivious to our rules and customs. .Let's face it we do the same in their countries and we all know of the America and how we love them .
Nevertheless we seem to have a low tolerance for different ethnic groups and that breeds contempt, prejudice and racisioum.
There's no wonder that this can and does requals in actions and legislation that is knee Jerk and not well thought of before hand.
Do you live on the West Coast, I know you said YOUR town is Victoria, but are you still there? I have never seen a greater amount of different cultures all melting into one, and I know in my personal circle of friends damn near every country you can imagine is represented. You must be very old or very narrow minded if you believe what you wrote. You need to get out more and see the younger crowd hanging out on the West Coast these days, race is almost forgotten in many cases, they are all just friends, I have seen this first hand via my sons. The problems I see tend to come from an older generation that were brought up with a different world view, in a different time when most countries were in fact isolated. But that is no longer the case and the younger people seem to be adapting to it quite well. I only hope they at some point also get a handle on budgets and finance and stop electing leaders based on superficial reasons... but hey that's just MHO.Ok know one sees it as racist or discrimination in any way .But it is zenaphobic , and I am not dismissing any of the argument of Canadian and Vancouver residences not being able to afford a home where they live .That is true but not just because none Canadian buyers are forcing up prices .That is done by supply and demand. .Even in my town Victoria , offers on houses or going above asking price some times by 10s of thousands ..
The reality west coastis are isolationist and island dwellers are even worse. They don't want more people here let alone those that are different.
It is very obvious from the attitude I see and here from your average wHite Anglo that they are not happy with having to listen to multiple groups of East Indian, Chinese, Asian,middle eastern and African people , talking and interactions in our local society . Yes they are different,with different customs, and they seem to go around oblivious to our rules and customs. .Let's face it we do the same in their countries and we all know of the America and how we love them .
Nevertheless we seem to have a low tolerance for different ethnic groups and that breeds contempt, prejudice and racisioum.
There's no wonder that this can and does requals in actions and legislation that is knee Jerk and not well thought of before hand.
I would go further and make it illegal for any non citizen, or entity controlled by a non citizen, to own land in Canada.Anyone who cries racism about our housing affordability is trying to deflect the issue.
Restricting foreign ownership should have been in place a long time ago.
This new tax will do noting because there are too many loopholes and it doesn't even apply outside the Lower Mainland.
Watch prices start to spike around the province as foreign buyers bypass the 15% tax by buying in Victoria, the Sunshine Coast and the Okanagan.
The problem is people who DONT live here buying property. It creates an artificial demand that prices people who DO live here out of the market.What are we talking here? 15% Tax or discrimination? Bottomline is Vancouver is a beautiful City. And people just wants to come, live and rise a family here. And this is going to raise prices of properties whether we like it or not. There is a premium one has to pay.
Dude, it has nothing to do with racism. Why should we care if some guy living on another continent can't make a fat profit at our expense any more? More importantly, why are you so interested in protecting that guy living on another continent?Your absolutely right WC is see it all the time when riding the ferry , the busses and sky train .I do that all most daily. The younger generation is a melting pot of all races and cultures. They dont inter act to much with us older guys.
I am very open mined and in brace all cultures, I don't agree with every thing they do and don't believe any of their cultural stuff..but still respect there rights in Canadian society . Our heritage all comes from other places.
As for the view expressed it an observation of the reactions of those people that I do know and see every day and the articles written and talked about ..I see an underlying attitude toward what I am talking about .Like I said why was this tax put in now when we have been selling this country to none residents for over 50 yrs..
And things like the vote in England to leave the EU were definitely fueled by racism .No matter how integrated Canada is becoming , we still have problem with racism . It actually is a long standing part of our heritage .Starting with the attitude and treatment of native and their rights., to our continuing friction between English and French Canada. We have all grown up with prejudicial views on those aspects
And Canada has a very dark history with imagination from India and China when they basically were brought in as cheep Labour. The fact they made a better life then most white people was all so fuel for racism.
And then there is the treatment of the Japanese ,Germans and Italian during the wars years and for 10 or more yrs after.It seems to be human nature and there are always politician's that will.pandering to the vocal minority ,that how these ideas thrive in out society.
In the last 65 yrs our country has grown 4 fold because of imagination and the new families that grew from that .We have had all races come here from all over the world because of the perception of our social tolerance. But there all way is an underling current of racism, prejudice and zenaphobic by groups of people and areas of the country .
Our latest is with Asians, mainly chines buying up realistate and not living here.They have been sending their children here for yrs to get an education in English and go to our universities also a sore spot for some . But there money has been well come as it is well come in the realistate market.
Allthough there may be some questions as to how it is made and whether it is legally being taken out of china None of those concerns has prompted the government to stop or investigation that aspect of none resident investment.Addmitidlly that goes beyond just Asian investment but to Russian, African, south American, and even US investors and where did the capital come from..
There definitely has been very little restriction put on those other investor.
As it is this seem isolate only to Vancouver right now ..but others areas are all ready looking at the tax grab benefits for their area.
Nope. Because property ownership is not cross border trade. It is a purely internal affair.A couple of thoughts come to mind….wouldn't a tax specifically aimed at foreign buys be in contravention of NAFTA?
I've not done the research (nor will I for a variety of reasons) yet if a US citizen wants to buy in BC…….
The other thought is my observation of the '60's and 70's and later until today.. Japanese businesses, and business people were buying properties and businesses in North America which was presumed by some to be the end of the world as we know it and we'd all be speaking Japanese in the future. Then, oil producing countries began to buy businesses, property and invest in North American. And now, in this generation we see Asian buyers. Or in their eyes, investors.
I think that quite simply, this is a natural progression of a world economy. Following the second World War the Japanese economy was rebuilding and devoted it's resources and intellect for goods that we in North America - indeed the world - purchased. In large numbers. They send us electronics, we send them money. What does one do with money? Invest in the business, which continues to thrive then invest in business opportunities. In the 70's, with the oil embargo in full swing (youngsters, this was long before NA began to exploit the natural reserves in oil we're all living on top of and depended on "foreign oil.") oil producing countries invested in North America. Some wags said we'd all be speaking Arabic before we retired. Now we've been buying from China from quite some time (the WalMart generation imports a lot of goods from China for example. Billions of dollars worth) and that has created wealth in a country of savers whom are investing in vibrant markets with profit potential.
I don't feel the need to learn to speak Mandarin or Cantonese because I think foreign investors are going to "take over." I want to learn to be polite, friendly and learn more about the cultures we all share on this spinning orb.