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They are never going to do that. Making money laundering illegal will send shockwaves across its economy. Canada is being criticized by both its citizens and f

They are never going to do that. Making money laundering illegal will send shockwaves across its economy. Canada is being criticized by both its citizens and foreign governments but the illegal moneyflows are actually proping the housing markets of Vancouver and Toronto up. It is a very complicated situation as taking any action against money laundering will also might greenlight foreign governments to sue Canada for harboring money from corruption and illegal activities. Taking actions against money laundering is always a slippery slope.

amscanne 4y ago
It was a joke. Money laundering is already illegal in most jurisdictions, including Canada [1]. Generally disguising the source of funds is financial fraud on its own, even without dedicated money laundering laws. The canard that the housing market in Canada has been propped up by illegal money has been debunked so many times it's not funny. Everyone continues to prefer to think that over the real truth, which is that domestic speculation and house-horniness (house at any financial cost, down-payments from a HELOC on the family house, etc.) is responsible for the insane market. How else do you explain the 50%+ increase in rural Ontario over the pandemic? Peterborough didn't suddenly become the hot spot for laundering. [1] https://lois-laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/P-24.501/ https://lois-laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/P-24.501/
- anyfactor 4y ago
  I wouldn't use the word the "propped up", I would probably use foundational. It is not like the Canadian government is eager to turn away the flow of money entering into their economy as they say. Canada is doing as great of a job of preventing this moneyflow as UK is doing with stopping Russian Oligarchs to "invest" in their economy. UK too have laws in preventing money laundering I presume.
  - amscanne 4y ago
    Jurisdictions in Canada keep passing laws on the basis of this kind of xenophobia (e.g. the foreign buyer tax in BC, non-local tax in Ontario) that have consistently turned out to be ineffective. Why? Turns out it's not the problem and it applies to a minor fraction of buyers. So they crank up the rhetoric and pass more ineffective laws. If you want to call money laundering foundational, then you need to explain how on earth that is connected with the market in Peterborough being up 50%+ over the pandemic. Peterborough isn't unique; it just gives the lie to the idea that this is somehow foreign money causing the problem. Foreign buyers have tanked in the last two years (since most of the time they were not even permitted to enter the country) yet it is continually called out as the culprit. Nonsense.

amscanne 4y ago

It was a joke. Money laundering is already illegal in most jurisdictions, including Canada [1]. Generally disguising the source of funds is financial fraud on its own, even without dedicated money laundering laws. The canard that the housing market in Canada has been propped up by illegal money has been debunked so many times it's not funny. Everyone continues to prefer to think that over the real truth, which is that domestic speculation and house-horniness (house at any financial cost, down-payments from a HELOC on the family house, etc.) is responsible for the insane market. How else do you explain the 50%+ increase in rural Ontario over the pandemic? Peterborough didn't suddenly become the hot spot for laundering. [1] https://lois-laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/P-24.501/ https://lois-laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/P-24.501/

anyfactor 4y ago
I wouldn't use the word the "propped up", I would probably use foundational. It is not like the Canadian government is eager to turn away the flow of money entering into their economy as they say. Canada is doing as great of a job of preventing this moneyflow as UK is doing with stopping Russian Oligarchs to "invest" in their economy. UK too have laws in preventing money laundering I presume.
- amscanne 4y ago
  Jurisdictions in Canada keep passing laws on the basis of this kind of xenophobia (e.g. the foreign buyer tax in BC, non-local tax in Ontario) that have consistently turned out to be ineffective. Why? Turns out it's not the problem and it applies to a minor fraction of buyers. So they crank up the rhetoric and pass more ineffective laws. If you want to call money laundering foundational, then you need to explain how on earth that is connected with the market in Peterborough being up 50%+ over the pandemic. Peterborough isn't unique; it just gives the lie to the idea that this is somehow foreign money causing the problem. Foreign buyers have tanked in the last two years (since most of the time they were not even permitted to enter the country) yet it is continually called out as the culprit. Nonsense.