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Old Posted Apr 15, 2012, 11:31 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Vancouver
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Quote:
Originally Posted by casper View Post
Reading this article it sounds like a large portion of the off-shore money is either after $2 M and up properties or they are in fact people who plan to move and live in Vancouver. The article also identifies the recent agreement that permits people from mainline China to more easily travel to Canada as a driver for some of the activity. That sounds like legitimate demand. I think we should be welcoming of new immigrants and investors from China or other countries. It adds to the cultural mix of Canada.
Even if we are talking about people who want to move here it may be bad for Canadians, particularly younger people who do not already own property and cannot cash in on the current market. It's easy to create a permanent underclass of people who can never afford property and do not have the capital to participate in investment markets that really pay off. It's not hard to imagine Vancouver becoming a city of renters with shitty service jobs where real estate is priced for foreign capitalists, because we're already halfway there.

Free trade, freedom of movement, etc. are in general good things, but it's important to remember that these ideals do not exist globally. Canadians can't immigrate to China for example and there are restrictions on the property they can purchase there. If there were zero restrictions on Chinese participation in the Canadian economy then Chinese people would effectively be privileged over Canadians.
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