This is a really touchy issue, not only because Vancouver has,
and has always had, a large Asian population, but also because many forum members themselves are Asian and are going to feel offended by many remarks on this topic, be they made here or elsewhere. I've made one or two rude remarks and got rightly slapped for it.
However ... from a purely pragmatic point of view, if a wealthy Chinese person currently living and working in China (no, not necessarily HK) has made a lot of money and wants to keep it in a tax-haven, or stable investment, it is only natural that they buy expensive houses here. That's just good business, from their point of view.
For average Canadians - of whatever race - working steady, perhaps after five years of university - the prospect of never being able to buy even a starter home seems grossly unfair and a slap in the face. Maybe it is. Or maybe that's just "business is business; let the market decide." Forumers can debate that one.
There are, however, measures that a government CAN take (if it has the will) that are not exclusivist, but put a limit on offshore money driving the real estate market through the roof.
An example is Australia, where offshore (yes, mostly Asian) investors CAN buy expensive properties, BUT ONLY IF THEY ACTUALLY RESIDE IN THEM. This puts the brakes on tax-break money inflating the market like a balloon, and mitigates anti-foreigner resentment. ** In fact, this has been mentioned before, somewhere here on SSP Vancouver, I forget where.
The real culprit is a "sell-your-own-mother" government that drops its pants and bends forward just to make a quick buck at any price, to cater to whatever lobby it's catering to.
There is too much black-and-white thinking in Canada (and hey, I'm an ignoramus on all this, so please don't yell at me) .... but a happy and reasonable medium can surely be found if people are willing to to look at all the angles, think things through, and pass laws accordingly. Thank you.
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I'm quite sure it was complained about all through the 90's, too.
) and we try to tell them that they can do whatever they want, be whoever they want, and get whatever they want through hard work. Because it's true. If we told them that they could laze through school, get poor grades, major in something useless, do drugs and party all the time, and then suck off the government tit to become successful, I'm sure so many of them would have turned out differently (rather than getting academic scholarships).... your position in life is usually your fault, but sometimes you don't know better.
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