Editor:
Allegations have been made that realtors have been flipping houses so quickly they ‘forgot’ to pay the taxes, which are required every time a house is sold.
Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development Peter Fassbender says he will have the Real Estate Council of B.C. look into it. As I understand it, the Real Estate Council is made up of real estate agents. What Fassbender is planning, in effect, is having those who may be at fault, looking into a situation.
When perhaps tens of millions of dollars are not paid to the government it is a police matter, and a police investigation ought to be conducted. If required forms are not completed, that is a matter for the police.
There are issues here which may include fraud, tax evasion, money laundering and so on. When the average citizen is suspected of these crimes we can expect a call from the police. Real estate agents, not so much. Their college gets to decide if they did something wrong.
If this is Premier Christy Clark’s idea of “sticking to the plan”, it’s time she plans on a new career, along with Fassbender and Finance Minister Mike DeJong. We, the taxpayers, are being ripped off.
E.A. FosterNanaimo
Figures tell the Alberta story
Editor:
The unemployment rate as of Feb. 7 in Calgary was 7.9 per cent, up from 4.8 per cent in 2015; Edmonton is at 6.5 per cent, up from 4.8 per cent.
Northern Alberta is at 12.5 per cent, up from 8.6 per cent; southern Alberta at 8.1 per cent, up from 5.4 per cent.
Alberta, once known as the province of well paying jobs, now has the highest unemployment rate in Canada, at 7.4 per cent.
Canada’s national rate is 7.2 per cent; B.C.’s 6.6 per cent.
Joe SawchukDuncan
