B.C.’s government has said it will go ahead with allowing property taxes on homes left vacant. The new tax is one that has been pushed for by Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson. The purpose of the tax, according to the government, is to address the housing crisis increasingly affecting Vancouver and cities nearby for approximately 100 … Read more
Thursday night’s attack on white police in Dallas was the worst of five shooting attacks over the course of two days. In three other states, attacks took place hours before Dallas, later that night and the next day. TENNESSEE At 2 a.m. Thursday morning in Bristol, Tennessee, a man named Lakeem Scott allegedly fired though a Days Inn window at … Read more
60 year-old Italian composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi performed his composition “Elegy for the Arctic” last Friday in the Svalbard islands in Norway facing sub-zero temperatures. A grand piano standing majestically in the middle of melting icebergs is surely not a common sight. Yet, it is not only for the pleasure of the eye or … Read more
Omar Mateen was a 29-year-old man who killed 50 people Sunday — mostly or all gays — in an Orlando nightclub with guns he obtained through his security job. According to his family he committed the act not out of religious conviction but due to a strong outrage caused by the idea of homosexuality. Omar … Read more
A week ago, I received the rather unexpected Canada Census slip in the mail, with the all-too-well known, yet still alarming text of “Complete the census – it’s the law,” plastered over the eerie yellow paper. I paid no heed to its intimidating form. I threw it on my desk and placed it outside of … Read more
Similar to the recent NCP campaign in Alberta that rose the minimum wage to $15, Nova Scotia NDP leader Gary Burrill has launched a “Fight for 15” campaign, but, critics have pointed out, while the bigger number has proved popular with minimum wage workers, it would mean important tax increases for those same workers while … Read more
I have learned not to blow Eurovision out of all proportion. However the victory which was gained by Susana Jamaladynova – by her stage name Jamala – is beyond getting the first place in a competition or singing a song in mother language in European stage. I could not sleep the night I heard what happened … Read more
This money tip was pioneered by Norbert Schlenka of Libra Investment Management on Salt Spring Island, B.C., and it’s called “Norbert’s gambit.” The process is a 1-2 of buying stocks in one currency and selling them in another. How it works: A person buys an inter-listed Canadian stock in Canada, then transfers the stocks over to … Read more
Focusing on the recent success of the Bank of North Dakota, talkshow host Thom Hartmann has raised the question of whether state-owned banks are something every state should have. Hartmann came out in favor of state-owned banks in his opinion blog, calling them a “win-win for all.” “You need to know this,” wrote Hartmann. “In 2014, … Read more
According to local real estate agents for Royal LePage, property values have doubled in less than a year in some parts of Vancouver due to foreign real estate investment. “The luxury market has been driven purely on the demand from investors and the appeal is the perfect storm of geographical appeal,” stated Jason Soprovich, who … Read more
Somali pirates are active again in the waters off Somalia, according to the U.S. Secretary of Defense. Read more
Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen advance to the final round of the French election set for May 17. Macron is a politically inexperienced former investment banker in favor of staying in the EU and reforming French economic laws. His supporters often consider Le Pen extremist. Le Pen is anti-immigration and is in favor of … Read more