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Former B.C. premier, cabinet ministers to What happens when women run the testify at money laundering inquiry economy? The US is about to find out The Canadian Press Staff VANCOUVER -- A commission of inquiry into money laundering in British Columbia is adding former and current cabinet ministers to its witness list. On its website, the Cullen commission says former premier Christy Clark is among those scheduled to testify later this month. Former B.C. Liberal cabinet ministers Rich Coleman, Michael de Jong and Kash Heed will also testify, along with Shirley Bond, the party’s interim leader who served as Clark’s public safety minister and attorney general. The commission says Attorney General David Eby will testify as well. They are expected to testify from April 19 to 30. The B.C. government appointed Supreme Court Justice Austin Cullen in May 2019 to lead the public inquiry into money laundering after three reports outlined how hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal cash
affected B.C.’s real estate, luxury vehicle and gaming sectors. The province granted the commission an extension in March to produce its final report, which is now due on Dec. 15. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 6, 2021. Source: vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca
Calls grow to end ‘blind bidding’ to cool red-hot housing markets across Canada OTTAWA -- Some real estate experts and would-be homebuyers are calling for an end to “blind bidding” as a way of cooling what they say is an unsustainable housing market. Karen Scutt is in the market for a new home in Toronto and placed an offer $100,000 above the asking price of a $1.8-million home, only to find out within minutes that she was out of the running as someone had bid upwards of $400,000 more than the asking price.“They’re pricing the houses so much under what they want that even if the listing is in your range, you’re already resolved that you’re not going to get it,” she told CTV News. When she was placing a bid on the home, Scutt was told that there were six other bidders, but wasn’t told who they were or how much they had bid. This process is referred to as “blind bidding,” and the lack of transparency can lead to properties being sold for thousands of dollars more than they need to be. For example, if there are three bidders looking at a home, one could bid at the asking price, one could bid $5,000 more than the asking price and the third could bid $25,000 more than the asking price. Without knowing what the other bidders offered, the third
bidder essentially paid $19,000 more than what would have sold them the house. Blind bidding is becoming more common in Canada but has concerned some economists, who believe the housing market is overheating and becoming unsustainable. “We think that if we’re going to have an auction process that should be transparent and open to all bidders,” said Douglas Porter, chief economist at the Bank of Montreal. In Australia, the preferred method of home sales includes an auction outside the home on a predetermined date. With this method, potential homebuyers can see who else is bidding and exactly how much they’re offering........Source:aljazeera.com
OTTAWA -- The minister who’s been at the helm of the federal government’s health response to the COVID-19 pandemic for more than a year now says that a “full investigation” into Canada’s response is required, at the “appropriate time.” “We are still in a crisis and so our focus remains right now on getting Canadians and Canada through this global health crisis… And when the time is right, our government will be very open to examining very thoroughly the response of this country to the COVID-19 crisis,” Health Minister Patty Hajdu told reporters on Tuesday. Her comments come in response to Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole pledging Tuesday that if a Conservative government is elected, he’d launch a national public inquiry “to examine every aspect of the government’s pandemic response.” O’Toole said that while Canada should focus now on get-
ting through the pandemic, when it is over Canadians need answers and to implement the lessons learned. “We need to know what worked and what didn’t. We need complete transparency and accountability,” he said. Hajdu wouldn’t confirm that the Liberals would back a public inquiry, but said that the intent would be to have all Canadians participate. “We’re open to, you know, an inquiry that is as deep as necessary… that gets to how our country can be better prepared to global health threats in the future,” she said. In the interim, O’Toole is pushing for the federal government to appoint a “special monitor” within the office of the auditor general to track Canada’s ongoing pandemic response. O’Toole said this independent role within the auditor general’s office would “make sure in real time we examine decisions made so that there could be a transparent examination in the future.” A recent report from the federal auditor general found that the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) “underestimated” the potential impact of COVID-19, and was not adequately prepared to respond in the early days of the pandemic after failing to heed decades-long recommendations for changes.Some of these recommendations not taken dated back to 1999. Source aljazeera.com
Women now hold many of the jobs controlling the world’s largest economy — and they’re trying to fix it. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and trade czar Katherine Tai hold top jobs in US President Joe Biden’s administration and many of his economic advisers are also women, as are nearly 48 per cent of his confirmed cabinetlevel officials.This sea change may already be affecting economic policy — a new $2.3 trillion spending plan introduced by Biden last week includes $400 billion to fund the “care economy,” supporting home- and community-based jobs taking care of kids and seniors, work normally done by women that has mostly gone unacknowledged in years past.The plan also has hundreds of billions of dollars more to fix racial and ruralurban inequalities that were created in part by past economic, trade and labor policies. Yellen says the focus on “human infrastructure,” and the earlier $1.9 trillion rescue bill should result in significant improvements for women, whose share of the workforce had hit 40-year lows even before the crisis, and for everyone else as well. “In the end, it might be that this bill makes
80 years of history: it begins to fix the structural problems that have plagued our economy for the past four decades,” she wrote on Twitter, adding, “This is just the start for us.” Women leaders can bring fresh perspective to economic policy, experts say. “When you’re different from the rest of the group, you often see things differently,” said Rebecca Henderson, a professor at Harvard Business School and author of “Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire.” “You tend to be more open to different solutions,” she said, and that is what the situation demands. “We’re in a moment of enormous crisis. We need new ways of thinking.” Source:dawn.com
Indian security forces intensify operations against left-wing rebels after they killed 22 policemen in an ambush last week. Indian security forces have stepped up operations against ultra left-wing fighters deep in the forests of a mineral-rich central state after they killed 22 policemen in an ambush over the weekend, a top police officer said. At least 30 other members of the security forces were wounded in the four-hour gun battle with Maoist rebels that took place in Chhattisgarh state on Saturday, the deadliest ambush of its kind in four years.“The operation will be intensified,” said Om Prakash Pal, the deputy inspector general of police, who is leading the fight against the rebels in Chhattisgarh, on Monday. The Maoists, also known as Naxals, have waged an armed struggle against government forces for decades. They say they are fighting for the poor who have been left behind in India’s economic boom.Chhattisgarh, one of the fastest-developing states in India, has 28 varieties of key minerals, including diamonds and gold, a government website said. It also holds 16 percent of India’s coal deposits and large reserves of iron ore and bauxite.The Maoists, considered by the government as India’s biggest internal security threat, operate in mineral-rich territory in the east and south of the coun-
try known as the “red corridor,” which has shrunk in recent years because of heavy operations against them. But last week, some 400 Maoists armed with grenades and automatic rifles attacked a police raiding party in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh. Pal said the rebels also suffered losses and local media reported that drone surveillance showed them taking away bodies. “They are definitely trying to strengthen themselves but the forces put a lot of pressure on them. Now they are confined only to very few pockets. In their core area they are shrinking very fast,” Pal told the Reuters news agency, adding security forces were stepping up their intelligence-gathering efforts as well......Source: aljazeera.com
Korean leader Kim Jong Un has acknowledged his country was facing the “worstever situation” as he addressed thousands of grassroots members of his ruling party during a major political conference in Pyongyang.Experts say Kim is facing perhaps his toughest moment as he approaches a decade in rule, with North Korea’s coronavirus lockdown unleashing further shock on an economy devastated by decades of mismanagement and crippling U.S.-led sanctions over his nuclear weapons program. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim made the comments during an opening speech at a meeting of the Workers’ Party’s cell secretaries on Tuesday. “Improving the people’s living standards ...
even in the worst-ever situation in which we have to overcome unprecedentedly numerous challenges depends on the role played by the cells, the grassroots organizations of the party,” Kim said....Source ctvnews.ca
India steps up anti-Maoist operations after 22 policemen killed
An inquiry into Canada’s handling of COVID-19? It’s warranted post-pandemic, says Hajdu
Kim says North Korea facing its ‘worst-ever situation’ SEOUL, KOREA, REPUBLIC OF -- North
