Ottawa Star - Volume 1 Issue 9

Page 1

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Ottawa Star www.OttawaStar.com • October 24, 2013 • Volume 1, Issue 9

Too cold in Canada?

Job is no longer a way out of poverty

$250,000 donation buys you citizenship in sunny Caribbean By David McFadden, The Associated Press

Not sustainable: “favouring pensioners over their children and grandchildren.’’

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INGSTON, Jamaica—The struggling country of Antigua & Barbuda has joined other tiny Eastern Caribbean islands in selling citizenship to wealthy international investors to drum up revenue, officials said Monday. The twin-island nation of some 90,000 inhabitants started accepting applications last week for its citizenshipby-investment program, which is closely modeled on the one offered by nearby St. Kitts & Nevis. The government hopes to generate roughly $550 million over the next three years by attracting some 1,800 new citizens, who have to spend at least 35 days on the islands during the five-year span an initial passport is valid for. Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said the revenue will help put the country “on the road to sustainable growth and development.’’ The nation was slammed by the 2008 global economic crisis and the subsequent collapse of the financial empire of convicted fraudster R. Allen Stanford, who based his Stanford International Bank on Antigua and was once the country’s largest private employer. Spencer called for islanders who are hesitant about the concept to “trust your government.’’ He said the program “should in no way jeopardize the integrity of the national passport’’ as critics have asserted. A foreigner can qualify for Antiguan citizenship with a $250,000 donation or with a real estate investment of $400,000. A business investment of $1.5 million can also qualify. There are government processing fees of $50,000 for applicants and due diligence costs for background checks. An Antigua & Barbuda passport holder can travel to some 130 countries with “relative ease and without challenging visa requirements,’’ according to Zurich-based Henley & Partners, a residence and citizenship planning firm which advised the government on how to set up its program. The strategy is part of a trend in the Caribbean. For years, St. Kitts & Nevis and Dominica have given investors citizenship in return for a real estate investment or significant donation. Grenada is planning to revive a program of its own. Continued on page 14

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By Danica Kirka, The Associated Press

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Diana Swedani, Treasurer, Indo-Canada Ottawa Business Chamber. Story page 4. Photo: Manny Virdee

ONDON—Having a job no longer offers a sure route out of poverty in Britain, with the working poor crushed by rising costs and stagnant wages, a first of its kind report from the government said last week. The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission report concluded that the government must do more to help low-paid workers. While government policies have traditionally focused on helping welfare recipients get work, the missing piece of the “policy jigsaw’’ is how to help people who are working but not economically stable, said Alan Milburn, the commission’s chair. “These are the people that heed the urgings of politicians of all hues to do the right thing, to stand on their own two feet, to strive not shirk,’’ MilContinued on page 15

Security Agency gathering contact lists from Yahoo, Gmail, Facebook and Hotmail accounts The Associated Press

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ASHINGTON—The National Security Agency has been sifting through millions of contact lists from personal email and instant messaging accounts around the world—including those of Americans—in its effort to find possible links to terrorism or other criminal activity, according to a published report.

The Washington Post reported October 14 that the spy agency intercepts hundreds of thousands of email address books every day from private accounts on Yahoo, Gmail, Facebook and Hotmail that move though global data links. The NSA also collects about a half million buddy lists from live chat services and email accounts. The Post said it learned about the collection tactics from secret docu-

ments provided by NSA leaker Edward Snowden and confirmed by senior intelligence officials. It was the latest revelation of the spy agency’s practices to be disclosed by Snowden, the former NSA systems analyst who fled the U.S. and now resides in Russia. The newspaper said the NSA analyzes the contacts to map relationships Continued on page 12


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