Reporter Jen St. Denis on the news that caught her eye this week. Photo: Colin Capelle, Flickr Creative Commons
The Panama Papers continue to reverberate, a sentence I expect I’ll be able to continue to write for quite some time.
Today people are tweeting #ResignCameron (a hashtag that is arguably an improvement over the last time the British Prime Minister blew up the internet) and are planning to protest at 10 Downing street on Saturday. This over revelations that David Cameron had owned shares in an offshore company set up by his father. The dress code for the protest includes Hawaiian shirts (but not Panama hats?)
Meanwhile, the Economist asks what we can learn from the Panama Papers , while the Guardian ponders what the United States could do with all that extra money if the rich just paid their taxes. Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca claims it was hacked — perhaps this is how. And listen to this interview with Toronto Star editor Michael Cooke to find out just how 400 journalists around the world kept the biggest scoop of their careers under wraps — and what has yet to be reported.
The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development continues its seven-year effort to make offshore banking more transparent, an effort that has had some successes but still has a long way to go. Bonus question: do you know the difference between tax evasion and avoidance?
Foreign money is finding a home in Vancouver real estate, a new study from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation finds, and the newer the condo, the more likely it was to be owned by foreign residents.
Everyone in Vancouver is obsessed with real estate, including the children. If you’re 12 to 15 years and are “obsessed with real estate, home reno and home flipping shows,” this production company wants to make you a reality TV star.
Fish are also proficient flippers. This completely whack-a-doodle plan from BC Hydro proposes to truck fish up the Peace River when the under-construction Site C dam will prevent them from migrating. Part of the plan involves an “ 'anesthetic pool' where they will be anesthetized.' ”
Politics and money go together like ham and cheese: Christy Clark rejected a proposal to limit campaign donations after revelations that donors spent $10,000 for a private meeting with Clark. And as freelance journalist Bob Mackin wrote for Business in Vancouver this week, spending on Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson’s “discretionary fund” doubled between 2014 and 2015, with much of the money spent on communications consultants. (See Global News' interview with Bob Mackin about this story here.)
