Elmat,
The real Canada is about the underground economy.
When Air Canada got rid of all its Boeing's for Airbuses under PM Mulroney my friend at Boeing in Seattle said everyone's eyebrows rose. Now we know Airbus was on the verge of bankruptcy and Mulroney did the deed for bags of cash transacted in hotel rooms (he even got to pay half the tax when he voluntarily declared the bribe...errr...income under some secret Quebec scheme to entice 'voluntary disclosure')
Such schemes were unknown outside Quebec but after the inquiry my business friends all said had they known about it they'd have set up shell companies like Mulroney did to save 50% on taxes.
Cash business is what smart people do when taxes are punishing and you can't make ends meet
Drug sales are estimated up to $18bn
parl.gc.ca
Here in BC the gangs build houses, condo buildings, pay for labor and materials with cash and thus launder their proceeds.
Its smart money, too. The Hells Angels can afford the best lawyers and the Feds can't prove they're a gang.
Hells Angels share laughs after jury acquits them of 19 charges
vancouversun.com
And forget Blackberries for our biggest export.
Illegal drugs: Canada's growing international market
cbc.ca
The report says the Canadian-based trade in methamphetamine has grown so much since 2003 that by 2007, 83 per cent of all methamphetamine seized in Australia came from Canada. In Japan, the figure was 62 per cent.
The report notes that in 2006, only five per cent of the methamphetamine manufactured in Canada was exported. A year later, that figure was 20 per cent.
It's a similar trend for the street drug ecstasy. Since 2003, the report says, Canada has emerged as the primary source of ecstasy for North American markets. In 2007, 50 per cent of the ecstasy produced in labs in Canada was exported — mostly to the United States, Australia and Japan.
In 2007, Japan identified Canada as the single biggest source for seized ecstasy tablets, followed by the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium
But its OK, the Feds say, because...
Canadian youth appear to be continuing a trend to less illicit drug use overall. The report found that the numbers suggest that the availability of cocaine has dropped to levels not seen since the late 1980s. Surveys of high school students in Ontario showed a drop of 35 per cent in the prevalence of cocaine use between 2003 and 2007.
Overall, the survey shows that by 2004, 10.6 per cent of Canadians above the age of 15 had tried cocaine at least once in their lives. In the U.S., the figure was 17.8 per cent.
The report says cannabis consumption is continuing to decline in North America. In the United States, 10.1 per cent of the population aged 12 or older had tried cannabis in 2007. In 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 14.1 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older had tried the drug. B.C. reported an even higher rate of 16.8 per cent.
Bottom line is the tail wags the dog. Lots of cash deals for expensive cars 'round these parts.
I can also tell you about some pretty high flying TSX and TSXV backers who flew back from investors around the world with suitcases of money to fund private placements. Enforcement, whats that? Being in the finance business I can tell you it is impossible to get an enforcement office on the phone at the TSX.
The RCMP's ruse about always getting their man is just for show...remember our traditional role during prohibition.
Go Canada! |
