[msie]

Hmmm, it's just a hunch I have given how you don't want any more Chinese immigration? And trade with them is automatically bad?

- What's wrong with immigrants buying their residency? This happens all the time. At least you know they won't be a 'burden on the system' as some people would say. What the rich Chinese immigrants were doing was legal until some people didn't like seeing more Chinese people driving around town in their expensive cars and "flaunting" their wealth. And it's definitely not like half the town is made of rich Chinese immigrants as one HN poster put it. The last census puts Vancouver at about 18.7% Chinese (which includes over a hundred years of Chinese immigrants who helped build/shape the city).

- Your assumption that rich Chinese immigrants are responsible for driving up the price of housing is ignorant at best, racist at worst. One report says that 5% of buyers are foreign. They are buying the high-end properties which means the majority of properties are being fought over by Canadians. Vancouver is the only major city on the west coast of Canada and many people want to live here. Plus let's not ignore the many Canadians who are involved in speculation too. Did you know that mortgage debt (of Canadians) has been on the rise? The issue is complex and can't be boiled down to "the Chinese caused it".

- The Canadian government eliminated the investor immigrant program, is that bending over backwards? How about the creation of the 15% foreign buyer's tax?

- What you see as Canada being "pushed around" is trying to maintain good relations with its trading partners (one of which is China) which is a delicate dance. Do you see how the Canadian government handles the US? Carefully.

- I don't know why I waste my time writing this because people are more swayed by the sight of some Chinese person driving an expensive Audi. As I said, the Chinese govt is wasting their time and money too.

[panzer_wyrm]

First - it is not racism if the gp would react disapprovingly to other nations also buying. If Russia and China places were changed, I have a feeling that he would complain about those pesky Russians buying in Vancouver.

Second - for a lot of people obtaining citizenship and residence permit in any other way than by being born or married into it is not acceptable. And outright buying it is disgusting.

Five percent in market with inflexible demand and severely constraint supply is huge.

And lets not start on the money origins which could be very shady. Do you want people with shady money in country? And why?

Disliking the side effects of immigration is not in anyway racist.

[it_learnses]

- Rich chinese are still buying up PRs through Quebec and then coming to Ontario and BC and buying up property. Also, cheating on exams to obtain study permits and work their way through a degree (cheating as much as possible) in order obtain PR amongst Chinese international students is rampant. Universities often overlook this because of the amount of money coming in, in terms of tuition.

- We are now allowing Chinese govt' backed companies to acquire Canadian companies that develop advanced military tech. This was banned even under Harper. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/liberal-green-l...

- Influential chinese are buying up political sway by "donating" to political campaigns: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/influential-chi...

I don't care about chinese people driving Audis. It's when they come over and treat Canada and Canadians as something that can be bought over, corrupted, and pushed around that frustrates me. And I'm not the only one here.