Tuesday, July 11, 2017

One More Big Money 'N Treasure Story That The Local ProMedia Can No Longer Ignore.

GiveUsYour350Million....Riiiight....Now!
HaHaHaHaHaVille


Here is the lede:

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — No nursing home wants to be known for uncertainty and intrigue.

So a Canadian retirement home chain found itself in an uncomfortable position last year when it agreed to be bought by a politically connected Chinese company with a shadowy group of owners. Regulators approved the deal even though the buyer was under regulatory scrutiny in the United States, and while critics in Canada questioned the identities of its local representatives.

Today, the chairman of the Chinese buyer, Anbang Insurance Group, is being held by the Chinese police for undisclosed reasons — and critics say the deal represents the latest example of Canada’s troublingly lax attitude toward Chinese money flooding into the country...



Why can local proMedia Club members no longer ignore the story?

Because the lede, above, comes from a just published piece in the New York Times.

And this time it is not even under Dan Levin's byline.

Instead, it's a DealBook deal from Kevin Wong. 

Go figure.



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17 comments:

e.a.f. said...

of course the msm/,locals aren't going to print anything about this subject and it works well for the communist Chinese investors, those selling businesses, the middle person, and the real estate agents. Now every body makes their donation to their favorite ruling political party and life is good.

the reason some of these senior home chains were sold is they can't make a go of it on what the provincial governments pay for services. Along come the communist Chinese "investor" wanting a toe hold or a place to hide money and they find a government willing to look the other way to avoid having to pay for their own senior citizens care. Works for them. Now all the communist Chinese corporations have to do is wait. they are shred business people who are willing to play the long game as opposed to so many here who want the return on investment tomorrow.

Then they will, under the not so free trade agreement start bringing in their own workers. No they won't be TFW, they will be able to just come in. If the deal is over a specific financial level they can bring in their own workers, or at least that is what the Chinese government put on the table. if I'm mot mistaken the cut off level is a deal of $150M or more.

Now they have their own workers and they don't have to contend with paying Canadian workers fair wages, they've imported them. then the workers eventually figure it out, they can apply for refugee status.

the other thing I see happening, give it 10 years, and the Communist Chinese government corporation will look around and say, O.K. enough of subsidising these Canadians, we're out of the seniors' care business and into real estate, tear the building down and put up luxury condos. Drinks all round.

Investing in Canada by Communist Chinese comes from a number of "places". there are the out and out crooks who are looking to hide the money from their own government. there are those who don't trust their own government so they want some place to "hide" their money and have it grow, i.e. Canadian real estate. Government of Communist China who want to make in roads into other countries' tech industry, etc. to gain information to use in their own country and to spy on the west. Lastly, Communist China has a huge population and needs to divest it self of some. They also need to keep control over their population. No one leaves China without the government's permission, so in a way its a method of maintain control over the population. Don't buck the Commuists and some day we'll let you go work in Canada, etc.

Communist China also has a huge gender in balance. Its always good to ship a few males out of the country.

If Canada doesn't get a grip on this, they will find they are just the tenants in Canada. the owners will be Communist China their corporations and government. We might want to ensure that doesn't happen.

motorcycleguy said...

If any of our local "professional" media are reading this.....I will be subscribing to the New York Times....that will use up all of my available media budget (taking into account donations here and there to our very competent, non-partisan local bloggers).... so, no soup for you Global/Sun/Province/CKNW. I wonder if any of the advertisers that support our "professional" media read here?

sd said...

Perhaps a union sponsored retirement home chain could be created to support Canadians who need long term CARING care,not for profit, money laundering "homes" could replace Anbang. We are not helpless just sold out by the "players" in this.Remember we're all looking at the possibly of being in one of these "homes" someday. I'd prefer a union home over a money laundering facility.

e.a.f. said...

some of these retirement homes were unionized. However, what the company does is sell. The new company then fires all the workers saying they are going to contract out that specific duty. They put out tenders, the contract is awarded and then the company who has the contract hires new workers at lower salaries. This has been going on, on Vancouver Island for some time. Salaries for staff will fall from $18 an hr. to $12 an hr. and the government keeps paying the corporation the same rates as before.

It happened in Campbell River and in Duncan. Its how child poverty increase, workers are paid $12 and hour instead of $18 an hr. A few years ago there were a number of sales, I just remember those two. The sale of the home in Cmapbell River had been particularly galling because it had been built and staff trained with government money during a time of high unemployment in the area. The new retirement/assisted living residence was to provide decent jobs.

The provincial government here in B.C. has not paid enough or kept up with the increased costs for some to even break even. el gordo made it difficult for community based seniors residences to function and supported private/profit seniors residences. About the only community based seniors care facility which has remained in community hands and provides decent care is Glazier View in the Comox Valley.

Part of the problem stems back to the NDP days when they insisted community based centres signed over their properties to the government given they were financing them. Along comes el gordo and decides his friends in private enterprise can make money here. In the Comox Valley a lawyer, pro bono, took on the case and fought the government of the day, and won. To this day Glacier View remains community based which might be much better for all concerned.

You may find the add unionized senior's care home, but they have remained unionized because they accepted the new lower wages.

We as a society have made looking after seniors a corporate responsibility and are much like the American health care system profits first, patients second. Now we might want to give this a thought because with all us aging baby boomers do you really want to go to a care centre which serves below standard food, has workers who are not happy, frequently new to the country, and be put into diapers because its easier for the care home. Go have a look at care homes these days and figure out if you can afford one. The better ones are starting some where around $5K to $7K per month. Can you afford that.

sd said...

Great points e.a.f.! I was thinking more along the lines that if government won't fix these problems (and the NEED to be fixed) that unions could invest in new home as a non-profit.

Lenin's Ghost said...

Great idea, sd!

Lenin's Ghost said...

On that note, and a bit off topic.

Everyone's favourite place union/corporation/oligarchy burn's millions a year advertising political bullshit and touchy/feel mayor moonbeam style ads while the membership starves for proper representation for their locals.
So corporate that they hide the word union. Poopheads!

Lenin's Ghost said...

Fucking Auto fucking correct

Unifor is the topic of above rant..

Diaz is a near dictator.

Anonymous said...

Do any BC media outlets/poli have a flag of china?
fair question.

Lulymay said...

My father was very active in the IWA, and at one time a paid member of their executive. When his members were on strike (encouraged by the IWA at a high level) he never took an IWA salary during a strike because his members' had contributed to his salary and if they weren't getting paid then neither should he - although he was paid for expenses which involved travelling in a fairly wide area to take 'strike'votes etc. Today, I don't think that any of these Union executives give up their salary when they encourage their membership to go on strike. I have always admired my father for his principles. I don't think to-day's Union executives have the same principles. The union guys of old were willing to forego the financial advantages in aid of their membership, but today's I don't seem the same commitment.

e.a.f. said...

the IWA union executive came from the rank and file and thus had a much greater attachment to strikes, etc. it was a Union based in B.C. and the executive knew almost everyone.

Today, Unions are huge. Many of those working for the Union are professionals not rank and file members. Those employees of the Union don't always see eye to eye on such things because they themselves are members of another Union and have to negotiate with the Union as an Employer and as one who has been there, negotiating with a Union as an employer can be just as nasty and hard as dealing with any major corporation.

if Unions were not as large as they are today, they would not have survived. Some Unions are closer to their membership than others because their executive came up through the ranks and haven't gotten used to the "lifestyle" of being an executive.

Unions are what their members make them. ITS JUST like regular politics.

Unions did use pension funds to build a couple of rental towers along south east Marine Dr. in Vancouver. There really isn't any reason Unions couldn't invest in senior care centres, beyond the fact they need money from the governments to pay for the patients and some governments are so cheap when it comes to seniors' care the Union could end up subsidizing the enterprise. The other problem would be, because they receive money from the government they have to accept everyone and anyone. Back in the day any number of ethnic groups built seniors homes for their members only to have to accept people outside the group at the expense of those within the group who had worked to put the whole thing together.

When people are voting they might want to give thought to most of them will live to be old and a lot of them might wind up in care. The question, you might want to ask yourself is: which government will want me in diapers because its cheaper than hiring staff to assist me with walking to the bathroom and maintaining my dignity. Yes, and almost all of us will live to be old.

sd said...

Seniors care homes and now Grouse Mountain.The Australians are very worried about Chinese money and government interference.Hopefully our new government in Victoria will take notice and action. Doesn't look like Ottawa will be doing anything about this.

North Van's Grumps said...

In the event of World War III, will all these international deals come to a grinding halt, especially if it involves China's support of North Korea dictatorship?

Len said...

I was wondering where the video and pictures are of the guys that have been caught breaking into houses of people that have been evacuated,they should be everywhere,might make the next one think about it for a second...

Len said...

Bet their families would be proud

Anonymous said...

Neither of these should occur. What kind of fools are running this country and province. Enough of the foreign buyers. And we should be very weary of China, do you really think they're here for the scenery? Give your head a shake. Poor, poor decisions being made by idiots. Stop this insanity.

Anonymous said...

SH:

We have been Anbanged and g*ang-banged by the BC Being Right is Wrong Party.

One of my favourite parks had non-reg fire pits with evidence of fresh campfires out of site of the the trails…our Parks in the Southern Interior are beyond desperately understaffed. I can't say more because that would ID me…

The BC Liberals are penny wise and pound foolish…people come from all over the World to enjoy our wild places. I feel sick every day, thinking of the devastation that is waiting to happen.