Conference kaosws::canada

    As far as I'm concerned the more the merrier.  With our declining
    (or at least very slow) population growth, it is inevitable that
    we must open the gates to others.  Canada has always been patted
    on the back for their "humanitary causes" and accepting refugees.
    I personally feel that we are personally not doing enough and the
    govt actually has a unwritten policy NOT to accept to many immigrants.
    (The only reason that we don't have a large percentage of blacks
    in Canada is that many were turned away at the border when escaping
    the U.S. since the days of slavery until the well into this century).

    In 1986, HK immigrants brought in $3.2 billion into Canada.  They
    are a very important factor in our economical growth.  People in
    the Toronto area may not be happy to see housing prices soar beyond
    their reach (unless they already own one) but that's one of the
    cons to a booming economies.  From what I have seen of HK, we Canadians
    can certainly learn a few things about successfully running a business.
    
    One thing that Canadians are going to check themselves on is not
    creating animocity towards visible minorities (which may very well
    be the chinese as the most visible).  We have always thought of
    ourselves as not being prejudice but, let's face it, we haven't
    really been put to the test (see Britain and France).

    Hope I didn't step on any toes...
    
    Eric Frere
    (UWO Grad)

    My personal opinion is whats the big deal, most of these people if
    not all can easily afford moving here. This trend has been already
    noticed by some people in the financial community, that in there
    has been some large influxes in the amount of cash coming in from
    Hong Kong. I have also noticed that there has been some real estate
    companies who are begining to specialize in both Hong Kong and here.
    What all this boils down to is money in our economy, and that has
    never hurt. Also all these poeple must still apply to Canada to
    be able to move here, hopefully this will keep out any undesirables.
    

    Slightly off the topic, but, I feel that if the U.K. ever has
    the misfortune to elect a Labour Government then you will see
    British citizens applying in droves to settle in Canada/Oz/USA.
    
    The citizens I refer to will be business professionals, doctors,
    nurses, teachers, lawyers, accountants etc. and, quite probably,
    me.
    
    However HK loss is Canada's gain,
    				     Don H.
    

Don H.

    Slightly off the topic, but, I feel that if the U.S. ever has
    the misfortune to elect a REPUBLICIAN Government (again) then you will see
    Americans citizens applying in droves to settle in Canada.
    
    The citizens I refer to will be business professionals, doctors,
    nurses, teachers, lawyers, accountants etc. and, quite probably,
    me.
    
Cal H.

    
    From my experiences with people from HK in school, they are for
    the most part very nice people.  They do not tend to be fanatical
    or have revolutionalry ideas as people from other parts of the world
    tend to have.  We as a country can use all the economic and
    entrepreneurial help we can get to keep our economy growing.
    
    Scott.
    (UWO grad.)

    There is quite a bit of publicity in Canada now about the Hong Kong
    people buying their way into Canada.  As some readers may be aware,
    for a mere CDN$250,000 invested for a relatively short period, almost
    anyone can obtain landed immigrant status in Canada.  Because of Hong 
    Kong's low income taxes, it's not that difficult for even salaried people
    to save that amount of money in a short time.
    
    The activities of Li Ka-shing have been widely reported in the western
    Canada press.  Mr Li apparently owns through his various companies,
    mainly Cheung Kong, about 15% of Hong Kong's stock market by value.
    Recently, he purchased a controlling stake at over CDN$1 billion (I
    think) in Husky Oil and for CDN$320 million the property and right to 
    develop the former Expo '86 grounds.
    
    The Vancouver real estate market has been booming as a result of
    the influx of Hong Kong money.  A good friend of mine is a real
    estate agent in Vancouver and has told me various stories.  The
    HKers usually or often buy properties with cash.  One client of
    his upon finding a house for CDN$266,000 said he couldn't buy it
    now because he only had CDN$260,000 in his checking account!  Another
    story is that this agent was showing a group of HKers houses all
    day.  They said very little to the agent throughout.  Finally at
    the end of the day after showing 46 houses, he inquired in a rather
    exasperated tone if they were interested in any of the properties.
    They replied that all were fine and that they'd purchase all of
    the 46!  
    
    According to my friend, the exclusive neighborhood of Shaughnessy,
    originally developed for railroad executives around the turn
    of the century, is increasingly being bought up by the HKers.  
    Houses in this part of town go for over CDN$1 million easily.  The
    west side of Vancouver is evidently quite popular with the HKers
    and it's apparently difficult to keep a "For Sale" sign stuck in front
    of your house for long in that area!
    
    Also, it seems that many of these HKers, being so used to living
    in the busy city, dislike the suburbs and quiet streets!  They like
    busy streets!  Some of the HKers are being ripped-off as they usually
    purchase on short notice and don't have much time to research the
    market.  They're not used to prices in North American cities and
    tend to use the market valuation guidelines of a vastly more crowded
    Hong Kong.  
    
    One last thing that my friend has found interesting is what the Chinese
    call "fung shui" -- or wind and water.  It's a way of looking at
    the physical location and determining its suitablity for the person's
    persona.  Sometimes "good" houses are rejected because of the placement
    of windows or corridors or doors, etc.  Also, the HKers don't like
    "4" in the address, as it sounds like the character for "little
    death".  On the other hand, "8" is a good number to have in the
    address.  And "9" is even better.  So a house at 4440 44th Street 
    would never sell to a Chinese person who takes fung shui seriously!  
    Interestingly, the Bank of BC building which was recently bought out 
    (both building and the bank) by the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp,
    kitty corner from the Hotel Vancouver had a fung shui expert look it 
    over just as it was completing.  He indicated that the atrium was 
    not too good.  As a result he recommended putting in the huge pendulum 
    that you see there, to improve some aspect of the building!  The 
    pendulum is about 2.5 stories high!
    
    One visible benefit to Vancouver is the quality of Chinese food
    available there.  HKers are among the most discriminating and affluent
    Chinese consumers in the world and have brought over to Canada their
    demanding standards in food, which to the Chinese has always been
    much more than merely a means to prevent starvation.  After having
    travelled and eaten throughout the Orient and Europe, I can safely say 
    that there are some restaurants in Vancouver that are among the best in 
    the world for Cantonese cuisine.
    
    Mark.

    re: .6
    
    Great note Mark, I laughed at 46 houses bought in a 'oner'!
    
    Re: Canonese Cuisine - sure beats the crap out of Haggis and Neeps!
    
    Don H.