Eagle Quest Properties

A landmark investigation by the federal Competition Bureau may dramatically change the way homes are bought and sold in Canada.The Canadian Real Estate Association has informed its members that a two-year inquiry by the Competition Bureau has been completed and that significant changes to their practices have been requested.CREA is still negotiating a settlement with the Competition Bureau, but it is expected that the industry will be forced to loosen its restrictive access to the MLS system and allow discount brokers into the market.

via REAL-ESTATE SHAKEUP.

Jack Poole, the man who brought the 2010 Winter Games to Vancouver, has died after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer, just a day after the flame for the torch relay was lit in Olympia, Greece.

Poole, 76, who was chairman of the Vancouver Organizing Committee’s board of directors, died peacefully in hospital shortly after midnight, Olympic officials confirmed early Friday.

via CBC News – British Columbia – Vancouver Olympic chairman Poole dies.

One of two Alberta men accused of running a Ponzi-style scheme alleged to have scammed Canadian investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars has also attracted the attention of American watchdogs, including the FBI and the IRS.

via FBI, IRS looking into Canadian Ponzi scheme.

Normally, I don’t post non-motivational or non-real estate related news on our website.  However, because I’m a big Volkswagen fan, I thought I’d post this:

A clean-burning diesel sedan, Volkswagen AG’s Jetta TDI, won the “Green Car of the Year” award at the Los Angeles auto show on Thursday, the first time a diesel-powered car has taken the industry’s top environmental honor.

“This signals that clean diesel has arrived,” said Ron Cogan, editor of Green Car Journal, the trade magazine that awards the prize.

Diesel, a conventional combustion approach long favored by Europeans, has been making inroads into the U.S. market as a here-and-now option to make engines run more economically and pollute less.

via Jetta diesel trumps hybrids to win green car of year.

This survey, the first of its kind in Canada, provides citizens in 31 cities across the country with comparative data on how well—or poorly—their city is run, measured by the cost and quality of the public services it delivers. Why 31? We took the 30 largest cities in Canada, added whatever provincial capitals were not on the list, then subtracted a few cities from the Greater Toronto Area for better regional balance. Somehow that left 31.

via Canada’s best and worst run cities – Canada Top01 – Macleans.ca.

The federal government’s program to buy up to $125-billion in mortgages, called the Insured Mortgage Purchase Program (IMPP), worked brilliantly, and the country’s banks weathered the crisis with few major problems and no taxpayer bailout. But some analysts are wondering whether banks have been too enthusiastic about selling their loans to Ottawa – with negative implications for their future profits.

via Ottawa’s mortgage aid may cost banks – The Globe and Mail.

Intrawest ULC, the heavily indebted owner of 2010 Winter Olympics co-host Whistler Mountain, is considering selling assets as it negotiates with lenders to refinance and pay down a $1.7-billion (U.S.) loan.

Options include breaking up the resort operator’s business, with Quebec’s Mont Tremblant being established as a separate, self-financed company.

via Squeezed by debt, Intrawest eyes asset sale – The Globe and Mail.

Well, that time of year’s fast approaching.  It sounds like it’s gearing up for August 8th, 2009.  As I hear more details, I will update our blog.  It will be the 9th annual Mardi Gras in the Hammer.  It’s sure to be another big party again this year.

At the federal level, the corporate tax rate in Canada currently stands at 19%, down from 22.1% in 2007. The rate is scheduled to fall further, to 18% in 2010, 16.5% in 2011 and 15 per cent in 2012. Similar cuts are occurring at the provincial level. In Ontario, for example, the McGuinty government is planning to lower the general corporate income tax rate from 14% to 10% by 2013.

If these planned reductions are not cancelled, we should end up not only with more jobs and capital formation in the economy, but greater revenues for government programs. Lower tax rates don’t necessarily drain the public purse: the incentives to produce, invest and work can offset the lower rate and lead to greater inflows of tax dollars.

via The real stimulus | Columnists | Larry MacDonald | Canadian Business Online.

Flaherty told reporters on a conference call from Chile, that he hoped the provinces would follow in the footsteps of the Conservative federal government and commit to reducing their tax rates to 10 percent by 2012.

The federal government has pledged to reduce its corporate tax rate to 15 percent by that year, for a combined rate of 25 percent.

“I’m optimistic that we’re going to get to that 25 percent (corporate) tax rate, federal and provincial, by 2013 or so,” he said.

“That gives us an opportunity to brand Canada at a corporate tax rate of 25 percent globally. So that’s the goal.”

via UPDATE 1-Lower taxes to lure firms to Canada-Flaherty | Markets | Markets News | Reuters.