City of Vancouver pushing for public inquiry into money laundering, organized crime in B.C.
Posted February 14, 2019 8:03 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The City of Vancouver is officially part of the push for a public inquiry into money laundering and organized crime in B.C.
Council has approved the motion put forward by Councillor Christine Boyle to back a more in-depth probe.
While the province is currently looking into money laundering, Boyle says we need to take a harder look at how the proceeds of crime are connected to housing affordability and the opioid crisis.
A recent poll suggests just over three quarters of British Columbians would support a public inquiry into the matter.
An RCMP report estimates $1 billion worth of property transactions in Vancouver could be connected to crime, and an estimated $1 billion a year could be laundered through underground banking networks, including casinos in B.C.
Boyle says the inquiry should be similar to Quebec’s Charbonneau Commission, a years-long public inquiry launched in 2011 into suspected widespread corruption in Quebec’s construction industry, because of the severity and scope of the problem.
Premier John Horgan has previously said a full inquiry would be too expensive.
