PETITION SUBMITTED BY STEW FETTES, MAY, 2009 TO THE ASSOCIATION OF SASKATCHEWAN REALTORS® OFFICE, SASKATOON, SASK.
STEW FETTES IS A REAL ESTATE AGENT IN THE CITY OF REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN, AND BECAME A REAL ESTATE AGENT IN THE YEAR 2000. PREVIOUS TO THAT HE WAS A SMALL BUSINESS MAN IN REGINA FOR 35 YEARS WHO OWNED AND OPERATED SEVERAL SMALL BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS.
WITH THE PASSING OF BILL C-25 REGARDING THE NEW REGULATIONS FORCING REAL ESTATE AGENTS TO COLLECT CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION FROM THEIR CLIENTS, AND TO KEEP THAT INFORMATION ON FILE FOR SIX YEARS IS SEEN AS A SERIOUS THREAT TO THE PRIVACY ACT OF CANADA, AND ALLOWS FOR THE GROWING IDENTITY THEFT PROBLEM IN CANADA. AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF PERSONAL INFORMATION IS BEING COLLECTED AND THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT IT CAN BE SAFEGUARDED BY REAL ESTATE SALES PEOPLE. STEW FETTES BELIEVES THAT SOME OF THE INFORMATION BEING COLLECTED VIOLATES PROVINCIAL AND FEDERAL LAWS IN SEVERAL JURISDICTIONS.
PETITION TO SUSPEND THAT PORTION OF BILL C-25, IDENTIFIED AS "THE FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS AND REPORTS ANALYSIS CENTRE OF CANADA"(FINTRAC), AS IT PERTAINS TO THE APPROXIMATE 100,000 MEMBERS OF THE CANADIAN REAL ESTATE ASSOCIATION OF CANADA, WITH REGARDS TO "SELECTIVELY TARGETING REALTORS" BY THE FORCED AND MANDATED OBLIGATION BROUGHT FORTH BY THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA, TO INTERROGATE ALL THEIR CLIENTS IN THE LISTING AND OR SALE OF REAL ESTATE, AND THE FORCED REQUEST TO EXTRACT CONFIDENTIAL AND PERSONAL INFORMATION FROM THEIR CLIENTS.
"FINTRAC" IS CANADA'S FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE UNIT, A GOVERNMENT AGENCY CREATED TO COLLECT, ANALYZE AND DISCLOSE FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE ON SUSPECTED MONEY LAUNDERING AND TERRORIST FINANCING ACTIVITIES. "FINTRAC" IS AN INDEPENDENT AGENCY, OPERATING AT ARM'S LENGTH FROM THE POLICE AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES OF GOVERNMENT TO WHOM IT "CAN PROVIDE FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE", example, THE CANADIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE (CSIS).
1) Whereas Realtors® are being forced against their will to do police work for the Minister of Finance and the Government of Canada of which they are not trained to do:
2) Whereas Realtors® are being indiscriminately targeted by the Minister of Finance and the Government of Canada to collect personal and confidential information from their clients:
3) Whereas "for sale" by owners are exempt from the legislation, criminals can easily use the for sale by owner or the "on-line" websites advertising Real Estate for sale, of which are also exempt from the legislation. On-line websites are capitalizing on the fact that they "do not request" any confidential information from buyers or sellers, which sets up a very "unfair" playing field for the Realtor's®:
4) Whereas lawyers are exempt from sending information to Fintrac, and are allowed to keep their confidential files with their association office, which is discriminating towards Realtors®:
5) Whereas in a typical Real Estate transaction innocent Canadians can be interrogated three times. The Realtor®, The Banker, The Lawyer, and the Insurance Company, to gather the same information, which sets up an "insurmountable collection" of personal and confidential information that can be stolen and sold on the streets by criminals for millions of dollars through identity theft. Approximately 2.4 Million pieces of Personal I.D. yearly, on Real Estate Sales alone.
6) Whereas the time to explain the legislation to their clients will result in "much higher fees" being charged by lawyers to cover their time in Real Estate transactions, and which the Realtors® are expected to give of their time "free" by the Minister of Finance and the Government of Canada:
7) Whereas Realtors® are being forced to ask for personal and confidential information. One such form authorized by Fintrac is the "health services card", which can lead to a Realtor® being sued by their client as it breaches the Provincial Health Laws of Saskatchewan and other Provinces:
8) Whereas Realtors® are authorized by Fintrac to request their clients Social Insurance number but then are requested by Fintrac , "not to send" the "SIN" number to them:
9) Whereas Realtors® handle no money, criminals would not approach a Realtor® to buy or sell real estate, and would simply go to a "for sale by owner":
10) Whereas the Minister of Finance uses the excuse they have signed on to some International Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Association and now must force this legislation on innocent Canadians. It must be clearly understood that it shall and will be "Canadians" who make the rules for National Security in Canada, "not foreign countries":
11) Whereas in a "free society" their are only two options, one is the rule of politicians, and the other is the "rule of law". The rule of law must "always prevail":
12) Whereas the present legislation as written sets up a whole new venue for the criminal element to break into Real Estate firms and steal confidential information and sell it on the streets for millions of dollars:
13) Whereas "identity theft" is growing at unprecedented rates, the Realtors® can be held liable and be sued by their clients if their confidential information should be stolen, as Realtors® and Brokerage's do not have the physical capability to store it.
14) Whereas Realtors® do not want the liability to store their clients confidential information, as it makes them very vulnerable to the theft of this information, and the Government of Canada has put Realtors® in harms way:
15) Whereas the LAND TITLES offices in each province contain all titles of ownership, government Fintrac officials can go and search them one by one, on their time, and identify any suspected terrorists or money laundering activities:
16) Whereas inter-provincial real estate transactions are now made virtually impossible, destroying the provincial initiatives to open up more trade between the provinces:
17) Whereas the Realtors® have been unfairly targeted by the Minister of Finance and the Government of Canada, the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms has been breached. The Law clearly states that the Laws of Canada must be "equally applied" to all Canadians. For Sale by Owners are exempt, and Lawyers are exempt to follow the criteria that Realtors® must follow:
18) Whereas the forced interrogation of their clients and the gathering of confidential information from their clients is in breach of the Privacy Act of Canada and Provincial Privacy Acts:
19) Whereas Canadians pay high taxes to have their security protected, they should not have to rely on Realtor's® to be forced to act as pawns to do intelligence gathering for the Minister of Finance and the Government of Canada:
20) Whereas the Government of Canada held the three opposition parties hostage in the parliament of Canada threatening to call a snap election if they did not vote for Bill C-25, which did not allow proper debate on such a vital issue as this law being forced upon the Canadian Real Estate Association and their one hundred thousand members, against their will:
21) BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, that the Minister of Finance and the Government of Canada suspend this portion of Bill C-25 and re-open the negotiations that were so "abruptly and wrongfully terminated" with the Canadian Real Estate Association, and to find a solution that is mutually beneficial to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the Minister of Finance, and the Government of Canada.
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