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Trudeau gov. contract for $912M student program was with WE Charity’s real estate holding foundation

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Prime Minister Justice Trudeau’s government awarded the contract to run the $912-million student volunteer program to a foundation that only received charity status last year and whose stated purpose was to “hold real estate,” newly released records show.

Both a government and charity official confirmed the controversial Canada Student Service Grant contract was not with WE Charity, as Trudeau announced.

Rather, the government gave the contract to the WE Charity Foundation, which is a distinct charity with no track record.

The WE Charity Foundation was incorporated as recently as January 2018. It was described by WE as inactive in August 2018 and only became a federally registered charity in April 2019.

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Its stated purpose was to hold tens of millions worth of WE Charity real estate.

How it became the vehicle for the government’s sole-source contract for the student volunteer program, which has embroiled the prime minister in an ethics scandal and triggered committee hearings, could raise fresh questions for the Liberals.

In his statements on the CSSG, Trudeau said it was to be “administered by WE Charity.” But late Tuesday, Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth Minister Bardish Chagger’s office confirmed the government had actually contracted the WE Charity Foundation.

“The contribution agreement for the Canada Student Service Grant is between the Government of Canada and WE Charity Foundation,” Dani Keenan said.

WE Charity and WE Charity Foundation are in fact different charities.

In Canada Revenue Agency documents, WE Charity Foundation said it was not a branch, section or division of any other charity. But the two organizations have the same Toronto address and phone number.

WE Charity said it decided to make the Foundation the “contracting party” with the government on the advice of its lawyers due to concerns about legal liabilities stemming from the federal student program.

“The use of multiple corporate entities to isolate liabilities for particular projects is not uncommon. This action was done with on the advice of legal counsel and with the consent of the board of directors,” the statement said.

“WE Charity counsel proposed that WE Charity Foundation be the party to the funding agreement in part to protect WE Charity’s pre-existing charitable assets, which are needed to continue to deliver WE Charity’s longstanding charitable programs. The WE Charity Board of Directors is structured to provide governance and legal oversight over the WE Charity Foundation.”

But charity lawyer Mark Blumberg said it was “shocking” the Trudeau government provided the $912-million student service grant to the WE Charity Foundation and not WE Charity.

“This appears to completely different than what was said by a number of government officials in different forums,” said Blumberg, a partner at Blumberg Segal LLP.

“It is absolutely shocking that the government would say that they provided a grant to We Charity when in fact they provided the grant or funds to WE Charity Foundation — a shell corporation with no assets, no history, no record of charitable work.”

Blumberg said if WE Charity Foundation had been unable to complete the student volunteer program the government would have had little recourse to recover any funds.

“It is close to useless to obtain an indemnity from a charity with no assets,” he said. “I can understand why WE Charity would want this agreement with any potential exposure to be in the name of WE Charity Foundation, but I cannot understand, if the government was protecting the interests of Canadian taxpayers or citizens, why the government would either agree to this or incorrectly state who the correct party is to this very important agreement.”

Blumberg said WE Charity and WE Charity Foundation are two separate entities with different directors, different history, different assets,

“It would be like saying the Government of Ontario has given $100M to London, Ontario, to help fight the impact of COVID versus actually providing the funds to London, England,” he said.

A youth-oriented international development organization formed in 1997, WE Charity owns $43.7 million worth of land and buildings in Canada, according to its income tax filings.

The WE Charity Foundation, meanwhile, was founded in 2018 by WE Charity executives Victor Li, Scott Baker and Dalal Al-Waheidi, CRA documents show.

WE’s own financial documents said the Foundation was created to provide and maintain facilities for charities “to house their operations,” but that it had “not yet begun operations.”

The Foundation claimed in CRA documents to have a budget of $150,000 and $37.5 million in assets — all of it “real estate held for use by other charities.”

“WE Charity Foundation will hold real estate for the use and benefit of WE Charity and other registered charities,” according to the CRA documents.

“Once registered as a charity, the following property will be transferred to WE Charity Foundation,” the directors wrote in their CRA paperwork.

The documents indicate that WE Charity was to transfer seven properties to the Foundation. An eighth property was to come from Vancouver-based WE Charity partner Imagine 1 Day, the government documents said. The CRA blacked out the details of the properties before releasing the documents.

The federal government informed the WE Charity Foundation on April 3, 2019, it had been granted charity status.

“Regarding your question about the WE Charity Foundation: It is a legal entity that never previously operated nor held any funds for any purpose, and was created in part to manage legal liability,” WE Charity said in its statement to Global News.

“For the CSSG legal agreement, it was established WE would indemnify the government of Canada from all losses related to the participation of the first 40,000 students as well as the non-profit partners who were engaging those students.”

“WE was therefore assuming significant possible legal liability for the program, especially considering the service work would be done during a global health pandemic. Such liability could overwhelm WE Charity, and counsel advised that the contracting party could preferably be WE Charity Foundation.’”

Discussions with WE Charity about the CSSG began in April. On June 9, the Foundation filed documents amending its purpose, adding that it would also be handing out scholarships and promoting “public participation with volunteer and community organizations.”

The deal was announced by the prime minister on June 25 but was subsequently scrapped and the prime minister is now facing allegations of ethical lapses, partly over hefty speaking fees WE paid to members of his family.  Finance Minister Bill Morneau, whose daughter works for WE Charity, is also facing an ethics investigation for failing to recuse himself from the decision to award the charity a contract.

Both Trudeau and Morneau have apologized.

Kate Bahen, managing director with Charity Intelligence Canada, called for the public release of the original CSSG agreement between the government and the WE organization.

“It’s very important to understand which party was dealing with who,” she said. “We need to see the contract.”

“It was the digging by the media that WE Charity would be administering this $912-million contract. The prime minister spoke and praised WE Charity and then his words changed to the WE Organization.”

Charity Intelligence, which evaluated charitable organizations, has said it is concerned that the organization blurs the line between WE Charity, which is required to publish its financial reports and the for-profit company ME to WE, which is not required to disclose its finances.

“I think there has been a lot of confusion about WE Charity, ME to WE and all the different entities with the WE Organization,”  Behan said.

Bahen said one example of this blurring is that the charity’s chief financial officer holds the same position for WE Charity in Canada and the United States and for the ME to WE for-profit group. She has called for WE Charity to hire a Tier 1 auditing firm to ensure greater transparency and to add more independent directors.

WE Charity announced on July 15 it was launching an organization review with the aim of streamlining its operations and creating a “clearer separation of the social enterprise from the charitable entities.”

Source: – Globalnews.ca

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Confidence growing among buyers as spring real estate market opens

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Patrick Rocca, a broker with Bosley Real Estate, is listing a traditional four-bedroom house with a centre hall plan in south Leaside with an asking price of $2.399-million. He will allow offers any time at 111 Hanna Rd. because it is in the price bracket above $2-million.Bosley Real Estate Ltd.

The Toronto-area real estate market is heading into April with some renewed vigour now that March break has passed for Ontario schools.

Patrick Rocca, broker with Bosley Real Estate Ltd., holds off on listing homes that appeal to families during school breaks.

In Ontario, public schools take a one-week sojourn and private schools are off for two weeks.

With the Easter holiday falling in late March this year, many sellers have been holding off until April. Some activity has been dampened by the lack of supply.

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“There still is a lack of inventory – I think that’s going to change,” says Mr. Rocca, who is preparing to launch several listings in the coming weeks.

Some agents do list during school breaks because they figure not every family leaves town and the seller may benefit from competing with fewer rival listings.

But Mr. Rocca prefers to wait until more buyers are likely to be home and focused on house hunting.

“If you want to cover your bases and get 100 per cent of your market, wait until after March break,” says Mr. Rocca.

He viewed one house recently that was listed in March around the $2-million mark with an offer date scheduled for three weeks later instead of the usual one week.

The listing agent explained she wanted to give people a chance to return from vacation.

“Guess what – it’s still sitting on the market,” he says.

Mr. Rocca adds that prices are firming up again after sagging during the fall as buyers gain confidence that interest rates are not likely to rise.

One client was interested in a house that Mr. Rocca advised would be a good deal for about $2.5-million in the fall but the buyer wanted to hold out for a discount to the $2.3-million level.

The property was recently relisted and sold for $2.7-million, he says.

Houses are selling quickly in the segment below $2-million, he adds. Above that mark, deals are slower to come together.

“There’s still caution – it’s not 100-per-cent optimism – but it’s better than it was.”

Against that backdrop, the strategy of choosing an attention-getting asking price and setting a date to review offers is still risky, in his opinion. Agents typically set a deadline for reviewing offers when they expect multiple bidders.

Mr. Rocca is listing a traditional four-bedroom house with a centre-hall plan in south Leaside with an asking price of $2.399-million. He will allow offers any time at 111 Hanna Rd. because it is in the price bracket above $2-million.

Another property in north Leaside with an asking price of $1.9-million will also be listed without an offer date. But an older bungalow with an asking price of $1.6-million will have an offer date, he says, because it’s the type of property that appeals to a broad range of buyers, including families who plan to live in it and builders who may purchase it for redevelopment.

Ira Jelinek, real estate agent with Harvey Kalles Real Estate, recently worked with one couple who are selling their house in Toronto’s Yorkville neighbourhood in order to move to Durham Region, east of the city.

The couple has grown tired of the concentration of people and traffic around Avenue and Davenport roads, he says. In the smaller town of Whitby, Ont., they’ve found a house in an established suburb.

In addition to living with less congestion, they’re closer to family, he adds.

But overall Mr. Jelinek sees a shortage of listings in central Toronto this spring because many people who might downsize from their family homes are choosing to hold onto them.

Mr. Jelinek expects buyers to remain guarded until the Bank of Canada begins to cut interest rates.

“They’re very cautious before they make an offer.”

Farah Omran, senior economist at Bank of Nova Scotia, notes that housing sales in many markets across Canada dropped in February from January on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Peterborough, Ont. led the national decline with a fall of 15.2 per cent, while sales in St. Catharines, Ont. dropped 14.3 per cent and the Greater Toronto Area, 12 per cent.

Nationally, sales dipped 3.1 per cent in February from January.

Ms. Omran cautions against focusing too closely on monthly changes in the housing market – whether the swing is upwards or down. She notes that February’s sales were still higher than December’s tally and each of the three months before that.

Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics, points to the data showing national house prices were flat in February compared with January as confirmation that prices have stabilized.

In addition, the latest data show inflation pressures are easing, says Mr. Brown, who sees a growing likelihood the Bank of Canada will cut its benchmark interest rate in June.

The economist doesn’t rule out a rate cut in April, but house prices may rise in the next few months, he says, which leads him to believe the policy-setting committee will wait to see how the real estate market heats up during the busy spring season rather than risk pouring fuel on the fire.

Mr. Brown is also keeping an eye on the federal government’s plan to restrict the number of temporary residents in Canada.

Last week Ottawa announced they will cut the share of temporary residents to 5 per cent of the total population from 6.2 per cent over the next three years.

Mr. Brown says population growth is set to plunge as a result and the new immigration plan raises the risk that the central bank will cut in April, though he still believes June is more likely.

Looking ahead, Mr. Rocca expects a brisk market at the peak of spring, followed by a traditional summer slowdown.

“I think it’s going to be busy right through until June.”

The fall may bring another spurt of activity – especially if the central bank cuts interest rates, he says.

But Mr. Rocca is warning sellers that the peak prices of 2022 are not returning any time soon.

“If you want to wait for a $2-million semi, wait a couple of years.”

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Jon Stewart found to have overvalued his NYC home by 829% after labeling Trump’s civil case ‘not victimless’

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Jon Stewart is facing online backlash after the comedian opined on air this week that Donald Trump’s civil real estate case for overvaluing his properties was “not victimless” — when it turns out the price of a previous home sale finds Stewart doing the exact same thing, The Post has learned.

On Monday night, Stewart, 61, unpacked Trump’s $454 million appeal bond, calling out experts framing the former president’s New York civil case as not causing direct harm to any individual.

“The Daily Show” host rolled a clip of CNN’s Laura Coates interviewing “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary, who commented that the ruling didn’t “go over well” with the real estate industry that was now fretting over the possibility of becoming the next target.

Stewart’s episode on Monday night. The Daily Show/YouTube

Coates responds to O’Leary by highlighting that Trump was found liable for falsifying business records in the second degree, issuing false financial statements, insurance fraud and conspiracy, all due to asset inflation.

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“Everything that you just listed off is done by every real estate developer everywhere on Earth in every city. This has never been prosecuted,” O’Leary replied.

In response, Stewart asked: “How is he not this mad about overvaluations in the real world?”

“Because they are not victimless crimes,” he said.

To further his point, Stewart argued that “money isn’t infinite. A loan that goes to the liar doesn’t go to someone who’s giving a more honest evaluation. So the system becomes incentivized for corruption.”

“Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary slammed a New York judge’s ruling in Donald Trump’s civil fraud case. ABC via Getty Images

Stewart also contended that failing to declare a higher market value on a property, while paying taxes based on a lower assessed value, constitutes fraudulent behavior.

“The attorney general of New York knew that Trump’s property values were inflated because when it came time to pay taxes, Trump undervalued the very same properties,” Stewart added. “It was all part of a very specific real estate practice known as lying.”

But it didn’t take long for internet sleuths to look into Stewart’s own property history, which shows an overvaluation of his New York City penthouse by a staggering 829%, records confirmed by The Post show.

Stewart sold his 6,280-square-foot Tribeca duplex for $17.5 million in 2014. New York Post
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In 2014, Stewart sold his 6,280-square-foot Tribeca duplex to financier Parag Pande for $17.5 million. The property’s asking price at that time is not available in listing records.

But according to 2013-2014 assessor records obtained by The Post, the property had the estimated market-value at only $1.882 million. The actual assessor valuation was even lower, at $847,174.

Records also show that Stewart paid significantly lower property taxes, which were calculated based on that assessor valuation price — precisely what he called Trump out for doing in his Monday monologue.

Pande, who purchased the penthouse from Stewart, then resold the property at a nearly 26% loss, according to the Real Deal — at just over $13 million — in 2021.

The 2013-2014 property assessment of Jon Stewart’s Tribeca penthouse. NY Gov

Timothy Pool, a political commentator known for more right-leaning views, alleged on X that Stewart was being a hypocrite.

“Did @jonstewart commit fraud when he sold his penthouse for $17.5M? NY listed its market value at $1.8M an AV at around 800k… Who did he defraud?? I am SHOCKED,” he wrote.

“This is right in [Letitia James’] jurisdiction! I look forward to the grand jury indictment,” a user quipped in response to the tweet.

Stewart’s reps did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Meanwhile, the New York assessor valuation on Stewart’s former penthouse is the exact same citation method and metric that New York Attorney General Letitia James used to value Trump’s private and personal properties, and then sued him for inflating those assets.

This includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, known as his main residence, which was assessed at only $18 million at the time. Real estate brokers had valued the property at 50 times more than that amount.

Same for hisprivate 200-acre New York family estatein Westchester, which was assessed between $30 million and $56 million.

Trump had valued the property, known as Seven Springs, at $261 million.

Last month, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to pay $355 million — and temporarily banned him from doing business in the state — relying heavily on the assessed valuations of the properties to determine the ruling.

The $454 million bond to appeal the ruling marks the highest bond ever recorded in United States history against a single individual.

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Ottawa real estate: Demand continues to outpace supply – CTV News Ottawa

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Ottawa’s real estate landscape continues to change as more homes hit the market, tempering the massive over-bidding trend of recent years.

Despite this shift, however, property prices are still high, and the market remains highly competitive, leaving many first-time homebuyers struggling to find well-priced properties.

In every neighborhood, signs of spring are popping up, with properties both for sale and sold. Vendula Seary, a renter in Kanata South, says it is increasingly difficult to become a first-time homebuyer.

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“We’re currently trying to figure out how much we can afford and what we are able to buy. We both have jobs, it’s a dual income and we would love to stay in this area but I don’t know if that is possible within our budget,” says Seary, whose budget is around the half-million dollar mark. “We are not able to afford anything. The houses that are at a reasonable price, they go really, really fast.”

During the pandemic, the record-low number of properties for sale led to dramatic price spikes and increased competition. For instance, in 2022 a home in Ottawa’s New Edinburgh neighbourhood sold for $3.1M — $800,000 over the asking price. Today, a similar home, only a few doors down the same street, sold for around $2.2 million, slightly under the asking price.

“There has definitely been a shift in the market,” says Dan Salhany, a managing broker with RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Group. “There’s actually a significant pent up demand and we’re seeing it with the traction, with the traffic that’s coming through our open houses, with the inquiries that are coming in and just the number of calls. You may see some opportunities in the suburban markets, but in the urban areas, I think that we’re going to continue to see a higher demand, which is going to ultimately result in prices increasing.”

Salhaney notes there is some stabilization but says that demand continues to outpace supply, adding upward pressure on prices, many of which continue to sell at above-asking prices, despite higher lending rates.

“We’re at a point where I think there’s an acceptability level to where rates are at today. We’re still in in an affordable range, prices have pulled back and I think that if we see another decrease in interest rates, we’re going to see more movement in 2024,” he says. “I think that if people don’t figure out a way to get into the real estate market today, they’re going to struggle even more going into 2025. Prices will continue to rise.”

For Seary, the hope is that the family will be able to make a winning bid on a home in their price range later this season, and break the cycle of paying rent.

“If we decide to keep renting, the cost can be so large we would be stuck paying and there is no money to be saved to potentially buy later,” she says. “We need a bit of luck to get a good home.” 

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