We Unify #16
What day is it?
Make your voice heard in the British Columbia provincial election
We believe voting matters and we want to encourage you to take an active role in shaping the future. British Columbia is having a provincial election on Saturday October 19 and this is your opportunity to make your voice heard on the issues that matter to you. Please vote.
Welcome to the 16th edition of our newsletter! Let’s begin with the latest 2024 Reclaiming Conference videos.
Important news
A record number of British Columbians participated in advance voting smashing records with over a million ballots cast
“Overall turnout in BC elections has generally been dwindling since the 71.5% turnout for the 1996 vote. The total turnout in the 2020 election for example was 54%, down from about 61% in 2017”
Was news ever neutral?
Inquiry hears Trudeau government was warned two years ago on foreign election interference
“The government was also warned that hostile activity by state actors (HASA) was on the rise and presented one of the greatest threats to Canada's national security. It described HASA as a multi-faceted threat that targets Canada's strategic interests, the integrity and the security of Canadian institutions and democratic processes, and the ability for members of the public to exercise their Charter-protected rights and freedoms, says the summary of the memorandum written in May 2022.”
Group labelled anti-vax says BC NDP mischaracterized us for political advantage
Unchecked judicial power — that's Chief Justice Wagner's vision for Canada
“There is a growing sense in Canada that our judges, and especially those on the country’s highest court, routinely overstep the boundaries of their office”
Canada braces for FINTRAC’s new mortgage rules
“The most significant requirements that will impact mortgage transactions are the day-to-day, step-by-step processes that brokerages and practising mortgage professionals must implement. A more robust ID verification, screening, risk analysis, reporting and ongoing reporting requires adapting new processes, training, leveraging technology and taking on additional costs to meet requirements”
TD Bank pleads guilty in money laundering case and will pay $3 billion in penalties
“TD Bank became the largest bank in North American history to plead guilty to Bank Secrecy Act program failures and conspiracy to commit money laundering”
Canada needs to prepare for bank runs and collapses, warns former regulator
Global debt could soon equal the world economy — “Global public debt is estimated to top $100 trillion by year-end — or roughly 93% of global GDP, according to new projections from the fund. IMF economists expect cumulative global debt will approach 100% of world GDP by 2030, with the two largest economies — the U.S. and China — leading the increase. The U.S. is pretty much already there, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of almost 100%.”
“In a new report from CD Howe, a former OSFI manager urges Canada to modernize its banking crisis response and adopt more prudent measures. Failing to do so can result in a major hit to the country’s financial stability, resulting in a wide range of issues from bank runs to an outright collapse of financial institutions. As unlikely as this sounds, it comes after the recent wave of global financial institutions that were believed to be invincible, collapsed over a few months. Policymakers were left claiming no one saw it coming, but were they even looking?”
Did you know the CIA runs a nonprofit venture capital firm
What’s the CIA investing in? — “They do a lot of AI infrastructure and hosting companies, so these would be companies like Databricks, where you can host these tools or train AI models. But then also a lot of companies that are involved in geospatial and remote sensing. This could be a satellite company that can identify the number of cars in a parking lot at a shopping mall or shipping containers moving into ports, for example”
Could bitcoin's mysterious creator be Canadian?
“In the 15 years since bitcoin was first created, no one has been able to crack one mystery: the true identity of the creator, known only as Satoshi Nakamoto. Satoshi seemingly vanished from the internet in 2011, but what hasn't vanished are Satoshi's holdings. The creator of bitcoin reportedly possesses one million bitcoin, worth more than $60 billion US today. If Satoshi is still alive, still has access and returned to sell those holdings, it would make them a billionaire – and profoundly hurt the rest of the bitcoin economy”
Supporting democracy advocacy
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