What Would You do if you Won C$80M?

Simporios has won the largest lottery payout ever in Canada

What would you do with C$80 million???

That's the situation Justin Simporios, 35, is dealing with now after he won Canada's largest ever jackpot payout to one person.

The first thing the Surrey resident did before stepping forward to claim the prize was to quit his job at a logistics company.

The 35-year-old immigrant cried tears of joy

"I just threw in my resignation through an email, just an hour, two hours before I had this news conference," Simporios said. "I'm working with [a] good operations team, my boss. They're all great."

The Filipino immigrant said he wanted to give them a heads-up that he was "stepping away" and wouldn't be coming back, and added his colleagues and boss were happy for him.

After getting over the initial shock and excitement of winning the lottery, Simporios has some practical matters at hand. He wants to pay off his sister's medical school debt and help his mother retire early.

"I've been struggling," he said. I'm a father. I work full time. I have a daughter. I want to go home. I want to spend time with them, but as a father, you want to balance it out. Should I work? Or should I spend time with my daughter and not have food?

"With this amount of money, I'll be able to spend more time with my daughter, with my wife, with my family. It's awesome, man. Just thank you. I'm just feeling blessed right now."

He plans to buy a home and travel to LA

Simporios' first order of business will be to speak to a financial advisor and then buy his "dream home". He also wants to go to Los Angeles to see LeBron James play basketball and take his wife and daughter to the Philippines as they haven't been there before.

We really wish him well, and hope that he doesn't spend the money as fast as he won it. Eighty million dollars is an awful lot of money. 

What would you do with C$80 million?!

Immigrant Frustrations and Hopes

Though expensive, Vancouver attracts many immigrants

Whenever I take Uber, I like to chat with the driver and it makes the ride more interesting.

This evening a 38-year-old Iranian immigrant picked me up from downtown Vancouver so we had a good 20 minutes to chat.

He drove a Toyota bZ4X, an electric SUV, which he said he has been driving for three years and likes the car very much. It can go 430km before the battery needs to be charged.

Before moving to Vancouver, he lived in Montreal for four years, but couldn't stand the winters. He loves Vancouver very much, despite the city being expensive to live in.

I asked if he liked driving Uber and he admitted it was a necessity now because he was laid off his job last week. For two years he worked at a company that makes aluminium doors and window frames. He not only designed them, but also worked on the shop floor. 

"Life is better for second generation, not immigrants," he said, and then revealed that he was actually a trained architect in Iran, but could not get work in his field here because he did not have the license and stamp.

I suggested he could still work in architecture, and he said he could as a draftsman, but those jobs only pay around C$22 an hour, and he has a daughter who is three years old to support.

Nevertheless he was proud to say that his daughter was Quebecois, as she was born in Montreal, and it seemed like he was putting his hopes on her to succeed further than him in Canada.

With Mark Carney as Prime Minister and plans to build some 500,000 homes every year, perhaps my Uber driver would be back to making aluminium doors and windows, I suggested, as we were nearing my destination.

He didn't sound hopeful, but I was. Carney is intent on building homes and definitely using Canadian building materials.

I left saying I hoped he would be back at his old job soon. He seemed grateful at least someone was rooting for him.

Can Former Vancouver Mayor Tackle Housing Nationwide?

Carney revealed his new cabinet today at Rideau Hall, Ottawa

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled his cabinet this morning and there was surprise when it was reported Gregor Robertson, the former mayor of Vancouver would become the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure. 

While he's a federal rookie, Robertson has served in municipal and provincial politics -- one time as an NDP MLA. In the recent federal election, he handily won in the riding of Vancouver Fraserview - South Burnaby. 

But can he tackle the portfolio of housing? That's what critics are wondering.

Robertson reading out his oath of office

Carney's election platform was that the Canadian government would focus on building homes, promising to double the rate of residential construction in the next decade to 500,000 homes per year across the country.

"We're going to have to change how we build. And a lot of that expertise, not exclusively, but a lot of it has been developed in British Columbia," Carney said.

"Minister Robertson is very familiar with it. We're going to incorporate that, but in a pan-Canadian strategy to really drive this."

It's a big challenge, with the cost of building materials and labour constantly rising, but people do need roofs over their heads. 

But is Robertson the best person for the job?

Looking at his track record as mayor from 2008-2018, data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows the average price of a single-family and semi-detached homes rose 179 percent across the broader Metro Vancouver area.

The number of homeless people also went up from 1,576 in 2008 to 2,181 in 2018.

Robertson says now at the federal level, things are different, because as mayor he was dependent on federal and provincial funding, and claimed the then Stephen Harper government was not interested in tackling housing affordability, and he also had to deal with the 2008 financial crisis.

"What's different now is that we've got a prime minister and a new government here in Ottawa who are saying we need to double the rate of construction, we need to work across all levels of government, we need to engage the private sector to do this," Robertson said on the CBC's Power & Politics. "We didn't have any of that going back to 2008."

We'll have to see what plans Carney and Robertson have to build this country and as fast as possible. 

US and China Backdown on Tariff War -- for Now

Tariffs have fallen for now, but enough to maintain relations?

After two days of talks in Geneva, China and the United States have backed down on their tariff brinkmanship -- for 90 days.

US President Donald Trump had imposed a whopping 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods which caused small and large businesses to cancel orders from China, and so China reciprocated with 125 percent tariffs on American goods.

Perhaps the outcry from the business community concerned about having no inventory for Christmas spurred the Trump administration to finally hold talks with China, because Chinese leader Xi Jinping was very willing to patiently wait for Trump to cave in.

Now the tariffs have dropped to 30 percent on Chinese goods, and 10 percent for American, but is that enough to get businesses moving again? Many believe a rise of 10 percent would be the threshold, so 30 percent may not cut it.

Businesses should be placing their Christmas orders now, but waiting to see what happens after 90 days still leaves uncertainty in the market.

That probably explains why stocks rose at first, but then in Asia, they fell slightly.

Even though the US is claiming this is a win, Xi is hinting it may end badly.

"Bullying or hegemonism only leads to self-isolation," he told Chinese and Latin American officials.

To be continued!

HK Immigrants Gather at HK Fair

A semi-outdoor area featured numerous stalls to buy items

Today was the fourth annual Vancouver Hong Kong Fair and I finally checked it out for the first time. Just like last year, the fair was held at The Shipyards in North Vancouver and I'm glad I went. It's the closest thing for like-minded Hongkongers to meet up, share and enjoy their culture.

I was on a tight schedule with a concert to attend in the early afternoon, so I took the bus downtown just before 9.30am and caught the seabus at Waterfront station to get there at 10.30am before it opened half an hour later. There was already a small line for ticket holders that already formed though the signage wasn't very clear.

Back copies of Apple Daily were for sale

The fair opened a few minutes after 11am and they scanned my QR code and gave me a bright pink bracelet before I could wander around the outdoor fair in a covered area. It's a good space, and I was glad I went early because I can see how it can get crowded very quickly.

There were all kinds of stalls selling handmade beauty products, cookies like salted egg yolk shortbread, treats for dogs shaped like egg tarts (my cousin's dog wolfed them down later), Chinese books, jewellery, Lion Rock T-shirts and tote bags, Hong Kong-themed coasters, key chains and artwork.

One stall was run by activists who are raising money to help people back in Hong Kong. There was a stack of Apple Daily newspapers, and included the copy of the last publication of the paper for C$50. Manning the booth was former Hong Kong radio host "Giggs" Edmund Wan Yiu-sing, who was jailed for 32 months for sedition and money laundering who are raising money to help people back in Hong Kong. 

Curry fish balls with peanut sauce

Another section was food one could buy and eat there, like curry fish balls, various sweet drinks with sago in them; I tried one with durian, coconut milk and sago. Hong Kong milk tea was also available as well as mango mochi.

Recently re-elected NDP MP Jenny Kwan was at the opening ceremony and gave a bilingual speech explaining that she was originally from Hong Kong and grateful to be in Canada. She promised she would help ensure the Canadian government would approve all Hong Kong immigrants' applications for permanent residency. She got a big round of applause.

In an indoor space was the cultural section, where UBC Cantonese had a booth, an area showing the black and white photographs of legendary photographer Chan Kiu, who passed away in Vancouver last year at the age of 96. There were pictures of Vietnamese refugee children eating from basins, the funeral of Bruce Lee, and Queen Elizabeth II's first visit to Hong Kong.

There were also mahjong tables for people to play the game, or learn how to make paper lanterns. An interactive exhibit featured various places in Hong Kong with photographs matched with scents from those areas.

MP Jenny Kwan spoke in Cantonese

I also got to meet up with some people I had met before and catch up with them, and get to know what others are doing in Metro Vancouver, from holding Cantonese summer camps to drawing workshops.

After about an hour and a half, I made it back to the seabus with two minutes to spare. As I was leaving there were more people lined up to go in, and even more spilling out of the seabus. Now I know why people make an effort to go because settling in Vancouver isn't easy; at this event they feel strength in numbers, and feel understood and appreciated.

Picture of the Day: Yellow Peony

Beautiful yellow peony that is rare to find

Yesterday we visited a friend's home where they have two beautiful yellow peonies blooming.

Most peonies are various shades of white to pink to maroon, but yellow is considered rare. That's because it's hard to breed them to get the golden colour. 

So here's a picture of one to admire!

Unease Leads to Falling Property Sales

One of Vancouver's top condo markets has slashed staff count

Unease is in the air, and the next few months look extremely challenging for people on edge about their employment and financial situation.

It was disconcerting to read the news that one of the biggest condo marketers in Vancouver cut 25 percent of its staff.

Rennie laid off 31 of its office staff, claiming geopolitics, economic factors and artificial intelligence for the drastic move.

"It was a necessary step in response to a changing market, but no less painful," the company said on LinkedIn.

The company's post added Rennie is reducing its head office staff count to 92 from 123 [with a total of 400 employees], and pleaded for anyone looking for people to consider its "thoughtful, talented contributors who helped shape our culture and our business."

Real estate sales have slowed in Vancouver, dropping 24 percent in April year on year, and it was reported the other day the valuations of pre-construction condos have fallen -- which means those who put down payments a year or two ago cannot get mortgages at the previous higher valuation, but the current one.

That will result in more people being unable to afford their condos and will have to sell at fire sale prices.

Then there's the Trump factor, with the American president's indiscriminate tariffs casting a chill on thoughts of making any kind of big ticket purchases from cars to property.

And there's also AI, which makes having humans doing the same work redundant and cost-saving. 

Which is perhaps why Rennie says in the post: "The shifts we are seeing in real estate aren't temporary, they are structural. And yesterday is never coming back."

Yikes.