Canadian Press: Money Laundering and Estate Association

canadian press: The draft guidance document was aimed at helping companies meet their obligations to detect money laundering and terrorist financing, according to Brandon Sun. It lists several examples of factors that may increase a company's risk of becoming entangled in financial crimes, including dealing with a specific ethnic community that is currently dealing with specific events e.g. prevalence of terrorism or money laundering, war, etc. in the home country. Correspondence between Fintrac and the Canadian Real Estate Association, obtained by The Canadian Press through an Access to Information request, shows that the industry group was concerned that the reference would encourage agents to stop doing business with people based on their ethnicity. Such a reference would constitute a violation of the Human Rights Act, the real estate association said in its letter. Our lawyers would have rightly pointed out or reminded Fintrac that no Canadian can discriminate against another or deny access to a service based on where they're from. Canadians are rightly proud of the Human Rights Act, and especially in this day and age when we see what's happening south of the border, said CREA spokesman Randall McCauley. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.