By Hannon Bell

I’ve been a licensed real estate agent since 1995. Recently along with some colleagues I was brought up to date on the new guidelines on the government’s enhanced Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) policies.

FINTRAC was originally set up around 2007 as a means of tracking money laundering and terrorist activities. Initially, all we real estate practitioners had to do was identify the buyer and/or seller and record the name, address and date of birth. We had to check ID such as a driver’s license or passport with the individual and documents physically in front of us.

The rules have changed and now we are required to go further. We now have to identify areas of client risk as low, medium or high.

If we determine that a client’s risk is high, we are to tell our brokerage’s compliance officer.

I am disgusted, dismayed and repulsed that along with my fellow real estate professionals I would be put in such a position by a government that supports a Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Ironically I live in the city that is home to this museum. While I fully support a safe and free society I do not support our involvement in this program.

We are Realtors subscribing to a Code of Ethics. This is anything but “ethical”.

To be frank and realistic, we do not have the training, expertise or experience to make such a judgment call and determination. And why should we? How utterly ludicrous!

Buyers and sellers are our clients. How in all that is right and fair can we deal with them, have them deal with us and more importantly have them put their trust in us and then go behind their backs and state what we think about them on this form?

Then there is the privacy issue. Should they not know that we are filling in these thoughts about them? How would they react should they realize the implications of this type of reporting? What about a sales rep’s safety should they happen on to an unsavoury client?  Is this not in some way similar to being an undercover police informant in a biker society?

This is tantamount to what went on in socialist countries and countries with human rights violations. In fact, hints of “McCarthyism” are being played out in this form.

To put it bluntly, the underlying subtext is that we are being asked by the federal government to participate in racial profiling. This is wrong.

What would be the right and correct approach is if the government wants this type of program, it should be sponsored through the Department of Immigration, where situations can be intelligently monitored with personnel properly trained in this sensitive area of human relations.

This is definitely not the job of the sales rep. And if it is, then the question to ask is should we not be compensated for it, perhaps through Revenue Canada, as a business tax credit?

I seriously think the government should rethink its stance on this most contentious issue and consider the consequences. This portfolio makes as much sense as the ill- fated and ill-conceived long gun registry and look where that is now.

As a Canadian I am ashamed of what this government is putting our industry through. Furthermore, I think considering what’s at stake, that our industry should react. We should have the power to lobby for change and not go along with a bureaucratic idea that is so wrong on so many fronts. Were we consulted as a group on these latest regulations? Surveys should be taken and focus groups consulted before a “set in stone” new regulation takes hold.

I’d also think an audit should be conducted to show the “success” rate of FINTRAC since its inception. Since organized real estate is involved, we have a right to know how it is fulfilling its mandate.

I find it laughable that in our social media world, we are becoming a society that’s anything but social. This latest FINTRAC development has gone too far. It’s time to rethink.

Hannon Bell has been involved in organized real estate since 1985 and was licensed in Toronto. He was the recipient of the Winnipeg Realtors Community Service Award as well as being the cover and feature story in REM June 2005. He says, “These are my views only and do not represent my brokerage or any committee I sit on with organized real estate. I am passionate about a lot of issues. This is one of them.”