Taleeb Noormohamed

Taleeb Noormohamed is a technology executive and a Canadian politician who was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 2021 federal election. He represents the electoral riding of Vancouver Granville as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.^[1]

Noormohamed was appointed in December 2021 to The Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. He was also elected to the position of Chair of the Pacific Caucus of the Liberal Government in December 2021.

Education[]

Noormohamed attended Princeton University on a scholarship, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude and was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue his Doctorate at Oxford University.^[2] Noormohamed also completed his M.Ed. at Harvard University.^{[citation needed]}

Career[]

Noormohamed served in senior Canadian government posts in the Privy Council Office and in the Department of Public Safety.^[3]

During his time in Government, Noormohamed was Director of the Review of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182, the single largest act of terror perpetrated against Canadians. In this capacity he was also responsible for the construction of memorials to the victims, in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and in Bantry, Ireland.^{[citation needed][4]}

He would then become Vice President, Strategy and Partnerships of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, where he was responsible for several key initiatives, including bringing together all of Canada’s Provinces and Territories into the Games.^{[citation needed][5]}

In 2010, he was appointed to lead an independent review of British Columbia's $3B technology procurements process by the provincial government.^{[citation needed]}

In 2018, he was appointed to the board of directors for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA).^[6]

Prior to his election, Noormohamed was a technology executive, serving as the chief executive officer of Jane.com,^[7] the chief growth officer of Farfetch, the co-founder of Casaza, and vice-president of business development for HomeAway.com.

Criticism[]

During the 2021 election campaign, Noormohamed was criticized for having bought and sold 42 properties across Vancouver over the prior 16 years, including 30 he held for less than 2 years, and 21 that were resold within a year of purchase—a practice known as "flipping".^[8][9]

At issue was considerable evidence offered by journalists, researchers and law enforcement that in addition to contributing to the rapidly rising price of home ownership and rents throughout Canada, many property transactions involve money laundering,^[10] with a 2019 report by the BC government conservatively estimating that 7.4 billion dollars was laundered through British Columbia property sales in 2018 alone.^[11] The RCMP also noted in a 2021 report that money laundering through property purchasing can "clean large sums of money that can be used to support criminal, and even terrorist activity abroad."^[12]

Noormohamed's practice of flipping was countered by his own party leader Justin Trudeau, who promised to introduce an anti-flipping tax during a campaign stop.^[13]

Further criticism and questions then arose when Noomohamed was asked how income was declared on his tax returns during his repeated purchase and sale of properties over an extended period. When selling property in Canada, capital gains are tax free if the property is declared a "principal residence" on the seller’s tax return, but if not, proceeds from the sale are considered business income and taxed accordingly. Noormohamed did not directly answer the media's question of whether the multi-million dollar profits from the deals he made were capital gains (and thus not taxed) or business income, saying only, "I have always followed the appropriate rules around this."^[14]

Subsequent to these news reports, Noomohamed avoided all-candidate debates and an on-air forum at the local CBC radio affiliate.^[15]

Volunteer and community service[]

Noormohamed currently serves as a Governor of the Confederation Centre of the Arts and as an Advisory Board Member of the MacEachen Institute of Public Policy.^[16][17]

He has served on the boards of Covenant House Vancouver, The Lions Gate Hospital Foundation and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.^[18]

Electoral record[]

Awards and recognition[]

Noormohamed has been named to Business in Vancouver's Top 40 under 40, and in 2021 was named CEO of the Year by Utah Business Magazine.^[22]

He is also the recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award & Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers (SMV).^[23][24]

References[]