I have been keeping an eye on Canadians for Tax Fairness for a long time as they are closely tied and connected to several pro FATCA NGO Groups in the US such as Tax Justice Network, Global Witness, Task Force for Global Transparency and Integrity etc. One of the key people in Tax Justice Network whom Canadians for Tax Fairness is associated with is one Richard Murphy of the UK. Murphy is a highly religous and militant Quaker who has called for all US Citizens outside of the US non compliant with US tax law to be sent to jail and that non compliance by overseas US Persons is a violation on their part of the fundamental laws of nature and in the Quacker religion they will all go to hell basically.
Now, who are Canadians for Tax Fairness? Well they are basically a front group bankrolled by the major unions in Canada such as PSAC, OPSEU, CAW, NUPGE, and CUPE. (On the flip side for those who accuse me of being partisan the Frasier Institute is a front group too mostly for small and medium size oil, gas, and mining companies). On their management board are included several people we have discussed in the past such as Linda McQuaig and Neil Brooks however, I will note one of the top people is someone named Murray Dobbin who is an NDP activist who basically left the party after Mulcair’s ascension to the leadership (I wonder what type of influence they expect in Mulcair’s NDP). Overall the board of directors is a lot of prominent people in the labor movement Ken Lewenza, Erin Weir, “Smoky” Thomas etc. Now CTF has had very little to say about FATCA however I will note they have launched a new website linked to below.
Again no mention of FATCA however the website was clearly developed at some expense I suspect using union member dues. Take note Brockers who are/were members of the unions financing CTF.
A couple of thoughts in response…
For what it may be worth — perhaps little — the federal NDP caucus has two members who understand the situation and are fully supportive of us. Hoang Mai is a Quebec MP who participated a public forum concerning the issue last winter. Alex Atamanenko is a British Columbia MP with whom I have had correspondence. He fully understands and opposes the US action. I understand that his knowledge of the situation started with an individual within his own riding office.
The NDP can be expected to oppose US efforts to circumvent Canadian privacy law.
I have noted before that the only thing in common among the participants in this website is their being at risk due to these US initiatives. That means they span the range from lefties to libertarians, and everyone in between.
Personally, I am a lefty. I fully support the objectives of the Tax Justice Network and the national partners. Tax evasion is a problem. From my point of view, these organisations ought to understand the cruelty and unfairness with which ordinary persons living outside the US, many of them US citizens only in the eye of the US government (accidental Americans and the like), are being treated. In fact, I would make the left-wing case that it is precisely because corporate America is evading taxes through income shifting and other tactics that the difference must be found in innocent victims, especially those without a voice in Washington. The problem then, if I am correct, is one of education and information. How to go about this, I don’t really know. I also accept the liklihood that some individuals within these organisations are going to be too bull-headed to change their views. But fairness is fairness, and tax fairness means that those who should pay should pay, and those who are being targeted due to their vulnerability and lack of voice should not be targeted.
The Ayn Randers, the tea partiers, libertarians and their friends at the other end of the spectrum will generally view all tax as illegal, unconstitutional, etc. etc. They will of course be expect the Tax Justice Network etc. to be hostile and unsympathetic
*Northernshrike
I completely agree with your sentiments. In terms of elected politican officials I think MP’s of both parties have been very helpful. I am glad you mentioned Alex Atamenko’s involvement as I was not aware of it as such. I also know that John Williamson Conservative of New Brunswick Southwest is pretty involved too(Williamson is former head of the Canadian Taxpayers Association and worked as a staffer in the Harper PMO before becoming an MP). It seems to me that it is instead non political groups such as the Canadian Bankers Association and on the other side of the spectrum Tax Justice Network who want everyone to go along to get along on this issue. I do have some degree of faith in both the NDP and and the Conservatives that neither will be pushed around on this issue by outside pressure groups even if those groups are aligned with one side of the spectrum or another.
The issue with CTF is I can’t figure out whether out they are truely an independent Canadian organization or whether they are a just a wing of Tax Justice Network and Richard Murphy. Murphy has said some very harmful things toward people in our circumstances so I think CTF needs to be judged by the company it keeps. As I also pointed out while coming from the same side of the spectrum I do not necessarily think CTF is a “allied” with the NDP. In fact one of the top people in organization based walked out of the NDP after Mulcair was made leader.
*From CTF website:
James Henry, an internationally recognized authority on tax havens will be in Ottawa, Monday, October 29, 2012 to help launch Canada’s Tackle Tax Havens Campaign.
The campaign will be launched at a reception for MPs and Senators on Parliament Hill at 5:30pm.
The national campaign is organized by Canadians for Tax Fairness, a partner of the Global Tax Justice Network. It features postcards and other messages to Canadians from a cartoon Tax Dollar trapped in offshore tax havens.
Nearly 25 per cent of all of Canada’s overseas investment dollars end up in tax havens.
In 2011 more than $130 billion Canadian dollars were diverted to Canada’s top five tax havens which include Barbados and the Cayman Islands – an all-time high.
The issue is set for examination later this year by the House of Commons Finance.
Henry’s latest report, The Price of Offshore Revisited, received global attention for its reporting of an estimated $32 trillion in “missing” private wealth and its analysis of lost tax revenue.
For further information check out our new campaign website at: http://www.tackletaxhavens.ca
What dissappoints me is that people in our circumstances aren’t given the opportunity to make are views known in Ottawa in the same way CTF is. I will note I suspect constiuency level pressure is FAR more effective that just holding a meeting and presentation on Parliament Hill. As to the reference about hearing later in the year. If that actually happens which it always seems to get delayed I have been told “our” issues will be discussed also.
*Interesting tweets from Kady O’Malley
http://twitter.com/kady
kady o’malley@kady
Apparently, the NDP is ‘partnering’ with ‘far left organization’ Canadians for Fair Taxes. #QP
<div class="tweet original-tweet js-stream-tweet js-actionable-tweet js-hover js-profile-popup-actionable js-original-tweet focus" data-item-id="262988216263647232" data-tweet-id="262988216263647232" data-is-reply-to="" data-expanded-footer=' 11:44 AM – 29 Oct 12 · Details ’ data-name=”kady o’malley” data-screen-name=”kady” data-user-id=”1307791″>5h
kady o’malley@kady
Ooh, a Big Union Bosses planted question from Conservative backbencher Jim Hillyer. #QP
Now these tweets were five hours ago during question period AFTER my post here. So I do know that this blog is read in official Ottawa however, it get the feeling it is read more than I though. I will have to wait for Hansard to be published tonight to see what Conservative MP Jim Hillyer had to say. I for one did not accuse at all the NDP and Canadians for Tax Fairness of being connected in fact I mentioned the fact that one of the top people at CTF essentially blasted the NDP for electing Mulcair as leader and said he was leaving the party. However, if I was a partisan Conservative which I am not I would perhaps try to make that link. “If” the Federal Conservatives actually have come to see political advantage in Canada in more publically challenging FATCA and the US that would be a very GOOD thing. Will have to wait and see what Hillyer had to say.
@Northernshrike:
“Personally, I am a lefty. I fully support the objectives of the Tax Justice Network and the national partners. Tax evasion is a problem. “
Don’t tax expats, don’t tax me, tax the guy behind the tree.
“But fairness is fairness and tax fairness means that those who should pay should pay, and those who are being targeted due to their vulnerability and lack of voice should not be targeted.”
Bwaaaaaaaa. Fairness for me, but not for thee. You think that government, with its corrupt and inept institutions, with its monopoly on force, should be the arbiter of your beloved “fairness”. What you really want is to do is enslave productive people by stealing the fruits of their labor to fulfill this interpretation of “fairness” which you happen to agree with. Now that this fairness has bitten you in the ass and we have to listen to your bellyaching about FATCA. Selberschuld, slave.
As far as I am concerned, it is immoral for governments to: (1) systematically devalue their currencies through manipulated interest rates and deficit spending; (2) then to tax investment income, such as interest, capital gains and dividends. This is capital destruction and makes the government the only player in town (the power to tax is the power to destroy). That in turn increases dependence on government and the likelihood of complete economic meltdown because of the moral hazard of peak government.
The solution to the problem is (1) for governments to shrink their involvement in economies; (2) to stop taxing investment income. Then investors have an incentive to invest in their own country instead of putting the money offshore into havens. It is as simple as that. Stop taxing investments. Stop destroying investments. That will create jobs and a robust economy. Look at the recent threat of the government of Quebec to tax mines. That threat will create how many jobs in Quebec? Actually, a negative number. Less than zero, because mining companies and investment will just sauter Quebec (pun intended) and find other, more friendly jurisdictions in which to invest.
Zero tax on interest, dividend and capital gains. That is the only solution to this problem. The other solution is to shrink governments and make them much much smaller. If we don’t do that then the government becomes our biggest menace. I feel it here in Canada. I feel deeply threatened by the marxist nutters and their support of efforts to chase wealth around the globe–not because my wealth is in Switzerland where they can’t get it, but because it is in Canada within their reach–if only they can come to power where they can begin to confiscate the investment wealth in TFSAs and RRSPs and other savings accounts. Then we can all be as poor as North Korea, where women flee to China to submit to slavery rather than starve to death. The time of left-wing social democracies is obviously coming to an abrupt halt as Western governments in both Europe and North America have become completely insolvent and are now playing an economic game of kicking the can down the road through currency debasement. But just as has been proven by Weimar Germany, Chile, Argentina, and Zimbabwe–just to name a very few–you cannot monetize your debts and obligations without destroying your currency. I urge people to do something to protect themselves against the impending economic meltdown.
People need to wake up and be ready. The financial system of the world is like the matrix or the Truman show. It’s based on unsound fiat money that will soon collapse.
*I had considered posting a follow up on Canadians for Tax Fairness after the group was featured on CBC Power and Politics. However after watching the segment I have come to the conclusing that in reality most Canadian MP’s(and most included most of the members of the Finance Committee) don’t really understand citizenship based taxation, FATCA, tax havens or really anything we discuss here. Those who do understand are those MP’s such as Weston, Savoie, Crowder, Atamenko, Williamson etc who have lots of USP’s as constituents(lots as in over 20%).
Today, Huffington: “Tax Evasion: Canada Doing Less Than Other Countries to Catch Rich Tax Cheats, Critics Charge”
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/11/01/tax-evasion-canada-harper_n_2052391.html