But a major obstacle to all this is Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which prohibits (Section 15.1) discrimination based on several criteria, including “national or ethnic origin.” Constitutional expert Peter Hogg has pointed this out in a five-page letter to the Finance Department, which is co-ordinating the IGA negotiations with the US.
“In my opinion, the procedures mandate by the Model IGA are discriminatory in a way that would not withstand Charter scrutiny,” Hogg says in his letter. “These procedures effectively treat individuals differently, and adversely, based on an immutable personal characteristic, specifically citizenship. If Parliament were to enact legislation authorizing and permitting this type of differential and adverse treatment, the legislation would contravene the equality protections in section 15 of the Charter.”
Opinion: Creating tax misery for nearly seven million U.S. expatriates
By Don Whiteley, Special to The Vancouver Sun March 12, 2013
This really should not be a post by me but am so excited by this, had to at least share the link. Tim mentioned over at MapleSandbox that something good would be coming in the next few days and to keep an eye on Vancouver Sun. I went over right away, and there it was!
@badger
Thanks for the openparliament link and synopsis. Great find!
Could you post the link to the Russian article please?
Jim Jatras: Could you post the link to the Russian article please?
@Mark Twain and AJ,
I think this is what you’re looking for.
From http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/03/14/americas-treasured-national-origin-discrimination-is-illegal-in-russia/:
calgary411
Submitted on 2013/03/14 at 11:39 am | In reply to Eric.
Thanks, Eric.
A country not pussy-footing. Here’s a link to the Google translation.
http://translate.google.ca/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mid.ru%2Fbrics.nsf%2FWEBNovstart%2FC325786100462DFE43257B250000AE39&act=url
The end of the Russian statement actually seems to favor a full reciprocal IGA because “…it would be much more advantageous to Russia than the U.S. because the U.S. accounts of Russian legal entities and individuals money at least an order of magnitude (or even two orders of magnitude) than in Russia in the accounts of Americans.”.
I can’t tell if he’s seriously in favor of a reciprocal IGA , or if he actually believes that a true “2-way street” is unlikely.
If China, Russia and Canada all refuse, that would be good, right?
Really well written article (I can read Russian), I’m sending it to my Russian friends! Let’s see if a country can finally grow some balls!
Re reciprocity, someone else made the point that it may not be in the interests of China’s ruling class to have a reciprocal deal as then the under-the-table financial dealings of these folks could more readily come to light.
Perhaps this is true for Russia as well?
I wonder why he titled his paper with “Soviet Russia”? What a world, were hoping for Russia and China to reign in the US…
In Soviet Russia… bank withdraws from YOU!
In capitalist America, bank robs YOU!
Do you remember in the 70’s, only in Russia, the “Russian Express Card”? Their ad motto: “Don’t Leave Home”.
Well, finally, now available in America!!!
I don’t understand what division of RUssia this is.
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or, what is that web page, and how that posting by a professor about war is important or not important
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Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs according to that other post. That’s a strong statement. I wonder what they will take with them to the G8.
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I just rain across this discussion from Phil Hodgen on his site:
http://hodgen.com/london-embassy-turnaround-time-for-green-cards/
and this:
http://hodgen.com/green-cards-expatriation-and-basis-step-up/
@ calgary411
Thank you for the information but all I have left now is my defiance — no FBAR, no 8854. And of course, I will never go there. If Canada fails to protect me then I will have to seek a better place.
As suki says in this comment, http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/03/22/when-law-becomes-a-substitute-for-morality/comment-page-1/#comment-241792:
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Interesting to see that the possibility of Canadian litigation against FATCA got a notice somewhere.
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/irs-troubles-go-global
IRS Troubles Go Global
By
Richard W. Rahn
This article appeared on The Washington Times on June 11, 2013.
“The problem of Internal Revenue Service misbehavior is not confined to its actions in the United States, but extends to its dealings with foreign individuals, institutions and countries. All sovereign nations have just as much right to create their own tax laws and privacy protections as does the United States.
It is disappointing that the folks at the IRS and the Obama Treasury and Justice departments seem to have forgotten this basic principle as they are now engaged in a full-scale assault on the basic property and human rights of many non-Americans, as well as many Americans who live abroad or have assets in foreign countries.
…………Many Canadians, for good reason, are upset about these impending regulations, and there are groups in Canada who have said they will bring Canadian constitutional suits against the government under human rights violations if Canada signs on to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. …..”
and Canadians are mentioned here as well:
‘Taxation Without Representation is Alive and Well’
Wednesday, June 12th, 2013 by Logan Albright
http://mises.ca/posts/blog/taxation-without-representation-is-alive-and-well/
“……One example of such behavior comes from the American government seeking to collect taxes from nominal citizens who have lived their whole lives abroad and who have no ties to the country which they are expected to financially support….”
“………Some Canadians, born in the U.S., are rebelling against the practice, arguing that their United States citizenship is merely an accident of birth and does not reflect either their loyalty or their heritage. They do not vote in American elections and reap no benefit from the domestic policies that taxes are meant to support.
Indeed, the whole idea behind taxation is supposed to be that of a large public goods problem, where the incentive to free ride renders voluntary payment for services such as national defense and roads problematic from an efficiency standpoint. Leaving aside the actual economic and philosophical merits of this argument, it can scarcely be denied that those who in no way benefit from services such as these, such as lifelong Canadian residents, should hardly be expected to pay for them……”
………”It should be evident to fair minded people that the involuntary extraction of taxes from those who do not stand to benefit from their use in any way is tantamount to simple theft. Those Canadians refusing to acquiesce to the unreasonable bullying of the IRS should be commended for their willingness to stand up against injustice and retain their rightfully earned property in the face of legal threats by a foreign government. If only we all were so principled, we might see a very different world…….
@ badger
Those are two good articles and Blaze would be pleased about the mention of litigation resulting from FATCA implementation in Canada. I tried to work FATCA into my comment re: the Globe and Mail article below about NSA surveillance. When the USA cannot extract the information it wants from the world wide web it simply creates a law (FATCA) and attempts to impose a “voluntary” information hand over from the whole wide world. By hook or by crook.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/europe-outraged-but-conflicted-over-nsa-surveillance/article12486939/