This post appeared on the RenounceUScitizenship blog.
Justin Trudeau celebrates Charter at first caucus meeting | Watch the video – Yahoo! News Canada ca.news.yahoo.com/video/justin-t… via @yahoocanadanews
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) April 17, 2013
On Sunday Justin Trudeau became the newest leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. Canadians over the age of 55, who have been denied “Freedom 55” by accident of where they were born, remember the day Justin was born. Yes, he is the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Love him or hate him, Trudeau Senior made his mark on Canada. His legacy was the “Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms”. At the time the Charter was enacted, the focus was on “individual rights”. Interestingly, many opposed the Charter because they thought that to give Canadians individual rights would make the country too much like the United States. Most would agree, on balance that the Charter has been a good thing for Canada.
Peter Hogg recently expressed his view that a FATCA IGA would violate the Canadian Charter of Rights. What an argument. The idea that the Charter of Rights would now be used to protect Canadian sovereignty by prohibiting discrimination against U.S. citizens. Or as was said in an earlier post on FATCA and the Canadian Charter of Rights:
Prime Minister Trudeau would not have imagined that the Charter might be used to shield Canada from the U.S. FATCA attack. Talk about the law of unintended consequences … ! S. 15 of the Charter may be used to prevent the Government of Canada from entering into a FATCA IGA.
We know how Pierre Trudeau would have responded to the FATCA attack on Canada’s sovereignty. We also know that Canadians respected Pierre Trudeau because of his commitment to a strong and independent Canada. While the U.S. continued its trade embargo against Cuba, Trudeau befriended Fidel Castro. Will Justin follow in his father’s footsteps. Will Justin take steps to defend Canada. Does Justin believe in an independent Canada? Somebody should get his position and the position of the Liberal Party on FATCA. As far as I know, they have been silent.
Time will tell whether Justin is a “chip off the old block”.
I have to say that the more I know about the Charter, the more impressed I am with it. I have to wonder at the average Canadian b/c most I know don’t seem to have much or any idea of what the Charter does or how important a document it is to them and to the world really.
I read that the Charter is actually used as a model for emerging democracies in the world far more often now than the US’s Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Trudeau is a polarizing figure it seems. My Canadian husband’s opinion of his political reign is mixed, but he was a young during the 70’s and only just coming out of high school when the Charter was signed. He is always amazed at the things I share with him about it b/c he admits he paid very little attention to it at the time.
While I have hopes that the younger Trudeau will do great things, I am mindful that he is a politician nonetheless. They are only much the same on a certain level and they are not as all-powerful as people think once they gain access to the system. The system of government itself is an entity onto itself and it changes the people who enter in to it more than they change the system, imo.
@YogaGirl
Yes, here is an excerpt from a post I did earlier touching on this:
The low standard of human rights and freedom in the United States
Americans are used to thinking of their constitution as the “Gold Standard” in human rights. Nothing could be further from the truth. Adam Liptak writing in the New York Times notes that:
The United States Constitution is terse and old, and it guarantees relatively few rights. The commitment of some members of the Supreme Court to interpreting the Constitution according to its original meaning in the 18th century may send the signal that it is of little current use to, say, a new African nation. And the Constitution’s waning influence may be part of a general decline in American power and prestige.
The old grey mare just ain’t what she used to be!
https://twitter.com/USCitizenAbroad/status/283786960210903040
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If you want, the complete post is here:
http://renounceuscitizenship.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/freedom-is-never-more-than-one-generation-away-from-extinction/
Also, thanks for your post on the IRS and email.
The US Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written to prevent the abuses of the British Crown that resulted in the Revolutionary War and independence. The principles are fundamental that power resides with the people and that the federal government is a government of limited powers. Sadly, over time, and in particular, the last 100 years, these principles have been turned on their head. The federal government today is no better than the Crown was, and in fact, the US has turned into a Empire. As we look at FATCA and the other Form Nation attempts to have its citizens worldwide submit to the Empire, and pay tribute, one can only wonder how much longer, with how many more lives ruined, can this go on. Rome did not fall in a day, and it may well be that the US does not see the injustice it is creating and the lives torn asunder until the damage is done. Clearly the power of the US needs to be balanced and perhaps China can provide that counter balance but only time will tell.
I never respected Pierre Trudeau nor his Liberal Party. If however the Liberals under Trudeau (fils) have the balls to stop FATCA then I will sing Halleluiah in gratitude. I recently tried to open an operating bank account for a small 6 unit condominium complex (for the collection of maintenance from the owners and disbursement of communal expenses – no actual trading); the owners (who also comprise the Executive Committee) of all the units are known to the bank yet I was handed a mass of paperwork requiring information as if all these people were strangers to the bank. I refused to complete it. I was informed that these requirements were being insisted on by the US ! even though neither the executive committee members nor the condominium nor even the bank is located in the US. To the horror of the bank officers I told the bank to take a hike, I would rather handle the condos affairs in cash than go through all that hassle.
@Nervousinvestor
Kudos to you for not exposing your condo’s committee to this IRS intrusion and opening yourself up to a potential lawsuit by releasing that information to a foreign government. In the unlikelihood that the committee would agree to the IRS’s invasion of privacy, you would still need their permission which would therefore entail thousands of dollars in legal fees! I’ve been wanting to write to the BC Condominium Association making them aware of what’s involved in allowing a US person to be assigned treasury functions. This is a great example for them.
The bank where I share an account with my recently deceased mother is pressuring me open her estate account with them. I have a mind to open it at a credit union just to see the look on my bank managers face when I tell her its because of FATCA.