FATCA Fact Sheet Anti-FATCA Slogans Protest Press Release
AtticusinCanada has received an official permit to protest on Parliament Hill Oct. 16, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.! We will meet at 9 a.m. in front of Parliament Hill and proceed to the Hill itself once we have a reasonably sized group. Families and even children are welcome if you feel they are old enough! We ask that everyone bring their own sign. A good idea would be to email AtticusinCanada with the slogans you would like to use, so we have as few duplicates as possible.
First posted on September 11, 2013
The mini-protest in Ottawa on Sept 9, 2013, garnered some well needed media attention. Just imagine how much we could achieve if more Brockers joined forces for a larger protest at parliament hill this fall!
Many of us believe that a formal announcement of an IGA for FATCA is just around the corner. It’s time to ramp up with the push back. The letter writing and emailing to our elected representatives has been great, and some illuminating articles have been written by Lynne and Victoria, but we need to do more.
Atticusincanada and I would like to be the drivers towards organizing a larger protest, but first we need to gather enough participants. For those Brockers who can commit to coming to Ottawa for a day, and would like to join us, please email Atticusincanada at atticusincanada@gmail.com.
Darn, I should have sent them an effigy of Diane Francis to burn! Would have kept them warm too!
Our protest permit ran 9 am to 3 pm. I counted 13 people (a 650% increase over the first FATCA protest, which took place in Ottawa last month — at that rate in 6 months we’ll have something like 980,000 protesting in Ottawa 🙂 Thanks to Atticus and White Kat of that first protest for organising this one! Protesters today came from as far as Toronto, Kingston and Brockville.
We had fact sheets and business cards to pass out – we also have fact sheet/press releases on about 40 lamp-poles in downtown Ottawa, which are designated for posting, where they’ll stay til the end of the month (the city strips these lamp-pole “bulletin boards” twice a month – but we can put up some more then).
We spoke with a couple of MPs and a staffer of Tom Mulcair’s, at least that I’m aware of, and many other people. With one exception, everyone we spoke with was very positive. The non-positive guy spoke with us in the morning (I mainly recall him speaking about the layout and grammar of the fact sheet) then came back in the afternoon with a copy of the Economist and called us all tax cheats. I actually found him kind of amusing, like a guy in a play or a movie.
I found it interesting that simply while walking the few blocks to Parliament and back home again, that 4 people, who noticed my sign, stopped me on the sidewalk and asked “What’s FATCA?” They hadn’t heard of it before, but thought it sounded awful and that US law is inappropriate for Canada.
@ pacifica777
YAY, a baker’s dozen – the intrepid ten plus three! Thanks so much for the very quick update. From a pingback today I noticed we have another anti-FATCAnite.
http://cafemoi.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/a-plea-to-congress-adopt-residence-based-taxation/
@pacifica777, the non-positive dude demonstrated that FATCA is wrong. As long as FATCA continues to cause individuals to insult the innocent like that, then FATCA will remain unjustified.
Hello all. It was nice to meet the rest of you today. Six hours is enough time to chat and get to know each other a bit. As to the demonstration itself, what most impressed me was the strong support coming from the NDP, including the staffer from Tom Mulcair’s office, Craig Scott (who occupies Toronto-Danforth, Jack Layton’s old riding) and Murray Rankin. They all dropped by and shared a few words.
@ Swiss Pinoy, Yeah, but this guy really seemed like a space cadet, even in his first interaction with us when he wasn’t insulting, so I didn’t take him too seriously. Opening day of Parliament attracts some weirdos, so we spoke (listened, rather, as briefly as possible) with several, including the alleged bomb-plotter (RCMP asked me what he had said to me, but he was really incoherent so I couldn’t make heads or tails of what that guy had said to me). Anyway, except for the the kook who insulted us, everyone else who spoke with us about FATCA was very positive.
You all looked great in the picture….congratulations..I am sure there was an impression made.
Pacifica,
Thanks for the report and for your all-day protest / advocacy. Good work all of you!!!!!
Thank you so much, those who endured the rain and insults on behalf of all of us. I don’t know what Weston’s assistant was talking about when she mentioned cameras. Was there any press at all there?
Benedict and SwissPinoy,
Thanks very much to you two for participating in the Jim Puplava Financial Sense News Hour today. How did that go? I hope there will be a link for the interview.
No mention of FATCA or GATCA or anything else related in the Throne Speech itself. Closest thing was this:
Canadians understand that citizenship should not be simply a passport of convenience. Citizenship is a pledge of mutual responsibility and a shared commitment to values rooted in our history.
•Our Government will not hesitate to uphold the fundamental rights of all Canadians wherever they are threatened.
•To strengthen and protect the value of Canadian citizenship, our Government will introduce the first comprehensive reforms to the Citizenship Act in more than a generation.
Throne Speech:
http://www.speech.gc.ca/eng/full-speech
I see that other protestors have already reported on today’s protest. It was wonderful to meet more Brockers today. I think it was
@ WhiteKat
Thank you for organizing the protest with Atticus. After 6 hours that close to politicians you must be tired but could you finish your thought? “I think it was …..” 😉
Thanks, Tim, for the link to the Throne Speech and the two points that closest could be said to relate to FATCA.
Also this:
“Today, as we contemplate our 150th anniversary, the eyes and ears and expectations of Canadians turn toward this Parliament, in trust that those who stand here in their place will relentlessly advance and uphold ideas that are inclusive, honourable, selfless, smart and caring at every turn without fail.”
There it is again: that word, TRUST.
Thanks for all you work on this, WhiteKat and Atticus — and all of you who were there.
One of the most wonderful things had I been there would have also been meeting more Brockers, people we so respect for speaking up!
ooops, I somehow hit enter by accident.
As I was saying, I think it was a successful day. We did not get the media attention we hoped for, likely because they were all across the street focusing on the bomb threat at BMO. We joked that BMO set this up on purpose to detract from our protest. Atticus and I almost got roped in by the yellow tape when we went for a bathroom break.
The NDP presence was positive news. Toronto Danforth NDP MP Craig Scott indicated that our voices were being listened to, and that it was good we were speaking up. I got the impression he was trying to tell us that if we (meaning everyone who has sent letters, emails, protested, etc) were not being so loud that FATCA would be a done deal, and that we have a good shot at beating this thing thanks to everyone’s collective voice! Thank you Schubert, JoeSmith, and everyone who were involved in making sure NDP heard what we had to say; all your hard work has not gone unnoticed and is encouragement to all of us to continue to ‘buzz buzz’.
We had a lot of people ask questions, and most were on our side when we explained FATCA, except for one woman that Atticus spoke with, and the man that Pacifica mentioned who not only called us a bunch of tax cheats, but also said ‘Yankees go home’.
One young man asked for my picture holding the sign and said he was working on a project on FATCA. I thought he meant school related, but after the shot I asked him more about his project and he said he worked for a bank and was part of the FATCA implementation team. I didn’t catch which bank unfortunately. I hope it wasn’t mine! Anyway, hopefully he went back to work and told all his fellow employees about the protest and made some higher ups nervous.
Some man took 50 or so pictures of us (unasked) from various shots – not sure why. Lets see, what else…oh yeah, Elizabeth May never made it there.
…patience Em, patience…lol.
And, under Politics tag, for that site, http://cafemoi.wordpress.com/category/politics/, includes “America is Broken”:
I especially liked the part about “your Congressional fool.”
@Calgary Atticus did all the work! I just showed up with my sign.
THANK YOU ATTICUS! I am so happy we met and that you are fighting the good fight with all of us!
And thank you to everyone who showed up at the protest and who were with us in spirit across the country!
I think we should continue to show our faces and protest at events across the country to let our politicians know that we are not a ‘fad’ and are not going away until FATCA is dead in Canada.
@ calgary411
Yes I liked John at Cafe Moi’s style. I invited him over for a cuppa at Brock and the Sandbox. We’ve got lots of great writers here and there but more are always welcome.
Absolutely — thanks for introducing us to John at Cafe Moi, Em.
He kind of introduced himself with a pingback. I just happened to notice it.
Magic, those pingbacks — another concept I don’t understand.
This Financial Sense Newshour program is available only as a premium, paid “FS Insider” release.
http://www.financialsense.com/financial-sense-newshour
Looks like we won’t be able to hear the BenedictArnold/SwissPinoy interview but thanks to both of you for doing it.