I have been bounced from person to person this morning as I attempted to get a list of the attendees to the Calgary meeting with Minister of State (Finance) Sorenson this afternoon in Calgary at the Chamber of Commerce.
http://www.fin.gc.ca/notices-avis14/2014-01-15_1-eng.asp
My last was a call back from MP Joan Crockatt’s office (Calgary Centre). First of all I was asked my reason for wanting to have the list. I was told that FATCA would not be a subject up for discussion at the pre-consultation budget meeting.
I am a Canadian citizen who thinks FATCA should be part of the discussion for it will be a huge cost to Canada as a whole and for every Canadian taxpayer, not just those who will be deemed ‘US Persons in Canada’.
I am a Canadian citizen and for that reason expected a reasonable response.
It was suggested that I would better contact Michelle Rempel’s office (my MP) and ask to be a part of their pre-budget consultations. Also suggested was that I check Government of Canada, Finance online as there are opportunities to make submissions regarding the Budget from time to time. I was told that Canada is in arbitration with the US – and that is a good thing.
I am posting this so there is a record of my attempts at reasonably asking for a list of individuals attending a pre-budget meeting in my the city where I live — DENIED, told ‘the list’ is a “Closed List”.
I will also send yet another email on this to my Canadian Finance Minister Flaherty and to the opposition Finance critics.
This should be public information. Shame on Finance.
Does this make anyone else angry?
Off topic, this was on MP Joan Crockatt’s website and likely many of other MP websites.
Dear Carol,
I have U.S. voting rights and live in the U.K. I have declared every account to the IRS and every penny in income. I was just really angry about FATCA because I would owe a really high tax on some U.K. mutual funds and my financial planning is a nightmare. Then I read about the problems you have been having an mine are miniscule in comparison. I have registered to vote in my incumbent representative’s primary (nobody sane votes in the primary, so votes in the primary count a lot). I have written a letter to my Representative and my Senators. I set out to write about my problems, but somehow it has morphed into something on the injustices of taxation without representation and the gaps in tax treaties regarding foreign trusts somehow.
Government Secrecy! Outrageous!
Here’s a short Video you might find intriguing:”Bilderberg Group in Contol of the Bank of Canada”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9En8IdSiTw
If that’s too much check out :”12 year old Victoria Grant explains how the Bank of Canada should work”
The unwillingness of Finance to provide this simple information which should be public IS shameful.
Calgary, I just came back from the dentist and want to let you know the conversation that I had:
While the dentist was working on my tooth, I happened to mention the subject of the IRS assault on us (am I alone in discussing this with dentists?). Immediately he mentioned your CBC article, the unfairness of your situation, and actually mentioned your name.
My point is that if my dentist (not a US person) knows your story from a CBC article, and was involved enough in the story to remember your name, there must be a lot of other Canadians who also will remember and at the very least become sympathetic.
Thank you for doing the interview.
@Carol
I would suggest you make that budget submission. Although the one I sent in 2012 didn’t get any response, I got to ask just what will FATCA cost Canadians? Will they haphazardly approach an IGA like NZ who’s attitude is “we are clueless but it will be less than not complying”. I hope the Canadian government is smarter than that.
IRSCompliantForever
How do you talk while the dentist is working on your tooth?
Thanks, IRSCompliantForever,
Thanks for the story of your trip to the dentist — I hope he was easy on you. Wow, that’s some great that he saw CBC’s coverage and remembered — that I’ve made an impression on someone that is not a ‘US Person’. How would he remember my name? Maybe he’s Finnish (my husband’s family name, Tapanila) or perhaps he’s a guitar guy and knows my husband’s name through music.
Now I’ll tell my story of the day. I had my shower torn out today in preparation for a new one will to be built (just that I am confident enough to put some money to house maintenance rather than US tax law and accounting is a good sign). The wonderful young woman who did all that dirty work is working for the company that will re-build my new shower. She is from the US!! She hopes to eventually be working under an LMO (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/employers/lmo-basics.asp) re proving that she will not be taking the job of another Canadian. She is a teacher and wants to become a permanent resident and eventually a citizen. She was through the flood time here (and was impressed with the Calgary response to that) and the treacherous December we’ve had has not put her off. I think she has the makings of a hearty Canadian — once she learns all about FATCA, which she has great interest in after her conversation with me. Bonus — she did not think I was a crazy Canadian lady.
Another bonus today, a good friend and fellow music volunteer who works in healthcare and has a huge network has just forwarded the link to the CBC article and my thank you letter to the reporters who interviewed me on to her network. She says:
Bubblebustin, If the subject is IRS, there never seems to be any problem in my speaking when the dentist is working on my teeth.
I know I’m off topic, but this guy is interesting:” Rocco Galati:The lawyer who lives to take on the Government.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2013/10/19/rocco_galati_the_lawyer_who_lives_to_take_on_the_government.html
Rocco Galati:”Restore the Use of the Bank of Canada” lawsuit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar_WRqoa4kM
Constitutional Lawyer Rocco Galati: “Bank of Canada Lawsuit thrown out court”
@Disgusted
I believe that one or two Brockers may have corresponded with Rocco. He was not aware of FATCA, but that was a couple of months ago.
I am a Canadian citizen who thinks FATCA should be part of the discussion for it will be a huge cost to Canada as a whole and for every Canadian taxpayer, not just those who will be deemed ‘US Persons in Canada’.
To give info on US taxable persons (a definition far beyond a simple citizen) is beyond the capacity of banks to acquire. Banks can try, but its lists will be unreliable. First they will have to ask every acct holder instrusive questions about their place of birth, and also info about their spouses and parents, and so on. The most accurate holder of info the IRS seeks, is the Cdn govt itself. So will our govt sift through their data bases to ferret out US persons, or simply give the IRS search query access to all Cdn govt data bases? The news that I have heard so far is that the form of data exchange is yet to be determined. It is a question mark because of the difficulty and or unprecedented infringement of personal privacy that will be required, not to mention a sellout on sovereignty for everybody. So yeah, this isnt an issue of US persons only, since they will have to trample on everyone’s rights to get to the targets of interest…