From James Jatras, for post at IsaacBrockSociety and Maple Sandbox:
Theo Caldwell says this will be in the print version of the NP tomorrow.
FATCA = Canadian complicity in US spying. It’s a great angle!
Theo Caldwell: Say No to Washington’s Surveillance State
CANADA’S COMPLICITY IN THE US SURVEILLANCE STATE – THEO CALDWELL, NATIONAL POST
In Canadian political debate, accusing one’s opponent of advocating “American-style” policies used to be the equivalent of launching a nuclear missile.
snip
Much has changed in recent years, however.
snip
From banking to taxes to travel to personal communications, Canada has signed on to the most appalling excesses of America’s growing surveillance state. The rationale is usually found among the catch-all phrases deployed to justify today’s creeping totalitarianism: the “War on Terror” or “keeping us safe” or the “War on Drugs” or “money laundering” or “tax evasion.”
Thanks Calgary 411
This is a good article. Hopefully this will make our Government officials do the right thing.
@All
I just commented as Repeal FATCA at the NP site:
This is right on the money – literally! The pretense that FATCA is only about catching “tax cheats” is starting to wear thin down here, and nobody in Canada should fall for it either. This is about human rights, privacy, the rule of law, and Canada’s sovereignty. Remember, under US law, FATCA information given to the IRS would not be confidential tax return data and would be deliverable to the “intelligence community” (NSA, etc.) That means that maybe one-seventh of Canada’s population, most of them Canadian citizens (not Americans living in Canada) will have their private information handed over, under threat of what amounts to US economic sanctions. Canadian citizens and consumers must not let some of the big Canadian financial institutions – who would rather spend millions complying with FATCA than stand up and fight it – pressure Ottawa into capitulation. The irony is that domestic US resistance to FATCA is now growing, and the biggest help we could get would be a big, fat “NO!” from the True North Strong and Free!
@James Jatras-thank you for this post and thank you for your work on RepealFATCA.com-it is inspirational
This an excellent summary of the current relationship between the US and Canada. I do disagree with the author’s statement that Obama is the biggest leftist to ever occupy the White House, however. FDR easily takes that prize and Obama is actually to the right of Richard Nixon on many counts. The author’s agenda is clearly showing with statements like that and it makes me queasy to find myself agreeing with such an obvious partisan.
On an unrelated note, I have some important FATCA-related info that I would like to post here as a new thread. I followed the steps listed on your “How to join” page and never received a reply from anyone. I have already created a WordPress account. Any help the site denizens or admins can provide would be greatly appreciated.
This doesn’t have anything directly to do with this great article, but don’t know where exactly to leave this as a comment. I just reviewed my TD-CT website for info RE FATCA – – it included this interesting few words (see particularly the last sentence!
Will TD participate?
While considerable uncertainty still exists regarding the obligations that Canadian Banks will face under FATCA, TD will comply with all applicable laws and regulations in the jurisdictions where TD operates.
TD is committed to providing impacted customers with support and information to ensure they receive a comfortable experience once the law comes into effect.
So they will try to make it as comfortable as possible? I wonder what that means in more concrete terms. Of course, they are not yet saying. We will hold our breath…….
@LM, we discussed this, and we have a picture of the TD comfortable chair here: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/11/26/td-vows-to-make-fatca-a-comfortable-experience-for-impacted-customers/
@refuge, I’ve sent you an email. look for it.
I’d love to read the article but I don’t feel like subscribing to NP. (Don’t need Netflix, either!) Maybe tomorrow when it’s in the print edition.
@refugeefromamerica
I agree with your assessment of the article. It is interesting that you call yourself refugeefromamerica because I came to Canada as a refugee from America.
National Post is a right leaning Canadian paper thus they would have these views about Obama.
It is rare that I find myself in agreement with an entire National Post column, but this is one of those rare times.
I wonder how any member of the Conservative Party of Canada can look him or herself in the mirror, after reading this column, and continue to call him or herself a “conservative” and continue to support “the (so-called) Harper government.” (Personality cult, styled after Joseph Stalin, anyone?)
Excellent Op-ed…
This says it all…
@maz57
I didn’t have to subscribe to read it, so not sure what you are talking about.
Great article and he’s tweet friendly!
As soon as I hit on the page, a banner saying I’ve used my allotment of 10 articles for the month pops up. Maybe I really have read 10 NP articles lately, I do jump around a lot! No matter, I think I get the gist of it anyway judging from the comments.
Attn Harper, you cheeseburger munching piggy, grow some balls and WALK LIKE A MAN away from fascism and national socialism. None of our 35 million citizens feel like being tax collectors for your scumbag friends down south
Some advice…..Walk away from FATCA and the U-SS-A
http://news.nationalpost.com/tag/eritrea/
“Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird expelled the Eritrean consul in May after a government investigation found he had been coercing money for the country’s armed forces”
According to a story in the National Post dated September 20, 2012 the Canadian government forced Eritrea to nix a ‘2% extortion tax’ on its citizens in Canada. According to the story, the RCMP and United Nations reported that those who refused to pay were subjected to threats, intimidation and coercion. Canadian Foreign Affairs officials sent off a strongly worded diplomatic note making it clear Canada would not renew the accreditation of the Eritrean consulate unless Eritrea agreed in writing to stop the scheme.
Eritrea, referred to by many as the “North Korea of Africa”, is one of the most highly militarized, secretive, corrupt countries in the world. And that is not all it has in common with the US under this current administration. These are also the only two countries in the world that collect taxes based on citizenship, not residency.
Canada expelling Eritrean diplomat for using consulate to shake down citizens for ‘national defence’
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/29/canada-expelling-eritrean-diplomat-for-using-consulate-to-shake-down-citizens-for-national-defence/
MANY OTHER STORIES IN THE NATIONAL POST
http://news.nationalpost.com/tag/eritrea/
What do you say about this Hon. Right Stinking (S) Harper?
maz57, try reading on a different device like an iPad or iPhone. I can always read NP from my iPad, but not from my desktop. But I don’t make comments any more.
Not sure where or to whom I should address this observation/question. Mr. Danilack and others say the FATCA withholding start date will not be delayed. Given the relatively few countries that have signed IGAs, given what I presume are many smaller and local banks, financial institutions, trusts, etc. worldwide which will not be registered and will not have GIIN numbers at the time, given the lack of clarity about “passthru” payments, etc., is there any idea how much money US payors will have to withold and pay over to the US government in, say, the month of July? Naturally, I’m looking for the straw that will break the FATCA camel’s back and hoping that an early, massive and indefensible FATCA windfall to the US Treasury might be it…
Caldwell presents FATCA compliance in Canada, whether by banks or government, as a done deal. It is not.
Speaking of Surveillance, maybe Ted Kaczynski was Right About The NSA?http://youtu.be/loBFkEboPj4
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Good discussion on Dragnet Nation. FATCA very much a part of this..
http://billmoyers.com/episode/no-escaping-dragnet-nation/