I spoke to David Kennedy of the Toronto Observer about The Isaac Brock Society. Here is the money quote:
I’m scandalized by the fact that the Canadian government signed the IGA,” he said, “and basically, in writing, accepted that the U.S. has the right to assert their sovereignty over Canadian citizens… The Isaac Brock Society is doing what the government won’t do—and that is protect people living in Canada.
Thanks Petros for doing this interview. The typo in the title has been driving me a bit nuts though….reminds me of some kind of a sinking ship, perhaps the ‘USS Person Titanic’
The Queen is perhaps the ultimate tax collector:
Queen Elizabeth controls and has ammended Social Security
The Ultimate Delusion
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/queen.htm
It’s a helpful interview, although this statement is inaccurate:
“FATCA, designed to hinder tax evasion, forces American-Canadian residents to file taxes with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).”
It isn’t FATCA that forces US persons to “file taxes” with the IRS, of course. What the IGA our government has signed with the US regarding FATCA does do is agree that the Canadian government will assist the US government in finding “US persons” living in Canada on whom the US can apply its extra-territorial tax and penalty laws. That’s both shameful and against Canada’s interests, by assisting the US in extracting wealth from Canada in a way that no other country is allowed to do..
I hate being referred to as an American-Canadian. Why am I American, just because I spent the first year of my life in USA? I am in fact the ONLY person in my family that is American, yet somehow I am American first, and Canadian second. I am also tired of being referred to as a US citizen in Canada. When are people going to start calling us CANADIANS first and foremost?
GRRR!
WhiteKat, I agree with you. You are a Canadian who also happens to have been born in the US. You are Canadian, full stop.
Not even Canada’s Head of State, the Queen of England, has the audacity to levy taxes on people living in Canada.
A Charter challenge will really put the Isaac Brock Society in the spotlight. It may even evolve into a permanent organization, something along the lines of Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International but focused on protecting persecuted Diasporas from abusive Homeland governments.
Here is another problem we are facing. I do need help with this. I had a phone conversation with my local MP who is Conservative 2 weeks ago. He told me he had not read the full agreement he was only briefed and told it was an incredible success. I posted a few questions to him he could not answer. He told me he needed to read the full agreement and would be able to answer the questions. I called his office 3 days later and never got a return call. I went into his office and filled out a formal request for a meeting. At that time, I was told by the girl in the ofice that he was available all last week and he would call me. I did not get any call. I called his office this morning and wanted to know why nobody called me. A different girl asked my name and almost rigth away said that Joe Preston was not there last week and in order for me to have an interview, I had to have all issues with the IGA referenced to the IGA and all supporting references to the laws that I had issues with. I need to hire a lawyer to take a copy of the IGA, all exsisting laws and formally challenge them on paper with references. She said she will check all references and if all is ok, I will get an interview. Now, how many Canadians are lawyers? What king of BS is facing us here? Does anyone here have any formal comparisons or something drawn up to show which laws are being taken away? My god, this could take a week of full time work….
@NativeCanadian, re the recalcitrance of your Conservative MP and the imposition of a Berlin Wall in order to keep you from getting an interview as a constituent to discuss FATCA;
..”…Now, how many Canadians are lawyers? What king of BS is facing us here?…”…
A new tactic by a member of the Harper government. Apparently a Canadian taxpayer, citizen and voter now is required to have qualified before a Canadian bar – as well as having a specialty in international tax law and Canadian constitutional law and Charter issues in order to speak to their MP IF that ‘representative’ is a Conservative.
Some democracy.
Would be interesting to see if this is a tactic being promulgated through Harper central as advice to all Conservative MPs being contacted by constituents about the FATCA IGA.
Just want to make it clear. I was not told to hire a lawyer by Joe Preston’s office. This is what I feel would be needed to approach the office and actually get an interview at this point. Stonewalled for no reason. I would need to either hire a lawyer or become one….. terrible!
Great interview. My comment to the Toronto Observer copied below. I plan on sending a constituent inquiry (aka letter) to my local Conservative Party MP in the next few days, asking for clarification regarding how exactly the government will prevent my banking and financial information from being inadvertently passed on to the IRS.
BY BC DOC FEBRUARY 26, 2014 – 12:45 PM
Wow, what a terrible deal for Canadians. This agreement cedes Canadian autonomy, sovereignty, and jurisdiction to the United States. It is shameful that the Conservative government agreed to these terms.
I relinquished my US citizenship more than a decade ago when I proudly swore out Canadian citizenship. How will the government guarantee my private banking information won’t accidentally be passed over to the US given my former, severed ties to the US?
What’s next? Will the US start demanding that Canada and other sovereign nations hand over income information (think T4s) on “possible US persons?”
The nightmare never ends. Parliament should not agree to the FATCA IGA.
Reply
@BC Doc. Great letter and thanks for sending it to your MP. I am quite convinced that most MPs do not understand FATCA at all, and if they did, many would be against it. We all need to do our part to try to educate our own MPs.
The ignorance of this issue on both sides of the border is unbelievable. Where is the continuous responsible journalism that we need to let people know their rights are disappearing before their eyes. No one cares: give us more Rob Ford drama!
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/02/26/while-the-sencarllevin-inquisition-is-taking-place-a-bulletin-from-repdavecamp/comment-page-3/#comment-1152907