We are so very happy to announce that we have reached the amount we need to engage Joe Arvay for a legal opinion as to whether we have a case for the Charter Challenge.
PLEASE – DO NOT SEND ANY FUTHER DONATIONS REGARDING THE CANADIAN CHARTER CHALLENGE FUND!
We are extremely grateful to all who were able to give to this cause. We are sure some of you had to dig deeper than might be comfortable to donate. We appreciate that more than you will ever know.
A more formal announcement will follow but had to get this up immediately.
With thanks,
Stephen, Lynne, GwEvil & Tricia
Very excellent news. Here we go!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m back from being sick and away. What fantastic news to resurface to! I am so grateful to those who have brought us to this very significant point in our struggle. Bless you all!
Yahoo!
Absolutely terrific!!!!
And thanks so much to you guys, too, organising this!
“Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mobile_Bay
And, no doubt there are other donations still winging their way to you by post (like mine)!
Super. Just super. Many thanks to ALL, and especially to our “lead team”.
well done Brockers, this is among the best news I have had in a long weary time. This candle is going to stand up to the FATCA wind.
Great news!!!!
so glad to be a part of potential history in the making.
This is great news. Thanks to those who organized the fund-raising effort and to everyone who contributed.
Thank you everyone! one small step for us, a giant leap for Canadian sovereignty! We will NEVER give up. Our elected trained seals in the PC party think they have fooled Canadians. They have not fooled anyone! I’m with this fight till the end. Further support is available from my piggy bank when needed. Thank you to all who created, maintain and put the Issac Brock Site online for us to be a part of. thank you for all who organized, maintained and created the C3F site. This news makes my day!
When it rains, it pours, at least in Vancouver. 10 feet of snow in 10 days in the mountains and I assume the $17K elevation has been reached.
@ bubblebustin
I was wondering what had happened to you. Glad you’re back. 🙂
I am so happy we reached our goal in such a short time. Now we know that many are ready to fight FATCA in the court.
What is the next step now? do we have to wait for Ratification? which may be a long time according to my MP’s office. The PC are going to be very sly on this.
northernstar,
I hope not. I would hope that Parliament can do their thing and hopefully come around to a change in their thinking on what they are doing based on what we are doing, challenging the legality of such an IGA under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms if it is determined by legal opinion we should go ahead with that Challenge. If they change their course of action rather than try to block the Challenge, it would be called ‘finally listening to their constituents’ concerns’.
Yahooooooo, great news and so quickly too!!!!
So while we wait for Joe to do his work (any idea how long he may need to do a thorough review?) our aim (IMHO) should be spreading the word to as many duals as possible. That’s my 2 cents. If my mailed check hasn’t arrived, you can use that money to support the IBS site.
Fantastic News!? I would be much happier to hear that Flaherty will be hung by his balls until he and the rest of his FATCA cohorts reverse the IGA they are so fuquing proud of. Sneaky, low-life bast_ erds ever one of them
Well done!? Great News!? Good Job Brockers!? I just love how you all prematurely pat yourselves on the back. I want to hear some real meat and potatoes news!
I want to hear how we all are going to have a feast with Flaherty as the main course complete with a fuquing baked apple shoved in his mouth and a copy of the FATCA regulations sticking out if his a_ ss.
Now that would be great news !
So hold off your applause and praise until we get some real good news we can feel proud of.
To: Petros, Pacifica, Stephen, Lynne, GwEvil & Tricia and all other Brockers.
For what it is worth, here is my middle-of-the-night idea for a next-step action:
The week of June 30 (which, of course, includes July 1), as many of us as possible should take ourselves to the main branch of each bank in our community with a large sign saying “I AM NOT A TAX CHEAT – ASK ME ABOUT THIS!” and HAVE fliers to disburse (to bank workers and customers) about the institution of FATCA. Maybe we should also alert the media about the institution of “TAX-CHEAT WEEK” to alert everyone about this international witch-hunt.
I mean, basically, like the scarlet letter “A” (imposed in the book by Nathaniel Hawthorn) and the yellow-star arm-band (imposed by the Nazis), this action is in effect placing a community T-C brand on all of us for the rest of our lives. When will they require an permanent visible tag or armband (or is that too last-century?)?
Even if we renounce, the taint – – the scar – – the mark on our “record” – – will be there forever for who knows how many fellow Canadians to see (and ponder over, no matter how many “security measures” are implemented).
Now that the CCCF monies have been collected, I suggest that IBS should start a new comments page on which we all can gather lots of ideas for next-step actions, so we can share our middle-of-the-night and while-in-the-shower creative thoughts & musings RE how to raise the community discourse on this issue to a higher, broader, respectful but more in-your-face level. After all, once publicly known, there were some who protected Hester Prynne and the Jews…..
Beth Thomas,
It’s one step at a time and if we receive the positive legal opinion for the Canada Charter legal challenge, it will be a long and expensive process. We all need to be committed if this is to succeed. I hope you are communicating with your Canadian government representatives often and have sent your submission for the IGA or will do that before March 10th, 2014. Thanks for your support. In the meantime, I praise what has been accomplished so far by this rag-tag bunch of Isaac Brockers and Maple Sandboxers.
Comments on the legislative proposal can be submitted to the Department of Finance at IGA-AIG@fin.gc.ca
or to the address below. The closing date for comments is March 10, 2014. Probably too late for the mail option.
Tax Policy Branch: Department of Finance
140 O’Connor Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0G5
@Beth Thomas
Hog tying starts with the acquisition of good strong rope. One step at a time.
@Calgary411
Agreed! I believe the next step is in communication to OPPOSITION politicians.
Convince them that these is a large, heretofore quiet constituency that will get behind whoever opposes the Conservatives’ FATCA IGA.
Don’t focus on how aggrieved we are, or how unfair this is.
Do send them a copy of your Dept. of Fin. FATCA IGA comments.
Mostly focus on what’s in it for THEM as politicians: financial and political support, a mobilized network, campaign assistance, accepting a lawn sign, whatever. This is a big constituency, and we vote, and contribute and are politically involved.
A few fiercely dedicated private citizens using basic social media raised $18,000 in one week – without call centres, professional lobbyists, slick email campaigns, or tax deduction receipts.
If your local MP is Conservative, tell them emphatically they have lost your support: you will ALWAYS REMEMBER their betrayal and NEVER AGAIN support their party if the IGA goes forward. Demand that they respond within a short time period, or lose your support forever.
This is a single-issue matter. We have to emulate the champions of single-issue lobby efforts – such as the National Rifle Association – even if its distasteful and “non-Canadian”.
Finally, reach out to everyone you know, with a focus on how this affects them personally.
It’s time to contact every well-known Canadian who could be considered a US person or who’s spouse or children could be. Journalists, professionals, academics and their unions and professional associations. People with established networks of influence. For example, the wife of one of Canada’s leading neurosurgeons was born in the US. I doubt this high profile person is amused by the destruction of his family’s banking privacy. The Canadian Medical Association must be brought into this: is anyone here a member?
Has anyone contacted Credit Union Central regarding supporting the Charter Challenge? They despise FATCA, they were screwed by the IGA, and have a unique mandate to listen to their members.
@calgary,
re; “If they change their course of action rather than try to block the Challenge, it would be called ‘finally listening to their constituents’ concerns’.”
Very true. Saving face is very important.
@BethThomas,
It has been a long road *’but there are miles to go before [we] sleep.” (*Robert Frost “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171621 ).
Nothing wrong with a pause for sincere and heartfelt appreciation, to give thanks for those that brought this to fruition, and to mark all that has gone into getting to this point – since before 2011 if you count the previous forum participation of Brockers elsewhere. Particularly appreciation of all the many hours and efforts of administrators and organizers at IBS, and those that arranged this funding drive, and all the work behind the scenes that it took to get to this concrete spot.