Stephen Kish and Lynne Swanson have reviewed the legal opinion provided by constitutional lawyer Mr. Joseph Arvay on the constitutionality of the pending legislation “Canada-United States Enhanced Tax Information Exchange Agreement Implementation Act”. This act is aimed at implementing the “Intergovernmental Agreement” (IGA) designed to make the “Foreign Account Tax Compliant Act” (FATCA) operative in Canada.
The opinion has also been discussed with Mr. John Richardson, a Toronto lawyer, with whom we now have solicitor-client privilege, and who will be part of Dr. Kish’s and Ms. Swanson’s “litigation committee”.
The lengthy opinion provides in detail the pros and cons of the arguments, and possible outcomes.
There are good arguments that the proposed legislation infringes at a minimum on constitutionally protected rights and freedoms. Nevertheless, there are also arguments that the Government of Canada may employ to counter our position and, we emphasize, there is no certainty that litigation will be successful. Further, any litigation will be hard fought and very expensive. This litigation is not for the faint of heart.
Given the opinion of Mr. Arvay and discussion with Mr. Richardson, we advise that it is our intention to take all necessary steps to commence litigation against the Government of Canada once the IGA implementation legislation is enacted. Moreover, the nature and impact of the unprecedented legislation on all persons in Canada and those throughout the world who will be impacted by FATCA demands that we exercise this option that is in the public interest.
Very significant fundraising will be required.
Stephen Kish
Lynne Swanson
Thank you Stephen and Lynne. My family and I will be contributing towards this legal battle.
@ Badger
I think you’ve got to the crux of the matter as far as it concerns the Harper gang: they are going to look very bad in the Court of Public Opinion if they try to fight this; may even mean they don’t try very hard since they can always say to the Americans: “We tried our best, now give us that pipeline.”
Nice work Lynne Swanson and Dr. Kish and all Brockers and Sand Boxers.
Jubilation today. But, it’s going to get nasty. Like going off to war.
Thank you Lynne and Dr Kish. Count me in. I echo the sentiments previously stated that the optics are really bad for the Harper government on this one, win or lose. Hopefully their losing streak regarding Charter challenges will continue.
This litigation is SO important and the sooner it is launched the better.
Because THIS is where we are headed:
http://freedomandprosperity.org/2014/featured/new-oecd-rules-strike-at-the-foundation-of-tax-competition/
Many, many thanks and prayers to all who are involved in getting this litigation going. We will contribute when told when and where and how!
We have no hope of getting this resolved before July 1,2014 (unless somebody in the US Congress actually DOES something about the illegality of the IGAs Treasury is running around negotiating) or the September 2014 deadline for implementation of OECD’s GATCA.
I call it Frog In The Water .
WE are the frogs. Detailed at the link above.
And here is help from the other side in all of this:
http://freedomandprosperity.org/2014/blog/rand-paul-a-modern-day-horatius-in-the-fight-to-protect-private-financial-information-from-corrupt-and-evil-governments/
We need to get the word out in Alberta. It is the most Conservative province in the country. I’m sure there are US tied persons who might just need to know that FACTA will hit them sooner than later. Conservatives are losing percentage points in all other provinces. This Challenge might just swing the vote as long as we can make it known. The pipeline is a big incentive but the “Forest Ethics” has a lawsuit against Harper. Not sure where they are on this issue. Harper will go down in flames.
It will not be a problem to Sue for “damages” from this. There will be a line-up in that category. I want the government to feel EVERY ounce of pain they have caused my wife and family for their actions.
I am just back from a morning meeting at which I announced this and told more about FATCA and citizenship-based taxation.
[The first thing I’m doing is checking on comments to this post and see that the comment that I posted before I left (right after this was posted) is gone, along with others that were there at that time. I know at that time we were having a lot of spam getting past the filter and onto the site, so it may have something to do with that. If anyone doesn’t see their comment, please re-comment.]
What I said earlier was something like BRAVO and, from the bottom of my heart,
to Lynne and Stephen — and glad to see that John Richardson will be part of the “litigation committee”.
Carol Tapanila
You brave, kind people! Thank you so much.
@All
I am happy to hear the news that we can take FATCA to the courts. It is exciting and daunting.
The Bus is now going to roll.
This Ad is on Kijiji, I have no idea who is posting it…. http://endofamerica.com/intro-index.html?gclid=CL_5ztvI3r0CFc9AMgodgVUAKw
Here’s what’s happening…
In 2010, the U.S. Congress passed House of Representatives bill H.R. 2847.
Hidden within this bill is a provision known as “FATCA,” which stands for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.
This bill does several important things, as of July 1st, 2014:
1. It forces all worldwide banks to comply with the IRS if they have any transactions in U.S. dollars.
2. Because the U.S. dollar is still the world’s reserve currency, it essentially means ALL WORLDWIDE BANKS, except for the smallest community institutions, must comply.
3. To comply, banks can either spend a fortune segmenting, tracking, and potentially “taxing” their U.S. dollar transactions by as much as 30%… or they can simply get rid of all of their U.S. customers.
In other words, the U.S. government is saying to all banks around the world: If you deal in U.S. dollars in any way, you have to give us full, unfettered access to all of these transactions… or you have to get rid of all of your U.S. customers.
The repercussions here are enormous:
For one, it means more and more institutions will move AWAY from the U.S. dollar, accelerating the already rapid worldwide move away from the dollar as reserve currency.
For another, it essentially makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the average American to get some of his money out of U.S. dollars, and into more stable currencies via foreign banks.
Already, we’ve seen two of the largest banks in the world, JP Morgan Chase and HSBC, basically eliminate international wire transfers. Many small banks have reportedly followed suit.
And we expect many, many more banks to basically outlaw international wire transfers, the run up to this new July 1st law.
This is a clear example of Capital Controls. This is what a broke and desperate government does when they know the value of their currency is about to collapse.
We’ve seen governments around the globe pull these stunts over and over again… right before a currency devaluation or collapse.
And now it’s happenings right here, in the United States of America.
So, what can you do?
Well, I’ve done a lot of research on this development, and despite the July 1st, 2014 law change, there are still a surprising number of simple things you can do to not only protect what you’ve currently got, but to also potentially make quite a bit of money as this currency crisis unfolds.
From http://endofamerica.com/intro-index.html?gclid=CL_5ztvI3r0CFc9AMgodgVUAKw
I just told my wife that I won’t be going to her (US) university reunion with her this June. Instead I’m taking the money I would have spent on this trip and donating it to the Charter Challenge discussed here. “I really hate that country that much!” So, here’s an example of FATCA causing marital issues (she was not impressed). I encouraged her to make sure her NE homelander Democrat siblings get my message.
Where do I send my contribution?
I still can’t get over the concept. It’s now even more outrageous.
We need to raise money for the People of Canada to fight the Canadian Government who are using our tax dollars to defend a US Law. Do I have it right?
PierreD and others,
A full-fledged challenge will require hundreds of thousands of dollars. I am not advocating anything in particular, but certain crowd-funding sites can gather money even anonymously and charge relatively little overhead if the campaign is successful. For example, the site that got $200,000 to try to buy Rob Ford’s video, they list several of their recent successes:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects?filter_quick=popular_all
Also crowd funding can become viral.
Kermitzii:
Hundreds of thousands? Wow. I guess what we have really is a “legal” system…..not to be confused with a “justice” system. It does make one wonder if there could be ulterior motives for a lawyer in this picture.
I personally would have no idea as to where to start, but is there a way to shop around for someone to take on this charter challenge? One would think there should be some price differences between law firms that would do this. John Richardson, what would you charge?
And, PLEASE, don’t anybody construe this as a disrespect towards those who have taken us this far already.
NativeCanadian,
Re: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/04/13/we-intend-to-commence-litigation-challenging-canadian-fatca-iga-implementation-legislation-on-behalf-of-all-persons-in-canada-and-those-impacted-by-fatca-in-the-rest-of-the-world/comment-page-2/#comment-1437100. It is nothing but a sales pitch!!! Hope people don’t waste their valuable time listening.
I visited a lawyer here in my small town. It wound up being a friendly visit with
absolutely no help with my personal issue. 45 minutes in total and the rate was
480.00 CAD. I was horrified at the bill. He charged 6.00 for the postage and the
two letter head one stating if you need help in the future I’m here. The second page
was a list of the charges. I thought the postage and letterhead charge was very low
class. Lawyers are expensive and no matter what, you have to pay. I can only hope that
Arvry will at least give us a hand and is a more successful than the guy I saw.
It appears that Canadian political figures have taken the fact that the Canadian mopes keep electing them, while complaining about what they do that harms us, are just like the congress and executive of the U.S. who believe they are our Kings and council of Princes.
Whatever happened to Government of the people, for the people, and by the people, that Lincoln outlined in his Gettysburg Address. It appears it has vanished from the face of the earth and the last best hope for mankind will turn into an empty shell.
I’ve had 10 generation before me, in the U.S.A., who died in our wars, some necessary and some not necessary. If my generation allows this bold power grab to happen, we deserve it. Wake up North America and become the mob at the gate, with clubs, cycles, and bludgeon devices and yes fire power if necessary, to depose the Kings, or we could send them all home the next election, but for God”s sake, do something Something as simple as passing the FairTax, HB25 and S122, would solve FATCA and stop our most useful citizens from giving up their citizenship and green cards and being replaced with low level workers from the illiterate pockets from the countries to the South of our country. It is not racist to want your home to be secure and I am sure the non white races want the same as the whites do. Liberty to our legal entrants and legal residents and deportation to all others.
Thank-you Lynn Swanson, Dr. Kish and John Richardson for your hard work.
We should draw inspiration from this David vs Goliath Supreme Court case.
http://www.therecord.com/news-story/4425880-harper-s-supreme-court-nominee-rebuffed-federal-government-genuinely-surprised-/
Pierre, lawyers are expensive as Ann says. I am not advocating anything Calgary 411. Just one possible route for fund raising. There is the logistical thing if there are thousands of donations, and the site I mention can deal with that, I think their overhead is 4%.
kermitzii,
My sincere apology. That was not meant for your comment at all. It was meant for this one: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/04/13/we-intend-to-commence-litigation-challenging-canadian-fatca-iga-implementation-legislation-on-behalf-of-all-persons-in-canada-and-those-impacted-by-fatca-in-the-rest-of-the-world/comment-page-2/#comment-1437100. So sorry!
And, thanks for offering that suggestion as that kind of information will need to be looked at!
@PierreD,
That is so cool! I hope you don’t get into too much hot water with your significant other.
Here’s something that doesn’t look good for out cause. 48 countries have complied with FATCA including Russa!
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/04/07/incredibly-48-nations-embrace-fatca-to-reveal-u-s-depositors/
@NC Porter Stansberry is the party responsible for blitzing the USA with anti-Fatca alerts.
http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?60255-FYI-FWIW-Porter-Stansberry-July-1-2014-H-R-2847