With the concerns of constituents filling up their inboxes and voicemail, on Monday the NDP repeated their demand that the Conservatives remove a recently-signed tax agreement with the United States from the omnibus budget bill.
Read more: http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/05/05/get-fatca-out-of-the-budget-bill-ndp-urges/
Was that Conservative MP Mike Allen of New Brunswick? I don’t think there is a Mike Kelly
I just sent this email to Joe Oliver, and copied in my Conservative MP as well as Harper. Since we know the NDP’s have been noticing the high volume of emails of late, I thought maybe now would be a good time to bombard the Conservatives as well. Thanks to JustMe whose “list of 10” I resurrected for this email.
Dear Finance Minister Joe Oliver:
I have been Canadian since the day I was born and have lived in Canada for 51 of my 52 years. My parents are Canadian born. My grandparents are Canadian born. My only connection to the USA is that I was born on US soil and spent the first year of my life there.
It has been very upset listening to you, and others, continue to refer to people like me as ‘American citizens’ or ‘duals’. It is as though US birthplace trumps Canadian citizenship despite having no economic, residence, or social ties to the USA!
Have you any idea how insulting it is for someone who has lived an entire life as a Canadian citizen in Canada, and who regards her connection to US as nothing more than a novelty of birth, to be treated as a second class citizen whose private financial information will soon be shared with the IRS?
Do you realize that there are 100’s of thousands of hopping mad CANADIANS who WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS SECOND CLASS TREATMENT by the current government?
Time is running out for the Conservatives. I suggest you back peddle soon, and start treating Canadians living in Canada as the Canadians that they are. Please refer to us as Canadians when you talk about us. Please take the FATCA IGA legislation out of Bill C 31 so the implications to Canadians, and alternative ways of dealing with this US threat can be thoroughly analyzed and considered.
Do you refer to Canadians born on China as Chinese living in Canada?
Do you refer to Canadians born in India as Indians living in Canada?
Do you refer to Canadians born in Iran as Iranians living in Canada?
Are you aware of Article 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that prohibits discrimination based on national origin?
We have programs in our schools to teach our children that bullying is wrong, and how to deal with bullies. We do not teach them that the best way to handle a bully is to appease him. We know this doesn’t work because it only emboldens the bully when we acquiesce to his demands. Why does the Conservative government not understand that this same principle applies when dealing with a foreign country which is acting like a bully?
There are many ways to react to this US threat other than to sacrifice 1 million Canadians and their families to the IRS. Here are ten possibilities:
1. Show some Canadian Pride and fortitude publicly! At least make a public statement of condemnation of U.S. negotiating practices and send it to the President along with a shredded copy of the IGA. Tell him CANADA is NOT a Tax Haven like America IS, and to stop the hypocrisy. Demand that Obama clean up his own back yard before coming North of the Border to extort his will.
2. You could form a coalition with the TPP partners and tell America to back off the extortion threats or all negotiations stop right now! That frankly will win you allies in the Democrat party that are needed to Repeal FATCA. Use that negotiation lever!
3. You could threaten America with taking it to the WTO for restraint of Trade for using Sanctions against Canada, a country whose FFIs have engaged in NO evasion or illegal Activity. How can you accept sanctions when you have done NOTHING to justify them? You are NOT Iran for god’s sake!
4. You could instruct Canadian financial institutions to retaliate and withhold 30% of any Canadian revenue that any US financial Institution holds in Canada. A tit for tat. You can extort TOO! That is the American ‘norm’ that they exporting for you to copy!
5. You could engage a U.S. Lobbying firm to team with with the Republicans (the Conservatives natural allies) to support their recent Repeal FATCA resolution. Americans know even less about how bad FATCA is than Canadians. If you can spend millions on an Keystone Pipeline advertising how about spending X millions to Stop FATCA with a media educational lobbying effort for ignorant Americans.
Why give in so easily to the Democrat Congressional FATCAnatics that created this Monster? You are philosophically opposed to them. Spend some money helping Americans defeat those in Congress that are most responsible for these extra territorial actions.
6. You could command your Ambassador in District of Criminals to call John Kerry and tell him if the FATCA extortion doesn’t immediately stop and the threat removed, you are pulling all troops and support for any U.S. Military mission.
7. You could have you UN ambassador bring up a resolution to the Security Council to condemn America’s practice of Citizenship Taxation in exactly the same manner as the one America signed in the resolution against Eritrea taxing its citizens living abroad. Come to think of it, you could treat America the same way you treat Eritrea. DIRECTLY CONDEMN their Citizenship based taxation.
8. You could command your Financial Institutions to begin their divestiture from U.S. assets and look elsewhere to place their money. You could set an example yourself with a public declaration that you will no longer own any U.S. assets.
9. You could threaten to stop your cooperation with the NSA spying apparatus in Canada and end your membership in the NSA 5 eyes of Spying. FATCA is just U.S spying now on Financial data, so end cooperation with the U.S. surveillance State.
10. You could call the U.S, Ambassador to Canada on the carpet and tell him his extortion method of conducting international affairs is unacceptable, It is NOT an “international norm”! If they don’t stop such abhorrent behavior and engage in multi-lateral mechanisms he can pack his bags and go home like you did with the Eritrean Ambassador
So there are 10 Options as a starter, and there are many others I am sure. Don’t give us this spin that you have ‘No choice’. There are plenty of choices for Ottawa, but they are JUST TOO TIMID and TOO AFRAID TO TAKE THEM.
Sincerely,
KXXXXXXX PXXXX
It was MP Mike Allen of New Brunswick.
What an *ss.
After listening to Joe Oliver it is clear. We have a complete IDIOT for a finance minister. I am very close to posting a private letter here for the world to see that was dated and sent 1 week prior to Jim Flaherty resigning. To Joe Oliver, you are not Canadians because if you were, he wouldn’t trade you for money at any cost!!!
@NativeCanadian, I feel somewhat guilty about the letter I sent Flaherty not long before he died asking him how he wanted to be remembered after he left this world. I wouldn’t have if I had known just how little time he actually had. Maybe all the stress, and all the pounding he got from so many of us contributed directly towards his heart attack. It certainly would be understandable if it did. It is very sad, how crazy this has become,and how many people (not just ‘US persons’) have been harmed and many more to come if it doesn’t end soon.
It is VERY clear that Canada is made up of DUALS period. The fact is that Canada considers you a dual Pakistani/Canadian or a Chinese/Canadian or a German/Canadian. You are all Canadians only for tax purposes. Notice in my examples, your Nationality is a “Citizenship” before you are a Canadian…So, for other than tax purposes, you are ALL SECOND CLASS CANADIANS???? Can someone give me a reasonable argument to show otherwise??? What a SICK government and country I am part of….
We should all be dead from stress then. A few times over.
@WhiteKat.. I so very much want to post it. It was with sincere anger and feelings from a loyal Canadian family as to why Canada would do this to us. I did send a copy to Blaze which was kept to herself. I’ll consider posting it as I can’t take the government’s abuse and treating us like garbage much longer.
Is Gerald Keddy seriously that stupid? Can’t see the banks will charge it’s customers(Canadians) for Fatca implementation? What are this guys credentials? My 5 year old could figure that one out!!!
@ WhiteKat
You made me look back to my last e-mail to Minister Flaherty. Politicians are pretty thick skinned (you can’t get through the election process if you aren’t). I don’t think any of our e-mails had anything to do with his heart attack. Chances are only his staff were reading them anyway. Your e-mail to Minister Oliver is very, very good. I’ll work on another e-mail for him too but first I’d like to see some down in print form, direct quotes from him, to form the foundation for my next attempt to get through to him. And you are right, I need to e-mail Cons too but unlike the ones I’ve been sending to the NDP MPs there will be no “Thank You” in the subject line.
If I am reading this outcome of questioning correct. We need to get a WARNING out to Iranian women in Canada. We need to let them know they are IRANIAN citizens and DUAL Canadians. Therefore, because the Canadian government, who Iranians thought offered them protection from their homeland, is giving names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. to a HOSTILE government from other DUALS in Canada for financial prosecution, they have a problem. It was stated that the Canadian Charter will “make space” for foreign laws to exsist in Canada. Canada will not collect on fines etc, however, once the Iranian government has the Iranian woman’s personal information, they can trace and inflict severe penalties on the family of the Canadian Dual Iranian woman back in Iran. Does this make sense??? Should we WARN ALL Canadian DUALS that this will likely happen pending the outcome of the FATCA Fiasco???
It is against the law for an Iranian women to have a drivers license…… yikes!! Wait till they find out!
I believe an earlier letter of WhiteKat’s was taken quite seriously. You might recall that a couple of secret service types were staked out down the street from her after she suggested that Flaherty grow some balls.
@NativeCanada
I’m managing to preserve my sanity by blaming the entire mess on the Cons, not the whole of Canada. After all, Canada doesn’t have an unblemished history when it comes to persecution, does it?
@bubble, I’m sure Canada has people watching this site and possibly spying on some on here. I could care less. For the record, our family is the family other countries wish they had. If they want to know about us, well, try being a victim of this or better yet, be the “sacrifice” to keep our banks happy. This is what we are and Canada is going beyond laws that make Canada what is it, to do so.
@Bubblebustin,
LOL…me thinks I was a bit paranoid after sending that letter….but you never know. If they actually did check me out, they would have quickly discovered that I am just a harmless, middle age woman, venting some stress by writing an angry letter.
WhiteKat I think we all are harmless people angry. We will fight though when backed into a corner and using our laws for us and against something like this is all we can do. This is a good peaceful country, but we do need a backbone. This is what needs to be shown to other governments that trry this. It appears the USA has more on it’s plate pertaining to Fatca recently. the fights are just beginning and it will only grow once more and more people see the reality of what they are doing to the world through people they call }US people” Honestly, my family is truly ashamed of the USA….
@Bubblebustin and NativeCanadian, On the otherhand, I am pretty sure Atticus and I were checked out by that RCMP officer who showed up at Ottawa trailers with a million questions,when we were there with our signs while Flaherty was announcing a EI change. It would not surprise me if certain other people who have become very key in this fight (and they know who they are) have been investigated. This whole fight has the potential to make the Conservative government look very bad, and no doubt they want to know who they are up against.
@NativeCanadian, take good care of Blaze next week….sorry do not mean to frighten. I guess I truly have become paranoid.
The first sign of trouble is a CRA audit.
@bubblebustin, funny you should say that. I just got my tax refund today and thought, ‘what’s next, an audit’?
@ Native Canadian
Iranian women may drive cars (even taxis) but not ride motorcycles. Saudi women may ride motorcycles but not drive cars (they can own them however). They are protesting about that. Nevertheless we get the point you are making.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7657810.stm
http://www.internations.org/saudi-arabia-expats/guide/driving-in-saudi-arabia-16101
Just posted at SSRN: May 6, 2014. Must read.
*(Result of research grant from Privacy Comissioner – see description at bottom of this post).
‘FATCA and the Erosion of Canadian Taxpayer Privacy’
Arthur J. Cockfield
Queen’s University – Faculty of Law
April 1, 2014
Report to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, April 2014
Abstract:
“In 2010, the United States enacted a tax reform known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Under FATCA, all non-U.S. financial institutions, including Canadian banks, must review their records to determine if any accounts are owned by “U.S. persons,” which include U.S. citizens residing abroad and individuals with significant social and/or economic ties with the United States. The United States threatened to economically sanction any foreign country that did cooperate with the new regime. Accordingly, Canada has agreed to implement FATCA via an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the United States; at this writing the implementing legislation, Bill C-31, is before Parliament. This report discusses how FATCA and the IGA unduly harm the privacy interests and rights of Canadians in part because detailed financial information concerning hundreds of thousands of Canadians would be transferred to a foreign government for the first time. Canada is getting nothing in return for this privacy giveaway other than the relief of the threatened economic sanctions. The Canadian government should not implement the IGA until these privacy concerns are addressed.”
*Original description of grant from Privacy Commissioner:
http://www.priv.gc.ca/resource/cp/2013-2014/cp_bg_e.asp
Organization: Queen’s University, Faculty of Law
Location: Ontario
Funding Amount: $10,000
Project Title: The Privacy Implications of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)
Project Leader: Arthur Cockfield
Project Description: The project will review the privacy implications of the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in light of Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. Specifically, the project will review implications on Canadian privacy rights and interests of any new agreement negotiated between Canada and the United States to implement FATCA. The project will also examine the interplay of FATCA with other Canadian laws that protect taxpayer privacy such as the Income Tax Act, the Canada-United States Tax Convention Act and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Finally, the project will review how Canadian banks are trying to comply with all relevant laws, and whether these banks are adopting new information technology systems to help them identify, sort, and transfer financial information to U.S. tax authorities.
Link to SSRN to download the Cockfield paper;
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2433198
Cockfield’s research provides very very relevant support for taking the FATCA IGA enabling legislation out of Bill-31, delaying any action on FATCA until sober deliberation has been done, raises NAFTA issues, etc.
Haven’t finished it yet, but a MUST READ!!!!
@WhiteKat
I am catching up on my reading, and I loved your 10 points. Thanks for using them again, in another context… It was fun firing them off to NZ remedial matters bill, and glad they got recycled to Joe Oliver.
http://www.infowars.com/irs-to-expand-financial-surveillance-with-crackdown-on-offshore-accounts/