The following discussion is taking place this morning, starting here: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/06/01/its-time/comment-page-30/#comment-2235706
Deckard also highlights this offline:
Ottawa prepares to share personal data with foreign governments
While this article focuses on immigration, it’s a perfect opportunity to bring in the FATCA IGA again.
An excerpt:
Cabinet will also now be permitted to allow the “disclosure of information to verify the citizenship status or identity of any person” to enforce any Canadian law “or law of another country.”
The_Animal says
July 14, 2014 at 3:25 am
More proof that this Progressive Conservative government is promoting tyranny and should at the very least be removed from office. Is there such a thing as a “no-confidence” vote in the capability of this government to lead effectively?
C-24 should be included in the Charter Challenge as it affects ALL of us and violates all of our human rights.
US_Person_Foreigner says
July 14, 2014 at 4:11 am
@The_Animal
Lawsuit is in progress already for this. Our lawsuit can not be lumped together… 2 separate bills… 2 separate issues. But if the lawyer, Rocco Galati is willing to toss his hat in to help out… I am sure he will be welcomed… the more lawsuits the better to challenge this poor excuse of a gov’t who seems to think that they can hide crap in things & we won’t notice or protest. Since the omnibus of bs passed… it has opened my eyes to the fact… its sad to say… can’t even trust our gov’t to rep us… they seem to think we live in a communist country & they can willy-nilly do what they want to do…. and we will do nothing… they are sadly mistaken… its time for the people of canada get their backbone up & tell the PM Circus… move on… we need someone who will rep the good of Canada and their people…
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rocco-galati-launches-lawsuit-over-citizenship-act-changes-1.2687221
calgary411 says
July 14, 2014 at 9:40 am
It seems obvious to me that Bill C-24 certainly can / does relate to the implementation of the U.S. FATCA IGA in Bill C-31 and could open the door to easier access to OUR immigration files and the march toward other effective government hand-over of information to foreign governments. Or am I to believe it will only be used in specific “terrorist” cases? Blank cheque is an apt description.
The Conservative government has given itself broad new powers to share Canadian immigration files and other information with foreign governments – a practice that could have far-reaching implications for individuals who cross borders. The powers are included in Bill C-24, an overhaul of citizenship law passed last month, though have drawn little attention. The changes amend the Citizenship Act to allow Stephen Harper’s cabinet to draft regulations “providing for the disclosure of information for the purposes of national security, the defence of Canada or the conduct of international affairs,” including under international deals struck by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander.
…Cabinet will also now be permitted to allow the “disclosure of information to verify the citizenship status or identity of any person” to enforce any Canadian law “or law of another country.”
Ottawa contends the final regulations are still being developed and will comply with Canadian law. However, critics warn the changes could lead to Canada sharing citizenship and immigration details with foreign countries, whether verified or not, without oversight.
However, critics fear the rules are being relaxed – especially as other federal agencies expand their own, less-regulated information sharing practices. Canada’s new perimeter-security agreement with the United States, for example, envisions a greater flow of information in government databases across borders.“I’m sure Canadians and the politicians didn’t fully grasp what was on that blank cheque they just signed,” Mr. Kurland said of the information-sharing powers.
…
Josh Paterson, executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, said the group is “very concerned” by the new provisions that “raise serious questions about what kinds of information on Canadian citizens the government plans to share with foreign governments, and why.”
The_Animal says
July 14, 2014 at 10:17 am
@calgary411,
“Cabinet will also now be permitted to allow the “disclosure of information to verify the citizenship status or identity of any person” to enforce any Canadian law “or law of another country.”
This was the alarm bell that jumped out at me when I read this article before I e-mailed the link to you. And I see you saw exactly what I saw in the article. The “verified or not” part of that bill makes me wonder if we could also be thrown to the wolves as well. If we refuse to state our citizenship and make waves. Could we under C-24 have our files (immigration – if our immigration process is underway or are dual citizens) shuffled off to the IRS for further scrutiny.
It is a scary feeling.
Should be popular with the xenophobes.
All of this “information exchange” language is subtrafuge. Let’s call it what it is, spying on everyone, for everything for whatever purpose.
This is frightening in many ways with FATCA being an extra dose of fear because the IRS has traditionally been used in the past as a threat to many groups of people.
It’s not just about terrorism and many are seeing that now. It’s about “population and opinion control” Democracy is but a joke said the famous song writer. And so now it is.
I do think Harper is trying to get round the Charter in many ways. This government has been sued over that quite a few times and is about to be once again. It won’t be long though I fear that even such challenges will be made illegal somehow. It’s already difficult as people wanting to do so are doing it at their own expense so government can violate your rights then you pay for the honour of defending yourself.
FATCA needs to be pointed up to be tied to all this spying in a more direct way. Why Harper would want to bend our laws even more is a puzzle. The U.S. is not going to give any reciprocity for any this as god forbid they would violate their own laws to do so as they are demanding other nations do.
I sent this G&M link to my son and wrote:
“This is so wrong.
So is the Harper govt going to enforce Sharia law? Genital mutilation?
js it going to to report to the MidEastern countries or African countries their born there citizens. Perhaps some left because they were gay?
Harper is changing Canada into a a country I can not feel safe in.”
I posted a ‘toon on my website that simplifies this part of Bill C-24. It would be nice to have some feedback.
http://www.thevillageatheist.com/home/harpertoons
Harpertoons,
Great message as far as Bill C-24 goes. Could you go further to include what is still hidden from the Canadian public — omnibus Bill C-31 that legislates the implementation of the U.S. FATCA intergovernmental agreement with Canada, negotiated behind closed doors and now making *US Persons* second-class to any other Canadians no matter where their national origin or that of their parents. Some of us here can see how what is allowed by C-24 can absolutely affect the *US Persons* and their information being turned over to a foreign country, the USA. We believe the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and other laws are there to protect ALL Canadians.
Calgary,
The tough part is finding some humour in the situation. KAFKA… I mean FATCA is a challenge.
You have the essence of it and you’re right, what could be humourous…
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/29/nyregion/the-essence-of-kafkaesque.html
“I do think Harper is trying to get round the Charter in many ways.”
Of course he is. The Charter is what really stands in Harper’s way of undoing all the rampant socialism he blames on Trudeau Sr and the Liberal govts that followed.
Never-mind that Canadians, generally, lean left when it comes to the public good, privacy, human and civil rights. Harper, and conservatives like him, harbor this belief that once upon a time Canadians were much like America’s right wing GOP. The fact that this is nonsense b/c isn’t going to stop him from trying to turn Canada into a mini-USA.
I followed C-24 pretty closely and this is the first I am reading about this, so I would bet that many MP’s didn’t know about it either (despite that being their job) and have essentially written the Harper govt a blank cheque b/c the details of this information sharing have yet to be defined.
Yep, C-24 was passed and received royal assent even though the devilish details hadn’t yet been written. How is that for some lazy ass governance?
Whoever unseats Harper is going to have to be watched like a hawk. Look at the US for an example of what happens when one sitting government gives itself a whole lot of new powers and the next govt simply takes that as a gift and expands on it.
Maybe Trudeau or Mulcair would do the right thing and maybe they won’t when it comes to C-24 and FATCA and sovereignty. Once ideas are given form in legislation, they are like a virus.
The reason:
The Ugly Face of the North American Union
This fits right in here: http://blogs.angloinfo.com/us-tax/2014/07/14/newsweek-delves-into-fatca-and-the-growing-trend-in-expatriation/
Is the bolded sentence above just what we’re talking about here?
FuriousAC,
I may revert back to sleepless nights or nightmares of just that union. That article says nothing about what the US may think of the Canada component — or touch on what might be Canadian views of our southern neighbour erasing the border between us.
@Calgary411:
No it certainly does not and you won’t find a word about that anywhere that I could find. Yet the wheels are in motion. With Bill C-31 and Bill C-24 it accomplishes neatly, cleanly and without any fanfare whatsoever what the other border is doing so openly destructive.
With their aims as stated, I wonder what in the world it will all matter with China owning just about everything. They are buying up New York, Vancouver, Toronto and points in between as well as mineral rights all over the place. In addition to Real Estate they are owning companies. Many of them and strategic as well.
They state they need a naval base and have their eyes set on Hawaii. The whole state. When the US markers are called in as they were in New York recently, who is going to question how they are called in? I wonder just how compromised we are here in Canada. Just who owns us anyhow? We have been sold out and they started it twenty years ago and we are just now catching on.
Alaska? I hear Putin wants it back and intends to take it. What The Hell is going on?
FATCA, GATCA are the tools of confiscation to forestall paying the piper ( China). Trouble is they owe so much that nothing, anywhere on this planet is enough to pay up. When the owner of your debt comes calling, you have to pay up, even if they have financially enslaved everyone and anyone they can get their hands on.
China owns gold. US and Canada own worthless paper.
I think we should learn Chinese ( and Russian just in case!)
A North American Union is not going to matter when it means something to matter.
Brazil. Russia. India. China. BRIC with a gold backed currency is where this is heading. I do not like what the US is doing and I do not like how Canada is in line with it. When they act in concert on various issues, you know decisions have been made we are not been made aware of but have a huge impact on all of us.
Well that was a disaster in proofreading! Typing too fast , thinking too fast. Keyboard just cannot keep up!
As far as sleeping at night, Calgary, here is something I heard recently from Paul McGuire: He says the destruction of the United States is almost complete and once complete will be impossible to undo ‘because technology is so advanced , once they complete their plans to meld the thought reading process into the spying apparatus they have already in place and in use it will be impossible to extricate ourselves from the grasp’ ( well, this smacked to me of Terminator sci-fi more than anything else, but the more we learn the more alarming it really is) THEN he said he say a bright light exploding on the West Coast of the US ( no , not a bomb, but an EXPLOSION nonetheless)
An explosion of realization of the masses of people who have been ‘asleep’ while the globalists have been hard at work keeping their aims from us. They now think us so stupid and they are so close to realizing their aims they are not even bothering to hide it anymore. ( hence the pronouncements by Petraeus that it will soon be North America and no more America.)
Yet, Paul McGuire says, this explosion of realization is very near and we need to focus on being a part of it because THIS can push back what is coming and push it back for a long time to come.
It just means everyone needs to wake up and focus on us all getting the facts wherever we can get them and working together to stop this creeping evil.
I translated it all as just what we are working toward here at IBS and anywhere and everywhere there are those who are getting the word out and pushing back on the outrages we are finding everywhere. And as you very personally do know, the outrages are personal and insidious and very evil. Not to mention destructive.
The one emphasis that Paul McGuire made was that we must pray for guidance, for courage , for strength and to take action where we can so that we can push this back and restore our homes and family to some semblance of safety and peace.
I do pray. All the time. I pray for everyone at IBS and all those fighting when and where they can to bring this FATCA evil down.
I simply do not listen to those who tell us it is the way it is and it is here to stay. Things can be turned around. Maybe not one by one, but all of us together can accomplish great things.
Yes, I pray. I appreciate IBS and all like minded . And I sleep at night
( When it is not too damned HOT!)
And , I will tell you something else, Calgary. I like YOU. And Lynne, and Gwen and John and Stephen. We have never met but I like you all and of course, Petros, who is , simply a hero. As you all are heroes and heroines to me. You simply cannot know fully just how important you are to thousands who seek the IBS lifeline, for that is what it is:
A lifeline. Thank you , and God Bless. And may God keep us all strong.
Calgary,
And I’ll sing kumbaya for ya.
FuriousAC and Harpertoons — thanks for your comments, both of you.
When you say you like us, Furious AC, to me that means you approve of and agree with what we are trying to discuss at Isaac Brock and Maple Sandbox and our belief in the rights of Canadian sovereignty that we will try to protect with the challenge to legislation and implementation of the FATCA IGA brought into our country to sever us from those rights. I like what you and any others stand for in this fight as well. Because you stand up and speak out, I like you. I, too, am daily thankful and mindful of the importance of our coming together in this community of support and sharing of expertise. For me, personally, I do know it has given me courage and the will to keep on keeping on instead of withering in a corner scared to speak out on behalf of my son and others similar to him — and, more broadly, on behalf of ALL of us.
For me, I want to concentrate on the rights that are granted and then shredded by our own countries. I want to concentrate on, for instance, what we now see in Bill C-24 and how it can affect, by giving license to disclosure of information to verify the citizenship status or identity of any person” to enforce any Canadian law “or law of another country, among the many other people who have come by immigration to Canada, *US Persons* in Canada, whether they were born here, born in another country to Canadian (or other country) parents and returned to Canada (or any other country) as infants or children with those parents to live their lives here, or whether they came as immigrants and were naturalized here or are permanent residents of this country.
In this fight for protection against discrimination by national origin and the removal of other rights we thought we had, as well as in how our governments run our countries, I do believe in separation of church and state. In my mind, anyone’s religious beliefs should no more affect how our / their country is run than any of the other rights that government guarantees. Our faith or lack of faith is important to each of us personally of course but, only speaking for myself, I would prefer to keep away any distraction to our rights and how they are no longer the same as those of our fellow countrymen, in my case, any other Canadians no matter where their national origin or that of their parent(s).
As I thought about it (overnight), that’s just me, but I am only one of the many others here. How I value ALL of what you lend to this fight and support of what we’re doing!
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Here’s an update in C-24,,, Apparently it could be used to strip dual citizens of Canadian citizenship, for whatever reason the government deems fit. And a concern for my particular circumstance: My Mx/Cdn daughters might be wary of getting involved in Mexican political activism, the typical way young people/students do down there. It depends on how it is implemented I guess, re how governments accept other govts definitions of terms and share that information between them…
http://tribune.com.pk/story/899400/dual-citizens-immigrants-could-lose-canadian-citizenship-under-new-bill/
A Toronto Star opinion article, posted somewhere on ISB last week, said that Jews with Canadian citizenship could be at risk of losing their Canadian citizenship due to Israel’s right of return law which allows Jews worldwide to claim Israeli citizenship.
Many European countries also allow citizenship by descent/ right of return citizenship. This is a list of some of these citizenship programs:
http://www.whitenewsnow.com/lounge-white-patriots/17131-citizenship-descent-print.html