[We now have a NEW POST taking us up to February 1, 2015. This post will be retired from service.]
THE AUTUMN 2014 UPDATE
Dear Donors,
Together, we reached our goal of $100,000 to pay the November 1 legal bill 11 days ahead of schedule!
Thank you Canadian donors from coast to coast and our friends from around the world for your generosity, support and determination — and especially for not being afraid.
The name of our non-profit corporation is the “Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty.”
We were very deliberate in including in our name the word “sovereignty”, which forms a cornerstone of our Claims against the Government of Canada.
Canada and dozens of other countries throughout the world gave into a bully because their “leaders” were afraid of harm caused by a trading “partner” — and they gave their sovereignties away.
Help us convince by example the Leaders and Governments of all countries worldwide that they should return their sovereignties back to their Peoples.
Please continue to support our lawsuit.
“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.” (Helen Keller)
— Plaintiffs Ginny and Gwen, and the ADCS-ADSC team
Chers donateurs,
Ensemble, nous avons atteint notre but d’amasser 100 000 $ pour payer notre facture légale du 1er novembre 11 jours d’avance !
Un gros merci à vous, donateurs canadiens, et à nos amis de tous les coins du monde pour votre grande générosité, soutien et détermination. Et surtout pour votre courage.
Le nom de notre organisme sans but lucratif est « l’Alliance pour la défense de la souveraineté canadienne ».
Nous avons choisi délibérément le mot « souveraineté » puisqu’il constitue la base fondamentale de nos revendications envers le gouvernement du Canada.
Le Canada et des dizaines d’autres pays se sont pliés devant l’intimidation des États-Unis parce que leurs « leaders » ont eu peur des menaces de notre « partenaire » commercial. Ils ont donc vendu leur souveraineté à rabais.
Aidez-nous à convaincre les dirigeants et les gouvernements de tous ces pays qu’ils se doivent de remettre leur souveraineté à leurs peuples.
S’il vous plaît, continuez à soutenir notre cause.
« Seuls, nous pouvons faire si peu. Ensemble, nous pouvons faire beaucoup. » (Helen Keller)
— Ginny, Gwen et toute l’équipe de l’ADCS-ADSC
DONATE to www.adcs-adsc.ca (ADSC en français).
I also would like to express my joy that the litigation process has started. Perhaps, it was too ambitious to think that the money required would be raised in only a few weeks. The fear factor is at work here.
I recently heard from a non bank financial institution that contact with customers, identified in their electronic search as potential U.S. persons, will soon begin. As more and more people start hearing from their bank, credit union or other FI, awareness and anger will spread. Hopefully some of that anger will translate into more $ for ADCS.
ALostSoul,
There is a risk of harm if you are a U.S. person in Canada who is NOT IRS compliant or WILLFULLY not compliant, as your name and tax status will be disclosed publicly. For this reason, almost all IRS non-compliant U.S. persons in Canada will refuse to be plaintiffs.
If you are interested in the possibility of being a plaintiff and want to discuss this, please contact me through the ADCS website.
Borrowing on today’s announcement I’ve decided to letter bomb as many people I can in order to get more donations. Here’s my letter, anyone feel free to use it if you don’t feel like composing your own:
Dear *,
In April of 2014 the Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty announced their intention to proceed with litigation against the Government of Canada, challenging its right to enact the U.S. FATCA law on Canadian soil. Today, as a result of the support of Canadians and people around the world, the ADCS formally announced that they are delivering on that promise.
The Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty (ADCS-ADSC) has today retained Vancouver BC constitutional litigator Mr Joseph Arvay and his team at Farris Vaughn & Murphy to represent them in the lawsuit. With your support, we can stop this extraterritorial aggression by a foreign nation on our soil.
To contribute please go to: http://www.adcs-adsc.ca
Yours truly,
*
Good idea, bubblebustin. I’ve just finished sending to all of my contacts too. Wish I had seen your model letter first.
Thanks Stephen, I will think about this.
My heartfelt congratulations on this historic fight for Canadians and Canadian rights that we all want protected. I hope we all can work with ideas on how to keep the funding coming and also giving the victims of this government’s betrayal some comfort that they are not alone. Stephen, and everyone who worked very hard on this. Thank you! My family’s next contribution will be sent out soon.
I would also like if possible, a large enough banner to place across the rear of my small SUV. I am also working on a “Hang Harper for TREASON” sticker for my car….
@Native Canadian. Love the “Hang Harper for Treason” sticker idea. I’d go for “Impeach Harper” except that’s American and we can’t do our equivalent to impeachment as long as Harper has a majority of seats in the House of Commons. Hanging him, or tarring and feathering him out of our country, sits just fine with me though.
@Wondering. Very well put. FATCA and Harper’s complicity through the IGA is just one piece of a much larger and very nasty threat to what’s left of democratic and parliamentary government in Canada. The ultimate goal has to be to get rid of the current Conservative government next year, by helping the NDP and the Liberals take seats away from the Cons and not (please, don’t go there Tom and Justin) from each other instead. Vote for the incumbent in your riding if he or she is not a Tory (incumbents generally have an edge in an election, unless they or their party leader has really messed up big-time), and if in a Tory riding vote for whichever opposition candidate seems most likely to defeat the Tory. Even if it means holding your nose while doing so. But VOTE. Strategically, to defeat Harper. Worry about which of the other parties might be the best alternative next time around — this time, the priority has to get the nasty, petty, dictatorial SOB out of office no matter who replaces him (except Jason Kenny or any other current Tory I can think of).
@Schubert1975
‘Love the “Hang Harper for Treason” sticker idea. I’d go for “Impeach Harper” except that’s American’
Not to defend Harper but…capital punishment, like impeachment, is an American thing not done in Canada.
@Dash – not if it’s by the thumbs
Just received this email to Solomon Yue. I think they are a bit behind us, I was so hoping for a flanking manoeuvre.
1) We signed a retainer with the Bopp Law firm to conduct research on FATCA lawsuit plaintiffs’ legal standing for three constitutional claims.
2) We are ready to launch our FATCAlegalaction.com next week to raise money for the lawsuit.
3) The RNC was the first major contributor to our FATCA Legal Action Fund. But we still need to raise 90% of the money from the public worldwide.
4) We are searching for plaintiffs.
Your lawsuit is in our prayers.
Best regards.
Solomon Yue (OK, I think I love this guy)
@MODERATOR Charl has some major news above.
ADCS may learn something from how they do their fund raising. I tried the website and nothing there yet.
@ GwEvil
Impressive tweeting re: this big announcement.
@ charl
Good to know how things are progressing with the US legal action.
Have you listened to Joseph Arvay’s McGill speech? I think ADCS found a good man. His speech gave me a behind the scenes peek at the legal process. I know it’s frequently dramatized on TV but I don’t watch TV anymore because I prefer a real meal deal whenever I can get it. I certainly see the importance of plaintiffs. Ours will have to have exceptional courage.
Excellent news that Mr. Arvay has agreed to take on this challenge. My financial contribution is on its way.
I imagine a court challenge will take several years to play out though, so this process does not replace having to come up with a strategy for personally dealing with FATCA in the meantime. I would also suggest that changing the governing political party in Ottawa is not an effective anti-FATCA strategy. If Russia and China feel obliged to comply with FATCA you can be assured that no political party in Canada would rescind the FATCA IGA unless given cover by the Supreme Court.
Thank you, Carol.
@Charl
Great work! It sounds as though they’ve obtained a positive legal opinion for all three constitutional claims, and niw that they gave that thet are able to proceed with the fundraising for the lawsuit. Thank you for contacting Solomon.
@bubblebustin
I hope that you are right and I’m wrong, but that’s not how I read charl’s message. I understood charl’s message to mean that Solomon’s group are currently just researching the possible validity of constitutional claims. In other words the effort with Jim Bopp is currently at about the stage that the effort with Joe Arvay was at back in March-April.
Did I misunderstand charl’s message?
Sorry – I wrote earlier that “…although $100 each from only one thousand Canadians most affected by FATCA IGA would raise $1 million!”
Should have used a calculator; obviously takes 10,000 contributions of $100 to reach $1 million. Still, 10,000 seems like a fraction of the Canadians eventually harmed by the FATCA IGA.
It’s difficult to get an accurate count on how many Canadians might be so-called “US persons.” In 2006 Canadian census, 316,350 included “American” as their “ethnic or cultural origins.” However, the census question asked for “the ethnic or cultural origins” of the respondent’s ancestors. Many respondents listed multiple ancestries.
Maybe an access to information request to Citizenship and Immigration Canada would yield a more accurate number of Canadian citizens of US birth? Maybe a supportive MP could demand that information on a question sheet? In order to demonstrate the vast scope of harm caused by the FATCA IGA, it seems important to know how numerous the affected Canadian population actually is.
@Brockers, just a note on my observation on ADCS.
For the pairing of legal counsel, I really like how Joe Arvey a supreme court pit bull is paired with John Richardson who with great passion knows the legal minutia of the problem. As a team it is a powerful team and I have to say likely more powerful than the legal team the government can put together.
The only “defense” of the IGA is “we had to protect our banks.”
@ Brockers-fab news that litigation has begun and v ery well done on linking in Solomon Yue. like @charl, I am very encouraged by his mail. networking globally will be one of the tools that will see us through
budgeting like crazy for my 3rd donation.
—- We need to move quickly on finalizing plaintiffs. If interested, today is this time to contact me on ADCS website.
George, I agree with you that combination of Arvay and Richardson is a big plus.
There are no words in the dictionary for the joy I feel today. In less than a month since it imposed the provisions of FATCA on the people of this country the Canadian government is officially being sued! Congratulations and profound thanks to all who worked together to make this happen.
Charl, thanks for the update on the Republicans Abroad side.
Have you seen the latest news:
GOP-led House votes to sue Obama in first-of-its-kind lawsuit
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-house-votes-to-sue-obama-20140730-story.html
Seems like it would be great if they could add the IGAs to their suit, instead of limiting it to the Obamacare issue. Maybe something to suggest to Solomon if you’re in touch with him.
The FATCA lawsuit could still go ahead and concentrate on FBAR penalties and 4th amendment issues.
@noone
Did that this AM. Lets see if he gets back to me. I’m sure he will be delighted to get advice from a crazy old lady!!
Crazy like a fox, Charl!
This morning I sent Solomon at Republicans Overseas our Brock post on retaining Joe Arvay. I just noticed that he immediately included the post on the RO website:
https://www.facebook.com/republicansoverseas