A press release today, from The Department of Canadian Heritage, announced the official inauguration of the War of 1812 Monument on Parliament Hill:
The monument commemorates the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 and recognizes the courage and bravery of those who successfully defended their land in the fight for Canada. In the midst of terrible loss and conflict, the victory won during the War of 1812 helped ensure that a strong and independent Canada was able to be established in North America.
Two Hundred years later, in a perverse twist of irony, a new generation of heroes continues the fight to protect Canadians’ rights and freedoms, and to defend the sovereignty of our country from the extra-territorial overreach of the USA’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.
Sadly, most Canadians are completely oblivious to this latest US attack and are unaware that our elected government representatives have quietly surrendered on our behalf.
The press release can be read here: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2314932
Anyone out here on the West Coast?
@WhiteKat,
— Once there was this brave fellow who fought in the War of 1812 called Isaac Brock. Brock defended Upper Canada from those mean-spirited Yankees.
According to Wikipedia, Brock even distrusted the Colonists who he felt might be American sympathizers.
—Many years later there was this other fellow, not quite as courageous, called “Mr. Stephen Harper”.
Mr. Harper in his “Prime Minister’s message” commemorating the Isaac Brock’s War of 1812 says:
“In short, the Canada we know today would not exist had the invasions of 1812-15 not been repelled.”
–That’s a matter of opinion now because, as you say, it was Prime Minister Harper that gave Canada back to the Yankees.
No, Harper -entirely predictably- has ‘given’ Canada to corporate greed and The ‘Holy’ Market.
Yeah “Wet Coaster” out here.
The only justification for war, defending one’s own borders. Some of the vets realize they are being used as propaganda tools.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/08/poppy-last-time-remembrance-harry-leslie-smith
http://noglory.org/index.php/articles/359-never-again-anti-war-veterans-to-carry-white-poppy-wreath-on-remembrance-day
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/11/08/why-the-hell-would-i-kill-this-kid-one-canadian-veteran-remembers-the-horrors-of-war/
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/veterans-coalition-announces-boycott-of-government-photo-ops-1.2090588#ixzz3IMZ6163u
It is worse than you know—It is an attempt to form a one world government. Not only are they trying to consolidate the economic systems, they are trying to establish a single school teaching tool called ”common core”. Be afraid, be very afraid—–
@WT, at risk of appearing to be a mad-hatter, I am afraid, although not so much for myself, but for my three daughters, and their future children.
Also a west coaster.
@sid – yay for those veterans who won’t pose for photo ops! Instead of helping and supporting them, the images are used to prop up the Harper government’s image – let’s use heart breaking photos in the commercials to say we care and use the money that should have gone to veterans to do it.
Harpocrite.
Ah, the War of 1812….
Living in the vicinity where many of the last of these battles took place 200 years ago, there have been a flurry of recent local re-enactments and commemorative activities. And news articles about such lively “local things to do”. Here is a letter to the editor that I wrote/submitted yesterday; I just have to wait and see if the newspaper has the guts (and intelligence) to publish it……..
Letter to the Editor
On the front page of yesterday’s paper was an interesting article by Mark McNeil, replicated on the Hamilton Spectator’s website under the title “The U.S. attacked Canada – 200 years ago today”. Given the War of 1812’s history, that headline seems accurate. However, the newspaper headline (“It’s been exactly 200 years since US last attacked us”) definitely is not.
Indeed, Canada (along with all other countries in the world) was dealt a significant assault of economic warfare from the US this past year. Under the threat of very severe US financial sanctions if they did not comply, in June 2014 our federal government conceded sovereignty and allowed a US law (FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) to alter long-established Canadian laws of equality and financial privacy rights. Contravening our cherished legal-bedrock Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canada now has legalized a 2nd class of citizenship based on national origin or parentage. Individuals in this class (see below) will very soon be having all their personal financial information and transaction details scooped up, dragnet style with no judicial oversight, by our banks and investment institutions to be sent to the IRS (the taxing arm of a foreign country).
This class of citizens and residents with now more limited privacy rights makes up approximately 3% of Canada’s population and over 10% if one includes their families and business partners. It includes all who were born in the US whether they came to Canada at age 30 years or 3 days old, whether or not they’ve become citizens of Canada or ever worked in the US. It also includes the children of such “US Persons” (even if they never stepped foot on US soil) plus individuals who hold even an expired but not officially relinquished US “Green-card”. Further, anyone holding a joint financial account with these individuals (e.g. spouse, business partner) will have all of their private information similarly invaded and transmitted on an annual basis.
As one US “negotiator” to Parliament expressed it “Congress has spoken.” Lastly, there is no recourse in Canada if a financial institution makes an error in identifying someone and incorrectly forwards their information to the IRS under this arrangement.
So, okay, there has been no military action between our countries in 200 years. But modern warfare involves a broad range of control-establishing tactics. The millions of dollars that our financial institutions already have spent in developing the infrastructure necessary to comply with FATCA definitely will trickle down to higher banking and investment fees for everyone. In other words, we all will be paying for the right of the US to receive and review (NSA style) such private information. I would describe this as Yankee imperialistic invasion, wouldn’t you?
According to several constitutional experts, Canada’s Intergovernmental Agreement to FATCA was an illegal parliamentary enactment and The Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty (http://www.adcs-adsc.ca) has mounted a Constitutional court challenge in this regard. Donations of any size are welcomed to support this lengthy and expensive process to reinstate Canada’s independent national laws. Much support (and information) is coming through the Isaac Brock Society (http://isaacbrocksociety.ca).
You remember Isaac Brock, don’t you? He ran the US out of Canada 200 years ago!!! Oh, how he would turn over in his grave knowing about FATCA and our government’s collaboration with this repeat invader from the south!
LM, great letter! I hope it gets published. I also sent letters to a few Hamilton area newspapers prior to the last ‘Battle of Stoney Creek’ reenactment, but had no luck. Like yourself, I have ties to the area, although I didn’t grow up there. In fact my husband and I lived kitty corner to Isaac Brock Drive for 13 years, and brought 3 children into the world while there. Little did I know how much ‘Isaac Brock’ would come to mean years later.
Thank you, LM. What an excellent letter the Hamilton Spectator editor. If it doesn’t get published, it will be, as you say, from lack of intelligence on the part of The Editor and also lack of guts. Did you have to provide your name for it to be considered?
Great letter LM. If they don’t publish it just keep trying. Maybe send it to some CBC sites like “The Current.” They haven’t had anything to say about all this for awhile.