UPDATE January 24, 2015: THIRD OF FIVE LEGAL BILLS PAID
[We now have a NEW POST taking us up to May 1, 2015. This post will be retired from service.]
On August 11, 2014, Constitutional Litigator Joseph Arvay filed a FATCA IGA lawsuit in Canada Federal Court on behalf of Plaintiffs Ginny and Gwen, the Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty (en français), and all peoples worldwide. Read Alliance’s Claims and comment on our Alliance blog.
Chers amis et donateurs,
Ensemble, nous avons atteint notre but : ramasser les fonds nécessaires pour payer la troisième des cinq factures légales de notre poursuite judiciaire.
Ramasser 300 000 $ provenant de petits dons est un exploit tout à fait extraordinaire et nous invitons notre gouvernement canadien, ainsi que tous les autres gouvernements qui ont piétiné les droits de leurs citoyens, à en prendre bonne note.
Chaque jour, nous nous rapprochons de notre but. Déjà, nous avons ramassé plus de la moitié des fonds nécessaires pour payer les frais légaux de notre poursuite contre le gouvernement canadien et l’entente FATCA.
Si nous avons parcouru un si grand bout de chemin, c’est grâce à nos deux courageuses plaignantes, Ginny et Gwen, à nos donateurs provenant du Canada et de partout dans le monde, ainsi qu’aux administrateurs des sites Internet Isaac Brock Society et Maple Sandbox. Ils permettent tous à nos voix d’être entendues.
Merci !
L’équipe de l’ADSC
———————————————————————————————–
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Together we have reached our goal of paying off the third of five retainer fees for our Canadian FATCA IGA lawsuit.
Raising $300,000 from small donations is a pretty amazing achievement and we ask the Government of Canada, and those other governments who have also tossed away rights of their citizens, to take notice.
It’s still a marathon, but we are more than half way to pay off the Federal Court legal costs.
We have come so far because of our brave Plaintiffs, Ginny and Gwen, our Canadian and International donor-supporters, and the administrators of the Isaac Brock and Maple Sandbox websites who make it possible for our voices to be heard.
Thank you all,
—The ADCS-ADSC team
@nervousinvestor
Randy Caldwell just gave up and took his marbles home. His final words were:
“Then move home, but stop confusing representation with benefits of living in the US.”
and
“Yep, I am out of here. This is nothing but a shill FB page for monied PAC agenda.”
Am I missing something, or do we not get either of those things when living outside the US?
@Walter:
The comments made by this guy make it clear he is either delusional or paid to remark the way he does. His arguments make absolutely no sense and his accusations are stink bombs thrown deliberately to deflect serious discussion and besmirch any effort at all to deal with the real and important issues facing real human beings who are being hurt and ruined by all this. Anybody with an ounce of intelligence would have known that, most particularly this organization who purport to support Americans abroad. They don’t though. They only support Democrats Abroad. And that tells me there is a political agenda at work that has nothing to do with supporting Americans Abroad. If they did not have an agenda the video would have been released a long, long time ago.
@GWEvil – That makes 2 of us, confused that is. I wonder if we are not normal balanced people and maybe Randy himself is the confused puppy. Ah well.
@nervousinvestor:
“a confused puppy”
I seriously doubt it. The word ‘puppy’ denotes something cute, fluffy and benign. I think he is anything but.
Nor do I think you and GwEvil ‘confused’ . I think you know exactly what is going on and caught on to his operation right away.
Don’t be too sure he has taken his marbles and gone home. He is likely to pop up again as somebody else doing exactly the same trashing. The hints are all over his ‘comments’ as they make it clear he has NO clue what this is all about. To accuse the lawsuit as being nothing but a scam and a fraud? Somebody drag that a$$ out of his basement and slap him silly! And everybody on that FB page that put up with it!
@walter
Thanks. His fixation on “bogus” is with regard to FATCA/Bopp, not us.
He is very ill-informed about Canada.
I cannot respond to him further now but will later today.
@Nervousinvestor, ” I think that Arvay should see this post as in my humble (like the common man on the proverbial Clapham Omnibus) opinion, the Statements made by Randy Caldwell are libelous and published for all the world to see. ”
That is correct, he should face libel action along with facebook if the statement is not retracted.
We need to step up the game to ensure this 3rd payment is made in a timely manner so people will understand we are very serious… 1 millions US persons are said to be in Canada…. I am very sure that number is alot higher then people think… We can do this… this could provide a rippling through the world… we the little people who are not rich by any means are willing to fund a cause we all believe in & fight as hard as we can to ensure we are not 2nd class citizens… If we don’t stop our govts & the US now… what next… a tax for a US person for breathing or whatever nonsense they can think of cause they can & we do nothing to stop them? We have no representation…. we have to be our own representatives… as a group… we will stop them
So please donate…
http://www.adcs-adsc.ca/
We must reach our goals… every penny counts… for every dollar, euro, or any currency,… we are inching the door into the face of our govts & the US closed… when we win in court… we can kick that door closed in their faces & lock it.
My guess is that Randy Caldwell was tasked by his party leadership to try to get DA members back in line.
Its not working.
I had a very interesting conversation with my MP on January 6th. He gave me a hour of his time when he was in town. Basically what I took away from that meeting was this: We are dealing with (3) parties. Yes, I did say (3) parties. The Republicans, the Democrats and then the Democrats. The third party being the president and his supporters. The Democrats were able to make the president tow the line for the first 4 years because of the next election. He doesn’t have a reason to tow the party line anymore. He can’t be re-elected. He is hell bent on pushing through his personal agenda till the very last day in office even if it’s ill advised to do so. I think maybe the Democrats maybe falling apart. They are feeling the effects of this lawsuit, the media coverage but are trying to save face?
@US_ForeignPerson: If we had just one loonie from each of those people affected by FATCA, we would have enough to take us all the way to the Supreme Court. We need ti find a way of getting them to donate.
@Ann#1: What did your MP say about Canada’s complicity in all of this? Your MPs explanation sounds like “Congress has spoken” with a bit of a twist added. An MP can talk all he wants about Obama. It was our Canadian MPs who should be upholding Canadian laws and protecting Canadians who sold us out to the U.,S.
Is your MP doing anything to protect you as a Canadian?
@Blaze:
Exactly my thoughts regarding the one million or so Americans in Canada. If they all contributed just ONE loonie we would have the money to go all the way to the Supreme Court. Yet of all of the Americans there are two or three or four times that number who are feeling the effects. And will feel it. As will all of Canada. The silence in the media is very telling. The important things go unreported but the nonsense is washing over us 24/7.
And the Canadian MP has an OBLIGATION to uphold Canadian law and do what he has sworn to do: Protect Canada and Canadians.
What Obama does or does not do, what the Democrats do or do not is not relevant to what HIS obligations were and are!
Where can I access the comments of Caldwell on the Brock site?
This Randy Caldwell is from a propaganda wing of the DNC called Democrats Abroad. Why do I say propaganda? Because in the run up to the 2008 presidential election they touted him as a champion of Americans abroad, which he is anything BUT. They did manage to bilk many Americans abroad of their votes and money with “his” empty promises though. Anyone who voted for him a second time should have their head examined, IMO.
And this guy has the audacity to say they the Republicans are using us? I’ll take the Republican’s actions over the Democrat’s words any day.
By “him” of course, I mean Obama.
Ann#1,
Your MP needs to explain why the Cons are loudly taking the US to task over their refusal to use Canadian steel for projects taking place on Canadian soil, and mounting big offensive actions and committing resources re other US banking rules (ex. Volcker and Dodd Frank that allow Canadian banks to operate and expand further in the US), and fighting for Canadian softwood lumber export deals, and tarsands oil pipelines, but NOT the local legal post-tax savings of Canadian children, families and businesses under FATCA? Why is Canadian steel in Canadian projects a sovereignty issue of pressing concern enough to take on the US, but not our children’s legal local birthday savings accounts, our TFSAs, Canadian real estate and law firm’s trust accounts, etc.?
Certainly his excuses/red herrings wouldn’t hold up. The Harper government has chosen NOT to protect us, and is actively signed on to assist the US to harm us.
The Cons are currently firmly issuing demands to the US – just as long as it isn’t to uphold our Canadian laws and sovereignty against FATCA. The Harper government Trade Minister keeps stating unequivocally: “”…..We have been clear: the application of protectionist Buy America provisions on Canadian soil is unacceptable and an affront to Canadian sovereignty,” Fast said in a statement after the Canadian government signed the order under the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act.
The law opens the door for Canadian authorities to prevent anyone in Canada from complying with the Buy American provisions in the project.
The federal government signed the order on the grounds it hurts the country’s interests after Alaska rejected its demands to ditch its restrictions in Prince Rupert…….”
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/ottawa-threatens-to-use-rare-law-in-buy-america-dispute-with-us-289069081.html
How interesting though that ALL Canadians; as taxpayers and accountholders are being forced by the Conservative government to pay via our taxes and our account fees to implement US FATCA on Canadian soil – as applied to ALL of our legal local Canadian accounts and data, with no benefit, at the point of the FATCA witholding weapon, disadvantaging Canadian citizens and residents, investors and Canadian financial institutions – while the US financial markets are unburdened. That is definitely a trade issue, yet our Trade Minister keeps his mouth shut.
Give your MP this paper by Queens prof. Cockfield, explaining how FATCA is a NAFTA and trade issue (as well as all the other legal aspects we have identified as unacceptable):
“…For instance, if you are a U.S citizen who has signing authority over an account, then that account information will go south of the border. A U.S. person who substantially owns a Canadian business will now have a foreign government looking at that account information. It could, in my view, harm cross-border competition, frustrate cross-border mobility. I believe it violates the NAFTA agreement. I’ve written a book on the topic of NAFTA tax law and policy, and it’s my opinion that FATCA, again, violates certain provisions within NAFTA….”
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=6597204&Language=E&Mode=1#Int-8359630 http://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/Embed/en/i/8359630/?ml=en&vt=watch
Anyone can download and read his reports on FATCA (which discuss associated trade/NAFTA issues, privacy issues, data vulnerability, etc.) – one was produced for the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, and one co-written with Prof. Allison Christians as a submission to the Finance Committee on the FATCA enabling legislation hidden in Bill C-31:
Christians, Allison and Cockfield, Arthur J., Submission to Finance Department on Implementation of FATCA in Canada (March 10, 2014). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2407264 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2407264
Cockfield, Arthur J., FATCA and the Erosion of Canadian Taxpayer Privacy (April 1, 2014). Report to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, April 2014. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2433198
Thanks, badger.
Ahh, NAFTA and beyond and behind closed doors — “This is between you and your company.” This is between you and the U.S., “US citizens who happen to reside in Canada.” All the same!
Open the closed doors!
Donate: http://www.adcs-adsc.ca/
@Calgary: The end of that video says it all. “if anything’s going to change, it’s up to us.”
That is why it is so important to donate to support Gwen and Ginny who are risking so much for us.
If we want to reach more people, shouldn’t we be making clips like this? For the general masses who dont know about FATCA? Because sometimes I think people prefer to watch and have it spelled out for them, than read and try to understand.
thanks to @eliza who flagged this valuable article on another IBS thread http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/media-and-blog-articles-open-for-comments/comment-page-112/#comment-5329663 . I think this article goes a long way to explaining the Government’s ignorant posturing on the FATCA IGA and enabling legislation, along with adopting a policy of willful ignorance and an abusive strategy of turning our own Canadian taxpayer dollars against Canadian taxpayers, citizens, voters and residents.
See:
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/01/18/please-dont-confuse-peter-mackay-with-facts/
“…MacKay assured Canadians that the government “drafts our legislation to ensure it is compliant with the Canadian Constitution.”
“The Department of Justice Act requires that the minister examine every government bill to determine whether any provisions are inconsistent with the purposes and provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms….”…
“..Whistleblower Edger Schmidt — a former Department of Justice Lawyer — is suing the government over its rosy interpretation of the word “inconsistent”. Schmidt claims that the government takes the position that laws that are “likely or even almost certainly inconsistent” with the Charter will pass review if any arguments exist to support consistency….”..
There are very strong arguments that the FATCA IGA is unconstitutional, inconsistent with our Charter, etc. Professor Peter Hogg, who has been described as “….. Canada’s foremost constitutional expert,”provided some cautionary thoughts on it that the Finance Minister and the federal government ignored…”… http://youtu.be/fT2nnMFgUFk “… http://www.greenparty.ca/sites/greenparty.ca/files/attachments/peter_hogg_fatca.pdf
http://www.greenparty.ca/en/media-release/2013-03-13/implementation-fatca-likely-unconstitutional-says-leading-constitutional-ex
Don’t let Mackay and the Canadian government get away with mis/using/ab/using our very own taxpayer dollars against Canadian taxpayers, accountholders, residents and citizens.
Don’t let the government degrade Canada’s sovereignty, abuse us and our Canadian families and businesses, and misuse our tax revenues at the behest of a foreign government unopposed. I am certain that one of their strategies – perhaps their main one – is hoping that they can outspend and outlast us in order to prevent this from even being heard in a public court.
Donate to the ADCS challenge – help us to meet the latest deadline and the ones after that.
Thanks for the video, @calgary411. The secret deals our governments are making on behalf of the corporate elite are truly distressing and all to the detriment of human kind.
“Most change that has benefited ordinary people has resulted from the actions of ordinary people themselves. It has never been handed out freely by the rich and powerful.” — Arthur Leslie Morton
We know that and it’s why we are doing what Randy Caldwell so summarily dismisses. THEY lobbed a weapon of mass financial disruption at US with FATCA but WE do not have to accept their FATCA bomb. WE can start to diffuse it with our ADCS lawsuit.
Show the Mayor of London that Canadians have more gumption:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/149b859c-a15b-11e4-bd03-00144feab7de.html#axzz3PUuw3AMu
He may have made a deal, but we never will.
Support the ADCS legal challenge.
Onwards and upwards!
@ badger
The Mayor of London article is behind a paywall. Can you give us a clue as to how deeply Boris bowed at the feet of the US FATCA monster?
@Bubblebustin
Both parties have been just trying to use us. The Democrats started mobilizing the overseas vote for Kerry purely because they were desperate for voters at a time when the Republicans seemed invincible. I met a homelander Republican who was really angry about that around 2005. About a year ago I read a comment from a top Republican that they relished using Americans abroad as a weapon against the Democrats in retaliation, so maybe that guy wasn’t alone. On the Democrat side, in 2012 local Democrats seemed to be more hopping mad at Congress than Obama, but whether its Schumer or Obama the fact remains that the Democrats are sticking their fingers in their ears regarding FATCA’s flaws and its going to blow up on them.
As for the ACA, I think that they represent more the traditional expat businessperson abroad while organizations like FAWCO or AARO, which developed out of women’s organizations, seem more interested in a wider range of U.S. persons abroad (I think that FAWCO is even interested in Greencard holders, for example)..
@ EmBee,
I found it, not pay-walled, by typing “London mayor bows to ‘outrageous” into google. The article came up and I clicked on it there.
It looks like the same article is in Euro Today, not pay-walled.
http://www.euro2day.gr/ftcom_en/article-ft-en/1296031/london-mayor-bows-to-outrageous-demand-to-pay-us.html