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
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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
Calgary, incredibly true isn’t it? The legal cases are numerous if the USA tries to force spouses of “US persons” to give them all of their private banking information. This could lead to other laws that were broken to allow the IGA to exsist over Canadian laws.
The emphasis is more focused on the first in line “victims”. I’d like to see the media call a Canadian spouse of a so called “US person” a tax cheat. This is what we need to really look at in the media as well. Seeing what this is doing to the spouses and the fact that they are considered “tax cheats” by the USA will not hold water in Canada.
Thanks for posing this before-unexpressed absurdity, NativeCanadian!
@Native Canadian,
I agree whole-heartedly; it is important to extend the understanding of the media and politicians away from just “US Persons” to ALL those in Canada who are being impacted – – to show that this is a multi-faceted issue, not just those few (3%?) who might have US links (even if they are “Accidental Americans”, poor them. The broader we can make this picture for those who might have some influence and ability to bring pressure for change, the better. Thanks for raising this absolutely appropriate/realistic topic.
@ All
As you know LM has been asking Brockers to please place Kijiji ads to invite people to join the Brock discussions AND donate to ADCS. She tried to post in areas outside her own area but those ads were eventually taken down. You don’t have to lose your anonymity to place an ad. Kijiji (http://www.kijiji.ca/) does ask for an e-mail address but fess up, you probably have a “dummy” account (well I don’t but Mr. EmBee does — that’s why I got him to do it). You can “borrow” a nearby postal code like he did so it doesn’t point directly to your location. No name required and the phone number field does NOT have to be filled in. Anybody care to give it a try? You never know when it might bring another brilliant Brock writer into the fold and/or prompt a donation to ADCS.
Here’s the template LM gave us to work with:
You can add your own bits and bobs to make the ad your own. Images and even a video will make your ad more interesting. LM added the ADCS video (click on the “In Parliament” tab) to hers with good results. So, who wants to Kijiji? It’s FREE!
NOTE: Expect the posting of your ad to take a few hours since they are moderated. That’s why the goal is to keep the wording non-inflammatory.
@bubblebustin, perhaps a child conceived of non-US parents, but with donated ovum or sperm from a US citizen donor could sue their non-US parent for exposing them to the hazards of a life of UStaxableperson status? Could they sue them for the costs they incurred in lost opportunity for them to benefit from Canadian TFSAs, RESPs, RDSPs, grants, tax deferral and tax exemption benefits provided by the Canadian government via Canadian tax policy and foregone Canadian taxes? Or the US compliance costs they will incur?
In an alternate scenario, could a Canadian citizen parent or child sue their provincial health authority if they were sent across the border to give birth/be born in a US healthcare facility – and thus inherited the UStaxableperson burden for themselves or their dependent? How many border communities in Canada have created UStaxable persons out of Canadians solely because they routinely send Canadian mothers to nearby US facilities? The burden is on the individual born into US taxable status, as well as the family they are dependent on.
Donate to this ADCS legal challenge in protest:
The Canadian government currently in power will resist the US in order to protect the softwood lumber industry, but not to protect the legal local savings and data of Canadian citizens and resident individuals and families from the forcible impostition of the US CBT and FATCA exports. They will be willing to fight the US over shingles and shakes, but not over the RESPs and RDSPs of Canadian children and dependents.
http://business.financialpost.com/2014/10/31/the-granddaddy-of-all-canadian-u-s-trade-disputes-is-about-to-rear-its-ugly-head-again/
“,,,Canadian-U.S. relations could be better. In recent years, Canada and the U.S. have locked horns over tomatoes, pork, steel, dairy products, and “Buy American” provisions in funding for infrastructure projects and government procurement. Then there’s the fate of Keystone XL. Canada desperately wants to see the oil pipeline approved………”
@Bubbles…its known as a USTD…..an unsexual transmitted disease.
# EmBee (& Mr. EmBee), Thank you so very much for trying to get some more Brockers to join the Kijiji-ad adventure.
For several weeks I had about 12 Ontario ads up in various cities; Thunder Bay led the “interested visits” with (eventually) 51 whereas my local community (Hamilton) ad had gotten less than 10 (but it is not a border community. These stayed up. I got one emailed reply from a Canadian young woman who was engaged to a US fellow and wanted to know a bit more so I sent her a brief reply encouraging her to learn more now before making important decisions RE residence and where to put their funds – – that love was wonderful but taxes complicated everything from then on.
Then, another Brocker encouraged me to just go ahead and try to post in other provinces too even tho I realized it was a risk (Kijiji rules state that one is only supposed to post in one’s local area; otherwise, these are “duplicate ads” and administration can take them down). Well, I pushed my luck and posted in various communities in BC, NB & NS + Winnipeg; within 2 days of these these ads going up in other provinces they had gathered close to 200 visits! BUT the next morning my mailbox was full of notices from Kijiji that these ads had ALL been taken down (even the ones in Ontario) due to someone noticing the ad-duplications. Sad sad sad and SAD!
So, Brockers, can you join EmBee (and me – – I still have one ad up) in posting these simple free ads in your neck of the woods? I’ve slightly varied the ad-description words (and, particularly, the ad-title) since this info was sent to EmBee (notably I’ve changed the title to something like:
ATTN “US PERSONS”: need info on FATCA & your banking privacy?
and the bottom web info to
See: www dot isaacbrocksociety dot ca
also: www dot adcs-adsc dot ca
But the basic gist has been unchanged: mildly-startelllng title. informative-encouraging text but non-inflammatory with catchy visuals and video. Seeing those “visits” increase over time is heartening; almost better than a peeved rant at Mr. Woods or other e-journalist.
Again, hugs to you, EmBee (and Mr. EmBee) for helping to spread the word. BTW, how many “visits” have your ads garnered?
Everyone,
See LM’s comment above.
Can some of you please help LM and the EmBees in posting locally the Kijiji “ads”?
@ Badger (RE suing their provincial health authority)
While almost certainly a non-viable (but interesting) legal approach (how would these provincial bodies have had any idea of these complications 20-50 years down the road), I do wonder how much this is still happening (the practice of sending mothers over the border into the US to have their labor/delivery). Ahd how would one find out? Would anyone related to this new birth care?
There are patient advocacy groups in many provinces; maybe a letter could go out to them or to the provincial association of mid-wives or Obstitricians? But then if it is a matter of maternal health and safety (and 15 minutes to the US hospital, 200 minutes to the closest provincial hospital) most to-be-parents would probably still choose the US option and worry about the taxation future in the future….. Maybe in the future the US will have been forced to adopt CBT and non-automatic-citizenship by birth and FATCA will be a black thorn in their history books
@ LM
The older ad (under community/discussions) has had 49 visits and the newer ad (under financial/legal) has had 25 visits (subtract 1 each because I peeked today — only Mr. EmBee can view these via his e-mail without adding to the count). The ad under financial/legal is up against the compliance condors but I think that’s a good thing. It would be better if people came here first instead of falling immediately into the clutches of the so-called “experts”. I consider our ads as being part of a rescue mission.
I have a question for anyone who is familiar with “fair use” rules. I loved the illustration that Peter C. Espina did for this article — http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/890215.shtml — so I e-mailed the author to try to get Mr. Espina’s e-mail address in order to ask for permission to use his artwork. I haven’t had a reply. Do you think it’s possible to use this IF I put “Illustration: Peter C. Espina/GT” below it? I think it would be eye-catching for a Kijiji ad and relatively non-inflammatory. LM, anyone — any advice?
Hi EmBee, as someone who’s in the graphic design profession, I advise you not to use the illlustration without permission. He was probably commissioned to do the artwork and may not even own the rights to it. If he does own the rights he may grant permission for free or may ask for a fee. If you don’t ask permission first, though, he could sue for payment. We don’t want that, obviously!
@ GwEvil
Thank you. Hopefully I’ll get a reply AND permission. Otherwise, I certainly won’t use it.
@ EmBee,
the Peter C. Espina drawing certainly is eye-catching – I had not seen it before – but beyond GwEvi’s comments I too would suggest you refrain – – again, better to introduce the subject with something less emotional. All my ads had 2 images: one of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Cen flag at the bottom, a crest at the top) and one of a piece of paper with the word PRIVACY in big letters on it (the paper was coming out of a straight-line shredder-machine, communicating the essence of the FATCA requirements. Sometimes I added another image but tried to be “delicate”. Newspapers and e-journals can be more provocative if they want…..
@ EmBee – a PS: getting 49 visits for one ad is REALLY GOOD; one can hope that each person who read the ad will tell one or two others……. And, after a few weeks you (or Mr. EmBee) can delete this initial ad and put it up again in the exact same place with a slightly different title or “Main Image” and see if you can (now at the top of the page of ads in that category) catch a few more folks. Your reasoning for putting it in the Financial/legal section is interesting; one wonders what those “compliance industry” folks think if they see it on the same page as theirs…..
You keep going, gal, and spread the information. We’ve got $86,565 more to go by Feb 1 and every contact helps! Bit by bit (can you guess that I was a cheerleader in high school 50+ years ago???)!
Regarding the flat-lining of the donations this past week. Mr. EmBee said he would send in something next week to help. Just think of Ginny and Gwen and GIVE … PLEASE!
I have just posted EmBee’s Kijiji ad for Kingston, in the services (financial/legal) category. I also plan on making another ADCS contribution this week.
Double yay, Mr. A. Thank you!
Hey, Mr. A., welcome aboard! Great to hear you are joining the Kijiji ad-posting campaign! Hopefully others will follow. I agree to keep a list of the Canadian cities that have been covered. Do let us know if you get a goodly number of visits (and if you know others in other cities who might also join in). Anyone out there in Ottawa? St. Johns? Montreal? Victoria?
🙂
We welcome new people to visit our site. I would suggest that in the top heading of our daily update that we post a noticeable link to the actual filed lawsuit that is pending. This would allow newcomers to see the date etc that is was filed in the court. The easier it is for visitors look up the more likely they will see the result of our hard work and effort that goes on and prove that our cause is serious and credible. Just a thought!
@LM and @EmBee
I do not find anything on Ottawa Kijiji. I will post there if no one else has done so. What is the present situation, so far as you know?
Poster
I suggest the ADCS website have a downloadable, 8 1/2 x 11 poster, configured in such a way as to have tear away slips at the bottom with the URL. That way, it can be posted on community billboards, in workplace coffee rooms, etc. Interested persons could tear away the URL.
The story of the former greencard holders in today’s headline just makes me boil. What an outrage! Congratulations to them for refusing to dance any further to the IRS’s tune and instead supporting a cause that may draw that twisted melody to its final cadence.
@ NorthernShrike – RE Kijiji ads
Welcome aboard the Kijiji-ad country-wide sweep, and thanks for taking this on. I will put down that you will be doing the posting in Ottawa. My ad there was up for for a couple weeks and got some “visits” but it will be good to have one up locally, for longer and re-posted now and then to bring the ad again up to the top of the page. 🙂
I will send Pacifica a few of the images I have used and hopefully she can post them for you and others to adopt as needed. Do keep us informed about the results of this approach. Bit by bit…….