Dear Supporters,
Many of you probably predicted that I would not be saying this today, but this message is not a dream: You came up with yet another $100,000 payment — now making a total of $400,000 provided to the Arvay team.
In the last twelve days you actually donated more than $40,000 — an amazing achievement for small donors. This accomplishment proves to all those people who want us to fail — that we are very determined.
You gave until it hurt and then you gave a lot more. It’s hard not to get teary-eyed over the generosity of our supporters, who have come through every time.
We know that the pace of your litigation is painfully slow, and this is unfortunately as expected. The Government will continue to do its best to slow down the process, but we now have the assistance of a case management judge to help keep the process moving more fairly.
We filed in August 2014 and it has taken a very long time (one year) before we are finally into a (summary) trial (August 4-5, 2015). We cannot predict the outcomes of this trial, based on only part of our arguments and, with your continued support, we will prepare for all possibilities.
[Happy birthday Gwen!]
Thank you for your trust,
Stephen Kish,
ADCS-ADSC Chair,— on behalf of Plaintiffs Ginny and Gwen, their families, and the ADCS-ADSC Directors
——————————————————————————————————-
Chers amis et donateurs,
Certains d’entre vous avaient probablement pensé que je ne pourrais pasvous annoncer une si bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui. Mais voilà : ensemble, nous avons réussi à ramasser un autre montant de 100 000 $, ce qui fait un total de 400 000 $ à remettre à l’équipe de MeArvay.
Dans les 12 derniers jours seulement, vous avez donné plus de 40 000 $, un exploit tout à fait extraordinaire pour des « petits donateurs ». À tous ceux qui souhaitent nous voir échouer, cette réussite prouve que nous sommes des plus déterminés. Et que nous réussirons.
Vous avez donné jusqu’à ce que ça fasse mal, puis vous avez donné encore. Difficile de rester insensible devant une si grande générosité.
Nous sommes bien conscients du fait que notre litige avance de façon péniblement lente. Malheureusement, tout ça est normal. Le gouvernement continue à ralentirle processus, mais on nous a maintenant attitré un juge responsable de la gestion de notre dossier qui veillera à ce que le processus progresse de façon plus juste.
En août 2014, nous avons engagé une poursuite contre le gouvernement canadien. Près d’un an plus tard, nous avons enfin la date pour notre procès sommaire : les 4 et 5 août 2015. Impossible de prévoir le dénouement de ce procès, basé uniquement sur une partie de nos arguments juridiques. Mais avec votre appui, nous serons prêts pour toutes les possibilités.
(Bonne fête, Gwen !)
Au nom de nos deux plaignantes, Ginny et Gwen, de leurs familles et des directeurs de l’ADCS-ADSC, je vous remercie de votre confiance.
Stephen Kish,
Président de l’ADCS-ADSC
@Bubblebustin – RE “Thanks for putting into words what this not-quite-so ripened feminist couldn’t.”
Thanks, to you too, for providing the trigger for a good, and well articulated, rant – – we should all let these churning things explode out every now and then – – it’s good for the soul and sense of identity! Hugs for that!!!
As for being “not-quite-so-ripened”, when you’ve seen as much as I have seen (and realize what issues have been fought decades ago and partly won only to recognize with bitterness the slide-back in some important areas, and when you get to the age where you don’t care nearly as much what others think – – you begin to tell it like it is. I know a lot of Brockers are doing that (really well!!!) in relation to FATCA and other US stupidities, I guess I just got “caught” by a different (long stupid) life-reality.
Hopefully my rant encourages you (and others) in the onward-ripening of feminist development – – we need all the supporters we can get in that realm, too!!! 🙂
Hugs to you too from this ripening (and somewhat plumping) feminist 🙂
@LM re: “Hopefully my rant encourages you (and others) in the onward-ripening of feminist development – – we need all the supporters we can get in that realm, too!!! ”
We are all more than a little ‘KILL FATCA/CBT’ obsessed at this site (no duh), so although the topic seems out of place, you illustrate a good point, which is that there are a lot of other causes that need support as well.
And those of us who have been singing the ‘FATCA/CBT is UNJUST’ song for some time now, know EXACTLY how it feels, to trumpet a cause to someone in person, in letters, or at a site other than Brock, MapleSandbox, etc, and have people pooh-pooh us as ranting about something unrelated or whining about something that’s not so bad.
This fight should, if nothing else, have made us more ready to listen, and more open-minded towards others.
@ WhiteKat: AMEN!!!
When newbies like RefugeeFromAmerica can lead us to a darn good rant like LM’s … it’s a GOOD thing. Thanks to both of you and to Bubblebustin for the pithy summation: “… if you don’t want ’em, we don’t want ’em.” I’d like to be able to go on to supporting other just causes but I feel I can only manage one at a time — so ADCS is it for me, for now. There’s the big one looming — stopping WW3 — but that one is so beyond my abilities and my savings that it’s the ant looking at the elephant scenario.
@EmBee
I’m not really a newbie as I have been reading this site and the discussions for a few years now and have been donating to the lawsuit since its inception. I just don’t post here very often. When I saw the story on Slashdot, I thought that it had IBS written all over it!
My wife and I renounced our citizenship last summer in Toronto, before the fee increased, and received our CLNs in late November. We are not accidentals or border babies, but former homelanders who moved away in our late 30s in protest of the seemingly never-ending wrongs that America has committed throughout her history (and continues to commit). We became Canadian citizens as soon as we could after immigrating and did not renounce because of FATCA or taxes (we have been IRS compliant since arriving here in the mid-2000s). FATCA was just proof to us that America was never going to change and that it was time to cut our ties and our losses. Our remaining problem now is that our daughter, in her early teens, is trapped in US citizenship at least until she turns 18, at which time we will have the honour and privilege of passing well over $2500 CAD of our hard-earned money to the US government to buy her freedom. We feel like, as dual citizens in this situation, that we had our basic human rights violated by both countries and that no one in any position of power of authority anywhere on the planet gives a damn. Well, they will give a damn after the Supreme Court of Canada has its say on this issue! Viva la revolucion! Viva la ADCS!
@ RefugeeFromAmerica
Sorry, there are so many names here at Brock I must have inadvertently dropped yours from my dilapidated mental database. Thanks for your contributions and I’m so happy you and your wife are among the CLNers here. Indeed, “Viva la ADCS!” And, “Surgite!”
@RefugeeFromAmerica
While I totally understand your position, in regard to your young-teen child, lots can happen during those teen years and maybe (yes, maybe) she will want to have that extra citizenship for a while during the time when she figures out what she wants for her life (including higher education, work, love-partnership, business). It’s an awful truth that our children do not always go along with our ideas (probably your US parents would not be happy knowing that you did what we at IBS all understand and support). So put this issue in the back of your mind and see what unfolds. Who knows, maybe (yes, maybe) this will all have resolved itself by then (fat chance, eh???)
not directly related to FATCA, but good to see Congress (at least on something) knows the difference between a treaty and executive agreement. wish they could write the same letter about those sham IGAs
“The senators point out to the Iranian leadership that any international treaty not approved by Congress “is a mere executive agreement.”
http://www.albawaba.com/news/repulican-senators-iran-nuclear-deal-may-be-revoked-after-obama-666500
Coming down the pike …. an alternative …..
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/09/us-china-yuan-payments-exclusive-idUSKBN0M50BV20150309
The Houston Law Review article on FATCA SEEMS interesting and I will in due course read it through. As a preliminary comment however, I note that the article’s author does not properly understand the difference between Citizenship Based Taxation and Residency Based Taxation and therefore makes misleading statements in the early paragraphs. That is an awful shame based on the scholarly appearance of the article as a whole. I wonder whether anyone can advise the Houston Law Review of this before these misconceptions get even wider coverage.
The US Finance Committee is seeking input from the public on tax reform. I am not sure which one we should email, but why not copy and paste and email both. We all must flood these email address telling them to END CBT NOW. People always ask what they can do, we have to keep our foot on the pedal. We are making some small gains now, but have to keep going. Email the two emails below and help spread the word to get everyone to do it as well.
They are asking for email submissions:
International@finance.senate.gov
Individual@finance.senate.gov
In addition to what Phil is saying, it is necessary to include certain information and to send submissions in PDF format:
http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/chairman/release/?id=3bcf1fcf-9dd8-47d4-9202-21a0870cd8d6
@Phil @Tricia @all
AARO has provided a form letter to send to legislators:
https://aaro.org/images/model_letter_def.docx
Tricia,
Is this the same “call for submissions” that your meeting in Toronto last month (the video and written testimonials) was geared towards?
I have been puzzled by the slow creep upwards of this particular fund-raising thermometer. When this new post first went online, it required Brockers to re-sign up, to stay in touch with this new post’s comments (from 25 January 2015). I wonder: how many subscribers to the previous equivalent (Nov-Dec-Jan, and Aug-Sep-Oct) thermometers fell by the wayside? If a substantial number, can the ADCS campaign afford to lose interested subscribers? Can anything be done to reconnect lost readers with the ongoing need for contributions?
@ KingOfTheRoad
You’re puzzled and I’ll bet the ADCS team members are both puzzled and a bit worried. I hope donations will start to pick up soon or else it will be another nail-biter for all of us in the last couple weeks of April. The only way to make certain this lawsuit is successful is to make certain it gets funded.
I believe Brock and the Sandbox have helped a lot of people pass through the gate to freedom. My husband and I never even knew a CLN existed three years ago and now he has one. We will never forget where we learned the necessary steps to take and that’s part of the reason we continue to donate to ADCS. It’s a monetary expression of our gratitude. Of course, the major reason is to strike back at our current government’s disregard for rights, freedoms, privacy and Canada’s sovereignty. We also appreciate the sacrifice Ginny and Gwen are making on behalf of all of us who still value these concepts.
There’s still time for the thermometer to hit the top again. I plan to file my (Canadian) income tax return soon and electronically. When the refund gets deposited in my bank account, which should be well before May 1, I will make another contribution. I think it’s fitting to use my refund from the CRA against the FATCA IGA, and I hope other contributors will feel the same way. 🙂
My fourth contribution coming via PayPal after the 25th. Should also be able to get another in near the end of April. Sadly not enough to make the thermometer take a significant leap. Wish I could do more.
@AnonAnon
I’m doing the same thing, thanks for beating me to the punch. I’m getting a few hundred bucks back from CRA thanks to various tax-deductible donations last year, and I will be donating every cent of that refund to the ADCS legal fund, for exactly the same reasons you mention.
Best use of the “found money” (actually, my money) that CRA will be refunding to me, that I can think of. Especially sweet to know the money will help fight the Harperoid Government’s treasonous sellout of my fellow Canadians to the IRS and the sellout of Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, for all Canadians of no matter what origin, in the precedent that they set with the IGA and enabling legislation.
If anyone else reading this thread is getting a tax refund this year (from no matter which government), please consider donating as much or all of it (subject of course to your family’s immediate financial needs) to the Association for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty’s fund to support Gwen’s and Ginny’s legal challenge to the IGA in Canada.
@ Old English and Schubert
That’s a great use of a tax “refund”. Makes me wish we were getting one too but we never get refunds. (We’ll find something somewhere else though.) I’m appalled and angered by the death (of our future), by a thousand cuts, policy of the Harper government and helping to fund the ADCS lawsuit is a tangible way for me to say, “Oh no you don’t, you bat rastards!”
Sorry AnonAnon I meant you but good on Old English too.
AnonAnon,
I feel that way, too, AnonAnon and Schubert — will send any *found money* in a CRA tax refund to ADCS-ADSC, along with my small monthly donation. A lot of little bumps like mine will be can make an important difference. Inch by bloody inch.
@All
I haven’t been on here all that much for the last 1+ week–there have however been a couple of tracking updates to the case on the Federal Court of Canada website fairly recently:
2015-03-11 Vancouver Communication to the Court from the Registry dated 11-MAR-2015 re: letter ID15
2015-03-03 Vancouver Letter from Defendant dated 03-MAR-2015 requesting that a case management judge be assigned to this matter and that a case management conference be scheduled as soon as possible. received on 03-MAR-2015
A quick scan through the more popular threads on IBS hasn’t shown any discussion on these but I might have missed it (and if so I apologize and will appreciate if anyone can give me the link to the discussion on these court activities). Anyone know what is happening? It looks like the government has taken some action in court. Is the government’s letter to the Court a matter of public record? Of course I will understand if nothing can be said as yet.
@All
A bit more action today apparently:
– 2015-03-13 Vancouver Fax transmission confirmation received from counsel with respect to Order 13-MAR-2015 placed on file on 13-MAR-2015
11 2015-03-13 Vancouver Order dated 13-MAR-2015 rendered by Roger Lafrenière, Esq., Prothonotary Matter considered without personal appearance The Court’s decision is with regard to Letter from Defendant dated 03-MAR-2015 Result: The action shall continue as a specially managed proceeding. The parties shall either jointly or separately, and by 23-MAR-2015, submit a proposed timetable for completion of the next steps in the proceeding or requisition a case management conference to fix a timetable. Any requisition for a case management conference should contain, at a minimum, an agenda for the conference and dates and times of mutual availability of counsel for the parties. Filed on 13-MAR-2015 copies sent to parties Transmittal Letters placed on file. entered in J. & O. Book, volume 1261 page(s) 126 – 127 Interlocutory Decision