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
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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
@ KingOfTheRoad
That’s the way to do it. Let Stephen Kish know something’s coming. That will test the credit card system. Hopefully a paypal will do the same. I don’t know why I’m being so suspicious … maybe it’s because my husband’s snail mail donation took about twice as long as usual. BTW, that’s a very generous donation. Good on ‘ya mate (as a dear friend of mine used to say).
I’m thinking how John, Stephen, Marilyn, an anonymous “non-compliant”, Tricia and MuzzledNoMore (plus others like calgary411 and Blaze who are the wind beneath their wings) have delivered for Ginny and Gwen and ALL OF US. As soon as my pension cheques arrive I will do my small part to deliver too. Unfortunately, my delivery won’t arrive before May 1st.
I sent a small donation using PayPal. My donations have been small but I will continue to send some each payday. While there may be some concern around using PayPal I think that if the U.S. Government used this as a method to track people down they would have even more to answer to. This court battle is about so much more than FATCA, it is about people standing up for their beliefs and rights. I know this payment has been a struggle but we will not give up.
@ Forever Canadian
According to the update, it appears as though the electronic systems are working. Thanks for your PayPal donation. EVERYTHING gets us closer to the goal post. Encouraging words there — ” … we will not give up”. I think it’s time, again, for a little musical inspiration too …
@GeorgeIII
Good job playing devil’s advocate, but all the more reasons to fight the evil US government even harder.
In the end it will come down to Non-Resident Americans asking themselves a simple question: “are we free men and women or are we slaves?”
Someone who was just experiencing their omg moment contacted me recently, and after a few emails wrote this: “to quote from the movie Blade Runner: “Quite an experience to live in fear isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave” Slave to our Big Brothers next door.”
I love the movie Blade Runner but had forgotten that line. It’s a perfect quote for this situation. We have to throw off the shackles and refuse to live in fear of “Big Brother” next door.
Here is the actual clip from Blade Runner:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfvVY4lqnW0
Also, as King of the Road has demonstrated and as it also says on the ADCS donation page, one does not need a PayPal account to donate using the PayPal buttons. They work with credit cards as well.
Thanks everyone!
This may have some relevance to your suit: Bloomberg Daily Tax report says a Treasury Official stated at an international conference on April 17 that financial institutions in IGA Model 1 jurisdictions such as the UK and Canada must obtain a self-certification of residency and citizenship BEFORE opening a new account. Apparently the prior interpretation of this, issued by the UK at any rate, was that the financial institution could open the account and if the certification wasn’t provided in 90 days, could treat the account holder as a US person. Presumably, the US Treasury official is saying that a self-certification is a precondition to anyone’s being able to open an account in any Model 1 jurisdiction. This interpretation gives the bank a chance to reject you which the bank most certainly will do, and gives the you the customer a perjury problem if you lied, or just didn’t know, about the fact that you are a US person.
Just sent what I could, wish it could have been more.
@The Mom
Sending what u can is all u can do…. not sending anything is worse… little by little… is all we can do… but we will make the next payment… None of us have deep pockets but we all know how wrong the US & the gov’ts are for their dirty dealings… We the little people are not just pushing back… we are putting our full weight against it & taking them to task… if this is not funded all the way… what else will be done against our will… I always thought the gov’t was for the good of the people… didn’t realize it was for the good of certain people with means & power…
I will be sending another donation shortly. For those who have not donated, or are on the fence about it, please donate. It is so important. Here is why….
@qm I think you are correct regarding self certification. Back in February I tried to open an account at a small Toronto credit union with $200. I presented an Ontario drivers license, SIN and credit card. I was asked the following:
Are you a Canadian Citizen? Yes
Are you a US citizen? I said no
Are you a US resident for tax purposes? I said no
When it came time to sign the documents, I was presented with a “Fatca Self-Certification” form. Two copies, one for me and one for the credit union. It was not an official CRA for IRS form, just something that the bank drew up. It started with “In order to fulfill our legal obligations…..” I needed to say yes or no to being a US citizen. Then yes, or no to being a US resident for tax purposes. I answered no to all. I played dumb and asked what this “US stuff” was all about. The financial adviser told me that it was new legislation that came into play at the beginning of the year and that all banks and credit unions had to have these forms filled out by account holders. I asked if my self certification form would be sent to the US. He indicated that banking information would be sent to the US only if the person answered yes to the questions about citizenship.
The whole situation freaked me out so much that I left without opening the account. This experience left an awful taste in my mouth. Am I overreacting? Is this just a situation of the financial institution covering their ass? If I went through with it and opened the account as a “Canadian only” person, would I need to worry about getting caught?
For those who are still on the fence about donating, or who may feel that some may be blowing this whole situation out of proportion, I challenge you to try opening up an account at any Canadian financial institution and see what your experience is like.
@Marie, I think it really varies from institution to institution, and maybe even branch to branch. I previously detailed how my big Cdn bank had no interest whatsoever in my CLN. Didn’t copy it, didn’t note anything in my profile. I tried and tried to present it to my “personal banker” (loans officer), no go. I had previously gone in to check on what ID was on my profile, asking about FATCA, and filling in the receptionist. Not long after that, while in for something else, I was introduced to the manager, while in for a mortgage renewal.
They know who I am, and I sqawk about FATCA with any employee I’m in contact with at that branch. They are pretty shocked when I educate them, especially the tellers.
@ Marie
Please put your comment about your credit union experience here too …
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/06/26/please-provide-in-this-post-questions-big-canadian-banks-will-ask-new-account-holders-on-july-2-2014/
@EmBee
Done. Thank you.
Reason.com has articles about FATCA: http://reason.com/search?q=fatca
To gain publicity I think you should contact them. http://reason.com//flatpage/item/media-contact
You should state if your videos are copyrighted and how they can be used.
Well we’re down to the 30 thousand area at least. I don’t know how the ADCS team will handle falling short of the May 1st goal — perhaps add another month of collection time after August 1st? Whatever they decide is fine by me. Considering who we are as donors (i.e. mostly with small pockets and often hampered by fear of “exposure”) we’ve done very well indeed. We’re worthy of congratulations and capable of eventually cobbling together the entire amount needed for this lawsuit. We’re not going to let the Canadian government, the U.S. government or any salivating compliance condors breathe easy.
@Embee:
You said it well.
And we WILL get it done. ALL of it. We are just getting our second wind!
The testimony in today’s update is among the most compelling I’ve read in the past 3 years. Doing our part to ensure that the ADCS funded lawsuit succeeds can give us hope that FATCA will falter and CBT will crumble.
[@EmBee, at the moment the testimony is on my Maple Sandbox post:
http://maplesandbox.ca/2015/99750-more-needed-in-94-days-to-make-the-may-1-2015-payment-for-canadian-fatca-iga-lawsuit-il-nous-reste-99750-a-ramasser-pour-notre-poursuite-judiciaire/?preview=true&preview_id=5200&preview_nonce=48af163cac ]
@ Stephen Kish
Will you do an update with Ginny’s new message to supporters? (Sorry if I’m jumping guns here.)
http://maplesandbox.ca/2015/letter-from-ginny-please-help-with-fatca-lawsuit-funding/
Just made another donation after reading Ginny’s message.
Ginny’s letter has inspired me to make another donation which I will do later this evening.
I’m wondering what the anger level is out there. Are Canadians deemed ‘US persons’ scared more than they are angry? I ask that because I don’t think I am afraid. But I KNOW I am really ANGRY. Harper and Company can NOT be allowed to get away with throwing one million Canadians under the bus! No way! It is NOT going to happen!!
So far, between the two fundraising efforts (the first to see if our fight had legal validity), and the current effort, I’ve donated $1600. My Canadian only spouse has no clue how much I have donated (I suspect he does not want to know). It may not seem like a lot to some people, but it is to our family.
Please, there must be people who read here, who empathize with our cause. Whether you are a fellow Canadian or a US person in another country watching our story unfold, know that EVERY small donation gets us closer to our goal. It all adds up, just like the many small items in the grocery bills for my family of five. The clock is ticking, but we can make it!
Ginny,
For you and Gwen, the monthly contribution for May will be sent earlier — a few days before the end of April for the May 1 installment. My IOU.
Yes, Ginny, Gwen and Stephen — inch by bloody inch will get us there. We must reach the goal.
Squeezing out yet another donation, just sent this evening – in gratitude to and with respect for Ginny & Gwen – but for the sake of all of us, and all of our futures.
[Admin: please note the correctly changed email address with this posting – matching that in this evening’s donation – is to become my New Normal here at IBS, courtesy of nightmarish ISP (another cussed three-letter organization)! Can this change be implemented throughout, or do I need to do something myself?]
Since the update changes daily I’ll post the testimony I was referring to on April 22, 2015 at 1:46 pm (I just happened to save it). It’s still on the Maple Sandbox but it will eventually move on.
Readers; to those who read here at IBS,but haven’t yet been motivated to fund the legal challenge – perhaps this will move some of you who have been hanging back. The US is now extraterritorially inserting itself into the relationship between lawyers and their clients in NZ – using FATCA.
I also posted this on the NZ specific thread.
FATCA in NZ affecting lawyers, their trust accounts (funds held for clients) and FATCA compliance:
https://my.lawsociety.org.nz/news/law-society-provides-details-on-law-firm-fatca-requirements
“Law Society provides details on law firm FATCA requirements
The New Zealand Law Society has written to all New Zealand law firms, providing an update on the action they will need to take to comply with the FATCA regime.
FATCA is the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. All law firms with trust accounts must consider whether the FATCA Agreement between New Zealand and the United States applies to them and what action they will need to take.
The Law Society has prepared a Practice Briefing, FATCA and New Zealand Law Firms, which provides information on the FATCA regime and the steps that each law firm must take for it and any trust account it operates to comply with FATCA.
The Law Society says that the Practice Briefing does not constitute legal advice and each law firm must consider its own position regarding its FATCA obligations.
Discussions are currently underway between the Law Society, the New Zealand Bankers’ Association and the Inland Revenue Department to enable IRD to finalise guidance on the application of FATCA to law firms, lawyers’ trust account relationship entities and lawyers’ nominee companies. A guidance note is expected from the IRD before mid-2015 and the Practice Briefing will be updated when this is available.
The Law Society has also developed some suggested forms to assists law firms with obtaining information from their clients. These are available on the Law Society website here. “