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
@ Blaze – as mentioned to DASH, I have a list if anyone wants to do a mailing. Most of us may not know any deep-pocketed folks but they are out there and maybe in your vicinity. For example, Blaze, I recall that there is a now-retired major sports coach that lives in your community (US born, just recently became Canadian). How do we from IBS reach out to them? Letter? Personal phone call? Email is out now. It’s spring – – lets get our brain juices going…… Blaze, I know you have done ++++++++; I’m just putting this out there to stir some action in the larger group. We don’t want to be $19,000 short again next quarter.
@Blaze
Clarification is definitely needed as to what is meant by “not donating” yet “championing our cause”.
Please donate. We are so close. When I begin to feel my hope fading, I re-read constitutional expert Peter Hogg’s letter to the Min of Finance and my hope is suddenly restored. In it he explains why the IGA infringes on Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
http://www.greenparty.ca/sites/greenparty.ca/files/attachments/peter_hogg_fatca.pdf
@Dash1729 re: “Clarification is definitely needed as to what is meant by “not donating” yet “championing our cause”. ”
For sure! For someone to claim they are fighting for us, yet not donate even a SMALL amount reeks of hypocrisy, even for those who are not wealthy. Some people(regardless of financial status), would prefer OTHERS did the heavy lifting when it comes to ‘show me the money’.
Imagine if only 1% of US persons worldwide donated $20 each in total. That would be around 70,000 people * $20 = 1 million 400,000 dollars, approximately 3 times what we need to fund the lawsuit.
DISCLAIMER: I realize that there truly are some down trodden persons, who cannot afford to contribute a dime, but surely that is not the case of most of us. If $20 won’t break the bank, PLEASE, it is YOUR turn to show that you really do support this cause and are not just paying lip service.
Maybe Nigel thinks that because he has stood up vocally against FATCA, written some anti-FATCA articles, etc, that he has done his part. The reality is that, no matter what any of us do to help this cause (commenting on articles, writing politicians, protesting, etc, etc), without the money to fund this lawsuit none of that effort will matter. The Canadian lawsuit is pivotal in this fight and the best hope we have right now of dealing FATCA a death wound.
@LM. That person in my community died last week.
Dreamer RE Nigel Green’s lack of monetary donation.
While I agree with you and Dash that it is hard to fathom why Nigel Green has strongly (and at length) championed the anti-FATCA movement but has not deigned to send ADCS any financial support, I would like to suggest that he (as the head of a multi-national investment and financial-advisory firm, may have international business constraints and regulations and and customer expectations and professional ethics issues that we (who do not live in that sphere nor in that profession) have no understanding of.
Let’s be thankful that he is agreeing to continue to champion our cause (and spread the word about our efforts through his missives) and hope that some of these words (mightier than the sword) and influence via his business organization and newsletter (and elsewhere) will encourage others to donate. We ask nothing more of other bloggers (e.g. The Flophouse and International Man).
LM, Perhaps you are right about Mr Green’s reason for not donating. However, he is just one person. What about the 99%? – the average Joe’s and Jane’s who can afford to donate something but haven’t, yet desperately want to see an end to FATCA? Where are they right now?
Has anyone noticed if Nigel Green or DeVere Group made a submission to the Senate Finance Committee? Shame on him if he didn’t!
When I left for the gym this morning we needed $19K and change, two and a half hours later it’s $8K and change. Bless these last minute donors.
WhooHoo! Did someone just donate 10 grand or is my eyesight failing?
@Dreamer, you aren’t dreaming! I just got the word to update the thermometer!! This will be the last one I can do before hitting the road to Ottawa for the weekend. I’m off to give the PM a piece of my mind (just kidding!). So this will be the last update of the thermometer before the deadline. Everyone will just have to imagine the full one once we hit it…and I believe we will!!
OMG! Congratulations.
Wow, I can stop being hysterical! (Or maybe a little less hysterical). This grass roots fundraising is NOT for the faint of heart.
One minute it’s 18K and then POOF it’s 8K. I’m speechless and after all my posting yesterday, everyone should be happy about that. 🙂 THANK YOU BIG DONOR(s?)!!!!
Oh my, it was 21 donors who made the Sovereignty Thermometer rise $10,000 upwards. That’s as sweet as it gets. 🙂
Wow!
So much gratitude for last-minute and repeat donors!!!
Thank you just doesn’t seem to be enough — but thanks for making the difference. We will see our goal met. It makes this heavy heart a lot lighter.
I didn’t think anything was better than Belgian chocolates, but I was wrong.
That squishy envelope from Belgium–and others from across Canada and around the globe– are far better. Thanks everyone!
We are so close. If you have not already donated, please do so right now with PayPal.
LOL — delicious, spongy, Belgium chocolate cash. 🙂
@Blaze. RE the potential deep pockets in your community – – sorry to hear that.
@ Dreamer RE “What about the 99%? – the average Joe’s and Jane’s who can afford to donate something but haven’t, yet desperately want to see an end to FATCA? Where are they right now?”
We all wish we knew. This is a marathon. We do what we can – as often as possible – and keep on going. We can’t do more than that.
Best to spread the word as widely as possible and not just to US Persons or base the request for support on the US-FATCA issue. See my recent post on the Media Blog articles page. This issue should be of concern to everyone in Canada – – about the crippling effect of the IGA on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, one of the major bases of Canadian Law!!!
@ Dreamer – YES!!! $10,000!!! Maybe it came from Nigel Green via an anonomous colleague? LOL
We have been blessed! Whoever it was, bless you 10,000 times.
Re: the next $100K retainer
Does the $500K cover the legal costs up to the summary trial (this August), or does it cover the full trial which is tentatively scheduled for some time in the spring of 2016? How far does this $$ get us?
All I had to do was read the submission from Richardson/Kish and just sit here and realize the amount of time that was spent researching, writing, videoing and taking the time to edit and put it all together and submit it to the USA. Gentlemen, thank you! A huge thank you to everyone else involved in standing up for Canadians rights and freedoms that come from being part of our country. My way of saying a special thank you is with another donation. To the rest of the world, Canada is standing with you all!