[IF ANYONE HAS FULL LETTERS FROM CANADIAN POLITICIANS REQUESTING A FATCA DELAY — OTHER THAN THE LETTERS ALREADY POSTED ON BROCK — PLEASE SEND TO ME IMMEDIATELY USING THE EMAIL SITE ON WWW.ADCS-ADSC.CA]
The Honourable Nathan Cullen is one of my heroes for trying to stop the Canadian FATCA IGA implementing legislation in the Parliament Committee meetings. Here he asks the Minister of National Revenue and Finance Minister to request a delay of the FATCA transfer (what is the downside in Canada making the simple request?):
Minister of Finance The Honourable Joe Oliver Department of Finance Canada
90 Elgin Street Ottawa,
Minister of National Revenue The Honourable Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay PC, QC, MP
7th Floor 555 MacKenzie Avenue
Ottawa ON K1A 0L5 Ontario K1A 0G5Via email
September 22, 2015
Dear Honourable Ministers,
It is with urgency that I write you about the impending transfer of Canadians’ financial information through the U.S.-Canada Intergovernmental Agreement and Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
A September 23rd transfer of information is set to take place in order to adhere to the original September 30, 2015 deadline imposed by the United States Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under FATCA, but this deadline has now been extended until September 30, 2016, and as a result I am asking that the Canadian government halt the planned transfer of information.
The IRS notice, issued September 18, 2015 states that:
Many partner jurisdictions that have signed IGAs or reached an agreement in substance on the text of an IGA continue to work through their internal procedures to bring the IGA into force. Pursuant to its authority under section 1471(b)(2)(B), and consistent with Announcement 2014-38, for Model 1 IGAs that have not yet entered into force on September 30, 2015, Treasury intends to continue to treat FFIs covered by the IGA as complying with, and not subject to withholding under, FATCA so long as the partner jurisdiction continues to demonstrate firm resolve to bring the IGA into force and any information that would have been reportable under the IGA on September 30, 2015, is exchanged by September 30, 2016, together with any information that is reportable under the IGA on September 30, 2016. Source: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-15-66.pdf
The Canadian government can now request a delay of transfer and still remain compliant with FATCA, therefore I urgently request that you cease the planned transfer of information on September 23rd, and proceed request a delay from the United States government.
The intergovernmental agreement to implement the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act in Canada has been the subject of widespread criticisms. Serious concerns remain about the potential violation of privacy and constitutional rights as a consequence of the agreement, as well as the unknown costs to Canadians.
It is the responsibility of the Government of Canada to ensure that privacy rights of all Canadians are protected.
Please consider this urgent request.
Sincerely,
Nathan Cullen
NDP Critic for Finance (Skeena – Bulkley Valley)
Letter from Nathan Cullen NDP Finance Critic requesting that Canadian Government ask for a delay in FATCA turnover.
A very big THANK YOU to Nathan Cullen, NDP Finance Critic.
As he states, “The Canadian government can now request a delay of transfer and still remain compliant with FATCA, therefore I urgently request that you cease the planned transfer of information on September 23rd, and proceed request a delay from the United States government.”
Let’s see how the Conservative government responds to this one.
Thanks, Stephen.
Nathan Cullen is one of my heroes as well.
The Canadian government has duly been informed and asked on many fronts to request from the US a delay to September 30, 2016 for turning over private Canadian financial information to a foreign government.
This should be an important story in the media.
Nathan Cullen is proving that honest politicians who care about Canada and Canadians actually do exsist. Mr. Cullen, thank you for standing up for the minorities in Canada!
Justin Trudeau stands alone with Prime Minister Harper on sovereignty sell-out.
My query to my Liberal candidate in Calgary Confederation, Scott Brison and the address that gave me the last piss-poor reply on what Justin Trudeau would do.
From: caroltapanila@shaw.ca
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2015 1:05 PM
To: Matt Grant ; office@brison.ca ; Liberal / Assistance
Subject: What will the Liberal Party Leader do to stop turn-over of Canadian financial information to the US on September 29th, 2015?
Time is of the essence.
Elizabeth May, Murray Rankin and Nathan Cullen yesterday corresponded on an urgent basis with the Canadian government in an effort to stop the turn-over of the first round (unless some has already gone) of Canadian *US-defined US Persons in Canada* to the US IRS, which they have corresponded with the ADCS-ADSC legal team that will take place on September 29, 2015. See links below.
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2015/09/22/letter-from-elizabeth-may-green-party-of-canada-leader-to-canadas-prime-minister-requesting-delay-in-fatca-turnover/
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2015/09/23/important-ndp-has-stepped-up-to-the-plate-with-another-letter-to-the-minister-thank-you-murray-rankin/
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2015/09/23/letter-from-nathan-cullen-canadian-ndp-finance-critic-to-canadas-minister-of-national-revenue-and-the-finance-minister-requesting-delay-in-fatca-turnover/
From Nathan Cullen’s letter of September 22, 2015:
Will Mr. Trudeau lend his voice in asking for this delay?
Justin Trudeau absolutely must do more than offer rhetoric that *A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian* because my and other Canadian families affected are not sure if that is only Canadians who do not bank of their local CANADIAN *foreign financial institution*. We want to know that ALL CANADIANS follow the same Canadian laws and are protected equally by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Again, this is urgent. Can I get a reply from you today?
Regards,
Carol Tapanila
Calgary, AB, Canada
Heartening, for sure!
I feel I’ve done everything I can do to prevent people from going through what I went through. I think I’ll go hide under a rock now.
bubblebustin,
You and so many others here have done so very much — we tried valiantly for years and to this day to get information they needed to those affected in Canada and other countries.
I’ll never believe anything other than there were deliberate road blocks in our way that prevented this ever being a huge and ongoing media story. Not many of those who will now find they are affected were ready *to believe* until there was credibility of what we were saying by also being reported in the media.
(In the middle of last night and In my continual quest to try to understand it all, I reviewed and agreed with *RefugeeInAmerica* comments going back a ways at Brock — when sleep would not (again) come for me.)
And, then, we fought what is just human nature, enforcing the theory — no, never could happen to me.
Please don’t go under a rock. We need you. Sleep well tonight.
Thank you, Calgary411. You’re words are kind and encouraging, as they’ve been for so many. I truly do appreciate them.
We’ve been fighting for so long – it would be nice if we just could win once in awhile.
I believe you’re right about the road blocks. How can something so potentially huge go relatively unnoticed? I just don’t get it. I’m not one to believe in conspiracies, but it does seem rather suspicious.
Maybe I’ll sleep better knowing that I’ve made the best effort I could, and it’s now up to others to decide what kind of country it is we wish to be.
Well said, bubblebustin!
I’m sure the ADCS lawyers have studied the IRS notice and have decided that there would be no legal consequences if Canada had requested such a delay, but I’m concerned about
“Treasury intends to continue to treat FFIs covered by the IGA as complying with, and not subject to withholding under, FATCA so long as the partner jurisdiction continues to demonstrate firm resolve to bring the IGA into force and any information that would have been reportable under the IGA on September 30, 2015, is exchanged by September 30, 2016, together with any information that is reportable under the IGA on September 30, 2016”, especially the phrase “so long as the partner jurisdiction continues to demonstrate firm resolve to bring the IGA into force”. Could the IRS, or a country which has already signed an IGA, treat an application for an extension as a pledge that the requesting country has made a commitment “to bring the IGA into force”? Could such a request harm the court case in Canada?
.
@ Queenston
Any country’s “firm resolve” could be just as “firm” as the USA’s committment to reciprocity. There should be no monopoly on that type of committment or maybe a better way to put it is “Turnabout is fair play.”
I will be canvassing against Joe Oliver’s re-election in his Toronto riding this Saturday with 60 other people. The “Storm the Riding” campaign is organized by LeadNow.ca. See this web site for details:
http://we.leadnow.ca/eglinton-canvass-0905_20151003
As far as I know, they are still accepting volunteers for the event.