46 thoughts on “John Richardson on CTV “Power Play” with Don Martin today”

1. Charles, a practical difficulty with your suggestion is that the new Trudeau Liberal Government ignores your “challenge” and refuses to make any statement on FATCA and our lawsuit to the public or to the press. Can you and others help push the Government to respond to your challenge?

   Since January 20, 2015 CBC Radio Ottawa has been trying to arrange an interview with a Liberal Government spokesperson, still (as of yesterday) without success. Perhaps the two Ministers we are suing would reasonably decline to comment, but there should be at least one other Liberal in the Government willing to chat with the CBC on FATCA, pre-election Trudeau statements, and our lawsuit.

   In contrast, the Conservative Party spokesperson Lisa Raitt, post-election, was clear in her defence of the Canadian FATCA compliance law — and I applaud her for her willingness to speak to the CBC and for her brutal honesty: ““It was the only thing we could do…It was a very strong request from the U.S. government…”

   I tried this, which did not work, but maybe you and other Canadians would have better success: Go today to your local MP (I phoned my MP) and ask that person to help arrange an interview between CBC Radio Ottawa and just one fearless Liberal Government spokesperson willing to speak on FATCA and our lawsuit.

   — In a few weeks or so, the Government will have no choice but to provide some written reply to the many FATCA questions raised by the NDP in Parliament. Am somewhat curious as to how Government will respond.

2. Thanks, Patricia!

   Thanks, Deckard1138!

   And, as always, thanks – John Richardson! How I wish you had more than four minutes. How I wish the person who was interviewing had a better reaction and further discussion than his uncomfortable little chuckle. I hope he will send people he hears from your way.

3. Trish,

   I think that Native Canadian just mentions the additional absurdity of what would be his family’s capital gain on their home if they were to sell. There is no way that all of the *important detail* can be addressed in short media clips, either visual or those we read. They are not in the business of telling the complete story and giving the time required to do so. John Richardson did amazingly well in his allotted four minutes.

4. John has real chutzpah telling the world that our past or present US ambassador is a liar. I tweeted the link to Ambassador Heyman. Please RT.

5. @ Native Canadian…I am the infected person! My husband inherited money from his grandmother and he bought a house @ age 24. He paid it off 10 years later @ age 34 and a few months later married me. I haven’t contributed to the mortgage and yet we would pay. Housing prices have risen greatly where we live; even a basic contractor’s special isn’t cheap! That money should NOT be leaving Canada! It belongs in my community supporting the local economy!

6. @ Native Canadian…just a further note…our local economy has taken a huge hit with the price of oil being what it is and our community is suffering. If I was required to pay on a home that I’d just sold, I’d be really angry!

7. One thing I’ve never quite understood about the capital gains issue is this: who in their right mind would actually tell the US government they’d sold their house, and voluntarily report those gains and pay taxes on them? The IRS has no way of finding this information if you don’t give it to them.

   Obviously, I’m a big fan of non-compliance. Can’t be bothered to renounce when I can avoid FATCA by lying to my bank.

8. @adsf

   You don’t need to tell the IRS, your bank will under FATCA.

9. Assuming you’re exposed to FATCA, your bank will tell the US that there’s been a high balance at some point during the year, but won’t tell it anything else. That money could be in there for all kinds of reasons. I’ve certainly had six-figure balances for a few days during mortgage refinancing.

10. @Stephen Kish
    I know that the new Trudeau Liberal Government doesn’t want to comment publicly on FATCA. Of course not, why would they! As was said in an earlier post, their being party to this U.S. extortion racket “is indefensible”. Rather than our backing down, this silence on their part, out of their own fear and inability to justify their part in the “crime”, their silence should be seen by us as an advantage and highlighted and used in all communication as much as possible. If the CBC Radio Ottawa has been trying, without success, to get a Liberal Party spokesperson to address this urgent issue and they don’t get anywhere and the CBC is aware of the seriousness of the story, then convince the CBC to do another programme about what FATCA and citizenship-based taxation directly does to Canadians, beyond filing forms and not respecting their privacy and focus on the extortion of large sums of Canadian dollars and taking them out of the Canadian economy to help support the U.S. tax base. Just that subject alone would be worthy of a CBC Radio programme in and of itself and certainly of high interest to ALL Canadians. I’m pretty sure that after that programme makes all listeners aware that each and every year, millions of Canadian dollars are funnelled into the U.S. Treasury (with the connivance of the Canadian Government) and used to help build U.S. roads, bridges and fund the endless U.S. war machine, the Liberal Party will have more than a CBC radio programme to account to. If the CBC won’t follow-up, find another broadcaster, CBC Television, inform The Globe and Mail, etc. This side of the story, of extorting Canadian earned and taxed dollars and handing them over to the U.S., to serve their economy “because it was the only thing we could do” would quickly fall apart as soon as some proper attention would be paid to it and non-US Canadians would certainly wake up and realize that this is hurting all Canadians and not just those with the U.S. taint.

11. @asdf

    Do you really think the IRS isn’t going to want to know the source of those kinds of funds if you’re on their radar?

12. @asdf

    All US persons are suspect… Banks/Investment notifies CRA…. CRA notifies the US… CRA has more info on u then any other Canadian… I bet CRA starts combing through all u have or don’t have… Why wouldn’t the CRA not do this… they work for the IRS now for free… How do u know u won’t get a notation in your files & keep an eye on u… Yeah… sounds paranoid but in reality… could happen… since the US & Canada are all about suspects… right or wrong… we are no longer free… we are tracked

13. @Bubblebustin @US_Foreign_Person

    I’ve decided not to be paranoid. Bureaucracies are odd, incompetent organizations.

    And even if I do get on the FATCA list and the US gets suspicious, it can’t touch my money.

    So I’ve decided not to sweat about this. Lie to the bank when asked about citizenship, otherwise go about my business.

14. The outrageous greed and extortionist and repressive laws that the U.S. has codified into its tax code, particularly with respect to those it deems U.S. persons abroad, is well documented on this site. I came upon this article today, in the Washington Post, and it sent chills up my spine. If this doesn’t expose what type of regime we are dealing with, nothing would. Should anybody be surprised that FATCA comes out of the same system?:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/11/cleveland-files-claim-against-tamir-rices-estate-for-500-ambulance-fees/

    To live in a society, where something like that can take place and be sanctioned by a federal court, should have alarm bells going off for all those who believe that things will get better. This story alone is enough of a reason to renounce! Horrifying, absolutely horrifying! The U.S. certainly is no longer the country that we may remember from our childhoods or our past.

15. @asdf I am aware of a person being asked to account for funds that were deposited into their account by their bank for renovations. She sent the paperwork off not once, but twice because they claimed they hadn’t received the paperwork.

16. @Ann #1

    And that was specifically for FATCA reasons?

17. Even though it was the previous Conservative government that inflicted FATCA upon Canada, if the new Liberal government doesn’t respond in a positive manner very, very soon, they will become the proud new owners of this abomination. Eventually Canadians at large are going to wake up to the fact that a large amount of cash and information is flowing to the US with no benefit whatsoever to Canada. Every Liberal MP needs to have it explained to them that they will soon have to answer for this.

    The Liberals could start by instructing their lawyers to drop the defense of the ADCS suit.

    They could also implement a special US only retaliatory Canadian CBT for Canadians who move to and work in the US and demand the US banks immediately identify and send data on those people to the CRA so that Canada can claw some of that money back. The US, after all, agreed to such reciprocity; it says so right in the IGA. Inevitably, the US will fail to reciprocate because they break every agreement they ever sign; that would be excellent grounds for declaring the IGA null and void.

    That’s a pipe dream, I know, but one can always hope our new Canadian government will grow a pair.

18. As John always says it is a sprint. He can pack in more info in a four minute interview that most. Well done again John,thanks.

19. Stephen, with regard to the CBC All in a Day program, if the Trudeau government will not send a spokesperson what about suggesting that the CBC invite Jim Jatras. He’ll have some excellent ideas for the Canadian government!

20. Muzzled,

    The CBC is clear with me, and they are not being unreasonable: CBC has heard from some of us, and now they want to hear from the government that got us into this mess and which enforces the U.S. FATCA law.

    I will not argue with the CBC on this.

    –Everyone, please help to pay off the remaining debt and speak to your affected friends and help us find Witnesses.

21. Stephen,

    I’m not suggesting you argue with the CBC. If they have a firm idea about what they want to present next about our issue that is their prerogative. Getting Jim Jatras on the program was just an idea.