March 8, 2016 UPDATE: Legal fees paid — on to Federal Court for Charter trial contesting Canadian FATCA IGA legislation.
Canadians and International Supporters:
You came through once again: $594,970 for legal costs have now been donated and our outstanding legal bill is finally paid off.
Thanks especially to those who donated even though they never had any “spare” money to give, and despite this gave over and over and over again.
This last round of fundraising also shows that our Canadian lawsuit remains dependent on the kindness of our International Friends: There would be no lawsuit without their financial help.
Know that a very generous donation (today) from a supporter in the United States made it possible to pay off the remaining legal debt. Also please appreciate that there would be no lawsuit without the help of the Isaac Brock Society which has kindly let us use its website to solicit funds.
Our next step is the Constitutional-Charter trial in Federal Court.
For this we need more Canadian Witnesses, and my next post will be devoted only to a request for Witnesses willing to go public, like our Plaintiffs Ginny and Gwen.
For the future: I want a win in Federal Court — and I want the new Liberal Government not to appeal that win.
Thank you all for your support,
Stephen Kish,
for the Directors,
Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty
@Stephen Kish
“What about Canadian politicians?”
Yes, wouldn’t it be something if there was resistance to US FATCA from our new Liberal Government here in Canada!
The FATCA issue will not get much in the way of timely action for the simple reason that there are far more other issues that provide bigger political points. Most taxpayers still have never heard of FATCA, so “fixing” it doesn’t bring much in Brownie points for the Liberals.
John Canuck,
Yes, the “FATCA issue” is not a priority for the new Canadian Government or with the Canadian press, or with the Canadian public — but the fact is that the Government has no choice but to decide (take an “action”) whether to continue defence of our lawsuit, or not. It can put off the decision for awhile, but it has to respond — priority or not.
Our lawsuit forces the issue.
Not being a priority should not at all discourage Canadian and International supporters of our lawsuit from sending their thoughts to the new Attorney General and Minister of National Revenue who will be making the decision on the lawsuit with the Prime Minister.
Right now it’s up to our supporters to send those emails with their “instructions” to the new Government.
Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.ca
Diane.Lebouthillier@parl.gc.ca
You have it absolutely right, Stephen.
Such an easy-to-do email communication saying what you believe your Canadian rights should be and many donations, however big or small, to this litigation can make each of us a part of the bigger effort to claim our Canadian rights OR we can just sit back and say we cannot and will not try to make a difference by being part of a bigger voice for all deemed *US Persons* in Canada and around the world, accepting that the US will determine our and our family’s fates.
Thank you, Stephen, for continuing to spur each of us to REALLY care.
Just emailed my letters at the 11th hour….hope I am not too late..have asked for a response in the cover note. Small donations (for CBT as well) should arrive by the end of the week. Thank you, Stephen, for sending all of us a continuous flow of positive energy, and you too, Calgary 411.
Anne Boleyn,
Thanks for emailing the letters.
Yes, we would also like a “response” from the Attorney General…
Thanks from me as well, Anne Boleyn. Hope this finds you doing well.
I sent again my emails to the AG with this latest message (copied to D. Lebouthillier, J. Trudeau & S. Brison):
Dear Minister Wilson-Raybould:
We listened with interest to your recent radio interview on the CBC’s The Current. We were encouraged to hear your commitment to social justice and to upholding the Charter rights of all Canadians. We were glad that you placed emphasis on the diversity of Canadian citizens, which of course includes thousands of Canadians of US origin (ex. US place of birth or parents’ US place of birth).
Thank you again for your review of this important situation,
LM has put together a great spreadsheet with e-mail addresses and phone numbers for the MPs and Cabinet Ministers of the new Canadian government.
You can also access it through the Sidebar at “Canada – Contact the New Govt Re FATCA!” under “Take Action!” or at “Publicity and Protest Materials also under “Take Action!”
Thanks very much, LM!
Note: The spreadsheet has two pages. One for MPs and one for Cabinet & Committees. To change pages, click on the tab at the lower left hand corner.
If they do not have the decency to respond by the end of today, we’ll know where we all stand….
Thank you @ LM for creating the Contact Spreadsheet for our MPs. I tucked it into my “Politicians” folder. They are all at our fingertips now.
@ NativeCanadian
They may not respond to our individual e-mails but I think the Crown Attorneys must respond to Mr. Arvay’s letter. We sure could use some good news on the FATCA front.
Pacifica and all – – While I seem to be the Excel maven in our “noise-making group”, this MP 2015 spreadsheet info was completed in conjunction with several other Brockers (MuzzledNoMore, PastBeyond66 & PatCanadian); just wanted to give them credit too. Glad it is up and hope it will be helpful to others in their petitioning to Parliament (tho, of course, it would be better if we didn’t have to do that anymore………).
… and thank you MuzzledNoMore, Charl/PastBeyond60 and PatCanadian. In a past century we would have had 4 women sitting at a quilting frame creating a beautiful, warm cover for someone but today we have 4 women sitting at their computers creating a useful tool to make sure our MPs can’t take cover behind their office doors to avoid our lobbying for justice.
Just received response will post.
@ Stephen Kish
… a sign of what?
See November 30 response from Government lawyers.
So it’s SUGITE to the Charter trial. May the spirit of Sir Isaac Brock be with us.
Oops! That was supposed to be SURGITE.
So, “The Justice lawyers responded by saying that their instructions from the defendants have not changed”…because:
(a) The new government completely agrees with what the previous Conservative government did in signing the IGA and will carry on as the Conservatives would have; or
(b) The new government has not yet gotten organized around this issue and has not yet decided on its approach to the lawsuit and the IGA.
Can’t tell from their statement.
Speechless…
I can’t believe that what the banks and the USA want is more important than our Charter rights. If this is really how they wish to proceed, then Justin and his rhetoric are a load of shit and he’s no different than Stephen Harper. Canada’s Constitution doesn’t appear to be worth the paper it’s written on.
@ Refugee
And if that is the case, that’s why we are here and why we are not backing off from our law suit. Our Charter and Constitutional rights are extremely important and have been breached. Banks and their interests are quite powerful as we know.
A small group of us who are activists and are affected in this cause, supported financially by minnows with tiny gill$ will prove that in Court. We will not be deterred. Keep spreading the word so that our donor base can be broadened and we can be free from the burden of being tax captives for the rest of our lives.
I hope that someday some donor with deep pockets will come out of the shadows and help. But until that day it is just the rest of us. It’s a very long road, but I know we can and will do this.
Then I guess it is still stay the course;
“onwards and upwards”. The way must be tried.
Also, it’s pretty clear that the USA owns the western ‘democracies’, outright…we pretty much live in a world prison created by the USA and there is no escape. Silly despots of the past thought they had to use force to take over the world, but the Americans have figured out how to do it with economic intimidation and ‘lawfare’. Canada might as well cease to exist as a separate entity and go ahead and hand itself over to them for assimilation. The ruling by Justice Martineau should be a warning of what’s to come…no matter how clear, logical, and reasonable our arguments may be, there are bigger forces at play here and we, and our rights, don’t mean anything.
A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.
A dual is a dual is a dual.
And ne’er the twain shall meet.
“Also, it’s pretty clear that the USA owns the western ‘democracies’, outright”
They own some dictatorships too. The US dollar is true dough.
Now waiting for the Eritrean ambassador to be invited to return to Canada.
@Ginny Hillis
I understand that we must and shall continue to pursue this fight in the name of justice, but that doesn’t change the fact that the deck is heavily stacked against us. Justice Martineau’s ruling is a warning that even the Supreme Court of this land may listen and nod as we present our case, mull over the potential economic damage, and decide that we are expendable in the name of financial stability. We must follow this to the end and fight with everything we can muster because it is the right thing to do…but that doesn’t mean we will win. It is becoming increasingly clear that we, likely, will not. I don’t mean to put people off from donating or supporting the cause (I have donated significantly myself), but it may, in the final analysis, be just an exercise in proving a point, with no real victory. Sorry to be so negative, but this has been a long, tortuous journey for me and my family and this news tonight really caught me off guard.