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
Okay, now I’m really confounded by the ACA January 2016 newsletter statement against calling for the repeal of FATCA https://americansabroad.org/download_file/view/810/133/ since as recently as April 4, 2013, they said this:
Subject: Comments – International Tax Reform Working Group and Financial Services Tax Reform
Working Group, Ways and Means Committee
Attention: Representative Devin Nunes and Representative Earl Blumenauer
Representative Adrian Smith and Representative John Larson
Concerns: Recommendation to repeal FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act)
April 4, 2013
“American Citizens Abroad (ACA) was one of the first organizations to call for the repeal of FATCA soon
after passage of the law in 2010 and maintains its recommendation that Congress should repeal
FATCA within the framework of tax reform seeking an efficient, fair tax system. It is evident from the
perspective overseas that:
• FATCA will not achieve its purpose of tracking down tax evaders;
• FATCA is destroying the community of seven million Americans abroad;
• FATCA creates serious damage to the United States and its economy.”………….
http://americansabroad.org/files/1813/6500/6764/fatcasubmission.pdf
http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/publish/international/American_Citizens_Abroad_Blasts_FATCA_in_Comment_to_House_Working_Groups_Calls_for_Repeal_as_Part_of_Tax_Reform_Framework27602.shtml
They went on to say that:
“……..The IRS does not need FATCA to pursue tax evaders. Even prior to the passage of FATCA, the IRS had a whole basket of tools, including the QI program, the John Doe summons, Tax Information Exchange
Agreements, Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties, the Swift Agreement and the whistleblower program.”…..”Consequently, the IRS now has a vast data base to mine
for efficient law enforcement, whereas FATCA requires the IRS to look for a needle in a haystack of a
massive amount of irrelevant, disparate data, costly to administer and inappropriate for effective law
enforcement.”…..
The letter also goes on to cite Peter Hogg, Canadian constitutional scholar as per the unconstitutionality of the FATCA IGA that Canada signed with the US.
I’m even more confounded as to how to reconcile those positions and the statements made in the ACA January 2016 newsletter section on FATCA.
“I would suggest you take a screen shot of the page and print out a copy– the page may be taken down once the inconsistency between statement and action is pointed out.”
This archived copy isn’t nicely formatted but the text is well archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20151001191913/https://darrellsamson.liberal.ca/liberal-party-position-on-u-s-foreign-account-tax-compliance-act-fatca/
‘Just as the US Embassy in Ottawa issues “tax information” for US Citizens it also issues Selective Service information; “Male U.S. Citizens between the ages of 18 and 26 are required to register with the Selective Service no matter where they currently reside.”
[…]
Because of changes made by the current administration, the Supreme Court decision that upheld male only registration is no longer valid hence a lawsuit making its way through the courts.
[…]
As Brockers…..lets put aside for the moment should women be subject to a draft, should women serve in combat roles…..in THEIR OWN COUNTRY.”
Yes, young Canadians of both genders should serve under a worthy successor to Isaac Brock if Canada is invaded again.
The US should have taken care of its own problem when Argentina invaded the Falkland/Mavinas Islands. The US was bound by treaties with both sides. The US should have fought valiantly for both sides until the last remaining American self-executed his/her patriotic duty.
I would suggest you take a screen shot of the page and print out a copy– the page may be taken down once the inconsistency between statement and action is pointed out
In addition to what Norman Diamond said, even if the page isn’t saved in the Internet Archive, there are online snapshot services which save the actual webpage (not just a picture) and make it very easy to share it with others and let them see that it was the actual page (and not just some screenshot that they could accuse you of having photoshopped).
Internet Archive itself offers this, but it res (go to https://archive.org/web/ and look for “Save page now”) but it respects robots.txt, so it won’t work on all webpages (in particular for webpages written by tech-savvy people who don’t want their words being captured for use against them in the future). https://archive.is on the other hand disregards robots.txt and can save most stuff.
Thanks for the recognition of my tweet: https://twitter.com/JCDoubleTaxed/status/688847276043730948
https://twitter.com/JCDoubleTaxed/status/688992465009770497
@ Eric
Thanks, I tried that archive site and it works! The Liberal Party Position on FATCA is now locked in. I learn something everyday.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160118090522/https://darrellsamson.liberal.ca/liberal-party-position-on-u-s-foreign-account-tax-compliance-act-fatca/
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/cabbies-wife-tries-put-brakes-uber-214540700.html
Another ‘Samson and Goliath’ story – London Black Cabbie’s wife is trying to raise £600,000 for a legal challenge against LfT (London for Transport) a governmental agency that allowed Uber to operate in London.
@Embee re: “EmBee says: “…I donate — so far more than a year’s worth of CPP/OAS cheques which are actually Canadian tax dollars ”
Wow Embee! That is very generous of you!!! If the one million US persons in Canada were just a fraction as generous as you have been, our bills would have been paid off a long time ago.
BTW, just as an aside, CPP is not sourced from Canadian tax dollars. It is a government run pension plan. You and your employer paid the premiums that fund the Canadian Pension Plan, and the payout you receive is in direct proportion to what you contributed (contribute nothing and you receive nothing). Those premiums were invested over the years to support the payments you are receiving now. You may well have done better if you had invested those same premiums that you and your employer contributed to the CPP, outside the Canadian pension plan (but there is no opt out option and soon we will be paying even more). Conversely OAS is funded through taxpayer dollars.
@ WhiteKat
Yes you’re right about CPP but it didn’t take very long for everything I contributed (many years ago) to be returned to me so I think of my CPP as coming from Canadian taxpayers. It makes me feel guilty, in a way, for taking it from others. However I have no problem with passing it along to ADCS. If the IRS should ever steal my life savings I’m afraid I’d be an even bigger burden on Canadian taxpayers. This is all so wrong, on so many levels. The very wicked FATCA genie has to be stuffed back in the bottle, along with his evil cohorts FBAR and CBT. Then cork it for good!
@ WhiteKat
Your gravatar today is really cute. I had a cat (many years ago) who TP’d my entire suite. After that I learned to close the bathroom door before leaving for work. 🙂
@Embee, LOL…have rolled back up my share as well. It is weird watching them go at it in some kind of mad frenzy. You will like the animated version of that gravatar even better: http://animationsa2z.com/attachments/Image/funny/funny49.gif
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-35337170
It makes me laugh, if you watch the Donald Trump debate live in the British Parliament Committee room, almost all the discrimination arguments made could also apply to FATCA discrimination as well.
Why is FATCA somehow OK in the UK?
If you can’t access the BBC, I believe it’s being streamed on cnn.com as well.
QUESTION for our ADCS team:
Did Joseph Arvay receive a transcript of the summary trial last year? If so, was his firm charged a fee for this? If so, would you mind saying how much? The reason I ask is because I’m aware of another trial which took place last year where the BC court required thousands of dollars (something like $8,000 I think) to provide a transcript for the defendant.
@ EmBee @AuntieEm
There is always a fee for a transcript and yes they are costly, depending also on the length or duration of the trial/hearing. They are required in most cases that are being appealed, otherwise optional.Access to justice is very expensive, unfortunately.
If the Feds ( and I assume they did) ordered a transcript, you and I and other Canadians paid for it, but they won’t share.
@EmBee I checked into getting a Transcript of the Summary Trial. The fee was $1008.25 plus tax. I did not get a transcript.
I did get a CD of the trial for $15. I asked for consent to post the recording on line. Federal Court denied consent to post.
@ Canadian Ginny and Blaze
Thanks for the information. This was just me being curious. We know that Judge Martineau received a transcript and it just seems to me that the plaintiff and defendant legal teams should get copies too … without undue expense.
Court reporters are very well trained and do a great, tedious and often uncomfortable job, but yes transcripts are expensive. I was actually surprised that ours was barely over a grand. So, I think it would be fair to assume Arvay has a copy.
Transcripts for examinations of witnesses held outside of courtrooms are incredibly expensive as they are done by private certified companies. I can remember when my friends and I started practice and it dawned on us that we were in the wrong business when we got their bills.
Alas, my father thought it was more important for me to study seven years of Latin than learn to type.
Res ipsa loquitur. With lots of white spaces around it. Sorry.
Interesting. I have always been grateful to my father who pushed me to take typing in Grade 8. He said I would need it to type my thesis. I have never been sorry and can still type 100 words/minute.
@ Cheryl
Your dad sounds practical and reasonable and wise. Mine was quite unusual and a tad eccentric but fun and also wise. A widowed man at age forty with four young children to raise. He made every day interesting not withstanding his love of Latin and Greek. Greek, please! A most conversational language if I ever bumped into one at the dining room table.He could type like the dickens with two fingers. I now proudly struggle with four. Progress of another generation.
100 words/minute is amazing! The above just took me 5 minutes. And auto correct is not the helpful assistant I thought it would be.
Good memories. It helps with perspective sometimes, don’t you think. Thanks for yours.
@Don
Because the U.K. government cares way more about the banks than it does about discrimination. The banks discriminate very openly against the nationals and residents of countries the U.S. government doesn’t like, even those who are British nationals, closing their accounts without any explanation, and the government is o.k. with it on the grounds of de-risking (essentially, it is o.k. to discriminate to conform with U.S. policies because because opposing such policies is risky).
— Just listened to John Richardson’s interview today on CBC radio in which he talks about our lawsuit.
He read on air for the interviewer (a first?) the June 25, 2015 letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Ms. Lynne Swanson pointing out that the FATCA agreement which he inherited does not protect Canadians. But Mr. Trudeau now heads the new Government and, despite his pre-election statement, the FATCA IGA lawsuit continues…
There was also a discussion on our need to find Witnesses:
INTERVIEWER: “Is it hard to get people to come forward?”
JOHN RICHARDSON: “Sure it is…”
Please consider sending out the link to every Member of the Canadian Parliament, especially to your own MP. Perhaps also to members of Governments of other countries.
Here is the podcast: http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2682218188
[PART OF HEADER REDACTED]
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2016 20:37:52 +0000
To: [REDACTED]
From: Rebecca Blaikie
Subject: Ideas? I want to hear them.
Friend,
Do you have ideas about what you’d like our NDP team to take on next? Or =
feedback on October’s election?
I want to hear them.
On Thursday, I’ll be on the line with thousands of Canadians across the =
country to debrief on the election and talk about our path forward. Sign =
up to save your spot on the call:
http://www.ndp.ca/townhall
We are a team that believes we can build a better Canada – one that is more prosperous, sustainable, and where no one is left behind. It’s within reach, but it’s going to take all of us working together.
So, I hope you’ll join me on the line for an honest, open discussion.
We’ll have two calls: One for Eastern Canada at 7:00 pm EST and one for Western Canada at 6:00 pm PST.
Sign up here to reserve your spot, and we’ll call you Thursday evening.
Thanks and solidarity,
Rebecca
Rebecca Blaikie
President
Canada’s New Democrats
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TomMulcair
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThomasMulcair
New Democratic Party of Canada,
300-279 Laurier West,
Ottawa ON K1P 5J9
1-866-525-2555=20
Ideas? I want to hear them.
I hope you’ll join me on the line for an honest, open discussion.
Friend,
Do you have ideas about what you’d like our NDP team to take on next? Or feedback on October’s election?
I want to hear them.
On Thursday, I’ll be on the line with thousands of Canadians across the country to debrief on the
election and talk about our path forward. Sign up to save your spot on the call:
http://www.ndp.ca/townhall
We are a team that believes we can build a better Canada – one that is more prosperous, sustainable, and where no one is left behind. It’s within reach, but it’s going to take all of us working together.
So, I hope you’ll join me on the line for an honest, open discussion.
We’ll have two calls: One for Eastern Canada at 7:00 pm EST and one for Western Canada at 6:00 pm PST.
Sign up here to reserve your spot, and we’ll call you Thursday evening.
Thanks and solidarity,
Rebecca
Rebecca Blaikie
President
Canada’s New Democrats
Thanks, Tricia, for your latest proactive communication to Members of the Canadian Parliament. They definitely to read and listen to the link of John Richardson’s interview, realizing what is happening to a significant segment of the Canadian population. I hope they will reflect on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s, *A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian*, determine exactly what that means to them and how they will make sure that is a statement they fully support.
Thanks calgary.
Today marks four years ago exactly that I became “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian” only.
I do not regret it……….