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
Kudos to our hawk-eyed badger (and Calgary411)
The MP whose queries you posted seems unaware of the effort to stop the turnover of Canadisn bank data to the IRS.
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2015/09/29/canada-argues-delay-not-possible-and-number-of-innocent-canadians-turned-over-is-disclosed/
Great questions which need to be answered by our new government nonetheless!
You can tweet Pierre Luc Dusseault MP @PLDusseault
To my fellow pensioner:
THANK YOU for your very generous donation! You fast-tracked the amount due pretty much right through the 40’s. Maybe you feel like I do. How can a person plan for old age with FATCA/FBAR/CBT around? Best to put something into the effort to try to solve or at least ameliorate this 3-pronged problem.
So Brock is back up and the thermometer is rising. I’d say this is a good day. 🙂
YES, it is so nice to see the thermometer take such a leap! Thank you fellow pensioner. We can do $41K in 8 days for sure (I hope).
It still might take me awhile to recover from this imposed “cold turkey” Brock withdrawal. Though I check this site several times a day I never fully grasped how very important it is and all of you are to my live-blood. For the 800th time, thanks to each and every one of you.
I am almost speechless. Thank you so much anonymous pensioner for your most generous donation.What an incredible gesture and boost for us all. Best to you always.
@Charl, well said. We can do this together.
Wow, second pensioner — we are all indebted and hope upon hope that you bring inspiration to those of us who can make the difference. Your generosity is a shot in the arm we needed. That – and Brock is back up. Yes, this is a good day!
I will make one more (too small) donation before the end of January — as soon as my February CPP/OAS gets deposited into my bank account.
Wow! Thank you!!! This is a big boost to all of us. Onward!!
Yes, a very impressive donation! How many donations of a mere $50 can we get to round it up to $9,000?
There are no words to express my gratitude to the anonymous pensioner of today’s donation. The government should be ashamed of putting you in the position of feeling the necessity of such a generous and selfless act. Karma is on *your* side! Thank you *soooooo* much!!
Wow! And many, many thanks to that donor of one year of OAS.
We will get this done.
If anyone wonders how hurt, betrayed, angry most victims and their families are because of FATCA , just look at the donation of their full years pension. That speaks for itself. If we even have anything close to a leader in Canada, this should be a clear message. If Trudeau ignores this, then we have nothing. I will be letting anyone I can reach in the media know that this has happened. Thank you for all donations. A pity we have to fight for our rights this way!
Things to mention:
THEY SAY: “Dual citizens.” If any MP says such a thing, remind them that many of these people, under Canadian law, relinquished U.S.A. citizenship upon being naturalized in Canada. No Canadian official has any business calling them “dual” citizens. Canadian officials assured these Canadian citizens that they were no longer U.S.A. citizens.
@Tom Before the last federal election, I attended and spoke at 3 local debates. When asking questions about the rights of Canadians, the answers from all parties except the Conservative candidate, were all standing up for Canadians. when the Conservative Candidate spoke, she immediately called these people “duals” living in Canada. I stopped her right away and asked her to refer to these people as CANADIANS. She again, said “duals” and this led to a fight between her and I. Her supporters told me to let he speak and my response was “Stop insulting Canadians” by calling them duals. My wife is not a dual, she is Canadian only. The moderator told me to let her talk and I said that she can on the condition she stops insulting my wife and other Canadians. This was a very heated subject that night, however, I stood my ground knowing what was at stake.
@NativeCanadian
Her attitude turned you into a ‘duel’ citizen.
Marginalization is first step in persecuting a specific group of people. Creating a special group of citizen does just that.
I am posting this as a comment in order to keep a record of an email from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office to me, as Chair of ADCS:
The email, dated January 24, 2016 was sent, approximately three months after a letter that I sent (October 23, 2015) to the Prime Minister on behalf of ADCS. No new instructions have been provided by Mr. Trudeau to his attorneys and our costly lawsuit continues.
Here is the January 2016 email from the PM’s office:
Here is the October 2015 letter that I sent to the Prime Minister:
COMMENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE LIBERAL PARTY ON FATCA “AGREEMENT” ENABLING LEGISLATION:
Marc Garneau, Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic, June 4, 2014, House of Commons:
“The government seems to have been very motivated to protect the banks from (FATCA) …However, there does not seem to be the same
concern for the citizens themselves. In fact, it seems that the government has folded its tent here, and it seems quite happy to do the work
of the IRS insofar as citizens are concerned.”
Hedy Fry, Liberal MP, April 8, 2014, House of Commons:
“We are creating a problem here. As we heard from other people, this measure brings up concerns about privacy and sovereignty. Constitutional law experts have been saying that this agreement violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, yet no one was consulted.” “It is interesting that the government goes ahead patting itself on the back but not having discussed it with anyone who should know and therefore making mistakes. I would be generous and kind and say it is with unintended consequences, although I wonder if the government even understands consequences.”
Scott Brison, Liberal Finance and Revenue Critic, May 14, 2014 Standing Committee on Finance
“Look, this IGA gets Canadian banks off the hook from reporting. It does not get Canadian citizens who happen to be considered American persons off the hook. That’s very important…” “What about the million Canadians who are affected? That’s the concern. None of us disagree with the idea of negotiating an IGA, but the reality is that you can negotiate a better IGA, given our relationship with the Americans.”
Ralph Goodale, Liberal MP, Former Liberal Finance Minister, Ralph Goodale website, October 11, 2011.
“After all, Canada is not some illicit tax haven…The Americans are going way too far when they start harassing Canadians….” “The government says it has protested to Washington. But more needs to be done.” Our government must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with innocent citizens and taxpayers to inform and assist them in fending off abusive American tax proceedings.”
Justin Trudeau, Leader, Liberal Party of Canada, Letter to Lynne Swanson, ADCS, June 25, 2015
“The safeguarding of personal privacy has become an increasingly important issue to all Canadians…The implications of having the CRA report to a foreign government about Canadian citizens are still troublesome. The Liberal Party of Canada believes that the Conservative government’s efforts to safeguard the personal privacy of Canadians have been inadequate.”
“The Government of Canada has a responsibility to stand up for its citizens when foreign governments are encroaching on their rights.
“Please be assured that your comments have been carefully reviewed.” Yes, but by whom?
@Tom, @NativeCanadian… calling a person who is a Canadian Citizen anything other than CANADIAN is racist!! And as Bubbles reminds us “Marginalization is first step in persecuting a specific group of people.”
Under the law of Canada, a Canadian Citizen can ONLY be Canadian. US Citizenship ends at the border for ALL Canadian Citizens, it can not cross the border.
We’re not assured and what does that even mean? Communicate with us as the adult concerned citizens you thought we were when you wanted us to vote for you. Your answer to us is condescending rhetoric. We expect better and want to definitively know …
Is every Canadian a Canadian as in *candidate* Justin Trudeau’s passionate statement – *A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian*?
So much for transparency!
I’m afraid many of us lack an understanding of how the office of any head of government works. Mr. Trudeau would never have seen these e-mails. ( not through any fault of his). E- mail has made it possible for his office to receive thousands of these a day on every conceivable subject. Syria, unemployment, school shootings, the environment and on and on and on. Snail mail probably gets slightly more attention.
It would also garner some attention if accompanied by a substantial donation to the party in power.
Realistically, what more do you expect? Personal contact with your M.P. (As bubbles has done many times) should be more productive
Given the sticky messes Trudeau is in and continues to generate for himself, something like the IGA doesn’t have any resonance for him. There’s no possible selfie ops, no mass thank you from the public (most are totally unaware of FATCA), so he will focus on what scores him points. Because of its very low public profile, re-doing the IGA has no glamour for young Trudeau.
Thanks for the recognition, Duke. Get in their actual faces at any opportunity. State your case as concisely as possible, and tell them you’ll be following up to see what progress they’ve made on your issue. When you follow up, tell their staff that you are following up on a conversation you had with your MP. Ask to meet with them again – anything that puts you in their face again. Eventually they’re recognize you – and your issue. I was lucky with my now MP and Secretary to the Foreign Minister. She had just been nominated to represent the Liberals in my riding and was looking for support. That said, she still hasn’t really done anything for me yet – but I keep trying!
Duke,
The ADCS letter was sent by email but also by hard copy. We always have the option to send or not send such letters and all of us do keep our expectations of success very low when sending any letter to Government (and to the press). I also know that some of our supporters have also tried to reach out to specific Liberal MPs.
I think that the most important letter from our side was the similar letter sent by our litigators to the Crown attorneys. Mr. Arvay asked the Crown attorneys whether, given the pre-election statements made by the Liberals, instructions to them from the new Attorney General had changed regarding defence of the lawsuit.
Unlike Liberal Party politicians, the Crown attorneys had no choice but to respond meaningfully to the letter from our litigator. Eventually they did respond with a clear statement that instructions have not changed — and therefore the lawsuit continues. It is likely (certain?) that the Arvay letter at least “got the attention of” the Attorney General, who we are suing.
…and if only more of us had Liberal MP representatives. I continue to try with one Calgary Liberal MP who is not mine but who said he will represent all Calgarians. Though I know he is busy and these issues are not in his mandate, I have not heard back from him or his office, neither about a requested meeting or in answer to correspondence.
I’ve had an interesting response from my newly minted first timer Conservative MP. In response to my email:
“Prime Minister Trudeau said that, on June 25, 2015, “the deal reached between Canada and the U.S. is insufficient to protect the affected Canadians.” It remains to be seen whether the new Liberal government will make changes to the FATCA. I will raise your concerns with the Minister of Justice should the opportunity present itself.”
Of course I’ll let him know I’d rather he SEEK out the MoJ rather than waiting for an opportunity but not a bad response from a Conservative looking to nuke Justin. Interesting turn of events.