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
@Badger
The prospect of our government actually applying those words to Canadians affected by the FATCA IGA should have some bankers squirming by now.
@Bubblebustin, I hope the Banksters squirm, but it is more likely that they’re just redoubling their furtive dedicated pro-FATCA-IGA lobbying. And I’m certain that they have a much easier time of getting the ear of those who count, in other words, I doubt that the CBA rodents are getting replies like the brush off Stephen posted:
” “February 19, 2016
Mr. Stephen Kish
ADCS etc.
Dear Mr. Kish and Co-signatories:
We acknowledge receipt of your correspondence of October 23, 2015 [four months ago], which was referred by [but not read by] the Office of the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, to the Minister of Finance, the Honourable Bill Morneau.
Please be assured that your comments will be brought to the Minister’s attention as soon as possible.
[Illegible]
Departmental Correspondence Unit” “
Communication with Canadian Civil Liberties today. Brock Brain Cells requested to evaluate:
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/media-and-blog-articles-open-for-comments-part-3-of-3/comment-page-28/#comment-7254054
CCLA FATCA stuff starts on p. 26.
@crystallondon your words above were helpful to me. The severe anxiety and depression been there done that and my gp did not get it.
@bubbles yes the USA has irrevocably lost an expat generation.
@badger I have no doubt the govts current words will be valuable in our lawsuit
Thanks @JC @No Name
From the CCLA report:
56. The CCLA highlights for the Committee an inter-governmental agreement between the United States and Canada that imposes privacy-invasive and potentially discriminatory tax reporting measures on a distinct group of Canadians. The CCLA has been contacted by dual Canadian/American citizens regarding allegations of discrimination in relation to this agreement, and we are currently considering its implications. In February 2014, the United States and Canada announced that they had signed an inter-governmental agreement, aimed at implementing that country’s Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (known as FATCA) in Canada. At the same time, Canadian implementing legislation was released. It received royal assent in June 2014 and is now codified in Part XVIII (Enhanced International Information Reporting) of the Canadian Income Tax Act.58
57. Under the amendments to the Income Tax Act, Canadian financial institutions are required to conduct due diligence to identify and report to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) all financial accounts that they hold for “US persons.” The CRA will then share that information annually with American tax authorities, in accordance with the information- sharing arrangements under the existing Canada-US tax treaty.
58. In 2011, ahead of the negotiations between Canada and the United States, the CCLA addressed a letter to the Canadian Department of Finance raising concerns about the potential for privacy and rights violations.59 We noted that the definition of “US persons” who could be affected by the agreement did not simply include US citizens, but also “former green-card holders [who] have permanently left the United States or even individuals who have spent a substantial amount of time in the US over a number of years.”60
59. The information-sharing contemplated under the Income Tax Act may affect Canadians who were born in the United States but who were never American citizens or who have relinquished American citizenship. Such individuals may have difficulty demonstrating to their financial institutions that they are not, in fact, “US persons” as contemplated by the Act. Particularly as regards these Canadians, the Income Tax Act authorizes information- sharing in a manner that is overbroad and lacks sufficient protocols to protect individuals’ privacy interests. It creates an arbitrary, arguably discriminatory distinction among Canadians based on place of birth and subjects a subclass of Canadian citizens to privacy-invasive measures.
Just who are these people who were born in the US but aren’t US citizens? Accidental Americans? I’m afraid that under the Canada-US treaty, which the CCLA purports to authorize the IGA, they (accidentals born in the US) would be considered US persons too.
What about the rest of us, CCLA?
It took a lot of effort to get CCLA to respond on what their position is on FATCA.
I seem to have finally gotten a response because I called CCLA #CharterFirst Hypocrits on Twitter. Thanks to JC, The Animal and others for joining in my CCLA Twitter Campaign.
You can see the tweets and some of the history at Maple Sandbox.
http://maplesandbox.ca/2015/update-from-ccla-on-fatca-lawsuit/comment-page-1/#comment-532278
Their report is far weaker than I would like, but it’s kind of something. But, as JC (in Australia!) has said, what is Canadian Civil Liberties Association doing about FATCA in Canada. That is where they focus should be–not in Switzerland..
Here is where JC asked CCLA what they are doing in Canada.
#CharterFirst. Right.
“Dear Mr. Kish and Co-signatories:
We acknowledge receipt of [but not reading of] your correspondence of October 23, 2015 [four months ago], which was referred by [but not read by] the Office of the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, to the Minister of Finance, the Honourable Bill Morneau.
Please be assured that your comments will be brought to the Minister’s attention [but not read] as soon as [financially] possible.
[Illegible]
Departmental Correspondence [In Lieu of Reading] Unit”
‘Is it then the position of the PM’s office that loss of Charter rights and the sovereignty of our country are issues limited to “Finance”?’
Of course not. Rights and Sovereignty belong to the highest bidder. Those who can make it financially possible to have their issues heard have their rights and sovereignty preserved at the expense of the rest of us.
CCLA must not *get it* if they talk about persons born in the US but aren’t US citizens. That hard-to-comprehend concept of children born in the US to Canadian parents are born US citizens (per US law), just as children born to US parents in Canada are Canadian citizens, doesn’t compute even to them in reading Paragraph 59 (and I don’t think they would be referring to children born in the US to Canadian diplomats). The children they refer to were *born dual* — but, yes, we want one of those citizenships to take precedence over the other. In the case of children born to Canadian parents in the US and children born in Canada to US citizens (Accidental Americans) — those citizenships of the children are, if not validated, non-meaningful and without consent.
definitely needs clarification as that phrase appears (to me at least) misleading (if not sloppy) for something the CCLA has submitted to the UN.
“Good news the IRS budget was cut a lot, now the agency receives less money to functions than 6 years ago”
Bad news is that the IRS gets to outsource collections to private companies again. When US Tax Court ordered the IRS not to collect an asserted penalty, the IRS’s collection action 13 months later was illegal, but a private company will get to continue collecting.
“I wonder how many children are going to grow up with a real hatred for the US as a result of seeing their parents suffer.”
Maybe the same as the numbers of Afghan and Iraqi children who grow up with a real hatred of an invading country as a result of seeing their family members murdered.
Maybe the same as the number of Saudi children who grow up with a real hatred of a country which, while not being an invader, helps prop up the equally hated dictatorial government of their own country. Some of them were so mad that they undertook a suicide mission to knock down some buildings in the US (in response to which the US invaded not Saudia Arabia but Afghanistan and Iraq).
Also how many children are going to grow up with a real hatred for the US as a result of discovering that they’re going to suffer too due to congenital infection?
“Just who are these people who were born in the US but aren’t US citizens?”
Renunciants, relinquishers, and children of diplomats. Also since different laws define the US differently, it might include people born in American Samoa.
@Norman Diamond,
Pardon me for not accurately quoting CCLA when they refer to Canadians who were born in the US who “were never” US citizens. As Calgary411 points out, that would only refer to certain diplomats, I believe.
Thank you Blaze, Calgary411, JC, The Animal and others for persevering with the CCLA. It doesn’t seem like a lot from them, but perhaps it’s something that we can build upon. I know my MP’s going to hear about it, just like she heard my thoughts yesterday about terrorists having more Charter protections than those the US deems to be its “persons”.
If a small Canada-only financial institution has no exposure to FATCA 30% tax, a Brocker might be able to get them to sign on as a witness because Canadian statute is requiring them to register with IRS and employ a FATCA responsible officer who will be subject to U.S.A. laws whilst working in Canada.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercer_Quality_of_Living_Survey
Canada should be proud the Vancouver comes in at number 5 worldwide for quality of living followed by Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal at 21st place.
For the US San Francisco is the first US city at 27th place, followed by Boston at 34th, Honolulu at 35th, followed by Chicago, NYC, Seattle, LA and DC worldwide.
The 7 / 10 top cities are located in Europe.
The US should ask itself if things are going so great why is SF the first US cities listed at 27th place?
@Blaze You have started excellent interaction with CCLA. Canada is an important front line/the front line in the battle to overturn the injustices globally. I view CCLA quite significant. If we could only get their acknowledgement/support of the ADCS #CharterFirst legal action that would be a boost to our fund raising efforts. In the process of engagement with CCLA publically via social media no doubt we may get the attention of others in Canada concerned about civil liberties, as perhaps they may flock around CCLA, BCCLA and @PrivacyPrivee.
I’ll have a go with the Australian Human Rights Commission in Australia, and Civil Liberties Australia. No doubt my effort will be assisted by what I have learned in Canada.
If my car wasn’t broken down, I’d pop down to the BC Civ Lib and slam down my sons’ birth certificates on the counter (They were born in Burnaby, British Columbia Canada)…and ask them point-blank what citizenship they’d consider him. Then I’d tell them straight to their face. “Well, evidently the United States thinks of my children as US persons for tax purposes…because their mother was born in the United States!” Think that would get through their heads?
‘I’d pop down to the BC Civ Lib and slam down my sons’ birth certificates on the counter (They were born in Burnaby, British Columbia Canada)…and ask them point-blank what citizenship they’d consider him. Then I’d tell them straight to their face. “Well, evidently the United States thinks of my children as US persons for tax purposes…because their mother was born in the United States!”’
Why should they care?
Try this:
pop down to the BC Civ Lib and slam down your sons’ birth certificates on the counter (They were born in Burnaby, British Columbia Canada)…and ask them point-blank what citizenship they’d consider him. Then tell them straight to their face. “Well, evidently the CANADIAN government thinks of my children as US citizens in Canada…because their mother was born in the United States!”
[Off topic]
“Canada should be proud the Vancouver comes in at number 5 worldwide for quality of living”
‘If my car wasn’t broken down, I’d pop down to the BC Civ Lib’
As much as I doubt whether Japanese cities that I’ve lived in would belong on any list for quality of living, I have to wonder how one could be proud of a city where people get stranded when their cars break down. Even the city that used to be most famous for its malicious destruction of public transportation learned its lesson, and I could get to US Tax Court in Los Angeles without a car.
@ Norman,
In defence of Vancouver’s transit system, it’s actually quite good. Burnaby has lots of bus routes and is about 20 minutes from downtown Vancouver on the Sky Train, which runs on a 5 to 10 minute headway. The Animal said his kids were born in Burnaby, but it’s possible they don’t live there now.
It is also possible The Animal has a disability which prevents him from using Public Transport.
My experience with an Irish Civil Rights organisation is they simply don’t get it. FATCA is simply not an issue that generates enough media attention for them. At the time of my request, that organisation was more interested in getting the YES vote for gay marriage.
During that event, I noticed an American born gay Irish Senator, Zappone, was a spokesperson for that effort. I contacted her office on several occasions, believing she may take interest since it affected her as well.
To date all I have received is basically silence.
With the upset in the Irish election on Friday (the current government can’t reform a coalition), politically, Ireland is up in the air.
Perhaps I’ll have another go with her office.