Identified by JC: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/media-and-blog-articles-open-for-comments-part-3-of-3/comment-page-41/#comment-7345612. Brock commenters are there; comments are open (closed on previous of Elizabeth Thompson’s posts on this).
Brison, Garneau endorse deal to share Canadian banking records with IRS
Two Liberal cabinet ministers who had criticized a controversial agreement to provide Canadian banking records to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service now say they support the deal.
Speaking on the way into a cabinet meeting Tuesday, Treasury Board President Scott Brison and Transport Minister Marc Garneau rallied behind the position adopted last week by Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier, supporting the deal struck under the Harper government that saw 155,000 Canadian banking records shared with the IRS last September.
Brison, who sharply criticized the deal and tried to have it amended when he was Liberal Finance Critic, said the Liberal government has to work with the agreement.
“The previous government negotiated with the Americans on this and we have certainly inherited the situation we have,” Brison told iPolitics.
“At the time, the previous government could have negotiated more effectively at that time. The question is where are we now and it is a difficult one necessarily to deal with retroactively.”
In 2014, Garneau accused the IRS of trying to get the Canada Revenue Agency to “do its dirty work” through the deal – a deal he now supports.
“I take the position that our government is taking now and has been expressed by the minister of revenue,” he said Tuesday.
The controversy centres on an agreement worked out between Canada and the U.S. in the wake of the U.S.’s decision to adopt the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which pressured financial institutions around the world to reveal information about bank accounts in a bid to crack down on tax evasion by U.S. taxpayers with foreign accounts.
…
A second transfer of records to the IRS is scheduled for September 30, 2016.
While prominent Liberals, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, criticized the information sharing deal before the election, last week, Lebouthillier defended it.
“Minister Lebouthillier wants to reassure Canadians that all exchanges of information are subject to strict confidentiality rules,” reads the e-mail sent by Lebouthillier’s office.
“The CRA ensures that tax cooperation with its foreign partners is done in a manner fully consistent with privacy rights in Canada. It is important to note that Canada and the United States have a long history of exchanging tax information in a fair and responsible manner, going back to 1942.”
…
etc., etc.
More later…
Thanks for continuing to shine the light for ALL Canadians to realize, Elizabeth Thompson! We need Canadian MSM to do the same.
I buy the argument that they are tied by the contract. I wonder if they can call foul when the Americans don’t honor the reciprocity. I assume that’s actually in the contract in a way that it would be clear that the Americans don’t honor it.
The question that should be asked of these Liberal officials is not whether they endorse the sharing of Canadian banking records with the IRS, but rather do they support the U.S. Treasury entering into the Canadian tax base and applying U.S. capital gains tax on a subset of Canadian citizens upon the sale of their Canadian homes, purchased with Canadian earned and taxed dollars? Do they support the regular and continuous transfer of Canadian earned dollars to the U.S. Treasury to cover taxes and penalties applied by the U.S. Treasury and IRS to a subset of Canadian citizens deemed taxable on their Canadian earned income by the U.S. Treasury? Do they accept that a distinction is made between Canadians, based solely on their origin or their parentage, exposing them to taxation in another country, where they don’t live, don’t use services and may never have even resided or worked? Do they support discrimination of any kind being applied to Canadian citizens?
PLEASE, THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE ASKED!
I have the impression that many of these politicians (and journalists) naively believe that signing on to FATCA was only an information sharing agreement and people are angry about possible privacy violations. It is not only that. It is far far worse than that. It is a “sovereign” nation, Canada in this case, opening up its tax base to another country and allowing that other country to apply its taxes and penalties to funds earned and already taxed solely in Canada and forcing U.S. tainted Canadian citizens to transfer Canadian earned money into the U.S. tax base and the coffers of the U.S. Treasury, all under threats of sanctions and penalties for anyone who doesn’t follow U.S. orders and U.S. laws…IN CANADA!. PLEASE, MS. THOMPSON, WRITE A STORY ABOUT THAT! ASK THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR GETTING CANADA INTO THIS TRAP, IF THEY APPROVE OF CANADIAN EARNED DOLLARS BEING TAXED ALSO BY THE U.S. That is the crux of this story, not simply some privacy issues.
Fedup
Dittos
I haven’t heard a peep back from my MP’s office since I started sending them Elizabeth Thompson’s FATCA IGA related articles. Keep the pressure on, Ms Thompson and Mr Dusseault – heavens knows, you’re the only in the media and government doing it!
I was sputtering when Elizabeth Thompson called me tonight just after i read this article.
She plans to continue to follow and report on this. I told her she is about the only one who will. I hope iPolitics does not decide against her reporting as most other media have done.
There will come a time when we are no longer voices in the wilderness, Blaze. Thanks to you and everyone who are working their butts off fighting the forces of obscurity! I just hope that more will find the courage to join in.
I believe the Minister of Revenue was also invited to appear before a Parliamentary committee to discuss the IGA earlier today. Given the Liberal party has a majority on most Parliamentary committees I find this notable.
I will also note the IGA is “supposed” to be renegotiated prior to December 31st 2016 which is no longer that far away.
Apparently lots of Canadians, government and media types, who agree it’s right that *Congress has spoken*.
And, then there are the braver ones — Thank you, Elizabeth Thompson! Thank you, Mr. Dusseault.
@Bubblebustin. I used to live in NDG which is Marc Garneau’s riding. I wrote to him back on December 3rd. My letter was polite in tone and professionally written. I e-mailed two months later when I hadn’t received a reply. At three months, I phoned and left a message. I was a Liberal Party member who made a very nice donation to my local candidate (she lost). I’m still waiting to hear back from Marc Garneau. Go figure.
@BC Doc
The only reason why I heard back from my MP is because I met with her way back when she was looking for support as the Liberal nominee against John Weston. I insisted on meeting with her to discuss the FATCA IGA.
My suggestion would be for those who’d like to confront their MP’s on this issue is to call their office and insist on meeting them face to face. They occasionally have open houses, breakfast meetings and allocated times when they are in their offices. I managed to meet with John Weston, my outgoing Conservative MP three times this way. Once, I was invited to his Christmas open house after a face-to-face meeting, which resulted in a later meeting in his office. No guarantees, but it’s better than continually getting your emails ignored!
PS
Not that it’s made an iota of difference in preventing the Cons from passing the IGA, John Weston any less “thrilled” about it and Pam Goldsmith-Jones any less supportive of the Liberals inheritance of it.
WTF does a person need to do to to get heard, short of immolating themselves on the steps of the Parliament Buildings?
Usxcanada?
@Tim: Yes, Pierre-Luc Dusseault tweeted me this morning that the Minister of Justice has been “invited” to appear before the Privacy and Ethics committee.
Eliabeth Thompson is working on an article about this. When she called me about this tonight, Elizabeth said both the Minister of Revenue and the Privacy Commissioner have been “summoned” to appear on a unanimous vote of the committee.
I don’t know how to upload the tweet or the invitation here so I will send it to Tricia and Carol and hope one of them will upload it.
@bubblebustin. I live in the Okanagan now. My MP is a Conservative.
What does a person need to do to get heard? Naturalize from a non-US country, get caught planning a treasonous act against your new country, and bingo, you’ll be ” A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian”– First Class all the way. You and me on the orher hand? Stowage class all the way.
Perhaps Tricia can get this in better format!
Pierre-Luc Dusseault @PLDusseault 12h12 hours ago
Happy that @DBlaikieNDP’s motion was adopted today at #ETHI regarding #CRA & #FATCA. cc @DiLebouthillier @LynneBlaze
I don’t know why the tweet is inverting, all I’ve done is copy/paste/insert the embed code. The link below will go directly to the original tweet……
https://twitter.com/PLDusseault/status/712307008318255105
Do we know when this is to happen? Will it be televised on CPAC?
Most political parties make promises they don’t keep once they get in to power but the
Liberals are taking it to new heights. Too many of us now a day just shrug our shoulders
and say ‘that’s what politicians do’. We need to hold them to a higher standard and not
accept this mediocracy. To think that our kids looked up ‘Canada’s first man in space’
Marc Garneau. What a disgrace. The new Liberal government, Mr Garneau and Mr Brison
have no credibility in my eyes after reading their about face on this post. It looks like we
are going to have to rely on the Courts because the politicians are all turtling.
Brison is a little A-wiping minion. Will say anything as long as he keeps his job. Selfish little punk that he is.
Sounds a lot like last time but with some new text:
Revenue Minister asked to testify on records transfer to IRS
Elizabeth Thompson
March 23, 2016
http://ipolitics.ca/2016/03/23/revenue-minister-asked-to-testify-on-records-transfer-to-irs/
@AllCanucks “I continue to feel incredibly betrayed. I don’t know how these people live with themselves.”
@TheMom Maybe sometime in April. “I think it’s just a show.”
http://ipolitics.ca/2016/03/23/revenue-minister-asked-to-testify-on-records-transfer-to-irs/
The exchange between Peter Julian and the Revenue Minister yesterday with link to video in the House of Commons:
https://peterjulian.ca/QP_on_FATCA
The Liberals presented their first budget yesterday. Is there any way to find the amount
budgeted for Canada to be FATCA compliant or is it conveniently buried from us.
I still think we need to educate the rest of Canada on the cost of FATCA to each and
everyone of them in order to protect our banks. Unfortunately they think we are just rich Americans hiding our money in Canada. Unfortunately the mainline media has no appetite
to educate the public on this matter. In fact the federal media appear to be chearleaders
and a PR firm for the sitting government.
@Bubblebustin,
Does everybody who lives in Canada speak French? What was the response roughly in English?
No, Neill, lol.
She said blah, blah, blah…
Or I believe this, her new canned response to anything IGA:
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2016/03/23/revenue-minister-diane-lebouthillier-who-we-are-suing-in-federal-court-will-be-summoned-to-appear-before-a-parliamentary-committee-to-explain-fatca-turnover-of-your-private-bank-data-to-irs/comment-page-2/#comment-7350986