WITNESS SEARCH UPDATE FOR CANADIAN FATCA IGA LAWSUIT:
WE STILL SEEK MORE CANADIAN WITNESSES:
Have you experienced marital stress or breakup, or medical or psychiatric illness because Canada turned you and your family over to a foreign country — or because you were afraid and entered into IRS compliance and suffered harm, or because you are in “hiding” and can’t afford to be IRS compliant or to renounce? Be a witness.
No single witness will be “perfect” from a litigation point of view. We will be seeking more witnesses (almost) right up to the time of submission of court documents. Your specific situation, that we cannot predict, might have unique characteristics that would be helpful in the lawsuit.
If you cannot be a witness, please tell a friend who you think might be interested.
— If you are interested in becoming a witness You will describe your harm in a written affidavit which will be made public and you can contact me at stephen.kish.chair@adcs-adsc.ca See our website at www.adcs-adsc-ca
FOR THOSE CANADIANS WHO ALREADY VOLUNTEERED: Unless you have already been informed by me or by our legal team that you will not be a witness, there is still the possibility — or (for some) likelihood — that you will be asked to be a witness. I’m sorry but I cannot estimate the time it will take for our legal team to get back to you with their decision. This is because they need to “mesh” the characteristics of all of the necessary witnesses and testimonies with the actual detailed submission that contains the entirety of their evidence, which are all still evolving. Please be patient in our getting back to you with a decision. Thank you for your help.
Let’s see now, Calgary411 Junior cannot renounce U.S.A. citizenship and US Consulate won’t let Mom do so as his representative. However, Calgary411 has an opportunity to sign an affidavit as his representative and at least the Canadian court will accept it. Hmmm…
Thank you for your comment and support, Middle Finger.
Not exactly like that, Tom Alciere. And, I have not been accepted as a witness. It will be an account, if accepted, of the US Consulate pointing out that my son and those like him cannot renounce nor a parent a guardian or a trustee allowed to act on such a person’s behalf. It will be the account of anyone like my son with some *mental incapacity* that they cannot renounce a non-meaningful, without consent, acquired US citizenship which they cannot renounce. It will be that such persons are *entrapped* into the ongoing consequences of such stuck-to-the-shoe US-deemed US citizenship. Much of my affadavit would be about how this has affected me, which of course includes him and the tax owed to the IRS because I am the Holder of an Canadian Registered Disability Savings Plan, my son the beneficiary, and how Canadian taxpayer monies that support bonds and grants for that investment (and the RESP, which I do not hold – but others do) are siphoned to the US IRS. I don’t know how to get across the story of how US CBT affects anyone like my son — even to those that have heard me say it so many times. The absurdity is not ONLY about my son and my family — but about all such families and all such sons and daughters — or anyone else that has some loss of capacity to understand the concept of citizenship and is denied renunciation of USC. I do not determine whether or not that or I is acceptable for a court, but it is what I have stated from the start — it is NOT specifically about MY son. I think it is a story that SHOULD be told even if it cannot be told.
(And, I do realize I am a broken record for those who have heard it so many times.)
@We are all Canucks
“There are probably thousands of Brockers who read the posts but are afraid to participate in discussions for fear that the US is trolling this site.”
I don’t know if this has been advertised on here or not, but anyone can easily use the Tor Browser for complete anonymity when posting, but be careful with the information that you post, since you can unintentionally identify yourself by mistake.
There are also anonymous and untraceable email services that you can use in conjunction with Tor.
Get the Tor Browser here,
https://www.torproject.org/
It’s as simple to install and use as your regular browser, but be sure to read the FAQ carefully before using Tor so you know how it works and how it protects you.
You can use Tor to set up an email account that cannot be traced back to you, although the contents of the email account will not be encrypted, so be careful if you are concerned about remaining hidden.
You know, it makes me really sad that I felt the need to post this information. Right here is one example of the harm FATCA is doing to some of us psychologically. JT preaches about including all Canadians into society, but here’s a prime example of coerced and discriminatory exclusion of a group of Canadian’s who are identifiable only by their place of birth. It’s like living for real in the Twilight Zone! We have to keep our place of birth hidden, else bad things will happen, yeah that’s absolutely insane!
More or less what I said Tom Alciere, Calgary411, is it not?
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2016/03/09/canadian-fatca-iga-litigation-update-we-need-more-canadian-witnesses/comment-page-10/#comment-7381298
Yes, as I see it, bubblebustin. Thanks always for reducing all the verbage I say to a common denominator.
I love your verbage, Calgary411. I wish words came as easily to me, thus I wouldn’t have the inclination to distill things down to the point that they are often subtle to the point of obscurity.
Another thing I’ve contemplated is the fact that as legal guardian, exposing your son to danger or court proceedings may not go over too well with Alberta’s version of child welfare services. Something to think about if you were to put him up on a stand where he is unaware of the repercussions of his actions. Just sayin.
bubblebustin,
I have been contemplating the same thing. I had discussion with the Office of The Alberta Public Guardian and Trustee in the past year. I have been thinking I need to talk to someone there now to see if my son needs further protections, the same thinking as you. Thanks.
@Calgary
Until you have a definitive answer as to whether the US considers your son a full-fledged, tax paying citizen, I would hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
@bubblebustin; you do so have a way with words, and frequently make me laugh;
“the inclination to distill things down to the point that they are often subtle to the point of obscurity.”
I need to distill more, but really can’t do it no matter how much I try. So @calgary, me too, you’ve got company.
: )
The expression, “(And, I do realize I am a broken record for those who have heard it so many times.)” is meaningful to me. For younger people, who do not understand: phonograph records with a scratch would skip when the needle hit the scratch, and would continue repeating the same 1333 milliseconds (on a 45 RPM record) or 1800 milliseconds (on a 33 1/3 RPM record) until a human intervened.
Let’s see now, the IGA is a blanket cover for all financial institutions in Canada to comply with FATCA through CRA. Why not negotiate a blanket extortion payment which the Government of Canada will pay to ransom every Canadian who U.S. laws classify as U.S. citizens? A MP who proposes such a negotiation could raise public awareness of what is going on.
The IGA was signed, like a deal to deliver a kilogram of cocaine to your house. You pay the money but on the due date, cocaine has not been legalised yet, so the deal is not valid. If Parliament hadn’t passed C-31 that would essentially be the situation with the Model 1 IGA.
Now, you sign a deal and they change the laws so the cocaine gets delivered. Then the laws change again and cocaine is reillegalised. Due to that reillegalisation, the contract is rendered void or inoperative.
That will be the situation if Parliament repeals C-31. It’s not breaking a contract, it is illegality of performance. They cannot use the IGA as an excuse for non-repeal.
That’s it, Tom, not realizing everyone here would know the meaning.
Don’t distill a thing, badger. Your words already ignite white-hot heat in your readers – any concentration might be too strong. Your concoction is superb as it is.
I have told bubblebustin the same from time to time for it is so true, a real art …
… and I value every one of your comments as well. I’ve learned so much from you, badger.
We are ESPECIALLY seeking as witnesses Canadians, who the U.S. deems U.S. citizens, who have a “REPORTABLE” (e.g., non-RRSP) account > US $50,000…..
‘The expression, “(And, I do realize I am a broken record for those who have heard it so many times.)” is meaningful to me. For younger people, who do not understand: phonograph records with a scratch would skip when the needle hit the scratch, and would continue repeating the same 1333 milliseconds (on a 45 RPM record) or 1800 milliseconds (on a 33 1/3 RPM record) until a human intervened.’
You mean a broken record doesn’t mean annual numbers of renunciations?
@OMGhe’sstillanamerican I just saw your response to my comment. I’m glad you came out of seclusion. I’ve missed your insight, humour and determination.
I hope your seclusion has allowed you to restore some balance and sanity back in your life.
Thanks for breaking your seclusion to support Calgary.
I know it’s a lot to ask, but is there any possibility you would consider being a witness?
Is the lawsuit moot, now that the US agreed to switch to RBT?
OT, but apropos ND’s post: http://google-au.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/google-search-for-your-socks.html
@Karen – actually, that’s not a bad idea… 🙂
You may find this an interesting comment.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/letters/20160331/big-brother-obama
@Norman Diamond
Good one. I forgot it was April Fool’s Day. The lawsuit won’t be moot even when USA agrees to RBT unless they also stop imposing FBAR on Canadians.
@Tom re: ” The lawsuit won’t be moot even when USA agrees to RBT unless they also stop imposing FBAR on Canadians.”
I have always wondered about that – whether or not a move to RBT would mean no more FBARS. It would not surprise me at all if USA, even after a move to RBT, would still insist on FATCA and FBARS. I mean we all know that FATCA is about penalty revenue and capital expropriation, more than it is about taxes.
The FBARs have nothing to do with Income Tax as I understand things.