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.
@NorthernShrike
About a decade ago, BC had a shortage of neonatal ICU beds. Women with high risk pregnancies frequently were sent across the border to deliver in US hospitals. Will the BC government pay to help these kids lose their unwanted second citizenship when the kids turn 18 years of age?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/canadians-sent-to-us-for-neonatal-care/article1079065/
@Embee “FATCA: If this has harmed you, there’s a way to help fight it.”
Great title!
@everyone who responded to my Q about what to expect as a witness, that was very helpful!
I think a summary of what to expect should at least be placed on the ADCS website page where witnesses are asked to volunteer. Many people will have unrealistic notions of what it means to be a witness that do not reflect reality.
Our kijiji ad has been viewed 8 times (once was me and I will not peek again). It is nestled in with condor FATCA ads so it might be them peeking. I hope these ads help. They’re FREE and easy to set up so let’s hit as many areas as we can.
“All legal fees have been paid. Our lawyers would attend with the witness for any examination.”
Excellent news. That needs to be emphasized in advertisements, so potential witnesses won’t have to be afraid on that matter.
Re: St. Croix Courier ad Is there a link to it?
@ Norman
Glad you asked that question. I hope if there are other similar questions, people won’t hesitate to ask. Although I seem always behind on my reading here, I will try my best to answer as soon as I can. I am very committed to the Access to Justice principles ( which is my law school’s motto) and believe it is the duty of every lawyer to understand that they have an obligation to do outreach about concepts and procedures so as to demystify, if that is the appropriate word, the matter of law.
As you correctly point out, we often forget what people are fearful of. I hadn’t realized that witnesses might think they’d have to hire their own lawyers to attend an Examination.
So here’s my open invitation to all: ask away!
@ Bubblebustin
AND you are a seamstress? I can barely sew a button on a shirt! What an eclectic group we are.
I placed a Kijiji notice with the headline “Are you a Canadian with an American spouse?”. 14 hits in one day. We’ll see….
@Ginny
If we’re lucky, life is long – plenty of time to do lots of different things!
@Middle Finger
I am sorry I missed your previous questions. I like your idea of having a separate post to assist potential witness applicants. Perhaps when I am finished the current tasks I am working on this week for our law suit, I could write a FAQ summary if the moderators and others would find that helpful.
It would be helpful to me if some of you would pose what you believe are typical questions you believe should be answered, and not only restricted to witnesses but other procedural things ( etc.)you may think of.
I’d be happy to do that. In a small way, it would assist me to repay my gratitude to all the donors for their continued support. However, I will always remain in your debt and there has not been a day gone by that I don’t remember that.
” have experienced any other significant “FATCA” harm not mentioned above.”
One thing that’s been bothering me, is that many “harmed” people may not know they are being harmed in a significant way that applies to the lawsuit. For example, if I dropped my name from a joint account to protect my “more Canadian than me” spouse from the insane reporting requirements, is that considered “significant harm” that is applicable to this lawsuit? Can the “more Canadian than me” spouse also act as a harmed witness, or can only the US tainted slave stand up?
Consider this option: The Toronto Blue Jays have their home opener on Friday, 8 April 2016 at 23:07 UTC (19:07 EDT). Hold forth a picket line starting at 22:00 UTC with signs, “REPEAL FATCA” and some persons will start explaining their own situation. Now you can talk to them about “signing an affidavit.” Of course, living here in New Hampshire, I might be rooting for the Red Sox but I have seen the Blue Jays minor league team New Hampshire Fisher Cats play in Manchester.
Other Canadians can do this at any sports events that draw a crowd. The Vancouver Canadians home opener isn’t until 21 June 2016 at 02:05 UTC (20 June 2016, 19:05 PDT)
http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=tor#y=2016&m=4&calendar=DEFAULT
April 6, 2016 UPDATE:
WE NEED MORE WITNESSES IN OUR CANADIAN FATCA IGA LAWSUIT:
IRS non-compliant, no meaningful history with U.S., and with reportable account >U.S.$ 50,000
IF YOU WILL NOT VOLUNTEER PLEASE HELP ME FIND CANADIANS WHO WILL.
Middle Finger, iirc, Stephen has put out a call for the ” more Canadian than me” type spouse witness in the past.
@Stephen Kish
Last night I sent out letters to editors of three local community newspapers in my riding, recommending interested parties contact ADCS. Hopefully they’ll publish them over the next week or so.
@ John Canuck – – placed a Kijiji notice with the headline “Are you a Canadian with an American spouse?”. 14 hits in one day. We’ll see….
What section of Kijiji did you place this in – – Community? Volunteers?
It’s an eye catching phrase which I’d like to use too. Can you provide a link for others to see your ad? Thanks!!!
@ Tom
What an interesting idea.
@LM
https://www.nhl.com/schedule
You might find many persons waiting in line for a bed at the homeless shelter, and some might have been born in U.S.A. but it is unlikely they will have reportable accounts exceeding $50,000 USD or assets exceeding two million U.S. dollars. Potential witnesses can afford sports tickets. Some can afford to travel to watch the Vancouver Canucks play the Edmonton Oilers tonight at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The Canucks move on to Calgary tomorrow night. You need quality, not quantity.
@ Bubblebustin –
RE the Letters to the Editor you sent out – – can you share these here on IBS (either before or after they are published).
Thanks.
In Germany, there’s a TV program called Vermisst. The host travels the world finding missing people using tactics such as posters, making announcements on shop PR systems, using a loudspeaker in the street etc.
Perhaps print up some leaflets and start handing them out to people at busy places, railway stations, shopping centres, etc.
The host of that program finds the people she’s looking for as well.
Sure, LM. I’ll post any that are published. They tend to read better after their editors have their way with them 😉
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germans-asked-not-to-wave-at-barack-obama-during-his-visit-to-hannover-trade-show-a6969021.html
Anyone in Hannover or London want to hold up ‘FATCA OFF’ signs to Obama during this month?
I don’t think Stephen will want to hear this but Cass Sunstein is a big time FATCA proponent with close ties to Obama.
@Tim In a recent New York Review of Books Cass Sunstein made some generally favourable remarks about FATCA. I sent him a snail mail cover letter plus a parcel of articles, chief among them one by Allison Christians. That was a couple of weeks ago. No reply of course.