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.
Blaze/NC, are you able to share the dates for this first demonstration in front to your liberal traitor’s office? There’s a chance I might be in the neighbourhood at the time.
Brilliant, Blaze.
NativeCanadian –
It is fully legal to “protest” in Canada as it is one of our fundamental freedoms.
You have already demonstrated (pun intended) singular Brocker understanding of this fact.
Observation: Decibels impact way more than pixels can. You have the freedom to disturb a lot of peace. And if some rent-a-cop says I’m gonna phone the real cops, tell them to go right ahead. It will make your day when you see the rent-a-cop wilt at the disinterested real-cop drive-by. (A cherished memory.)
@Native Canadian and @Blaze
What a wonderful wheeze ! A Video protest ! I love it ! I suppose that this is likely to be in London ? I hope to be in Ontario in a month or so for a grandchild’s birthday … if that coordinates with your timing then I would love to come “watch” the video ! LOL !
Suppose this trailer is hooked up to your vehicle and if the Police get a little ornery then you slowly circle the block … again and again if necessary !?! Of course individuals can walk and stand around on the pavement with their Tablets or Smart Phones showing the same video …..
I suppose that the trailer will need some sort of roof to protect the electronics from any rain or snow.
Try to keep low profile or pick a day when your MP must be in town. Else he or she will simply skip town for the day I guess.
Blaze and NativeCanadian: Kudos to the both of you! Every success to bringing this great idea to fruition!
Number One priority is to do it on a day my MP will be there. I want to do it to let people know when it will be but to do it without letting my MP know when it is.
Deckard has agreed to work with us on the video.
I hope I can get our local CTV station out. My MP was the anchor for the local news during the 10 years I was a commentator for them.
In addition to the video, I have some plans for signs and the American and Canadian flags.
Repeating what our litigators sent in a letter to the Crown attorneys on November 9, 2015. and hoping that Lynne can obtain a clear response from her MP:
“…In a June 25, 2015 letter to Lynne Swanson, Mr. Trudeau stated that “[t]he Liberal Party of Canada believes that the Conservative government’s efforts to safeguard the personal privacy of Canadians have been inadequate.
Mr. Trudeau also confirmed the responsibility of the Canadian government to protect the rights of Canadian citizens from foreign governments: “The Government of Canada has a responsibility to stand up for its citizens when foreign governments are encroaching on their rights.” For your convenience, a copy of Mr. Trudeau’s letter to Ms. Swanson is enclosed with this letter….
…Finally, Mr. Trudeau himself stated in the aforementioned June 25, 2015 letter to Ms. Swanson that the Liberal Party believes “that the deal reached between Canada and the U.S. is insufficient to protect the affected Canadians.” Our view is that this statement clearly reflects an intention to repeal or amend the relevant legislation so that it does sufficiently protect affected Canadians and the sovereignty of Canada.
Given that the incoming federal government has expressed serious concerns that are the same or similar to the issues raised by the plaintiffs in this litigation, the plaintiffs request that you forward this letter to the new Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Justice, the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, and the new Minister of National Revenue, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, and advise us as soon as possible whether your instructions have changed in respect of the defence of the litigation, and/or whether our clients can expect that legislative or executive measures will be taken to obviate the need for this litigation…”
[Given the “response” so far, we need more Witnesses.]
Excellent, Blaze, NativeCanadian and Deckard. And, thank you.
PierreD and nervous investor — hope your time in London, ON coincides with this endeavour.
NativeCanadian and Blaze, Great idea! Wish I lived closer….always up for a protest! Maybe you guys can consider taking your show on the road and visit other cities and MPs!? If so, please stop in Ottawa!
@ Dash…
If it were me, I would do it in a heartbeat, but because it’s my husband’s story, I can’t speak for him.
The cost to relinquish and to become compliant with filing obligations is definitely the biggest deterrent holding us back.
Re: Dash: ” I think it would be very good to get witnesses who can testify as to what the costs of the “renouncing” is–regardless of whether they can “afford” it or not. I’m not sure if people (even judges or politicians) really get what is involved here and it is going to take strong testimony in open court that reflects what people have been posting on here”
and Ms. Brock ” If it were me, I would do it in a heartbeat, but because it’s my husband’s story, I can’t speak for him. The cost to relinquish and to become compliant with filing obligations is definitely the biggest deterrent holding us back.”
Do we actually need real witnesses who are directly exposed to the potentially outrageous expenses associated with the process of freeing oneself from US bondage? Can we not just present to the courts a hypothetical case of a typical, average, non-wealthy Canadian citizen with a couple kids having RESPs, a TFSA, a couple RRSPs, all invested in Canadian mutual funds, and show how much money said average Canadian would need to fork out to laser the red, white and blue tattoo off for good?
Actually, drop the word POTENTIAL from my comment above. The expenses associated with renouncing (renunciation fee, compliance costs) are not POTENTIAL. They are real. Whether we have a witness subjected to it or not, the costs are real for anyone wanting to ditch the bitch to our south. Surely the courts can understand that. Don’t get why we have to cough up a sacrificial lamb to prove it.
The WITNESS to the costs (AKA, ‘harm’ and impediment) associated with renunciation would be a compliance condor who can testify to the costs, no?
Remember to hang those American flags upside down again – as a sign of distress, Blaze!
WhiteKat,
Our litigators have asked for witnesses who have actually been subjected to different harms. This is a decision made by the Arvay team. I support this decision and am personally afraid that a hypothetical case might not be sufficient to convince the Federal Court Justice.
I would like it to be otherwise but agree with Dash that it may take “strong testimony” from individual Canadians to win this case.
@WhiteKat I won’t go on the road to protest, but I hope others can use what we develop for other locations.
After the first one in London, we may want to consider doing several simotaneously at Fibbing Lib MP offices across Canada.
In addition to my Liberal MP, there are three other MPs in London–one Lib, one NDP and one Con. I might be willing to do a second one at the other Lib MP in London. In fact, his riding line begins only about a kilometre from where mine ends.
@ Blaze, NativeCanadian and whoever else joins the video protest
I’ve been re-reading a novel by Robert Heinlein called “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”. This quote is by one of the Lunar revolution plotters who is describing the oppressive Earth order. It might strike a chord with you. Sure did with me.
Surgite!
More important than novel reading is Neil’s find today:
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/media-and-blog-articles-open-for-comments-part-3-of-3/comment-page-35/#comment-7313757
Wonder if there’s anything in this master’s thesis that Mr. Arvay can use? Anyway thanks to the Brockers who were interviewed by James.
See new post and comment there please: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2016/03/15/master-of-arts-thesis-in-sociology-by-james-eastman-timmons-taxing-away-citizenship-do-american-canadian-dual-citizens-consider-their-status-an-inconvenience/
I was going to reference this page right here, on a comment on the cbc article, to go and find out about the ADCS. Where are the links to contribute? They should be up all the time.
@ JC
I don’t think ADCS is asking for monetary contributions at this time since the legal bill has been paid. It’s witness statements that they want now, so directing people to this post which includes Dr. Kish’s contact info would be the best you could do.
@EmBee It was not easy getting over the funding line last time. It could be an ongoing soft campaign. It is missed opportunity.
@ JC
Guess I don’t understand. Are you saying ADCS should keep collecting money? What would it be for? Paid ad asking for witnesses? Additional possible legal fees?
EmBee and JC,
We are not asking for additional funds at this time, because the outstanding legal bill has been paid off.
Whoever loses the Federal Court decision will appeal, and there will be a cost for this appeal at the Federal Court of Appeal stage. We now know from the Minister of National Revenue’s statements that the Justin Trudeau Government will vigorously appeal a loss in Federal Court.
When the appeal happens I will be asking for more donations. Typically, the cost of an appeal (in which the arguments are much more focused) is less than that of the first trial.
Regarding a paid ad asking for witnesses, should we need to go this route, that would be a separate request for donations from Canadian supporters. Hopefully, with the help of Canadians reading this post, it will not be necessary. Also — personally, I would be uncomfortable in using donated monies from our International supporters to pay for a witness ad, because not enough Canadians were willing to step up to the plate.