This is an update on our Canadian FATCA IGA lawsuit — just to let you know that the lawsuit is alive and is moving forward, slowly.
Today our litigators and the Government attorneys met with a Case Management Judge to resolve differences.
The good news is that we now have permission from the Case Management Judge to file a motion for the Charter-Constitutional trial and provide our evidence in support of the motion. Government will also file a motion, for which we have 28 days to respond, on an issue in which there is disagreement between our side and Government.
Once that Government motion and our response is sorted out, there will be another Case Management Conference to resolve remaining issues prior to trial and to schedule the hearing.
— I am sorry, but we do not yet have a trial date in 2017, and I will keep you informed on developments.
Thank you for your patience. By now, we all know that litigation against Government does not move quickly.
Finally, I want to thank the brave Plaintiffs and Witnesses for their courage: They make our lawsuit possible.
Stephen
@EmBee – I’m not having any trouble viewing that FB group.
No trouble for me either, EmBee.
@EmBee,
I’m having the same problem as you with the American Expats FB page, also since yesterday. All the posts (except the permanent top post) are blanked out. I tried accessing it through a proxy server, in case there was a problem with my ip address, but no luck with that either.
It’s a mystery to me, though one thing crossed my mind is I’m not signed up with FB and, IIRC, you’re not signed up with FB either. Maybe that’s why? If so, all I can think of is maybe it’s some new FB policy that you have to be signed up with FB to see even an open group. Or maybe Keith or one of the mods accidentally changed a setting (I’m thinking they probably wouldn’t intentionally make it private because they seem pretty inclusive and they’re trying to get a message out).
At any rate, could somebody who is a member of the FB group let Keith know we’re having this problem? I’d appreciate that. I find it really worthwhile reading.
@ Karen, Bubblebustin & pacifica777
Thanks for the feedback. I’m not a FB member but I’ve always been able to view all the posts there before. This is quite a curious thing and I hope my access returns. I like reading Keith’s site.
Guys go and view the mobile version of the Facebook page that works
Just use m.facebook.com/groups/AmericanExpatriates/
That trick often works on lots of sites and makes them load faster too
@embee tell me if the fix works for you
@ George O
Yes it works. I never knew about that mobile thing — maybe because I don’t have a mobile phone. Thank you. 🙂
@embee I have a mobile phone that is used to make and receive phone calls. Not to do apps send photos and play pokeman.
Though I am proud when as a low tech person I come up with a fix like I did below.
Ps. Thank you so much for being a steady hand in this cause.
Re: non original George: FATCA is unconstitutional .
Time to be positive! POSITIVE! This is our chance to get this devil out of our collective hair! Don’t listen to the naysayers. The banks themselves everywhere HATE this thing so they would sigh a sigh of relief not to have to scare prospective customers –including the US retiree exodus– by telling them they have to report their accounts to the USG. This thing is invasive and unconstitutional. Time to do away with it bc there is a danger US banks will be next. Republicans (including Paul Ryan) have been discussing not just the repeal of this thing but going to RBT. The current good-for-nothing POTUS was in the way. Please, let’s contribute our POSITIVE ENERGY and help get this repeal done! Leave negativity by the wayside! Thank you, George, the Original, for your wonderful entries! You are a light in the darkness. I, for one, adore your posts!
@ George O
I actually found it faster to get caught up with Keith’s FB using the “m.” instead of the “www.”. It’s not only a good workaround, it’s a handy new all-purpose tool for me now. RE: mobile phones. I would certainly use a “throwaway” if I was travelling alone. My husband did that when he had to travel back to Mordor a few times (easier for us to stay in touch when he didn’t have to search for a nearly extinct payphone). BTW, YOU ARE the steady hand. I’m more of a flibberty-gibbett.
…”The United States, which has assumed the duty of exporting peace, democracy, and stability throughout the world, […]”
What? Since when was that?
The evil twin of the United States, which exports what it actually exports (which isn’t peace, democracy, or stability), doesn’t even have a constitution, and doesn’t have courts enforcing a constitution. US courts, even when they acknowledge the existence of a constitution, only apply it to the United States which exists within the borders of the United States, not constituting one bit of the United States’ evil twin that exports war, dictatorship, torture, and droning.
So then, WHO is this other George?
@Bubblebustin
Greed and war- what a horrible combination
@Muzzlednomore
Well then- I look forward to January if FATCA will finally be on their agenda.
@Polly, “So then, WHO is this other George?”
Had to be someone newish as they would have knew me. But I am growing fond of the Kentucky Fried Chicken statement after my name.
@Bubbles @Polly, as General/President Eisonhower warned…beware of the military industrial complex. I believe that lesson holds for the uniformed military. Where it does not hold is with members of Congress that want XYZ built in their Districts.
Also you can look at the 1980s and Reagan who increased end strength, bought new equipment and basically had the position of speak softly and carry a big stick.
A successful military is one that is never ever used. Armchair warriors (military wannabe) never seem to get that.
Trump will need to put the genie back in the bottle of not using the military and that means keeping your powder dry when you want to interevene for “humanitarian reasons.”
IF Trump can do a Reagan of making the military larger and stronger and NOT use it the world will be in a better place. But that also includes NOT being a threat to others like Russia and China.
The US worldwide military problem is a 25 year problem created by Clinton, Bush and Obama. We need a course correction back to 1980.
Oh, to tie back into IBS……the concept of financial warfare must STOP. Thats the pervue of State and Treasury but it must stop.
@Polly, “Greed and war- what a horrible combination”
Let me give you something worse………
The idea that you can spread liberal democracy down a gun barrel and impose your viewpoint on other nations because “you are right and they are therefor wrong.” (neocon ethos)
“The idea that you can spread liberal democracy down a gun barrel”
Sometimes it actually happens.
Remember, US presidents are elected by the Electoral College, not directly by the people. Though there is a large overlap with democracy, they are not completely equal. The most recent example occurred in 2016, when a democracy would have elected Clinton because she got a bigger minority of the popular vote than any other candidate, but Trump wins a majority of the Electoral College. But this is just the most recent example, not the most important one.
In 2000, a democracy would have elected Gore because he got a bigger minority of the popular vote than any other candidate, but Bush won a majority of the Electoral College … or rather, a majority of the Supreme Court. In 2000, just like 2016, democracy did not quite spread to presidential elections, even though it was close.
Then what happened in 2004? Bush didn’t just win a majority of the Electoral College. Bush didn’t just win a bigger minority of the popular vote than any other candidate. Bush won a majority of the popular vote. In 2004, democracy spread to presidential elections?
And how did this happen?
On 2001-09-10, friends of President Bush were still taking out newspaper advertisements begging him to stop being such an idiot. But on 2001-09-11, President Bush became a national hero. The people loved him so much, he went on to win reelection democratically.
And how did this happen?
From a gun barrel. Or more precisely, from airplanes being used as bombs.
Osama bin Laden won. He used violence to turn the US into a democracy. (Temporarily.)
Some hopeful news about FATCA:
Washington post reports Mark Meadows, head of House Freedom Caucaus gave a list of regulations he wants Trump to repeal by executive action (see list link below). Bingo! #203 is FATCA. Let’s pray Trump does something with this list
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/12/15/house-conservatives-want-trump-to-undo-regulations-on-fda-climate-uber/?utm_term=.37cc03263e84
https://zh.scribd.com/document/334225553/Meadows-rules-and-Regs#from_embed
Contrast the treatment of our brave plaintiffs with the “courtesy” treatment of the CBA and a Big Five Canadian Bankster by the Canadian government’s FINTRAC.
Individual law abiding Canadians with a US birthplace or dual status get NO notice from the CRA or their financial institution when their legal local assets and accounts are reported automatically to the US IRS – even without any indication of any wrongdoing, and even in complete compliance with CANADIAN laws, and yet the Canadian government extends “courtesy” notice to the CBA and one of the Big Five Banksters:
Yet, FINTRAC gives the CBA and a major (as yet unamed Canadian bank) a “courtesy” heads up about major money laundering charges;
“…Canada’s financial intelligence agency gave the country’s bankers a “heads up” prior to reporting that it was hitting a Canadian bank with an unprecedented $1.1-million penalty last spring, reveal newly released documents obtained by National Observer and the Toronto Star.
The penalty is the first of its kind issued to a Canadian bank for violating Canada’s money laundering rules. The bank in question violated the law 1,225 times, but has not been named. Several corporate governance experts have criticized the agency, FINTRAC, for not being transparent about which bank had broken the rules.
But an internal email, released through access to information legislation, shows that the agency had shared some information in advance with industry.
In the email sent last March to Gérald Cosette, director of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, a media spokesman from the agency explained that he was giving the Canadian Bankers Association, a lobby group for Canadian banks, advance notice about its announcement of the penalty…”….
http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/12/22/news/financial-intelligence-agency-gave-bankers-heads-about-money-laundering-disclosure
‘Canada refuses to name bank that broke money-laundering rules 1,225 times’
http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/12/22/news/canada-refuses-name-bank-broke-money-laundering-rules-1225-times
“…..Canada’s money-laundering agency is refusing to name the bank hit with an unprecedented penalty for failing to report a suspicious transaction and committing hundreds of other violations in its dealings with a controversial client. Details of the failures — including one the agency described as “very serious” — were revealed in documents obtained by National Observer and the Toronto Star.
For nearly two years, the bank failed to report a series of unusual transactions in its client’s account, despite news reports at the time revealing he was under criminal investigation in the U.S. The transactions included dozens of large cash deposits and hundreds of international transfers worth more than $12 million, reveal the newly-released documents.
The records, released by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) through access to information legislation, are heavily censored but provide new details about FINTRAC’s first-ever penalty on a bank — $1.15 million, disclosed last April.
Bank identity still a secret
The documents revealed that the bank broke the rules 1,225 times, but the institution’s identity remains undisclosed…….”
Contrast this courtesy treatment of CBA member and big Bankster with the way that the Canadian government is blithely subverting the Charter and constitutional rights of law abiding taxpaying Canadian individuals and families whose only ‘crime’ was being born in the US or of US parentage, or obtaining some kind of quasi-US status (ex. expired greencard).
The Sunny Libs are content to continue abusing our Canadian tax dollars and the resources of our Canadian Justice Dept. towards defending the persecution of Canadians with mere US ‘indicia’ (now a crime to possess in Canada) in order to satisfy a foreign country, but extends “courtesy” to major money laundering Banksters.
Banksters and actual fraudsters and money launderers are obviously treated differently than law abiding Canadian taxpaying individuals and families with ordinary legal local bank accounts.