Dear PM Trudeau: Renegotiate FATCA IGA Now
A letter was sent to Prime Minister Trudeau from ADCS requesting him to renegotiate the IGA to protect Canadian citizens, interests, sovereignty and our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
January 27, 2017
Right Hon. Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1A 0A6
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau
RE: Renegotiate FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA)
“The Government of Canada has a responsibility to stand up for its citizens when foreign governments are encroaching on their rights. We believe that the deal reached between Canada and the U.S, is insufficient to protect affected Canadians.” (Justin Trudeau in letter to Lynne Swanson, Jun 23, 2015)
FATCA encroaches.
Liberal Statements
In Opposition, many Liberal MPs spoke strongly against American Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Among a myriad of comments in Parliament and in a newspaper article, Liberal MPs called FATCA “dangerous…an attack on our privacy…the IRS’ dirty work…infringes on our sovereignty…violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms…”
As Finance and Revenue critic, Scott Brison said “About one million Canadians are caught in this dragnet…The government did not negotiate a good deal in Washington…They failed to protect Canadian interests in terms of FATCA…The reality is you can negotiate a better IGA.”
So, we are dismayed and disappointed that the Liberal Government is failing to “stand up for (Canadian) citizens when a foreign government is encroaching on their rights” and is not protecting affected Canadian citizens and interests.
“Negotiate A Better Deal”
A new American President insisting on renegotiating NAFTA gives Canada the ideal opportunity to insist on “negotiating a better IGA.”
You can prove to all you are a Canadian leader and mean what you say — *A Canadian is A Canadian is A Canadian*. Now is the perfect time to show the value of Canada’s sovereignty as President Trump is making sweeping changes to protect United States sovereignty.
We, therefore, request you, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Global Affairs renegotiate the FATCA IGA with an amendment put forward in Opposition by Mr. Brison and NDP MP Murray Rankin:
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, for all purposes related to the implementation of this Agreement, “US Person” and “Specified US Person” shall not include any person who is a Canadian citizen who is ordinarily resident in Canada.
Please “stand up for (Canadian) citizens when a foreign government is encroaching on their rights.” Please tell President Donald Trump you will protect Canadian citizens, Canadian interests, Canadian sovereignty, and Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“Negotiate a better IGA” now.
Lynne Swanson, Chair
Litigation Committee
Stephen Kish, PhD, Chair
Alliance or the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty
cc: Hon. Billl Morneau, Minister of Finance
Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Global Affairs
Wonderful letter! How can I send this, quoting you in entirety or its basic points, to the addressees, as well as to my own MP and to Ralph Goodale, the MP of my adjacent riding?
I just saw this from OpenMedia- pertinent to our concern with FATCA, especially the last paragraph. Should they be told that Canada has already violated the privacy of Canadians?
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Victoria Henry via mail.salsalabs.net
Hi ****,
I just wanted to see if you’d had a chance to read my email below about Trump eliminating privacy safeguards for Canadians. Since I wrote to you, there has been a major, shocking development.
President Trump signed an executive order banning citizens of seven countries from entering the U.S. With Trump removing your privacy safeguards and instituting extreme policies that fly in the face of Canadian values, it’s time we take a stand.
Yep, you read that right. First Trump eliminated privacy protections for your personal information, and now he’s made it more difficult or even impossible for people all over the world to travel to the U.S., including many who live in Canada.
This is URGENT: We need the Canadian government to step up and assess what information they are sharing with the U.S. ASAP. We’re filing an urgent privacy complaint with the federal Privacy Commissioner of Canada – can you chip in to make it happen?
Thanks for everything you do.
Victoria with OpenMedia
*****************************************************************************8
Article 10- 3 of the IGA states.
Clearly this wasn’t done. Canada doesn’t need any other reason to renegotiate the IGA
This should be tweeted to Trudeau as part of the FATCA Twitter Rally, this Wednesday from 10 am EST.
I would include with renegotiation of NAFTA renegotiation of the tax treaty with real exemptions and protections, especially for accidentals. While FATCA would be good to knock back, that nasty CBTax would still be there – permissible under the tax treaty (because it does not say otherwise).
http://www.FixTheTaxTreaty.org.
great idea!
What about the “same country exemption” for those of us that are permanent residents of Canada. Are you only interested in us to help fund the litigation?
Fabulous letter! This truly is a fantastic time to remind the Canadian government that the persecution of certain ethnic or national groups here in Canada did not begin with the current outrages from south of the border. For one million Canadians of American origin it’s been going on for years already. Thanks for getting on this, ADCS!
If you guys could pull it off……the most favored language rules would ripple through IGAs worldwide.
Bob R says
January 31, 2017 at 9:53 am
What about the “same country exemption” for those of us that are permanent residents of Canada. Are you only interested in us to help fund the litigation?
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I do not know if the quote was mis-quoted or not.
However, the actual submission by Liberals and NDP as well as other submissions to the Senate Finance Committee in 2014 had proposed the insertion of this clause: “Except for Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Canada” (residing in Canada.)
As also stated in the Charter of Rights
Here is how the new IGA would work – same country exemption.
Banks do their usual. Then the CRA would exclude from data sent to USA those who have sent in a tax return to the CRA.
Re: comment above. Of course first preference would be #CharterFirst and strike down the IGA.
Strike down something!
Furious AC, You are correct. I provided the quote from the amendment for the letter but mistakenly left out the phrase “or legal permanent resident”. I am sorry for making the error.
Stephen Kish says
January 31, 2017 at 10:07 pm
Furious AC, You are correct. I provided the quote from the amendment for the letter but mistakenly left out the phrase “or legal permanent resident”. I am sorry for making the error.
Stephen: No need to apologize for anything. I was sure it was an oversight only not a renewed focus. We owe you everything in this effort to rid ourselves of the evil of this onslaught on innocent people around the world and especially in Canada. You being yourself, involved in two lawsuits and all the effort behind Brock and the ADCS!
Really , Stephen, I cannot express how important you are to me and all of us!
Let me be the first to second that, Furious AC!
And I’ll “third” it, Furious and Calgary! Thanks for everything, Stephen!
I just went to get the Fbar form and the first website I encountered (via Google) was a professional scam that charges you $195 for the service of “reviewing and downloading your Fbar.” Even though was reported 6 months ago, the government has done nothing about it.
A lot of first-time filers wouldn’t know this isn’t a real site or that you don’t need such a service.
https://reportscam.com/efilefbarcom/
@ Tofino Tom
Good information there. Just think what that personal financial information could be used for when placed in the wrong hands of those scammers … oh wait … it’s all guaranteed to go to the wrong hands anyway, thanks to FATCA.
Seriously, does anyone expect Trudeau to uphold his (and his partners in crime) commitments? He ran away from his election reform today when he couldn’t rig it to his liking; to expect anything from him, Brison, Goodale et al is fantasy. He’s a weasel, period. Likely, he has no clue what FATCA really does to Canadians. This is a guy that won’t speak English when asked a question in English.
Maybe Trudeau and the gLibs should have a look at things like this from the proposed T & T FATCA implementing legislation called the “the Tax Information Exchange Agreements Bill, 2016 “;
ex.
“…And whereas the Act provides for the sharing of personal information of identifiable individuals without first obtaining consent for such sharing:
And whereas the sharing of personal information of identifiable individuals without first obtaining consent for such sharing amounts to a breach of that person’s right to his family and private life as guaranteed by section 4 of the Republican Constitution:
And whereas the Republican Constitution by section 5 provides that no law may abrogate, abridge or infringe or authorize the abrogation, abridgement or infringement of any of the rights contained in section 4 of the Republican Constitution:”………………
“…the Committee is inviting members of the public to submit comments on the Bill, which includes proposed amendments and is available”;
http://www.ttparliament.org/documents/2464.pdf
“The report of the Joint Select Committee, which was laid in the House of Representatives on February 3, 2017 can be found”;
http://www.ttparliament.org/reports/p11-s2-J-20170203-TIEA-r1.pdf
http://www.ttparliament.org/about.php?mid=36&id=mrAC8325
Not quite on topic, just something I stumbled across in the Federal Register today while I was checking whether the expat honour roll showed up yet:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/05/03/2017-08894/investigations-determinations-modifications-and-rulings-etc-100–to-150-seat-large-civil-aircraft