The Globe and Mail reports that the players at the current G20, when not posturing about the coming US war on Syria, have agreed to share tax information.
Why?
Well, we know why. Tax cheats! They are everywhere.
One positive in the article is that it mentioned FATCA and the privacy concerns Canada has about it.
@WhiteKat
I don’t blame you for not wanting to go in alone. If I lived there, I would go with you. Then we could go have beer at the trailer park afterwards :-).
I hope you are joined by others.
@bubblebustin,
I am indulging in a Mills St Organic Lager, as I type this…lol. You are welcome to join me at the trailer park anytime!
Regardless if no one goes,I will attend anyway, if nothing more than to hear what he says. I am thinking that at the very least, if no one is able to come, I will see if I can get a T shirt made up tomorrow, with one of the many great slogans mentioned here, and try and situate myself in a visible position if that is possible. I could also print out copies of the article you suggested in case my T-shirt generates any questions.
However, if Atticus or anyone else is available, I will be happy to bring a sign and make it a more ‘official’ protest.
ANTI-FATCA HANDOUT
I put together a one pager edited from the Green Party backgrounders and other comments posted here.
Tried to make it an easy read, and personalized effects vividly , while being non-partisan and reasonable. I wanted something that made sense to someone who is totally new to the issues.
The copy has been proofed and should be clean.
It fits on a single page in 10pt type. Feel free to modify, just trying to be supportive. It helps if the headlines are set in boldface. It is hard to get a complex problem on one page, but that is the standard news release format.
———————– DRAFT FATCA 1 pager HANDOUT Sept 7————-
FATCA Invades Canada
The Government of Canada must resist demands by the United States for extraterritorial enforcement of an American law: the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Our Government must protect Canada’s citizens and residents from FATCA’s invasive violations of individual privacy, and refuse to force Canadian consumers and taxpayers to pay the costs of this unilateral American mandate. FATCA offers NO benefit to Canada, and violates the Charter and Human Rights of any Canadian with a US place of birth or similar “US person” status.
What is FATCA?
FATCA is a US law that demands Canadian financial institutions report to the United States’ Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the confidential account information of hundreds of thousands of Canadian residents it classifies as “US persons”. Most of these are also Canadian citizens. It does so under threat of withholding US payments from institutions that do not comply. FATCA affects banks, insurance companies, brokerages, credit unions and other businesses in our financial services sector. Under pressure from the Financial Services Industry and US Government, the Canadian Department of Finance gave notice in November 2012 that an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) on FATCA was being negotiated. The proposed terms have not been made public and our Government has withheld further comment.
Under FATCA, Canada’s banks – or the Canadian Government under an IGA – would treat US-born Canadians as second-class citizens in their own country. Those discriminated against include countless long-term Canadian citizens with no US economic ties – and even Canadians born in the US while their parents were visiting, or through cross-border hospital arrangements! Potentially 1 million Canadians could be directly affected, along with spouses, families and business associates. Chances are, someone YOU know would be hurt by FATCA.
FATCA Violates Sovereign Canadian Human Rights
To comply with FATCA, Canadian banks must eventually ask customers “where were you born”? Then, they must discriminate against some Canadians because of where they were born. If Canadian financial institutions single out certain customers by US birthplace – without regard for actual economic activity or residence – it’s discrimination based on nationality origin and violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Human Rights Act. Imagine if banks asked customers if they were “Chinese Persons” or “Italian Persons” or “Greek Persons”! FATCA ignores the fact of Canadian citizenship in pursuing Canadians who were born in the US or to an American parent, as well as others with US “indicia”: Canadians with an American spouse or other family member, with whom they may hold assets jointly; Canadians who may have lived or worked in the US, etc.
There are major concerns about legality of changing terms of the US-Canada tax treaty without legislative amendment and parliamentary review, major ramifications for Canada’s sovereignty, and violation of Charter rights regarding equality regardless of nationality or place of birth.
A letter to Department of Finance by leading Canadian constitutional expert Peter Hogg warned that a FATCA agreement with the United States would likely be unconstitutional and in violation of Section 15 of the Charter. He wrote: “To the extent that any implementing legislation adopts provisions similar to those found in the Model IGA, in my opinion, the legislation would violate S. 15 of the Charter… The source of this problem is the fact that the Model IGA requires financial institutions to treat people differently based on such innate characteristics as place of birth or citizenship… The IGA that is being proposed would compel Canadian financial institutions to disclose the private financial information of their clients to the IRS. This would be… in clear violation of Section 15(1) of the Charter, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of national or ethnic origin”.
While we need to combat international tax evasion, FATCA would violate the fundamental rights of Canadian citizens and residents. There are also concerns about the burdens FATCA imposes on Canadian institutions and all Canadians. People do not move to Canada to evade taxes, and Canada is clearly not a tax haven!
For more information…
@WhiteKat, I am going to try. We had to go out for a bit so I have missed a few posts. I will let you know if I’m attending. I need to map out a few things, see who is available for our dog during the day Monday. I likely will be able to go! I need to go map how far from the train this location is. Won’t be hard to do!
@Wondering
That’s good. Why not make good use of paper and have our suggestions on each side?
@WhiteKat
If I’m in your area I’ll be sure to take you up on your invitation 🙂
@ Wondering
I am keeping that on file. It really is hard to get it all down in a short space but you did it. Well done!
@Whitekat, my email is *and anybody else here who wants it* atticusincanada at gmail
I just figured out that Bluesfest is this weekend and that tomorrow night the Wailers are there who I wanted to see anyway. I might just head to Ottawa Sunday night. LOL! My husband is going to swear I planned it this way as I was wanting to go Friday night to see Emmy Lou Harris and Rodney Crowell. He didn’t want to go and I swear I said “but what about Sunday night for The Wailers?” That was Thursday. I can hear him now “Oh SUUUURE Flagherty, riiiiight. Nothing to do with the Wailers being there just at the same time, nothing at allllll.” LOL!!
If I go Sunday night, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting the five a.m. train down. I could stay near the festival, walk to it, walk back to my room and get up ready to go to talk to Flagherty Monday bright and early!
@ bb
Sure, easy to have more than one page! Journalists like one-pagers. Careful formatting of the type in Word – such as setting at 9 point, making the headlines boldface, and putting quotations in italics, helps readability. OK to print both sides, but use a heavier paper so there is no print thru. A good format is to print four 8 1/2″ x 11″ pages on single 11″ x 17″ folded sheet: instant 4 page booklet.
@em
Thx! I did some modest journalistic writing, before going to the dark-side (marketing, investor relations, etc.)
It’s good to have well-honed “boilerplate”: prose that you can send out on short notice without starting from scratch. Key phrases, talking points, bullet points, etc.
Jim Jantras at repealfatca.com is very good at that. Using good layout helps a lot.
That’s great, Wondering. Thanks.
It brought to mind these great facts / questions put forth by David Querbach, who gave permission to anyone who wanted to use: https://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/12/05/a-fact-finding-forum-on-us-tax-grab-in-canada-official-press-release/comment-page-4/#comment-115172
Thanks you guys for the hand out information. My printer is a crappy one but, I am going to try and print a few hand outs if possible. I don’t have heavy paper in the house tonight either.
@Whitekat, it’s looking as if I can come so far. Email me when you can.
If you’d like Brock business cards, they are here. They are designed for Avery #38871, 10 cards to the sheet.
Thanks Pacifica.
@Wondering,
Great handout suggestion!
@ Calgary 411
That’s a great article by DQ. Very personalized, strong and to the point.
A great addition to anyone’s toolbox.
My outreach goals next few months are:
Assemble a 4 page anti-FATCA info kit consisting of
– a short personalized letter,
– the “one pager”
– DQ’s article
– a page of key quotes and links to key articles, such as The Hill blog, the Peter Hogg letter, Tax, Culture and Society articles, RepealFATCA.com and ISB and MS. If its someone who may be interested in a lot of detail, the entire Peter Hogg letter is included.
These I’ll send via email and postal back-up to:
Government of Canada officials
Opposition Leaders and shadow cabinet
My MP
Other selected politicians
Journalists and magazine writers – including abroad – especially the British Press
Consultants at think tanks such as Rideau Institute, Fraser Institute, Canadian Constitutional Foundation, etc
My MP (Liberal – very senior individual)
Selected personal contacts in business, media and journalism, politics, labour, consulting and law
Goal is a several personalized letters & handouts per week, will report any interesting replies.
A thought: maybe this is the campaign plank Justin Trudeau is looking: an instant constituency of thousands of irate, articulate and personally politicized Canadians. Let’s pitch him relentlessly. The press follow J. Trudeau closely; if he is pushed to comment on this, it may be news.
I sort of agree about Trudeau. I am still not certain if he has any actual substance beneath the shiny exterior but he has a Facebook page that is clearly monitored by someone in his organization and if you go and sign up for his newsletter on the Liberal website,every email you get asks you to please write him and let him know your concerns. Oh, and he really needs supporters in the western provinces – Alberta in particular – so playing that angle could get a person’s appeals a bit more notice.
Is it possible to get a page here and Brock with downloads of the info forms and kit? That way more people could help with the paper bombing?
Snowbirds use campers. FATCA affects snowbirds too.
I wish I could go to the Ottawa announcement. I love all the placard suggestions. I suggest a copy of us rep Posy’s letter to the US treasury saying that there will be no congress agreement to exchange USA bank info to other nations. It is so one sided.
Obviously I can not sleep. FATCA is on my mind so much.
@pacifica777
Thanks for the business cards. they printed perfectly….
I have the business card paper, so I will print out those cards. Instead of a separate additional hand out, I am thinking we formulate something for the back of the cards. It might be easier to get people to accept a small business card than a full size handout.
However, there is not a lot of space on the back. Any suggestions? Perhaps a list of point form FATCA facts?
I really like your ideas, Wondering — some of the best pieces that should not go to waste in our advocacy for US Persons in Canada — and something that US Persons in other countries can duplicate.
It takes one to know one I guess: G20 ENDS ABRUPTLY AS OBAMA CALLS PUTIN A JACKASS
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/09/g20-ends-abruptly-as-obama-calls-putin-a-jackass.html
@ Wondering
i also like your ideas. Also, information on FATCA could be sent to newspapers in smaller communities. I know from personal experience that a lot of press releases end up in community papers because they just don’t have the resources to fill the newspaper up with original material.
@WhiteKat.
Back of the business cards could have what FATCA thinks an American person is and say “are you one?” I would love to put a picture of Uncle Sam on it with caption: “I WANT YOU, AMERICAN PERSON, (REALLY I WANT YOUR MONEY) lol
I loved the Andy Borowitz Washington Post funny…I have never wrestled bears but there were 11 at one time at the dump where I used to take my garbage…
@Hazy,
Maybe a personal column in newspaper some of us small town people could do, even city folks, if the local newspaper is not receptive. Just something simple like “are you an American Person”…and give the IBS web address . Or maybe some more information like that FATCA is coming to your neighborhood, will he be wanting to see you? AND then give the IBS web address.
What about yard signs like a campaign with the Brock URL, they could go in shop windows all over. My train doesn’t leave till after 4 so ….just reading here a bit.
GO FATCA YOURSELF UNCLE SAM! HANDS OFF MY CANADIAN FAMILY!
okay,…lol..just no. I’m a little punchy going on not much sleep.