Rick Mercer Report: Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act

Have you or anyone in your family ever been an American?

It’s time to double check.

Of course it may be very difficult to prove to a bank that you’re not an American, even if you aren’t.

21 thoughts on “Rick Mercer Report: Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act”

This is fucking funny. And yet …not. But it’s the reality that is coming to a banking institution near every Canadian soon.

I think Mercer nails it despite the fact he shared virtually no details. The USG is going on a American connection hunt that will likely force millions of Canadians to prove their Canadian-ness despite the fact that this violates our laws.

All the terms of American-ness are rather tight at the moment, I can easily imagine the USG redefining the rules every time the appear to be running out of fish for their nets. I was reading an article at Zerohedge Blackboard yesterday that highlighted politicians pet peeve myths about American.

One person’s was the idea that America needed to use force to get other countries to go along with the US’s views (it was about sanctions) but the thing in his reply that struck me went something like this “we’ve learned to use control of the international banking system as a means to enforce our will because when everyone’s economy runs through our financial network in the US, they have to do what we want”.

Is that not enough to make you wish the planet still had frontiers to flee to and lose yourself in?

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60 seconds is all it takes to overcome a negative headline like “Tax Dodger”. Good use of humor in human terms. Time to start asking indeed!

Yeah Rick Mercer!!!!! Yeah CBC!!!!

Now ALL Canadians will be asking – what the — is FATCA?

And what will Harper and Flaherty say?

@badger exactly.

I was waiting for Mercer to do a bit on this issue!

@atticus and @ northernstar, I have passed the link on. Perhaps our MPs will enjoy it. And it will help us when people who follow his show are wondering aloud what he is referring to.

Wouldn’t it be funny if Colbert or Jon Stewart saw it and took an interest?

I tweeted it to Flaherty, Finance Canada and CBA.

There is nothing in the news on the NDP announcement on FATCA.

@northernstar: The media may or may not pick up on the NDP news release.

I find it interesting that the NDP issued this just a few days before Parliament reconvenes. My understanding is the Finance Minister is required to answer Ted Hsu’s and Scott Brison’s questions next week.

Now, the NDP has put more pressure on them with this news release. I also tweeted it and e-mailed it to Flaherty, Shoom and Finance Canada-although I’m sure they were already aware of it.