From: caroltapanila
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 12:33 PM
To: Prime Minister Stephen Harper ; Minister James Flaherty ; Kevin.Shoom@fin.gc.ca ; Michelle.Rempel@parl.gc.ca
Cc: Murray.Rankin@parl.gc.ca ; thomas.mulcair@parl.gc.ca ; Elizabeth.May@parl.gc.ca ; scott.brison@parl.gc.ca ; Ted.Hsu@parl.gc.ca ; Abby Deshman, CCLA ; J. Paul Dube ; peggy.nash@parl.gc.ca ; Justin Trudeau ; James Fitz-Morris ; Patrick Cain ; Amber Hildebrandt, CBC ; Mike.Sullivan.P9@parl.gc.ca
Subject: If you have time, does this seem paranoia to you? How many US Persons in Canada do you know?
My Canadian Government Representatives,
We have a whole lot of stories to tell. That we are afraid to come forward and tell them in fear for ourselves and our families (fear which I still, or even more so now have that I have come forward) is a story in itself.
Every Canadian MP, our government representatives, must intimately know ALL aspects of FATCA and must know their US Person constituents stories. Blowing us off with no discussion, no answers to our questions is not appropriate. They are to represent me and my family. Their knowledge of FATCA, US citizenship-based taxation, how it wreaks collateral damage to so many of Canada’s population, the complicity of the Canadian government in draining the resources from Canada’s treasury, the cost to every single Canadian. If I don’t know that plus have their full support that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms will continue to protect ALL Canadians, then my vote will not have been earned.
It is time for every Canadian, but especially US-defined US Persons in Canada, to wake up and shake off our apathy to see that our rights are systematically being taken away from us. A precedent for other foreign countries to now do the same to other Canadians, discrimination by national origin, is more than troubling.
Carol Tapanila
Calgary, AB, CANADA
From: WoonChin
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 11:52 AM
To: caroltapanila
Subject: Re: If you have time, does this seem paranoia to you? How many US Persons in Canada do you know?
Carol,
Paranoia breeds strength and action. A lot of people are able to feel but few have the strength or perseverance to act on their beliefs.
I am proud and honored to be in your company and circle of friends.
Yours truly,
Woonchin
From: caroltapanila
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 11:29 AM
To: Carol Tapanila
Subject: If you have time, does this seem paranoia to you? How many US Persons in Canada do you know?
This discussion was actually BEFORE Canada signed an intergovernmental agreement with the US who have citizenship-based taxation, not residential-based taxation as Canada as all other countries except Eritrea.
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/02/11/should-non-citizens-be-able-to-vote-in-2014-toronto-municipal-election-independent-nation-discusses-citizenship-with-brockers/
– US-defined ‘US Persons’ in Canada will be much more than actual US citizens.
– Our Local CANADIAN what the US calls “foreign financial institutions” and our Canada Revenue Agency become arms of the US IRS.
– Are you OK for your Canadian bank asking you if there is any reason the US would consider you a US Person? Should they ask Chinese, Vietnamese, South African, French / Canadians their national origin? Should they also ask all of us our religion or our sexual orientation?
– Should your Canadian spouse / your child born in Canada / your child born in the US (by accident) but never resided there / your business partner / any company that you for which you have a “signing authority” be deemed “US Persons in Canada”?
– This will cost ALL Canadians. Is this OK with you as a Canadian taxpayer?
– Is this OK with you to have the US funnel funds out of the Canadian Treasury?
– Is this OK with you to be paying the cost of implementation of this US Person round-up by our financial institutions?
– Should Canada remain a sovereign nation?
– Under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, should ALL Canadians have the same rights?
– Is there now a tiered Canadian citizenship: those deemed ‘US Persons’ who are now second-class Canadians vs. first-class citizenship for ALL OTHER CANADIANS no matter their nation origin?
My best regards,
Carol Tapanila
@Calgary 411
This is a great letter. They did not sit down with us before they signed. Obviously Justin Trudeau did not know much about FATCA…They negotiated the treaty in secret. I think they decided long ago to sign it. They betrayed us
@northernstar,
Yes, a stupid decision for which they will pay.
I will never vote for anyone who voted for FATCA and will think three times before voting for anyone who stayed silent and didn’t try to fight for Canadian rights to be equal for ALL Canadians.
@ AtticusInCanada
Me too! And all the Conservative MPs have received an e-mail from me to tell them that. (So far not one actual reply from any of them.) I’ve said elsewhere that the Harper government sold us out and didn’t even apologize. Pathetic! I’m still working on my e-mail to the opposition MPs.
VOTE????
VOTE IN A FASCIST DICTATORSHIP?
RIGHT!
I’m never voting for anyone ever again. Politicians of all stripes are representing the worst criminal elements in or society.
A vote for Stalin would be appropriate because at least we would know what we are dealing with.
My MP for Surrey North is Jasbir Sandhu. Absolutely nothing from his website regarding his stance on FATCA http://jasbirsandhu.ndp.ca/news/issues
And on his FB Site he has openly expressed “admiration” for Barack Obama. Disgusts me that I have someone like that representing me in Canadian Parliament. I should point out on the spot, which way he voted on the FATCA IGA.
Sent this to Murray Rankin – I don’t even want to speak to my MP. He disgusts the living hell out of me.
February 11, 2014
To the Honorable Murray Rankin, QC, MP
MP, Victoria
Re: FATCA
I am writing you because of the simple fact that my NDP MP appears to support Barack Obama’s position on FATCA and has openly expressed admiration of the fact that President Obama, the primary architect of this attack on our sovereignty and US persons in Canada (Canadian citizens amongst them) was re-elected to office. As a matter of fact, I am personally affected by the fact that this IGA is now pretty much a done-deal with signatories having signed.
I am the fully Canadian spouse of an affected person (permanent resident of Canada – landed in November, 2001 who will be seeking to obtain her Canadian citizenship) under the new FATCA IGA and as such my bank accounts would have been open to scrutiny, if I hadn’t sought to separate the accounts.
However despite my actions separating our accounts, this still leaves my spouse exposed as well as my children, as my children are considered US persons under their law of maternal citizenship transfer. I have not registered them with the US consulate or made any attempt to obtain their US citizenship. The US citizenship is now a toxic citizenship and we are doing our best to extricate both my spouse and my children from it.
However we feel that despite the fact that I am Canadian born, raised and am fully Canadian (born to a Canadian citizen and a naturalized Canadian Citizen (from Japan)), Prime Minister Harper has thrown us under the FATCA bus.
It takes a lot for me to speak ill of someone, but Revenue Minister Findlay, Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty and Prime Minister Harper have done nothing but undermine the sovereignty of this great nation of ours. In fact, I will go so far as to accuse them of being traitors to Canada.
I am incensed, enraged and tempted to under the Freedom of Information Act, find out exactly which representatives of ours deigned to throw Canadian Citizens under the entrapment of the IRS and will do everything under my power to ensure that these traitors never get elected to public office again.
Sincerely,
My name
My return e-mail.
Constituent, Surrey North
Also sent it to Linda Duncan (what would have been my MP) if I had lived my entire life in Edmonton, AB (where I was born).
Bravo, The Animal. Good on you for sending that to MP Murray Rankin. I predict you will hear from him!
Here is how I will vote…
Hmm.. fatca yes… u no… fatca silent… u no… wait.. who is this person… what the heck.. give the sucker a try… what do I got to lose.. I ain’t got boo now.
Just the fact that I have to justify myself as a Canadian citizen, and that anyone who has sworn the oath of allegiance to the Queen has to also justify themselves as being Canadian pisses me off. In two terms in office, Stephen Harper has turned this country from respected to laughing stock. Not only is he an American apologist, but he is a TRAITOR to our sovereignty having signed over multiple Canadian corporations to US management and now the icing on the cake being the fact that he has sold Canadian citizens (both dual and accidental US indicia) down the river in favour of the banks profits.