This dates back to April, but I have not seen it reported on IBS.
The Canadian Bar Association has filed a submission on bill C-24 which echoes our concerns with respect to legislation implementing the FATCA IGA. The submission stops short of calling the relevant provisions in C-24 unconstitutional, saying only that it “implicates” s. 15 of the Charter:
Targeting dual nationals for citizenship revocation results in differential treatment based on ethnicity or national origin and therefore implicates section 15 of the Charter. Canadians from countries that do not recognize dual nationality would not be subject to the provisions. However, Canadians whose ancestors came from countries that recognize dual citizenship and pass citizenship to generations born abroad would face the prospect of revocation. Entire ethnic or national communities would either be subject to the provisions or not. Gradating the rights of Canadians on the basis of the laws of another state creates different classes of citizens. It is unfair and discriminatory. (p. 19)
The submission of the Canadian Bar Association is available full-text here:
http://www.cba.org/CBA/submissions/pdf/14-22-eng.pdf
Bill C-24 is now in final stages of passage in the House of Commons. To become law, it must also be passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor General.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/chris-alexander-says-citizenship-bill-will-withstand-constitutional-test-1.2671265
Interesting, Chris Alexander also criticized the 1977 citizenship law changes by the Trudeau government which allowed for dual nationality as a matter of Canadian law.
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/06/01/its-time/comment-page-14/#comment-2014135
…I viewed and listened here: http://senparlvu.parl.gc.ca/Guide.aspx?viewmode=4&categoryid=-1¤tdate=2014-06-12&languagecode=12298&eventid=9569#, which is the Senate hearing where from which he is quoted.
Listen to MP Chris Alexander at about 39:35 (where, of course, he is discussing the Citizenship Bill C-24, terrorism, etc.) where he says:
Looks like C-24 is going to be rammed through, and unfortunately it will add two years to my wait for citizenship. I was going to apply in July 2015, as I landed as a PR in June of last year. But making the waiting time 4 years instead of three, plus the stripping of my two years of pre-PR time is really a punch in the gut, having to wait until 2017. This is going to push my US renunciation out at least two years now, and this worries me because who knows how big the renunciation backlog will be in 2017, if in fact they still allow them or haven’t increased the cost to some exorbitant amount in order to keep their cattle on the ranch.
@ arjan
That sucks! All you can do is keep your finances simple until you finally have a CLN so you can self file your 1040s and make sure you master e-filing of your FinCEN114 (formerly known as FBAR). I’d also suggest living in poverty so there’s less they can grab if you do happen to make a foot fault on an IRS form. (Kind of kidding about that.) So 2017 is when you can apply for Canadian citizenship, right? Then you have at least 2 years to wait for your application to be processed. Then who knows how long you will have to wait to get your CLN and who knows if they will be making it darn near impossible by then to even get a CLN. Are you really sure you want to be here?
This does not change my mind in any way. I will NOT comply and I will NOT renounce – I don’t trust those bastards as far as I can throw them…to hell with them!
Oops that comment should have been on the “Is the IRS “FINALLY” doing the Right Thing? New simplified, SIMPLIFIED OVDP” thread!
but then again…I suppose it could be pertinent to this thread too…
@ Em
Yes it certainly does suck. C-24 received Royal Assent last night, and is now law. There are rumblings that the residency clause will not take effect until a year from now, which still cuts me off by about 14 days. I’m at a loss, I have never been this depressed about anything. If my son wasn’t getting married in the US in October 2015 (I have to go to that) I would seriously consider renouncing right this minute and living stateless for the next four years or so.
And yes, I am really sure I want to be here. Seriously, I would rather die than go back to live in the US.
Pingback: The Isaac Brock Society | American emigrants: Vote Scott Brown for Senate so he can revoke our unwanted U.S. citizenship for free and get us out of the State Department’s new $2,350 renunciation cash grab