UPDATE SEPTEMBER 19, 2015: SEE ALSO DISCLAIMER AND LITIGATION UPDATES.
[This post, which began in May and having over 1000 revisions and 2000 comments, is being retired from service and updates. It lived through the success of reaching a total of $500,000 in donations from our kind, dear supporters who had little money to give, the hope and disappointment with the summary trial decision, and the certainty that we are now finally moving on to the Charter trial.]
CANADIAN CHARTER TRIAL UPDATE:
— We have instructed the Arvay team to prepare for the “Constitutional-Charter” trial. This means that our focus now, as it was in the beginning of our lawsuit, is on the Charter trial.
Unless there is a new expense in the future that we have not anticipated, the monies from your donations will be sufficient to take us through the “constitutional-charter” trial in Federal Court. However, to pay other legal bills we will need additional donations from our supporters, and a request for donations will appear on another post soon.
OUR LITIGATION HISTORY:
One year ago, on August 11, 2014, Litigator Joseph Arvay filed a FATCA IGA lawsuit in Canada Federal Court on behalf of Plaintiffs Ginny and Gwen, the Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty (en français), and all peoples.
Because of a Government delay we initiated a “summary trial”, using a portion of the arguments, which offered the possibility of preventing private banking information from being turned over to the IRS before September 30, 2015. See Alliance’s Claims, our Alliance blog, and AUGUST 4-5 SUMMARY TRIAL FILINGS in LITIGATION UPDATES.
@Stephen Kish……something that may be of value to Joe Arvey and ADCS……
Both Canada and the US have signed the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.
http://www.oecd.org/ctp/exchange-of-tax-information/conventiononmutualadministrativeassistanceintaxmatters.htm
But the USA waived out of much of this;
https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4550
Anyways there may be some useful nuggets in this….
Don’t know if any of you have seen this story this morning:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-considering-hate-charges-against-those-who-boycott-israel-1.3067497
It appears that the Harper government, in its continuing efforts to strip away our rights and freedoms, is going after those who publicly oppose the actions of the Israeli government. There is an angle to this story, however, that may have implications for the ADCS legal strategy. These two quotes from the story may be very relevant to the case Mr. Arvay presents against the government in August:
“Some of these groups had noted that the government changed the Criminal Code definition of hate speech last year, adding the criterion of “national origin” to race and religion.”
“She highlighted what she termed “hate propaganda” provisions in the Criminal Code criminalizing the promotion of hatred against an identifiable group, and further noted that “identifiable group” now includes any section of the public distinguished by “among other characteristics, religion or national or ethnic origin.””
Under the revised definitions in the Criminal Code, could it be the case that passing the FATCA IGA into law constitutes a hate crime perpetrated by the Canadian government against all “US Persons” resident here? Could the government, or members thereof, actually be prosecuted for this under their own hate crime laws? If it came to that, they’d probably just label IBS and ADCS as terrorist organizations which “threaten the economic stability of Canada” and turn Bill C-51 against us all.
@ RefugeeFromAmerica
Yet another Harper proposal to create yet another court case to challenge his government on its failure to protect OUR fundamental rights and freedoms. I can’t imagine even wanting to use something as despicable as this proposal to try to “help” our cause. Scotty beam me up because this land is not my land anymore. Harper has sold Canada to a cruel, rogue state and his own soul to satan. I see the thousands of comments on that CBC article have Harper pretty well pegged on this one but then he just doesn’t care does he. He listens only to his masters’ voices. I have “zero tolerance” for this most inhumane man.
@EmBee
Yep, it surely isn’t the same Canada that I moved to all those years ago…barely recognizable, actually. I guess Harper has succeeded in his stated goal of making Canada unrecognizable. And with all that he has done these last nine years, the most recent polling, shockingly, puts him in minority government territory in the next election. How can so many people not see what’s happening here? I weep for the Canada that used to be…
@Refugee: At this point I would not be surprised if the Harper government finds a way of linking us with terrorist organizations and using Bill C51 against us.
It sounds like some kind of movie plot, but I never thought I would see much of what has happened to Canada under the Harper regime.
Elizabeth May says:
http://www.greenparty.ca/en/media-release/2015-05-06/bill-c-51-fails-both-counts-making-canadians-less-safe-and-trampling-our
I agree with her completely. Even more alarming than the Cons introducing C51 is the Libs voting for it.
Unfortunately, Elizabeth May’s credibility took a nose dive with her performance at the Press Gallery dinner on Saturday night.
“…I have no ties with the United States or with Canada. However, I have a sense of justice… — EU supporter (May 11th)
That is really what it’s all about. How pleased I am that someone picked up on that and then made an ADCS donation too.
About the slow upward rise of the Sovereignty Thermometer … PLEASE everyone don’t rely totally on an end of July miracle like we witnessed in April. It would be so much better to be counting down the last few days approaching the summary trial date without having to worry about whether the final $100,000 payment will be there.
@Refugee From America. “How can so many people not see what’s happening here?”
This is exactly what I was thinking about the Liberal tyranny in Ontario for well over a decade. This is what, until recently, Albertans were thinking about the entrenched Tories there. It may have something to do with what some pundits call “the low information voter,” i.e. people who are not really engaged with current events and when they vote (if they vote) it is for the names that look familiar. The thing is, eventually they wake up and the pendulum swings the other way. But throwing the bums out just gets us a crop of new bums. Better to hope for a favourable outcome with the lawsuit than a political solution. The new Republican majority in the US Senate has been a huge disappointment as well, so Jim Bopp, get a move on!
@Lake Superior Guy
I agree that the lawsuit is the way forward on this issue and that political solutions are not forthcoming. I was just lamenting the state of our political system, I guess. I think the frequency of ordinary citizens having to resort to the courts for remedies against rights violations is a direct measurement of the level of dysfunction of the government. For both the US and Canada (and many other Western democracies), the number of these kinds of legal challenges has risen sharply in recent years and is a clear indication that something is going very wrong with our elected institutions. I don’t hold out much hope that this situation will improve in the future.
In the event that the ISIS fighters advance to Erbil, Iraq and take the city, the staff at the U.S. Consulate there have been instructed to invite them in to negotiate a FATCA IGA.
😎
Our very own Canadian Finance Minister has NOTHING to say to all the Canadian citizens and residents and taxpayers who he has a fiduciary duty and duty of care towards – all of us, who are impacted by and paying with our hard earned Canadian taxes and savings for the Cons to implement US extraterritorial FATCA in Canada – at our expense.
He has nothing to say to us. Yet, he is the keynote speaker in NY at this SIFMA event;
The event is described, but note that FATCA is not in the description:
“The U.S.-Canadian economic relationship is vast. Canada is the top export destination for 35 U.S. states – nearly 9 million U.S. jobs depend on trade and investment with Canada – and 400,000 people cross the Canada-U.S. border daily.
This Summit will discuss the engine that fuels this activity, the U.S. and Canadian financial markets.
Program topics include:
Canada’s Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System
Cross Border Implications of the Volcker Rule
Investment Trends in the Energy Sector
And other regulatory developments in the U.S. and Canada that impact cross-border investment.”
@george …. what does ” In its treaties with France, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands, the United States has specifically agreed to provide mutual assistance in collection, and does so under its Mutual Assistance Collection Program.” mean exactly ? Last para Page 8 of your exhibit EXPLANATION OF PROPOSED PROTOCOL AMENDING THE MULTILATERAL CONVENTION ON MUTUAL ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE IN TAX MATTERS https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4550 It seems to me that there IS an agreement for mutual aid in collection of tax between US and Canada. What have I missed?
After reading the Volumes 1-4 and the Memorandum of Fact, I can’t see how a judge will be able to look at Gwen an Ginny and say that the imposition of FATCA on them is just. I’m sure the defense will argue that not imposing FATCA will have widespread crippling consequences for ALL CANADIANS through economic sanctions.
@marie Not so black and white. Certainly FATCA provision of data may be delayed until the US is ready to reciprocate.
Also in court the main issue is the law and not the argument the defence may have that more Canadians will be harmed without the FATCA IGA.
@Marie also ‘more harmed without the FATCA IGA’ is speculative and not grounded in FACT. One may point out that FATCA is unconstitutional, with legal challenge being mounted in the US. And, that the US banks are not now asking similar questions of their clients to be able to be in position of reciprocating as promised.
@Marie. If that were a true scenario, my next question to the judge is ” what about the next country that FORCES their laws into Canada? Will it be allowed if it is a better deal for Canada to create even more second class Canadians? I personally do not buy that argument. The fact is simple. NO politician will give any of us a straight answer. This country’s government is turning into rubbish extremely fast. They are losing control of the people and every day rebel groups find it easier and easier to recruit new persons for their cause. People are growing tired of being LIED to and it is clear. The governments answer is more surveillance. The government doesn’t need more surveillance, they need to be open and honest and stop bullshitting the people who pay their wages and fast.
Thank you @JC and NativeCanadian
The knot in my stomach is slightly loosened, at least for this evening.
Neither Canada nor the US require your bank account NUMBER and your bank account BALANCE to calculate your INCOME taxes due.
The US does not require your CANADIAN SOCIAL INSURANCE NUMBER to calculate your INCOME taxes due.
Period. The End.
The Canadian Finance Minister (last time Flaherty, this time Oliver) stands up to the US re banking.
Nope, fooled you!
it isn’t FATCA he’s opposing. Oliver described the US law in question as having ; “…unprecedented extraterritorial reach and significant crossborder effects,…”..
Nope, it’s not FATCA Oliver is opposing.
The Canadian government is willing to state loudly and publicly that the Volcker Rule violates NAFTA and is an affront worth standing up against, but they steadfastly pretend that FATCA isn’t – and are willing to waste any amount of our hard earned Canadian taxpayer money and Canadian family savings to maintain the fiction that US extraterritorial FATCA and CBT imposed on Canadians aren’t. Oliver has the backs of the Canadian Banksters, but Canadian taxpayers, citizens and residents are on their own.
AND get this “A Canadian bank trading entirely outside the U.S., for example with another Canadian or a European bank , “doesn’t have to worry about Volcker at all,” Mr. Landy said.”
http://business.financialpost.com/news/fp-street/volcker-rule-canada-banks
See;
‘Volcker Rule in bank reforms violates NAFTA, Joe Oliver argues’
“Finance Minister Joe Oliver told a group of American financiers on Wednesday that an upcoming series of U.S. bank reforms soon to be implemented violates the North American Free Trade Agreement.
At a speech in New York City, Oliver said the so-called “Volcker Rule” in the Dodd-Frank Act reforming banking regulations goes against the North American Free Trade Agreement.”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/volcker-rule-in-bank-reforms-violates-nafta-joe-oliver-argues-1.3072466
‘Finance Minister Joe Oliver says U.S. Volcker trading ban violates NAFTA’
NIALL McGEE and DAVID BERMAN
The Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, May. 13 2015,
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/oliver-says-us-volcker-trading-ban-violates-nafta/article24416359/
‘Canada Minister Says Volcker Rule Violates Trade Agreement’
May 13, 2015
By Paul Vieira
“A U.S. rule that prohibits banks from taking risky bets with their own money violates the North American Free-Trade Agreement because it bans U.S. banks from trading triple-A-rated Canadian government debt, Canada’s finance minister said Wednesday.
Joe Oliver told a securities conference in New York he hopes the U.S. will amend the so-called Volcker rule to either eliminate the ban, or provide an exemption to its biggest trading partner, Canada……..”
..”. “I believe–with strong legal basis–that this rule violates the terms of the Nafta agreement,” Mr. Oliver told a securities industry audience in New York that included the U.S. ambassador to Canada, Bruce Heyman. “I hope the United States administration sees that changing the Volcker ruleis in its own best interests and that of its biggest trading partner.”
A spokeswoman for Mr. Oliver said Canada is engaged in talks with the U.S. Treasury regarding the rule, and Mr. Oliver has raised it in bilateral meetings with U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Treasury wasn’t immediately available to comment.
In 2012, former Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty wrote to former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to express concerns about the law, which he warned “would have an unprecedented extraterritorial reach and significant crossborder effects, which would be particularly problematic for Canada, given the close interlinkages between the U.S. and Canadian financial systems.”
Mr. Flaherty’s letter didn’t say the Volcker rule violated the terms of Nafta, which was signed in 1993 and covers trade among the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Nafta’s members agreed not to extend their regulatory reach beyond their borders, and to try to negotiate harmonized rules if cross-border regulation became necessary. ….”
https://www.gfmag.com/topics/syndicate/34408405-canada-minister-says-volcker-rule-violates-trade-agreement
http://www.wsj.com/articles/canadas-finance-minister-says-volcker-rule-violates-nafta-1431541914
Donate to the ADCS legal challenge.
The only way to call the Harper government to account on US extraterritorial FATCA imposed on Canadian citizens and residents. A government that will protect the Canadian banksters operating in the US, but not Canadian citizens and families living right here at home in Canada.
Anybody need some good news along the justice triumphs line? There’s been a bit of discussion on Brock about “civil forfeiture” in the USA. Lyndon McClellan will get his money back and hopefully, eventually, the expenses he incurred as well.
TITLE: Facing Intense Pressure, IRS Drops Civil Forfeiture Case in North Carolina
http://xrepublic.tv/node/13231
I think we can come up with some “intense pressure” too, right? FIRST STEP is to get ADCS fully funded.
FINALLY!!! An accurate picture of “Us”, sipping champagne on, (yes, you guessed it) A YACHT!
https://www.mainstreet.com/article/say-goodbye-america-the-rich-are-renouncing-their-citizenship-to-dodge-taxes
@marie
You mean renouncing will upgrade me from Prosecco and BC Ferries?
@marie
You mean renouncing will upgrade me from Prosecco and BC Ferries to Champagne and yachts?
@Bubblebustin
Seems that I am going from white wine & a leaky row boat to the good stuff…. dang.. what next… I will go from a Coffee Crisp to Godiva… wow…
Re that article about the gentleman whose $107,000 was seized by the URS under “Civil Forfeiture” ….. “Yesterday, just two weeks after the Institute for Justice took on the case and brought it to the attention of the nation, the IRS and Department of Justice moved to voluntarily dismiss the case and give Lyndon back 100% of his hard-earned money.”
Who or what is the Institute for Justice ? who took on this case pro bono ?
It’s Three O Clock in the morning and I just caint get no sleep …..
and Mr B B King passed over last night. RIP Mr King.