Author Archives: calgary411

Glad to post, Em:

Overseas Americans Week – Recap from AARO

As we tune in, thanks, Victoria and AARO — especially videographer, Mathieu.

In how many ways should CANADIANS who are deemed US citizens have US law take precedence over Candian law? Will it be only about US taxation and financial reporting to the US of those deemed US Persons in Canada — or will it extend to what passport we use to travel to other countries, perhaps firearms laws, capital punishment laws, etc.?

Just how many of our rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms will you vote away now that you determine it OK that Canadian financial privacy of deemed US Persons is no longer their right as you condone discrimination by US national origin? I ask because of the following that appears on the Toronto US Consulate web site:

Another question on dual nationality: Is it okay to travel outside of the U.S. on my other passport?

“While the U.S. does not prohibit dual nationality, Americans must comply with U.S. laws (e.g. federal and state taxes, selective service, and foreign assets control) regardless of their location. Thus, a dual citizen who travels to Cuba on a Canadian or other passport, may violate U.S. law and be subject to criminal or civil penalties.”

As Kathy asks:

I wonder if all those bankers and Conservative MPs would be happy to have our duals going to Cuba for a winter vacation being charged as criminals. They’re US citizens, so they have to follow US laws even if they’ve spent their entire lives in Canada, right? That’s what they said about filing US taxes. So I guess we can assume that they’re OK with Canadian duals not traveling on a Canadian passport? And we can assume that they’re OK if a Canadian dual travels to Cuba on a Canadian passport and then is charged as a criminal by the US?

George comments and poses questions to ask Canadian MPs:

Will Canada enforce the US restriction on travel to Cuba of a Canadian Citizen, resident in Canada, with “clinging US nationality,” who travels on holiday to Cuba with his/her Canadian passport?

I would like to suggest a letter writing campaign bringing this to the attention of various MPs and asking if Canada will enforce this ban and aid the US Government. The reason is that it will flush out the sovereignty question.

Must you have a CLN to travel to Cuba on your Canadian Passport?

Or can you travel to Cuba on your Canadian Passport if you have a reasonable explanation of why you do not have a CLN despite having relinquished your US citizenship?

If you have an unambiguous place of birth in the USA can you travel to Cuba on your Canadian Passport at all?

I received this from “Disgusted” who, for some reason, isn’t able get a comment to take at Isaac Brock:

Ottawa slyly expanding its power to invade our privacy

…Bill C-13 is the child of C-30, which was abandoned by the government after previous public safety minister Vic Toews said his Liberal critic could “either stand with us or with the child pornographers.”

Unlike C-30, C-13 does not require service providers to hand over personal information to police without a warrant, but it allows them to do so, which, in practical terms, is the same thing.

This will provide legal cover for what they are already doing. Last month the privacy commissioner reported that in 2011, government agencies requested data from telecoms and social media companies more than a million times.

What kind of data? The government won’t say. Conservative MPs recently voted down an NDP motion to make public the number of warrantless disclosures from telecom firms. When asked about this in the House, Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney and Justice Minister Peter MacKay give misleading answers, blathering on about warrants when none are required and giving assurances that contradict the legislation. This week, Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay joined with them in disingenuity when she responded to a question in the House about a clause buried in C-31, a massive budget omnibus bill.

The bill will allow Canada Revenue Agency officials to give taxpayer information to police if officials have “reasonable grounds to believe” that certain offences have been committed. Continue reading →

UPDATE: May 22, 2014
Laura Frost (Canmroe) comments on this article “I was born in Saskatoon to a Canadian father and a mother who was a U.S. citizen. Previously, I was denied U.S. citizenship because my mother had not registered my birth before I was 18. Now that money is involved, I am a U.S. citizen for taxation purposes.

As I just heard this on CBC, The Sunday Edition: Welcome to the World on Online News — is this the death of serious journalism?, Molly found and commented on a Calgary Herald

“Egregious privacy breach attracts little attention” by Karin Klassen, Calgary Herald, May 16, 2014

Meanwhile, almost under the radar, except for a pocket of people trying desperately to raise the alarm, outrageous legislation has passed, enforceable in July, that directly affects the privacy of Canadians in the worst possible way. While indignant tweets were a flyin’ over whom precisely is allowed to read on my newsfeed that one of my friends needs help with diaper rash, we endured with barely a peep this egregious invasion of the privacy of actually important information.
…
Every country has a problem with this legislation; Stephen Harper, however, has handed over the ransom, possibly some argue, violating the Constitution. Canada is the last of the G7 countries to agree, but agree it did in a big way, by letting the Canada Revenue Agency be the middleman. (I suppose this was to avoid the banks getting a bad name, but also ostensibly to assure Canadians they are being violated by a not-for-profit organ.) Continue reading →

At George’s suggestion, this comment is now a post.

By Paul Cochrane, April 30, 2014 in “Executive”– Forthcoming US rules loom large over Middle Eastern banking sectors

BC Doc says: “An article from Lebanon. A good quote”:

More pressing in the immediate term is the issue of privacy and the safety of American citizens. “One thing the Treasury has not thought about is how do you protect US citizens? In a country like Lebanon, with Hezbollah and other US designated terrorist organizations, banks will identify US citizens, which could put them at risk,” said the BDL source.

And:

Further questions may arise if there is a dawning realization about negative economic impacts on the US itself. “What happens when we start shorting payments on our Treasury bonds (TBs) by 30 percent? A sovereign holder is not subject to withholding, but for a private institution, what if the interest payment is done through SWIFT to a commercial bank that has not signed an IGA? Treasury will take the interest,” said Jim Jatras, Manager of RepealFATCA.com, which is lobbying against the law in Washington. “This is the kind of thing that could promote dumping TBs, and affect interest rates and the dollar as a global currency, which are issues nobody has thought out.”

Today, Lynne Swanson (Blaze) participated as part of a panel on the Finance Committee’s study of Part 5 of Bill C-31 – the Canada-United States Enhanced Tax Information Exchange Agreement Implementation Act (or, as I call it, the Canada-United States Abrogation of Canadian Rights Agreement’.

Essentially, Lynne was invited to speak about FATCA and the IGA. I, for one, admire her bravery and commitment to our shared cause and her willingness to appear before the committee and not only speak, but answer questions from the committee members.

She only had 5 minutes for her opening statement, and then was expected to answer questions from the members of the committee. At the time of this posting, I don’t have a full report on exactly what was said and asked. We will provide that as soon as we can.

What I do have is the speech Lynne prepared in advance. I most sincerely hope that her very eloquent statement fell on receptive ears.

UPDATED LINKS TO THE VIDEO:

ParlVU site:  The original ParlVU video

Isaac Brock Society YouTube channel:  The entire meeting with links to Lynne, Allison Christians and Arthur Cockfield

Isaac Brock Society YouTube channel:  An edited compilation of Lynne’s presentation and her interaction with the committee

Transcript of Lynne’s presentation:

I come before you as the voice of one million Canadians.

We are Canadians. Many have been Canadian citizens for life or for decades. We chose Canada. We expect Canada to choose us and our rights over foreign bully demands.

“Why do our most heinous criminals have more Charter rights than I do,” asks a Nova Scotia police officer of 33 years. He was born in Maine almost six decades ago because his New Brunswick mother was sent there to give birth.

A Quebec woman who has been a Canadian citizen since birth says her ancestor who came to Canada in 1682 must be turning over in his grave at FATCA.

A widowed Grandma in Vancouver was told by US Consulate when she became a Canadian citizen in 1972 she was permanently and irrevocably relinquishing American citizenship. She insists, “My financial records are definitely none of the business of the IRS.”

An Ontario First Nations husband and father is horrified his Canadian government will help United States seize his family’s financial records because his Native Canadian wife was born there.

An Alberta woman reports her mother who upheld Canadian laws for many years as Justice of the Peace is now medically and physically too frail to deal with FATCA stresses.

They and one million other Canadians were betrayed by FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement. We were offended and insulted to hear Minister of State for Finance call us “American citizens abiding here in Canada” in the House of Commons.

If Canada mandated financial institutions to seek Canadians born in China, India, Iran or Eritrea for CRA to transmit private financial information to those nations, there would be outrage.

Canadians born in United States should have the same rights as all other Canadians. Canada should strongly defend those rights and not sacrifice them to a foreign country.

Two prominent Canadians described FATCA well. In 2011 and many times after that, Finance Minister the late Jim Flaherty said “FATCA has far-reaching extraterritorial implications. It would turn Canadian banks into extensions of the IRS and would raise significant privacy concerns for Canadians.”

Terry Campbell, President of Canadian Bankers Association in 2012 called FATCA “the poster child for the problem of extra-territoriality…It threatens to erode Canadian sovereignty.”

Those statements hold true now. Under threat of economic sanctions and penalties, Canada surrendered its sovereignty to a foreign power with the IGA.

Canadians affected by FATCA were stunned last week when a member of this Committee said “Congress has spoken.”

Canadians expect Parliament to speak for Canada. Canadians expect Parliament to uphold Canada’s laws, rights and constitution. Anything less is an affront and betrayal to Canada and to Canadians.

FATCA is complex. I give you a simple solution. I urge you to adopt an amendment to the Implementation Act:

“Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or the Agreement, for all purposes related to the implementation of this Act and the Agreement, “US Person” and “Specified US Person” shall not include any person who is a Canadian citizen or legal permanent resident who is ordinarily resident in Canada.”

I implore you. Do the right thing. Stand up for Canada and for all Canadians.

Here is the full-day session:

Marry this NDP petition with Petros New Post: “NDP calling on Harper government: Remove FATCA from omnibus budget bill“.

If you, like many Canadians, are concerned about the implementation of the USA FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) IGA (intergovernmental agreement) being buried in yet another omnibus bill, C-31, rather than thoroughly studied on its own merits in a stand-alone bill, please voice your concern by signing the NDP petition — then pass it on to your Canadian family, friends, business associates and neighbours (many of whom could also be indirectly affected). By precedent being set, this should concern ALL Canadians.

Cross-posted from MapleSandbox.ca:

PROTECT CANADIANS FROM FATCA is a just launched petition from the NDP.

Tell Stephen Harper to protect our constitutional and privacy rights from this invasive U.S. law.

The Conservatives are rushing to implement an American law that threatens the rights of more than a million Canadians…

Let’s send Stephen Harper a message:
It’s time to put Canadians first.

Canadians, please sign the on line petition.

This was sent to Lynne Swanson by Murray Rankin’s Assistant. More on Murray Rankin’s FATCA page on his website.

Canadians, give your FATCA briefs to Finance Committee

Blaze / Lynne Swanson posts:

Canadians: Make your voices heard at Finance Committee. Give the Committee your briefs!

In preparing my own brief for testifying next week, I learned all Canadians can submit briefs to the Finance Committee–not just those of us who will testify.

Here is what the Clerk of the Finance Committee replied to me when I asked:

Anyone can submit a brief on Bill C-31. While there is no set date it would be best to get it into us at FINA@parl.gc.ca as soon as possible so we can have the briefs translated and distributed to the Members of the Committee before the begin Clause-by-Clause.

Here are the government’s Guidelines for Preparing Briefs: . The Clerk of the Finance Committee has advised briefs must be limited to five pages.

I know many of you already made submissions to Finance Canada in 2012 and again when the IGA was announced. However, those submissions are not being shared with the Finance Committee or with Parliament.

So, if you want those making the decisions to know what you have to say: Give them your briefs.

This should be in your own words. Many of you will be able to adapt the submission you already made.

I have two suggestions:

1. Emphasize you are Canadian!

2. If you support the proposed amendment, include it in your brief.

“Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or the Agreement, for all purposes related to the implementation of this Act and the Agreement, “US Person” and “Specified US Person” shall not include any person who is a Canadian citizen or legal permanent resident who is ordinarily resident in Canada.”

There is no deadline for this, but clearly, the sooner the better. It may be submitted in either English or French and will be translated. If you speak both languages, you could submit in both.

Tell them what you think. Give Finance Committee your briefs!

Also send your brief to the members of the list of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, updated here:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/CommitteeBusiness/CommitteeMembership.aspx
Chair:
james.rajotte@parl.gc.ca
Members:
scott.brison@parl.gc.ca;
nathan.cullen@parl.gc.ca;
Mark.Adler@parl.gc.ca;
mike.allen@parl.gc.ca;
Guy.Caron@parl.gc.ca;
gerald.keddy@parl.gc.ca;
Murray.Rankin@parl.gc.ca;
andrew.saxton@parl.gc.ca;
dave.vankesteren@parl.gc.ca

Robert Woods at Forbes, May 3rd: Record Numbers Renounce U.S. Citizenship—And Many Aren’t Counted

Related: Time for #Americansabroad forced to renounce citizenship to pursue legal remedies in US courts

The Canada Challenge is discussed:

· Pastbeyond60

Can you envision the possible fallout to the US if the constitutional challenge being launched in Canada has a positive outcome. It is a global world now, there are other places to invest. Yes, the US has a massive economy and everyone wants to invest there. But what if these foreign governments collectively wake up, maybe have the courage to follow Canada in the event of a win. (The US must remember Canada has water, abundant natural resources and electricity) Maybe China will be the first to say “no thanks” and others follow. The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice (MLK), FATCA-IGAs and CBT are simply immoral.

Called-out comment

· Author, Robert W. Wood, Contributor

I agree that watching the litigation in Canada (has it been filed yet?) will be quite interesting. I agree that if it comes out against FATCA, the ramifications could be large. We’ll see.

Called-out comment

Continue reading →

May 2 2014 ACA-Sponsored Toronto Forum / Debate on Citizenship-Based Taxation vs. Residence-Based Taxation (cross-post from Maple Sandbox.ca)

The American Citizens Abroad Global Foundation has launched its educational program with a forum/debate on the merits of Citizenship-based taxation vs. Residence-based taxation.

This is a full day event, sponsored and organized by the ACA (American Citizens Abroad), that will be held at the University of Toronto on May 2nd. Registration and Information

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‘This is the first public debate — worldwide — devoted to this important topic.’

Continue reading →