Of interest to ADCS and IBS, the following sections in particular:
2) Rebuilding our criminal law system:
•Reinstate the Law Reform Commission and Court Challenges programme.
3) Reverse trend to slippery citizenship:
•Repeal C-24 (only one citizenship exists – unless obtained by fraud, citizenship is citizenship).
•Repeal FATCA (found in omnibus C-31)
The complete list is available at:
http://elizabethmaymp.ca/fixing-what-harper-broke-a-to-do-list-for-the-incoming-government/
Does this sound familiar?
From the 15 October Globe and Mail.
Louise Arbour
Louise Arbour is former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, former international war-crimes prosecutor, former UN human rights commissioner.
“When he retires from his post, the Governor-General of Canada will have his bank accounts subjected to heightened scrutiny. So will his parents, his spouse and his children, for the next 20 years. So, too, will the Chief Justice of Canada, all Supreme Court and appellate court judges, ambassadors, counsellors, deputy ministers, generals, past and present, and all their family members. They should expect calls from their bankers asking questions about the sources of deposits and other transactions. And if one of their children happens to have a joint account with a third party, all that would have to be explained to the bankers who are required by law to exercise such vigilance.
“Why is this happening? Because all of these people have been designated as “politically exposed domestic persons” (PEDP) under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. Why should they be subjected to this intrusive procedure for 20 years after they leave office? No idea. And why should their children also be under this regime for 20 years? Equally puzzling.
“In fact, I can think of an answer. It’s because all this was put in place with no one having any idea it was happening. This is hardly surprising given that it was buried in the massive omnibus budget bill of 2014 known as Bill C-31. Equally troubling, most people wouldn’t care anyway…”
Full article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/caught-in-a-useless-bureaucratic-nightmare/article26813887/
Here is a fairly good article, published earlier today, on how FATCA makes US citizens abroad toxic:
“The law that makes U.S. expats toxic”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-law-that-makes-u-s-expats-toxic-1444330827
A few hours ago, I sent a quick note to the author, a law professor at Pepperdine University, complimenting her, but pointing out the issue of “accidental Americans” and similar cases. She responded within an hour or so, pointing to her 2013 WSJ article on precisely this:
“How to lose friends, citizens and influence” at http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323848804578607472987119796
She is hoping:
a) her article will be reposted or linked, in order to get it number one article online
b) there will be good quality comments posted.
Professor Graffy gets it, that citizenship-based taxation is buckets of trouble.
The Yucatan Times:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — United States authorities have begun the exchange of information with Mexico on all Mexicans with bank accounts or investments in the U.S. who have obtained more than $10 USD in annual interest…
Mexico will provide the IRS the name, address and tax number of Americans with accounts whose balance is greater than $50,000 USD, the account number, the monthly balance and the amount of interest paid.
http://www.theyucatantimes.com/2015/09/u-s-irs-and-mexican-sat-begin-sharing-info-on-bank-accounts/
From the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association:
Last Friday, part of Bill C-24 went into effect, officially creating a two-tier citizenship system. As a result of this new law, dual citizens and people who have immigrated to Canada can have their citizenship taken away while other Canadians cannot. The government’s press release last week tried to justify this discriminatory law by raising the threat of “jihadi terrorism,” but Bill C-24 could easily be used against non-terrorists—for example, a journalist who is convicted of a “terrorism offence” in another country for reporting on human rights violations by the government.
See:
https://bccla.org/2015/06/its-official-second-class-citizenship-goes-into-effect/
This seems to be a class action suit, based in Delaware, against FATCA.
http://armstrongeconomics.com/2014/12/16/class-action-lawsuit-forming-against-fatca/
Martin Armstrong may be brilliant. He also spent seven years in prison for contempt of court relating to security fraud charges, only released in 2011. Delaware of course is a notorious tax haven. Do we want to approach him, be associated with him? Maybe, maybe not. Such an association could confirm our enemies in their opinion that we are tax evaders.
OR…is he just forwarding contacts to the lawsuit already underway in DC?
Barrie McKenna, Globe & Mail 30 July 2014, p. B3
“A leading accounting firm is taking the unusual step of urging Canadians to double-check their citizenship status, warning there may still be thousands of accidental Americans in Canada oblivious to their U.S. tax obligations.”
Only three comments so far. I made a comment, calling attention to the ADCS.
Friday, June 20, 2014
The New Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures Contain a Trap for Unwary Americans Abroad
http://mopsicktaxlaw.blogspot.ca/2014/06/the-new-streamlined-foreign-offshore.html
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.
In response to her being mentioned in an article in the Globe & Mail (major Canadian newspaper), Green Party leader Elizabeth May submitted the following letter, published February 14:
Acts of renunciation
Re Citizenship For Sale (letters – Feb. 12):
I am not a dual citizen. I am a Canadian citizen and have been since 1978. Any doubt about citizenship is resolved in swearing the oath to Her Majesty the Queen in becoming a Member of Parliament. The U.S. accepts such acts as renunciation, lest there be any doubt.
Elizabeth May, O.C., M.P., Sidney, B.C.
I have no idea why she cites the oath she made on taking her seat as an MP. The wording of that oath is substantially the same as the citizenship oath.
Oath on taking office as MP:
I, [name], do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors. So help me God.
Citizenship oath:
I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.
