A couple weeks ago, I sent this comment via  email to my Conservative MP of Nepean-Carleton, Pierre Poilievre (thank you to Deckard1138 whose wording I borrowed from one of his Brock posts):

Only one week after ushering-in FATCA on Canada Day, Canada’s government is warning the Eritrean consulate to stop harassing Eritrean-Canadians or risk closure of its consulate. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird made the announcement today in Ottawa.

Fair enough to say that this is certainly one of the most egregiously hypocritical moves the Conservative government has ever made – and there have been far too many to count over the years. I would love to hear Mr. Baird explain to Canadians how it is acceptable for the United States to impose its infinitely more invasive extraterritorial tax laws in Canada but Eritrea’s amateur-hour 2% shakedown warrants impending closure of its consulate? Could it be that Mr. Baird is in fact preparing a subsequent announcement that he will be ordering the immediate closure of the US Embassy as well? Should we give him the benefit of the doubt?

Today I received this ‘enlightened, and well argued’ (NOT) response back:

The United States collects taxes based on citizenship, rather than residency. This means that a US citizen living in another country must still file and pay taxes in the US for as long as they remain a US citizen.

There is no equivalency between this and the actions of Eritrea.

Sincerely,

Pierre Poilievre, P.C., M.P. Nepean-Carleton

Tragic: Quinn Lucas Schansman, a dual U.S.-Dutch citizen, is the only American confirmed killed aboard Flight MH17

Internal White House emails obtained by BuzzFeed appear to show that the White House knew shortly after the crash Thursday that there were not 23 Americans aboard the plane, as had been widely reported on Thursday.

President Barack Obama made very brief remarks about the crash on Thursday afternoon before a pre-planned speech in Delaware.

‘Obviously the world is watching reports of a downed passenger jet near the Russia-Ukraine border. And it looks like it may be a terrible tragedy. Right now we’re working to determine whether there were American citizens on board. That is our first priority,’ he said.

It is tragic that this young man was on the Malaysian MH17 plane and now gone.

If this were so many of our families, we would hate to have our children identified as a US citizen at all, let alone a possible pawn, a pretext for aggressive posturing towards Russia, (and a possible reason to go to war).

Quinn Lucas Schansman’s citizenship status would be like the many others: “Accidental Americans” born in the US but who left with their other citizenship parents as infants or young children to live in other countries — raised in and with the cultural identity of the country still lived in.  From the above news article:

[Quinn’s family is from Hilversum (the Netherlands) in the north of the country. It was not immediately clear where his family was from in the United States.]

Quinn Schansman was born in Fort Lee, N.J. to Dutch parents. He lived in the U.S. for five years before moving to Holland with his family. Quinn was a dual citizen of the United States and the Netherlands./

Was Quinn in the count of those who died from the Netherlands?

There is a report that the US State Department has been instructed to look over the passenger manifest with a fine-tooth comb to see if there are any further dual citizens.

‘The Animal’ (who sent this to me) and I can see the ramifications for our own children.  We know as we have been told:

“You are American until we tell you you aren’t”

My children and The Animal and his US-born wife’s children were born in Canada (but to US citizen(s) – how hard would it be to pin that US citizenship label on them?

This (I think exploitative) news story gives even more reason to have only citizenship we want to be identified with, excluding automatic “dual” U.S. citizenship status passed on to our children. With the qualifications to be able to claim such, should they not have that choice to make when they are adults and with ‘requisite mental capacity’ to be able to do so? Until then, hands off labeling our children.

[I have to ask myself, “If it were my child born and raised in Canada that was the victim of such a tragedy, would I want him or her identified as a US citizen or even a dual “US/Canada” citizen?” My answer to myself is “NO”. Others, though, might wish that US/Canadian duality highlighted in some news story. Interesting question to ask ourselves.]

Or, at least that’s the way I see it.

http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/07/18/why_canadas_banks_will_feel_the_urge_to_merge_olive.html

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/2014/07/18/sanders-bill-targets-corporate-deserters/12847561/

At the ACA event in Toronto someone asked whether the State of Vermont and its residents were somehow more “pro Canada” than the rest of the United States. I just laughed. Hell no.

Perhaps though Senator Sanders(and former Mayor of Burlington, VT) might enjoy if the one and only natural gas pipeline that services Vermont(running from Montreal to Burlington, VT) were to be “shut off” on the Canadian side on the coldest day of next winter.  Senator Sanders might start discovering some new definitions of patriotism.

Peter MacKay’s CANADA’S Privacy Deficit Turned These Lives Upside Down

…
Recently we’ve seen a number of disturbing stories come to light that underline just how important this campaign is. It can sometimes be difficult for everyday Canadians to see privacy as an issue that impacts their everyday lives — when in fact the human consequences of privacy breaches can be immense.

Here are just a few concrete examples of Canadians who’ve had their lives turned totally upside down because of this government’s privacy deficit.
…

No mention of omnibus Bill C-31 implementation of FATCA in Canada, erasing privacy rights for *US Persons in Canada* as their Canadian “foreign financial institutions” and the Canada Revenue Agency become arms of the U.S. IRS to turn over their private financial information to a foreign country.

Huffington Post where this article appears requires commenters through Facebook.

Author: David Christopher, @dchristopher_bc

PR guy, history grad and politics geek – from Ireland, now living in Vancouver in beautiful British Columbia. Tweets are my own, RTs are not endorsements.

From bubblebustin (and I now see originally from Eric) to us:

Can someone make a separate post for the NTA’s latest report to Congress? You can sense of urgency and frustration in her words when she states her concerns for Americans living abroad. The situation is already dire. FATCA will be an unmitigated disaster for both us and the IRS. FATCA must be repealed.

IRS Responses and National Taxpayer Advocate’s Comments Regarding Most Serious Problems Identified in 2013 Annual Report to Congress

Any questions for Mr. Carter?

Dear Member of Democrats Abroad Canada,

Join us for Breakfast with President Jimmy Carter, Honorary Chair of Democrats Abroad, Rosalynn Carter, and their grandson, Jason.

 A great event is happening in Sydney, Australia on Friday, July 18 – (TOMORROW).  A Web Ex Call-In with the Carter Family to support Jason Carter, grandson of Jimmy and Rosslyn, who is running for governor of Georgia.

-Taking back Georgia and other red states would send TREMORS through the national political landscape – mainly in the Republican Party.  Let us do our part and have the added bonus of an incredible opportunity to be in the virtual breakfast chat with the Carters.

One of the great U.S. presidents, President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, will be having a special Conversation via Webex with Democrats Abroad members from Australia. And we’ve all been invited to join in! 

In Canada, it will be like -breakfast with the Carters-, bright and early at 7:30 am EDT: 6:30 am in Central, 5:30 am Mountain and 4 am Pacific time zones!  Really early breakfast! Or if you are a late owl, a late night snack!  But well worth it!

 Here’s the link to donate to the Jason Carter for Governor Campaign, and to sign-up:   http://j.mp/DAcallForJasonCarter         

There’s a special $25 WebEx Guest call-in ticket, but feel free to give more. Once you register, you will be receiving an email with the Webex instructions and also invited to submit a question for the Carters.

Yours in democracy,

Adrienne Jones, Vice Chair, DA Canada / RVC, Americas

Julie Buchanan
Co-Vice Chair-Toronto / Treasurer- DA Canada

This message is paid for by the Democratic Party Committee Abroad

Democrats Abroad

PO Box 15130
Washington, DC 20003
United States

Telephone: +1-202-621-2085

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/07/17/fatca-remains-vulnerable-despite-implementation/

A hard-hitting new Forbes article by Andrew F. Quinlan.  An excerpt:

FATCA Remains Vulnerable Despite Implementation

Even if by some miracle FATCA survives its current challenges, in several years time Congress will be forced to take it up again as recognition sets in that it simply is not capable of accomplishing its intended goals. For all the acrimony and international financial upheaval it has caused, FATCA is a poor excuse for a solution to tax evasion.

There’s a direct correlation between the severity of a tax code and the level of effort individuals are willing to put into avoiding or evading taxes. Attempting to address the latter while ignoring the former is a fool’s errand. It’s the fiscal equivalent of the war on drugs – a costly enforcement-minded solution in which government agencies are always two steps behind their targets. And like the drug war, FATCA will produce considerable collateral damage and invasions on innocent Americans.

Comments encouraged, including a gentle reminder that Canadians have also mounted a domestic legal challenge to FATCA and we that we welcome more such actions around the world.

Some of you might know that Lynne Blaze has a pre-existing medical condition. Unfortunately, Lynne just sustained a serious injury to her shoulder and won’t be fighting the FATCA fight for awhile.

She cannot predict where she will be in the immediate future and I expect that she will not be able to communicate with us for some time.

We all know Lynne’s determination to make our lives better. Her spirit shines through her pain.

Lynne asked me to pass on to us the following poem:

Lynne Blaze gave Stephen a call
Lynne Blaze had a great fall

Her Sandbox and Brock friends
Hope Lynne will be put back together again.

Yes, Lynne will be put back together again, but she will be missing in action for awhile. All of us wish her the best and her quick return to fight the FATCA fight once again.

Dear Lynne / Blaze,

Sorry it took a bad fall to slow you down…

We’re wishing you a speedy recovery —

and maybe an admin assistant and a cook and housekeeper to help.

from your many friends at Isaac Brock Society and Maple Sandbox,

TAKE SPECIAL CARE!