Category Archives: Issues regarding US persons abroad

The opposition candidates for the 2015 Canadian Federal Election are busy finding office space, gathering volunteers and developing strategies for keeping the seats they have and expelling the Conservative incumbents from those they don’t. Let’s give them some help!

If opposition candidates were Members of Parliament during the past couple of years they probably know about the FATCA IGA that the Conservative government signed with the Americans. It’s been a year and a half since the deed was done and they could probably use a refresher. If they have not been sitting in Parliament they will need to learn from scratch about us and the Conservative sell-out of our Charter rights and financial privacy.

On the continuing page is the cover letter that I have sent to the opposition candidates in my own riding. Attached to the letter is a link to a re-working of my “Introduction to FATCA” that some of you may have read here at Brock. This current version is specifically tailored to an audience of Canadian opposition party candidates.

Please feel free to make use of these materials however you wish in your correspondence with candidates in your own ridings. We can help them win and they can help us regain our status as 1st-class Canadians!

Continue reading →

cross-posted from the Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty WordPress Blog.

by John Richardson
 

Message in a bottle 2: Democracy, the Appointment of Judges and the Canadian Charter of Rights https://t.co/hsJzAu5bPx

— ADCSovereignty (@ADCSovereignty) July 6, 2015

Introduction – The role of judges in a democracy with constitutionally protected rights

In “Message in a bottle (or from my basement)” I discussed why “freedom” and “democracy” are not the same. I also described the differences between constitutionally protected rights, common law rights and legislative rights.

The message was:

Constitutionally entrenched rights are necessary to protect certain minority interests from the tyranny of the democratic process. Canada’s “Charter of Rights” is a set of “constitutionally entrenched rights”. The effectiveness of a Charter of Rights is determined by the interaction of three groups of people:

First, the general public

Yes, individuals must have the courage to stand up for their rights. They must have the conviction to use the courts. I recognize Gwen Deegan and Ginny Hillis as courageous Canadians. They are strengthening Canada’s Charter of Rights by pursuing litigation against the Government of Canada. It doesn’t take a hero. But, it does take courage.

The truth is that:

All Canadians will benefit by our FATCA lawsuit initiated by Gwen Deegan and Ginny Hillis.

Second, the legal profession

The fact is that most lawyers are absolutely useless when it comes to defending individual rights. Absolutely useless. There are exceptions. Obviously our lawyer, Joe Arvay has a long history of Charter litigation and is an exception. We are proud to have him as our litigator in our FATCA lawsuit. Mr. Arvay has made a huge difference in the lives of Canadians.

Every Canadian owes a great deal to Joe Arvay and a few others like him. http://t.co/0JcBCR6WRB

— John Richardson – Counsellor for US persons abroad (@ExpatriationLaw) July 6, 2015

But, speaking of lawyers who have made a difference, I can’t resist mentioning Toronto lawyer Rocco Galati – who Globe and Mail journalist Sean Fine, recently referred to as “the unofficial opposition“.

The lawyer who challenged the Harper government and won http://t.co/hysnEnFqJo

— John Richardson – Counsellor for US persons abroad (@ExpatriationLaw) July 6, 2015

Third, the judges and the courts

Courageous plaintiffs and principled lawyers are not enough. The protection of individual rights requires a strong independent court composed of judges who are INDEPENDENT of the government. Few people realize how important judges are. Few people realize that the most “enduring” things that governments do is to appoint judges. Governments can leave their legacy through their judicial appointments.

The Harper Court – Prime Minster Harper has appointed 7 of the 9 judges on the Supreme Court of Canada http://t.co/mvfZZ7tGK3

— John Richardson – Counsellor for US persons abroad (@ExpatriationLaw) July 6, 2015

At the present time, Prime Minister Harper has appointed (are you ready for this) seven of the nine judges of the Supreme Court of Canada. Yet, the Supreme Court of Canada has consistently ruled against the Harper government.

Partisan judges, how the Supreme Court runs our lives—and why it should be an election issue http://t.co/LZixBZ0Z48 via @macleansmag

— John Richardson – Counsellor for US persons abroad (@ExpatriationLaw) July 6, 2015

In a democracy, with constitutionally protected rights, judges can and do protect individuals from tyrannical democracies. It appears that the Supreme Court of Canada understands its proper role:

A scorecard of the Harper government’s wins and losses at the Supreme Court of Canada http://t.co/A56KBeAOpX via @nationalpost

— John Richardson – Counsellor for US persons abroad (@ExpatriationLaw) July 6, 2015

And this is why:
Continue reading →

UPDATED!!

FOX News and Facebook have teamed up to present the first debates of the 2016 race for the Presidency of the United States.

“The format will allow Fox News viewers and Facebook users to share video questions via the social media site, some of which will be used for the debate, the network said.”

Readers of IBS who are also followers of Facebook may want to prepare questions that they would like the candidates to answer, such as this suggestion from Shadow Raider: “There are an estimated 8.7 million Americans living abroad, a population larger than 39 states. The United States taxes these people, but they cannot benefit from what their taxes pay for, since they are outside the country. The United States is the only country in the world that taxes its citizens abroad, other than the repressive government of Eritrea, which was condemned by the United Nations for this very practice. Should the United States tax people based not on citizenship but residence, like the entire rest of the world does?”

The first debate is scheduled for August 6, 2015 at 9:00 p.m. ET and will be aired on the FOX News Channel.

Moderators: Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace

Questions can be uploaded here (Thank You, Shadow Raider!):
https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/videos/10153438307721336/
https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/app_665293576939321
It can be just text, and the second link doesn’t appear to require a Facebook account.

This is another great opportunity to make our voices heard. Let’s make use of it!

https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews

https://twitter.com/foxnews

Bret Baier’s FB page: https://www.facebook.com/BretBaierSR?fref=ts email: http://bretbaier.com/contact/index.php Twitter: @BretBaier

Megyn Kelly FB page: https://www.facebook.com/MegynKelly email: megynkelly@foxnews.com Twitter: @megynkelly

Chris Wallace FB page: https://www.facebook.com/FoxNewsSunday email: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday-chris-wallace/ Twitter: @chriswallace4

cross-posted from Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty

With all the abuses of late, of the Harper government (Bills C-23, C-24, C-31 & C-51), it’s no small wonder Canadians are looking to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as the only way to protect ourselves.

I came to Canada in January 1982, right when the Charter was being drafted. I had no idea really, what it meant; I couldn’t conceive of the idea that Canada up until that year, did not have a Constitution. But being new and caught up in trying to adjust and so on, I paid virtually no attention to what was going on. Little did I realize how important this Charter-thing would become in my own life some thirty-plus years later.

And at the time the Charter was being written, John Richardson was totally immersed in the whys and whats and how the Charter should be applied; this post is a testament to how much it has influenced his life, long before the IGA came to town.

Enjoy!
 

by John Richardson

"Protection of fundamental rights for minorities even in a democratic system is part and parcel of modern democracy." http://t.co/BuTk2wtCUf

— John Richardson – Counsellor for US persons abroad (@ExpatriationLaw) July 4, 2015

The above tweet references the following comment at the Isaac Brock Society site from Jefferson B. Tomas. He writes:

@Bubblebustin @Petros @US_Foreign My criticism of the Federal Council applies to every government that accepted an IGA and did not protect its bone fide residents and citizens. Protection of fundamental rights for minorities even in a majority-rule democratic system is part and parcel of modern democracy. These leaders shirked their responsibility, and that goes for all of the countries. And it goes for the entire government. For example, even if it was Widmer-Schlumpf who was in charge of the negotiations, it was up to the entire Council to ensure that what she did would not violate constitutional rights. We can sing “They don’t really care about us” referring to all the other governments as well. We’re too risky to stand up for, so they think, but if many of them had, it would have held.

Freedom and democracy are NOT the same thing

There are many who equate a democratic society with a free society. This is incorrect. “Democracy” is a mechanism to exercise the power of government. If unchecked a democratic form of government (based on voting and possible majority rule) can restrict the most basic and fundamental rights of a minority. A Charter of Rights exists to ensure that, with respect to certain fundamental values, the majority cannot use the political process to undermine certain rights of a minority group. The Harper Government used their majority in the political process to deny rights to one prevalent minority group – those with a U.S. place of birth. Those who doubt this should watch the videos of what took place in House Finance Committee hearings on FATCA.

The FATCA IGA and Bill C – 31 demonstrate the importance of a Charter of Rights

Remembering the Canada Finance Committee hearings on #FATCA – May 2014 https://t.co/sHlIwAJCKr

— John Richardson – Counsellor for US persons abroad (@ExpatriationLaw) July 4, 2015

The familiar video referenced in the above tweet is an example of the political process in a DEMOCRACY  overriding the liberties/freedoms of a minority group. Most of you have seen this video. I suggest you watch it again.

This video demonstrates how the DEMOCRATICALLY elected Government of Canada simultaneously:

1. Stripped one specific group of people (based on he immutable characteristic of place of birth) of it’s constitutionally protected rights in a way that;

2. Then imposed mandatory discrimination on that specific group of Canadians, PURSUANT to DEMOCRATICALLY enacted laws.

3. Allowed  the Charter rights of individual Canadians (AKA people) to be overridden by the desires of Canada’s banks (which do NOT have Charter protected rights); and

4. Surrendered the sovereignty of Canada to a foreign government.

(Although beyond the scope and intent of this post, this also raises issues of the “first past the post system” which in many cases leads to “majority governments” with a minority of the vote. But, I will leave that for another day.)
Continue reading →

In this article, Jeff slams the Federal Council and proposes some fun exercises for Brockers…

Gentle readers beware.
Continue reading →

Juggernaut: “any terrible force, esp one that destroys or that demands complete self-sacrifice ” (dictionary.com)

Three years ago I came to the conclusion that it was irrational to believe that the USA was going to change for the better on expat issues. Roger Conklin had recounted that a congressman lost re-election on account of his support for expat issues, and that made me realize that the no one could turn the USA from its present course. It was a juggernaut, and it is best just to get out of the way. A few weeks ago I started using the term “juggernaut” to depict the USA. Then this evening, I looked up the derivation of the term, from an idolatrous practice in India (s.v., juggernaut):

a crude idol of Krishna worshipped at Puri and throughout Odisha (formerly Orissa) and Bengal. At an annual festival the idol is wheeled through the town on a gigantic chariot and devotees are supposed to have formerly thrown themselves under the wheels

When patriotism becomes idolatry it is nearly impossible to change the course of a nation. Criticism becomes disloyalty. My critiques are “America-bashing“. But it seems to me that true loyalty too often requires throwing oneself under the chariot. Many times has these United States required its citizens to do this very thing: the Civil War, Viet Nam War, and now FATCA–to name just a few examples.

Well, if you don’t like the juggernaut metaphor to describe the United States, today Zero Hedge has recently repeated an article by John Chuckman, America as Dangerous Flailing Beast, but even Chuckman cannot help but see the religious devotion in America’s collective sociopathy:

Continue reading →

24 Hours Until #FBARs due & Hey! Don't 4get Ur US Person-Kids :Children,Taxes & #FBAR’s –Not Mere Child’s Play! http://t.co/eMwBFs5v91

— U.S. Expat Canada (@USExpatCanada) June 27, 2015

At one minute to midnite, there will be 24 hours left for ALL US Persons to get their affairs in order and get their FBARs filed. And don’t forget, you cannot get an extension for FBAR.
 
 

Let’s take a moment to review just exactly what it is that FinCen does:
 

FinCEN’s mission is to safeguard the financial system from illicit use and combat money laundering and promote national security through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence and strategic use of financial authorities.
 
 

 
“Whaaaat? My chequeing account at Scotiabank is related to possible illicit use of funds, money laundering or other crimes that will affect the financial system and even worse, the national security of the United States? That must make me a criminal.”

Let’s review what is required:

Who Must File an FBAR
United States persons are required to file an FBAR if:

• the United States person had a financial interest in or signature authority over at least one financial account located outside of the United States; and
• the aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year reported.

United States person includes U.S. citizens; U.S. residents; entities, including but not limited to, corporations, partnerships, or limited liability companies, created or organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States; and trusts or estates formed under the laws of the United States.
 
Checking where to file, I see this on the FinCen site:
 

 
 
Yes indeed, you read correctly. If any of your children have more than $10,000 total of all their accounts combined then, yes, your US Person children must file an FBAR.Don’t forget your US-born adopted child. Imagine- “alien” parents helping out by filing US tax forms for their children. Now that’s looking out for your kids!
“Well ‘hey now,’ as my grandma would say, any kid can deal with figuring out how to get the pdf file to open up in their browswer – it’s a cinch for them! Oooooo lookey here, now they can do it on an
online fillable form!”
Continue reading →

UPDATE: The initial story by Ralph Z. Hallow, chief political writer at The Washington Times, has been revised and greatly expanded at the same previous link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/24/sen-rand-paul-sue-irs-us-treasury/

This is stop-the-presses news: Rand Paul has joined forces with Jim Bopp, Solomon Yue and Republicans Overseas and will be one of seven plaintiffs in the upcoming lawsuit against the IRS and the US Treasury Department. The suit will be filed by a new composite organization called Republicans Overseas Action.

Some crucial highlights:

Sen. Rand Paul to sue IRS, U.S. Treasury

Rand Paul is poised to become the first major presidential candidate in memory to sue the government he seeks to lead as president.

The Kentucky senator will take legal action against the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service for what he says is the denial of his constitutional right to vote on more than 100 tax-information treaties that the Obama administration unilaterally negotiated with foreign governments, The Washington Times has learned.

In what the suit says is a violation of Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, President Obama has not consulted the U.S. Senate about the treaties nor given the Senate an opportunity to approve or disapprove of the treaties. The administration calls them “intergovernmental agreements.” They require foreign banks to gather and share private financial information about millions of Americans living and working outside the U.S. — information they would not have to disclose to the U.S. government if they lived and worked in the U.S.

The treaties or agreements are the enforcement mechanisms of the Obama administration’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), enacted by a Democratic-controlled Congress in 2010.

The act is despised by many of the estimated 8.7 million Americans living overseas, a record number of whom have — with great anger and reluctance, according to those who have spoken to the foreign and U.S. press — renounced their U.S. citizenship rather than attempt to comply with FATCA.

Mr. Paul, a Republican who announced his presidential bid in early April, will join six other plaintiffs in the suit that a new organization called “Republicans Overseas Action” expects to file in a southern Ohio federal district court the week of June 29. The court’s Republican makeup is considered at least open to the constitutional arguments that the plaintiffs lay out.

Continue reading →

 
On April 5, 2014, I sent this tweet to every Conservative MP. A few answered.
 
I am sure they have forgotten by now.
 

@GeraldKeddy No Debate on #FATCA? http://t.co/gOoV0m3FTv Sneak This Bill Thru? U Will Pay at Polls-We R 1 million + families, friends
 
— U.S. Expat Canada (@USExpatCanada) April 5, 2014

 
But I haven’t. And I hope you haven’t either.
 
Duke of Devon just posted a very valuable resource that can help us ensure that the Harper Government is DEFEATED in the fall election.

Due to our very un-democratic first-past-the-post system, the danger of Harper being returned to power is very real, since people may not consider the need for strategic voting. Yes, ABC but exactly how to do it best in your riding?

This organization leadnowca is spearheading an effort to identify the most likely to win non-Conservative candidate in ridings all across Canada.

One is asked to sign the following pledge:
 

I pledge to vote for the best local candidate who can defeat the Harper Conservatives in my riding.

Continue reading →