The venue and time for the “Solving US Citizenship Problems” Information Session have changed. This program will take place at:

The Westin Grand Hotel – Symphony Room (banquet hall)
433 Robson St. (between Richards and Homer – 2 Blocks NORTH of original location)
Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 6L9
Time: 1:30 – 4:30 pm
Donation $20 (to cover costs) payable at the door

In order to keep as much information as possible accessible in one place, it makes sense to expand this thread to include new information here rather than create a new post. Please feel free to share your thoughts, ideas and comments here. If you need any help, please email me as discussed previously. (Trishia)

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This summer, major portions of the controversial US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act come into effect. What will it mean for Canada? We met with Professor Allison Christians of McGill University to talk international tax, individual privacy, and national sovereignty.

While we’re at it, everyone should go and download Allison Christian’s law articles and put her on the scholarly map (her ranking increases with more downloads):

Allison Christians’ Scholarly Papers

In the early 1900’s, the Black Hand was a type of extortion racket that involved sending a threatening letter to a victim and demanding a specified amount of money to prevent the threats from being carried out.  According to an article published in the New York Times on March 26, 1910, famous tenor Enrico Caruso paid $1500 – $2000 to the Black Hand to “purchase peace for himself”.  Despite the payment, Caruso continued to receive letters in which he was threatened with every conceivable kind of bodily harm unless he promptly paid more.  That is the problem with acquiescing to the demands of an extortionist, you are identified as an “easy mark” and leave yourself susceptible to future acts of extortion. 

The Criminal Code of Canada states in section 346(1): Every one commits extortion who, without reasonable justification or excuse and with intent to obtain anything, by threats, accusations, menaces or violence induces or attempts to induce any person, whether or not he is the person threatened, accused or menaced or to whom violence is shown, to do anything or cause anything to be done. 

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Dear xxx:
You keep sending me the same message. I am not sure why since the answer to your rhetorical question is obvious – FATCA does affect all people living in Canada who were born in the USA and retain their citizenship or never had it taken away.

Regards,

Jim
James Turk
David Robinson

James Turk <turk@caut.ca>

David Robinson <robinson@caut.ca>
———————————–

Date: 02/05/2014 02:42PM

Subject: This CAUT member wants an answer.

Under the agreement, financial institutions in Canada will not report any information directly to the IRS. Rather, relevant information on accounts held by U.S. residents and U.S. citizens (including U.S. citizens who are residents or citizens of Canada) will be reported to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The CRA will then exchange the information with the IRS through the existing provisions and safeguards of the Canada-U.S. Tax Convention. This is consistent with Canada’s privacy laws.

http://www.fin.gc.ca/n14/14-018-eng.asp

Jim, tell me again how FATCA doesn’t affect the hundreds (thousands) of CAUT members that were born in the USA?

UPDATE: Well, crap.  I think Pacifica just blew this post out of the water with her comment below.

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Saturday evening we enjoyed the annual fund raising dinner of the Georgetown Rotary Club of which my father-in-law is a member.  Before the meal, we sang the Canadian national anthem.  I found myself fighting back tears.  The Harper’s government signed an Inter-governmental agreement to betray banking information to the IRS of US citizens living in Canada, thus enforcing FATCA, an extraterritorial law made in Washington–a law which claims global jurisdiction over bank account information.  Since many of these so-called “US citizens” are Canadians living on Canadian soil, they are part of that collective nation we call “Canada”. “True patriot love in all thy sons command!” Yet clearly, the current elected leaders have cynical intentions: money is more important to them than protecting Canada as “the True North strong and free”.  I sang with a heavy not a “glowing heart” as I see Canada’s sovereignty weaken and her freedom diminish.

“From far and wide”, means that Canada consists of every citizen who lives within the borders of this country, from Atlantic to Pacific.

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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.

I think I know what you want me and others to believe, with your “political-talk” statement. It is time for you now to be completely transparent with all, including MPs who may be giving their constituents dangerous information in saying things like “You have nothing to worry about.”

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By Allison Christians

The OECD has released its “Common Reporting Standard,” a.k.a. a global “Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information.” The plan more or less tracks the so-called “intergovernmental agreements” (IGAs) that the US Treasury is using to try to get the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act working. But the OECD’s model for the world differs in two critical respects:

1  it is based on the global standard of residence-based taxation

2  it would require reciprocity