Hello everybody. I have just happened on a resource this is “new” (at least for me). It is a site called OpenParliament.ca.
What this site allows you to do is search what various members of Parliament have said about specific issues. One can also search keywords. These issues include: IRS, FBAR, FATCA, etc.
For example: http://openparliament.ca/search/?q=IRS
Here is something interesting – Scott Michel (Washington lawyer who seems to be fairly well connected and has been mentioned many times on this blog) testifying before the Canadian Finance Committee in 2011 on FBAR, Voluntary Disclosure, UBS, etc.
http://openparliament.ca/search/?q=IRS+Person:+%22Scott+D.+Michel%22
You can see that this site is a “Treasure Trove” of information.
Now, here is what I am proposing. At the top of this board is an announcement about FATCA Fact Finding Forum in Toronto on Dec. 15. The purpose appears to be to help the Progressive Canadian Party prepare a submission to the Government on FATCA. I think the submission might be better and more interesting if one knew, what the Government has known about all of these issues to date.
Therefore, I urge somebody to take the lead in researching this site and summarizing exactly what has been discussed before. I think the Scott Michel stuff would be of particular interest. It goes back to 2011 and clearly means that the Government of Canada was well aware of the purpose of the FBAR Fundraiser. Also Prof. Art Cockfield of Queen’s law school has (I believe testified before this committee).
Proposed Isaac Brock Society objective: To summarize all of this information and present the summary at the FATCA Fact Finding Conference to the Progressive Canadian Party. (At a minimum, I believe that Petros is attending).
There are at least two ways to compile this information.
1. OpenParliament.ca
Search with the appropriate key words: FBAR, FATCA, IRS, Voluntary disclsoure, Geithner, etc.
2. Google Search “Member Name” IRS or “Member Name” FBAR
After reading Badgers comments about Ralph Goodale, I searched “Ralph Goodale IRS” and here is what popped up:
http://www.ralphgoodale.ca/blog/fighting-the-long-arm-of-the-u-s-tax-man/
(Same article that Badger found but on his personal blog.)
This should be done for every member of Parliament.
I will of course work on this too. But, this does seem to me to be a project that would be better done as a group with a clear leader. Would somebody volunteer to lead this effort?
The conference is next Saturday and I believe that this summary is something that would be an important contribution to the discussion.
I would suggest calling it:
“FATCA and the FBAR Fundraiser: What did the government know and when did they know it?
This needs to be completed and tied up with a blue ribbon by this Thursday at the latest.
