Finally! Thomas Mulcair has a position on FATCA!
I suspect he has broken his silence because of our lobbying. James Jatras’ post at Repeal FATCA probably turned up the heat too.
I hope others have had a reply. Here is the entire content:
Thank you for taking the time to write and share your concerns with current US tax and foreign bank account reporting laws, and, more specifically, the U.S. Foreign Account Compliance Act (FATCA).
I share your concerns that FATCA’s sweeping provisions on financial disclosure will have significant consequences for dual Canadian-American citizens and Americans with landed immigrant status lawfully living here in Canada. Please know that New Democrats have consistently challenged the over-reaching aspects of FATCA and have urged the Conservative government to negotiate protective measures for those citizens who would be affected by FATCA’s onerous regulations.
We are also troubled that the secrecy of these negotiations with the US is detrimental for citizens with legitimate concerns relating to privacy and financial pressures. They must rely on media reports for developing news and have no opportunity to have their views considered in a meaningful way.
In discussing this matter with my NDP colleagues, we felt that it was important to reinforce how serious and unfair the consequences of FATCA could be for Canadians if unilaterally imposed. In taking the lead on this issue, Official Opposition critic for National Revenue, Murray Rankin, has written to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty calling on his government to reject any agreement that may violate the privacy rights of Canadians, erode Canadian sovereignty, or fail to offer Canada equal benefits to those provided to the United States. Please see the attached copy of Murray Rankin’s letter to Minister Flaherty.
Going forward, please be assured that New Democrats will remain vigilant on this issue. We will continue to pressure the Government to help address the above-mentioned concerns and ensure the rights of Canadians who hold dual citizenship with the United States are protected.
Again, I appreciate the time you have taken to share your concerns with me.
He attached a copy of Murray Rankin’s letter.
He initially talks about Canadian citizens and “landed immigrants” (Doesn’t he know it has been “permanent residents for years?!?), but his later paragraph Mulcair only mentions Canadian citizens, not residents. I don’t know if that was an oversight or intentional. Peter Hogg’s letter addressed those as also having Charter protection.
So, it seems the NDP has a position on FATCA again. Only the Liberals are silent now.(Well, BQ, too, but I don’t do any communications with them.)
And again, we both post at the same time … sorry for the duplication.
So, Blaze, Joe Smith (over at IBS), IRS Compliant, and I got the email. That’s four of us, no doubt there are others.
Better late than never, Mulcair …
It took a couple of weeks of hammering, but finally we did manage to goad a reply from him. Emails do seem to work after all, especially if there are enough of them and maybe if they’re angry enough. As I noted in my separate thread, perhaps those of us who blitzed the BC Caucus pointing out their own leader seemed to be ignorant of their forthright position of two years ago, may have made a difference too.
Next stop—Justin.