Go Granny, Go Granny, Go Granny. Go!!!
Raging Canadian Grannies protested FATCA in the cold and snow in Calgary. It sounds like the protest was about more than just FATCA, but this gets our message out there.
Calgary411 and Outraged were out there too, but they didn’t get this kind of attention!
Monthly Archives: November 2013
Interview with Victoria and Daniel on Stateless Man Radio
Victoria Ferauge in France and Daniel Kuutel in Switzerland were interviewed today on Stateless Man radio show.
I haven’t yet figured out how to listen to it. I’m posting it here so people who are better technical wizards than I am may be able to hear it.
Victoria also posted Talking FATCA With The Stateless Man at Flophouse.
FATCA Centric Debate–Toronto Centre November 18
Toronto Centre Debates have invited all Toronto Centre candidates to a FATCA Centric Debate for Toronto Centre for November 18 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The location will be announced by November 13.
The organizers say:
FATCA – The most important issue Canadians are not aware of and Candidates won’t talk about!
Continue reading FATCA Centric Debate–Toronto Centre November 18
Happiness Is A FATCA Sandwich (Baloney!)
This is a couple of months old, but Just Me sent it to me. You will probably all 
be choking and spitting on Happiness Is A FATCA Sandwich.
This is from Bright!Tax, which they claim is “Loved By Americans In Over 50 Countries.”That must prove it then. I’m not American. I’m Canadian.
US expats can probably see this for what it is, FATCA is a sandwich – and Americans will be squeezed from both the top (your host country) and the bottom (your local foreign bank) and US Expats happen to be the prize.
The article goes on, extolling The Wonders Of Empire. And, of course, promising Bright!Tax is where you need to turn to help you surrender to the Empire so you can “get on with happier and more productive endeavors.”
This can only be a thick baloney sandwich (and there I go insulting baloney!)
As has been mentioned on another post, several activists with the Isaac Brock and Maple Sandbox sites have planned a demonstration in Toronto on November 13 and 14, on the sidewalk outside the convention centre where representatives of various Canadian financial institutions are meeting to discuss, among other things, “navigating the hurdles to compliance with FATCA.”
Five candidates for the Toronto Centre by-election, and their campaign organizations, have been invited to participate in the demonstration. They are the candidates for the Conservative, Green, Liberal, New Democrat, and Progressive Canadian parties. The Progressive Canadian party was included, in thanks for their support some months ago in organizing an excellent meeting in Toronto on FATCA and all that is wrong with it. The Greens, Liberals and New Democrats all have expressed major reservations about FATCA. The Conservatives were included in fairness and to signal that we are not partisans and represent a full spectrum of political views, while being united in opposition to FATCA and any Canada-US IGA.
We thought this would be an opportunity to learn exactly what degree of support these parties are, or are not, prepared to provide to those opposing FATCA and an IGA. After some discussion, a group of us agreed that all five of the mentioned parties should be contacted, but none of the other candidates on the ballot (eleven in total).
For those who are interested, attached is a PDF copy of the email that was sent to each of the five parties (with the organizer’s and sender’s personal particulars removed). generic candidate email
The Conservative email was copied to Jim Flaherty. The other four emails were copied to the parties’ leaders; also, the Liberal email was copied to MPs Ted Hsu, Scott Brison, and Irwin Cotler (Liberal justice critic and former Minister of Justice); and the NDP email was also copied to MP Murray Rankin.
We will keep you posted as to who does or does not accept the invitation. Draw your own conclusions from this information.
Linda McQuaig’s (NDP) campaign office is at this writing the only one to acknowledge and then reply; the reply says that Ms. McQuaig unfortunately “is unable to attend. Best of luck with your event!”
As replies are passed on to me, I will update in the comment thread to this post.
UPDATED November 9. Progressive Canadian Party candidate Dorian Baxter has informed us he is attempting re-arrange his schedule in order to assist us in our demonstration; he considers FATCA to be “nothing more than an unethical money-grab.” Details in the thread below. So far no other invited candidates than he and McQuaig have replied.
FATCA Faces Tell The Real Story
“Their faces tell the story. They show the real victims of FATCA”
FATCA Faces Tell The Real Story by Lynne Swanson (aka Blaze) was published in OpEd News today.
The article says:
The We Are Not A Myth Portrait Protest shows the world the Myth vs FATCA document released by Robert Stack, Assistant Deputy Secretary of U.S. Treasury, for what it actually is. A Stack of Lies.
It concludes with several suggestions about where he might find some revenue. It also sends this message:
Mr. Stack, please take the time to look at them. After doing that, if you still insist they and the FATCA problems you have wrought on them are “myths,” US Treasury is even more of a corrupt bully than I thought.
But, of course that’s what bullies do. They harass the little guys while ignoring anyone they think will stand up to them.
Mr. Stack, I have news for you. We are and will stand up to you. That is no myth.
There is strength in numbers. Please join We Are Not A Myth by adding your own portrait and message on Tumblr or e-mail atticusincanada and she will do it for you: atticusincanada@gmail.com
Copious thanks to Jim Jatras for calling the following to our attention.
The government of Russia, and more specifically the Foreign Minister (and not, please note, their Finance Minister), has weighed into the FATCA discussion with this very forthright statement that any agreement between the US and Russia on FATCA must be fully reciprocal and must respect Russian sovereignty and must not impose foreign extraterritorial legislation on the actions of Russian institutions.
http://tinyurl.com/Russia-article-November-2-2013
I urge everyone to write Flaherty, Harper and your members of Parliament along the following lines (please use your own words or modify mine, I don’t want this to become boilerplate text). I sent this to Flaherty with copies to Rankin, Brison, May and my MP Paul Dewar (also Foreign Affairs critic). Others might wish to send this as well to Harper (who’ll just bounce it to Flaherty if his office replies at all) and to Baird (who has never even acknowledged anything I’ve sent him, nor has his ministerial correspondence unit).
“Please note in the following news item today, that Russia has made it very clear that any agreement between the US and Russia over FATCA must be fully reciprocal and must respect Russian sovereignty. The statement also mentions that FATCA as currently formulated is an extraterritorial violation of the sovereign equality of other countries.
“It would be utterly unacceptable for Canada to accept or insist on less than what Russia does, in any agreement with the US over FATCA. As it is highly unlikely the US can respect or even get full reciprocity, which would require US Senate approval not yet forthcoming in even one IGA the US has signed, I think the most rational approach for Canada to take is to walk away from negotiations with the US over this, to insist on Canadian financial institutional compliance with current Canadian law and our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and to contemplate protections or retaliatory sanctions against the US should it ever actually enforce the threatened sanctions against Canadian financial institutions that have branches in the US.
“Canada’s sovereignty is no less important than Russia’s, and I expect that my government will stand up for Canadians as forthrightly as the Russian government does for its own citizens and sovereignty. It would be a very sad, pathetic commentary on any Canadian government that would not do so.”
Help Appreciated for Nov 13-14 Toronto Protest Against FATCA-Complicit Banks
If you are interested in attending, please contact: ComplianceNever@gmail.com
The conference is the “Canadian Institute’s 19th Annual REGULATORY COMPLIANCE for Financial Institutions” at the North Building of the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto.
http://www.regulatorycomplianceforfis.com/
There will be about 150 conference attendees, including the big five banks and other financial institutions, who all want, not only to improve their skills in FATCA compliance, but to “EXCEED Regulatory Expectations.”
Final strategy to be determined, but protesters are needed to:
1) hand out to banksters a copy of a letter to the Canadian Banking Association asking banks to resist FATCA compliance and to lobby against FATCA; and
2) explain FATCA to the public and ask for their signatures on the Ted Hsu petition to Parliament.
Other suggestions appreciated.
The conference is the “Canadian Institute’s 19th Annual REGULATORY COMPLIANCE for Financial Institutions” at the North Building of the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto.
http://www.regulatorycomplianceforfis.com/
There will be about 150 conference attendees, including the big five banks and other financial institutions, who all want, not only to improve their skills in FATCA compliance, but to “EXCEED Regulatory Expectations.”
Final strategy to be determined, but protesters are needed to:
1) hand out to banksters a copy of a letter to the Canadian Banking Association asking banks to resist FATCA compliance and to lobby against FATCA; and
2) explain FATCA to the public and ask for their signatures on the Ted Hsu petition to Parliament.
Other suggestions appreciated.
A Very Successful Two Person Protest!
Calgary411 and I set up on one corner of an intersection across from the BMO convention centre. Fortuitously, it was a great location, as anyone who wanted to go up to Macleod Trail to get a coffee had to walk right past us.
We got out there about 10am and immediately garnered a lot of interest from people driving by, as well as pedestrians. I quickly lost count of the thumbs up we received. Quite a few horn honks, as well.
Not too long after we got there, the first of the bicycle cops showed up. I was a little apprehensive, although we weren’t blocking Continue reading A Very Successful Two Person Protest!
FATCA Petition To Government of Canada
Ted Hsu suggested we should submit a petition to the government on FATCA. If we submit at least 25 signatures to him, he will present the petition in the House of Commons.
Some of us drafted a petition, which was then reviewed by Dr. Hsu’s staff to ensure it met guidelines. Here is FATCA Petition To Canadian Government in Word.Please print a copy of the actual petition and get signatures.
If you don’t have Word, here is FATCA Petition To Canadian Government in pdf.
Continue reading FATCA Petition To Government of Canada