These are words we want to hear from a political party hoping to be elected:
The Canadian’s Choice Party (CCP) pledges to “rip up” Canada’s FATCA IGA and return Canada to Canadians. The FATCA IGA is immoral and undemocratic. It’s not in the interests of Canada and individual Canadians.
Unfortunately, those words are not from the Cons, Libs, NDP or Greens. They are from Canadians’ Choice Party.
CCP is an Ontario provincial party that is hoping to register as a federal party.
I spoke with Bahman Yazdanfar, CCP’s founder and leader today. It was refreshing. He gets what FATCA means for us and for all of Canada.
Mr. Yazdanfar is not a “U.S. person.” He was born in Iran. He worries that what the “government is doing to our brothers and sisters from south of the border” has implications for all Canadians.
CCP asks:
“Which group of Canadians will be next?”
And what will the government do to them and their rights?
Mr. Yazdanfar told me when he attended FATCA meetings and saw “grown men and women in their 50s and 60s in tears,” he was reminded of time he spent in Afghanistan and what governments did there to citizens. He recognizes FATCA is not the government coming to people’s homes like in Afghanistan, but he fears FATCA and other government policies could be the tip of the iceberg.
About CCP, he says:
We don’t dictate policies.
Instead, Mr. Yazdanfar insists democracy should belong to the people–and not to political parties. So, he says CCP’s goal is elect “representatives of the people” who will listen to the people.
First, CCP must be registered as a federal political party. One of the things they need to do is have 250 eligible voters join the party and complete a declaration to Elections Canada. If you want the Canadians’ Choice Partyto become a Federally Registered Party, you can be one of the 250 original signers. Check it out at CCP.
John Richardson was a candidate for CCP in a provincial election but has no other formal involvement in the party.
Unfortunately, the CPP is merely a diversion.
And a dangerous diversion, if it means the Cons get back in with vote splitting.
Have a close look at CCP’s other policies. I doubt if many folks on this website would be comfortable with their stances on anything other than FATCA. I certainly would never vote for them.
FATCA is a major election issue for so-called US persons in Canada, but it’s only one election issue, and in the grander scheme of things for the health of Canadian democracy and the planetary environment, it’s arguably small potatoes in the coming election and will be seen as such, if seen at all, by most Canadian voters with no US connections.
Vote strategically but vote for someone who has a chance of winning in your riding and whose positions on the full range of issues facing Canadians and humanity generally, are at least acceptable to you.
And VOTE. Only 60% of those eligible to do so, voted in the last federal election. That was shameful. If you don’t vote, IMO you have no right to complain about what follows. And every vote can matter; an estimated 6200 voters nationally made the difference between a Con majority and minority in the last election, in close races. Not to mention many of the ridings in the recent Alberta election, most notably the one in Calgary (overlapping Harper’s federal riding) which was initially a perfect tie but became a 5-vote margin for the NDP in the judicial recount. Or the PEI provincial riding which ended in a tie after a judicial recount and was settled with a coin toss.
This next federal election is far too important to pass up, or in which to throw away your vote on a candidate who has no hope of defeating the Cons. Who are the party responsible for the IGA and a whole host of other abominations.
Thank you for raising awareness. As a Canadian-American dual citizen, I cannot take advantage of tax savings in many investment vehicles such as private pensions, whole life insurance, tax-free savings accounts, and private residence equity. I have to submit all of the financial information of every account I have signing authority on: personal, joint, children, non-profit, and corporate. This not only invades my privacy but the privacy of my Canadian family and a non-profit organization I work with. It is obscene. President Obama is a tax cheater, and Stephen Harper and every other world leader should all be ashamed at kowtowing to these laws.
Papers please!
While I welcome any and all opposition to FATCA I would agree with Schubert at this point and stick to voting for opposition parties that have a realistic chance of unseating incumbent Conservative MP’s. While the NDP, Liberals, Greens etc have not yet released any position platforms on FATCA as of know I do not consider this a yes or no “yet.” I think we still have a couple of more innings to play before the fall election on this front.
I agree with the others who have commented on this thread. While I have no objection to the minor parties, there is often a greater good in supporting one of the mainstream parties if one is seeking change. Especially this year. Harper and his disgusting bunch must go!
I live in a rural riding which tends not to have candidates from fringe parties.
I believe the only time I was voted for a fringe party was in the 1980 general election. My choice was Elizabeth May, who was running for the Small Party. She received 272 votes.
The riding was Cape Breton Highlands Canso
http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/FederalRidingsHistory/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Gres&genElection=32&ridProvince=7&submit1=Search
Hm, I’m not from Ontario, but I went and read through CCP’s website. I like, of course, their stance on FATCA, but my honest opinion is that they have really lofty, but maybe unreachable goals. I think their website could do with a dose of practicality, what’s their plan to achieve these goals? Their principles sound great, but how does one achieve “fairness in all sectors of our economy to compete, with emphasis on a level economic trading field without undue government interference.”?
Having said that, I wish them the best of luck because they are definitely talking about things that bother me a lot – gov’t in bed with big business, a feeling of hopelessness in getting officials to listen, too much poverty in Canada, regulations up the yin yang to rule our every action…