Finance committee  I would like to continue with that line of questioning. There is the Canada-U.S. agreement on bank accounts and FATCA. Mr. Minister, you said that you received a legal opinion from the Department of Justice according to which this agreement is constitutional. The Department of Justice usually operates on the basis of a percentage.

Finance committee  The Canada-U.S. agreement is extremely complex and will affect over a million people. I think that saying it was either FATCA or the agreement the government signed is a red herring. Our committee's job is to study the ramifications and consequences of this agreement. The problem is that we can't do that properly by studying this provision among the hundreds of others in this omnibus bill.

Finance committee  I'd like to continue on the line of questioning on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. The fact is that FATCA is a U.S. law, so it affects some 7.8 million American citizens who are living anywhere outside of the U.S. I understand there are 29 or 30 agreements that have been signed between the U.S. and other countries on this.

Finance committee  There were comments made previously with respect to the banks having to invest in the technology that would allow them to screen these accounts. No matter what happens, under FATCA they would have been ordered to comply, and therefore would have had to make these same investments in their technology to trace these accounts. Is that so?

Finance committee  I'd like to turn to the intergovernmental agreement that your government negotiated with the United States to deal with the so-called FATCA. Canadians who may also be so-called U.S. persons are very, very concerned about their personal data being shared. As you know, last week Canadians found out their personal information had been accessed 1.2 million times without their knowledge.

Finance committee  I think it's important to remember that without this agreement, Canadian financial institutions would still have to comply with FATCA. Obligations for Canadian financial institutions would have been unilaterally and automatically imposed by the United States. This would have required banks to report information directly to the IRS and potentially deny basic banking services to clients.

Finance committee  Minister, yesterday you told the House that when it comes to U.S. taxes owed by Canadians under FATCA, the CRA will not assist the IRS in collecting U.S. taxes. If this is the case, why does your budget bill include penalties against dual Canada-U.S. citizens who fail to provide their U.S. tax identification number to the Canadian government?

Canada-U.S. Relations  Speaker, without an agreement in place, our financial institutions would still have to comply with FATCA. This would have required banks to report information directly to the IRS, and deny basic banking services to clients. Furthermore, both banks and their clients would have been subject to a 30% withholding tax.

Canada-U.S. Relations  Mr. Speaker, the Conservative deal to implement FATCA in Canada will hand over personal financial information to the IRS in the United States, violating the privacy of up to one million Canadians and exposing them to aggressive fines and penalties.

Canada-U.S. Relations  Speaker, without an agreement in place, our financial institutions would still have to comply with FATCA. This would have required banks to report information directly to the IRS, and deny basic banking services to clients. Furthermore, both banks and their clients would have been subject to a 30% withholding tax.

Canada-U.S. Relations  The Conservatives called the long form census a terrible invasion of privacy, but now they are in a mad rush to hand over to the IRS personal and private financial information from up to one million Canadians. They are ramming through the implementation of FATCA in spite of these serious concerns. Will the Conservatives pull this flawed agreement from the omnibus bill, take a breath, and get this right for once?

Finance committee  So for a financial institution, say like TD Bank, which is headquartered here in Canada and has more branches in the United States than it has in Canada, something we should be proud of, let's say they as an institution said they were not going to comply with FATCA. It seems to me that's not even an option for them. What would be the repercussions for that institution if they chose not to comply with the U.S. legislation?

Finance committee  I'll just add that part of the FATCA withholding that could have potentially applied to a Canadian financial institution, let's say with U.S. subsidiaries, is that any remittances from the U.S. to Canada associated with those subsidiaries could have been subject to the 30% withholding tax.

Finance committee  On behalf of Canadians and our government I want to thank you both for negotiating this IGA, which is a significant improvement over the FATCA. It's leaving us in a much better position as a result of your efforts, so I'd like to thank you both for those efforts. Mr. Chair.

Finance committee  Green card holders in Windsor, for example, people going across to the United States who actually work there, there may be enhanced scrutiny of their tax situation as a consequence of this FATCA. Are there any issues we need to be worried about with cross-border mobility? Maybe not.