Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  First it was the softwood lumber deal; it has not managed to update the tax treaty; and now it has this FATCA deal that would allow the U.S. government access to tonnes more personal information on about a million Canadians, some of whom were born here and have never lived in the U.S., but the U.S. government considers them U.S. citizens.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Since we had more time, it would have been good to study this provision separately and more carefully, in order to identify the weaknesses. We need to respond to FATCA and propose an agreement. We cannot accept just any agreement. We need an agreement that takes all of these concerns into consideration. I could go on about this for hours. I will stop here, but I do want to answer questions from my colleagues and probably expand on these ideas.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  They will have to make investments in information technology and other processes to collect this information, which they would have to do under FATCA and will have to do under the IGA. I would argue that they will probably have to spend less money under the IGA than they would under FATCA. At the same time, it is also important to understand that they need certainty with respect to getting this started because I believe it would be very difficult to try to go back and collect that information in 2015 or 2016.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Bill C-31 includes the intergovernmental agreement, or the IGA with the U.S., to implement FATCA. This should not be in a budget bill; it should be before the justice committee. There are strong foreign policy implications and issues of extraterritoriality. The agreement reached by the government is flawed.

Finance committee  Thank you again for the privilege to appear before you. The last time I spoke before this committee was during the FATCA hearings, which were quite contentious. Of course, the budget is very important to all Canadians, but I suspect it might be a little bit less contentious today. Again, thank you. In my brief comments I thought I would emphasize what I consider to be the academic tax consensus surrounding how one should form a budget.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Therefore, those protections that Canadians used to enjoy will not be enjoyed by a number of individuals, including children of those individuals, because the U.S. has decided that those children are now subject to FATCA. How on earth can the government claim to be protecting the privacy and the personal information of Canadians when they are ordering banks to just give it away, including that of children in his riding?

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, the implementation of FATCA would have serious implications on children in the member's riding. The implementation of FATCA, according to James Jatras, who was a former U.S. diplomat, would have the purpose of nullifying Canadian protections under the Bank Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, otherwise known as PIPEDA, the Canadian human rights code and, especially, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  This is why it is estimated that approximately one million Canadians will be affected by FATCA. Does the hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke have some concerns for those constituents within her riding?

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, we have seen some estimates. When FATCA was first introduced, Scotiabank estimated that it had to set aside $100 million to gather all of this information, and that was just for Scotiabank alone. It is an incredibly expensive thing to do.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Speaker, I thank my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands for raising the issue of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, because we in the Liberal Party are also concerned, based on what we have seen from constitutional experts, that there may be violations of the charter. Let me get to my question, which deals with FATCA. As we know, under FATCA, Canadian banks must report to the IRS the accounts held by clients who happen to have U.S. citizenship. In Canada there are about a million of them. Otherwise they face the prospect of a 30% withholding tax on their U.S. income.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Speaker, I would like to salute and thank my neighbour and friend from Saanich—Gulf Islands for her intervention and her wisdom in pointing out the FATCA provisions in the bill. We already know those provisions will go to the Supreme Court of Canada. We already know the Conservatives have received legal advice and are moving in that direction.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  The definition of a who a U.S. person is will not be made by the Canadian government; it will be made by Washington. Rest his soul, Mr. Flaherty spoke up against FATCA and this process, worried about the very thing that I am addressing now, which the Conservatives are choosing to heckle me on. He was worried that accidental Americans, which is what Mr.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Does hon. friend from Victoria not agree with me that it is entirely likely that once again the House is passing legislation that will find its way to the Supreme Court of Canada, where FATCA will be ruled to violate Canadian charter rights?

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Speaker, members of the NDP as well as the Liberal Party who have spoken previously to the bill today have talked about FATCA. FATCA would be unilaterally and automatically imposed on Canadian financial institutions and their clients as of July 1, 2014. Because of the provisions in this bill, Canada has seen significant exemptions and relief, including certain accounts that are exempt from FATCA.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  We hear this concern over extremely high rates for telecom services from Canadians across the country. I also want to raise the issue of FATCA. This may be something the majority of Canadians do not know much about, but for Canadians who hold dual Canadian-American citizenship, the bill is very troubling. An entire bill about FATCA is enclosed in this omnibus budget bill.