Douglas Todd: Ameri-Canadians point fury at Uncle Sam

Good column by Douglas Todd on American Canadians and the impact of FATCA:

But, except for writing this column, I basically never think of myself as having American origins. If someone asks about my ethnic background, I tend to emphasize my roots in England, Ireland and Wales. As a result of all these cultural forces downplaying what The Canadian Encyclopedia calls “overt displays of American consciousness,” many don’t realize some of the most influential Canadians were born in the United States.

They include economist C.D. Howe, CP Rail tycoon William Van Horne, White Spot founder Nat Bailey, fiction writers William Gibson, Robert Munsch and Jane Rule, journalists Barbara Frum, Jack Todd and Jeffrey Simpson, politicians Diane Ablonczy, Jim Green, Stanley Knowles and Elizabeth May, political commentator Tom Flanagan, scholar Jane Jacobs, athletes Donald Brashear and Jarome Iginla and actors Lauren Holly, Robin Thicke, Matt Frewer and Colm Feore.

Now — with FATCA causing investigators to scour the globe to hunt down more than seven million broadly defined “U.S. persons” it claims should be paying taxes to Uncle Sam — even more people in Canada with U.S. connections are finding another reason to bury their American identities.

Instead of just trying to be sensitive to fellow Canadians’ “vague hostility” towards the U.S., many Ameri-Canadians are experiencing an increase in their fury toward Uncle Sam.

Douglas Todd: Ameri-Canadians point fury at Uncle Sam.