Hillis v. AG (Cda) – Constitutionality of the Canadian FATCA legislation is challenged

Ginny Hillis, who was born in the U.S. to Canadian-citizen parents and came to Canada when she was five, has launched an action (through Farris, Vaughan) to have the Canadian FATCA legislation declared void as unconstitutional on any one of five alternative grounds. The ground which might have the most legs is that the provision of the stipulated accountholder information about her and other US persons by Canadian financial institutions to the IRS (via CRA) occurs without any judicial authorization or notice to her or opportunity for her to be heard, and therefore violates her reasonable expectations of privacy contrary to her Charter right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.  See Clayton, Kloster, Norwood and Gernhart.

A potential weak link in an argument that the FATCA legislation is also void for discriminating against residents of Canada who are US Persons is the potential need (see Fannon) to establish that "US Persons living in Canada are subject to prejudicial stereotypes and treatment in Canada and the United States."

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Statement of Claim of Hillis against the Attorney General of Canada under Charter – s. 8.