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PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 10:13 am
 


Despite the federal Auditor General’s concerns about its efforts to track and deter “aggressive” tax planning that can become tax evasion, and the major staffing cuts that critics say will hamper its ability to serve Canadians, the Canada Revenue Agency is aggressively auditing various charitable organizations to see if they’re using too much of their money for political activities. This comes after charities such as Tides Canada, that have criticized the Harper government’s plans to build oil pipelines such as Northern Gateway, have been attacked by the government as receiving money from foreigners for their activities.

By itself, this wouldn’t necessarily be a problem. These pipelines are Canadian projects, and Canadians are the only ones who should be deciding on them. However, the way the CRA is handling these audits is disturbing, to say the least.

A list of the charities being audited includes the likes of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, PEN Canada, Canadians Without Poverty, and other organizations that have criticized various aspects of the Harper government’s agenda. The audits are justified by seeing how much money these organizations are dedicating to political activities. If that’s the case, then why aren’t organizations like the Fraser Institute, the C.D. Howe Institute, and the Macdonald-Laurier Institute being audited? All of these institutions regularly comment on political issues, so why are they not begin audited? Is it because the Harper government is more inclined to agree with their stances? The Fraser Institute justified its activities by saying that they were for education, not advocacy. If that’s the case, then what’s the difference between the education offered by the Fraser Institute and the education offered by the Canadian Centre For Policy Alternatives? Why is one singled out, and not the other?

To make matters worse, the government is also contemplating forcing charities to provide lists of their donors’ identities. This risks making people less willing to donate if their names are made public and they’re concerned about repercussions. The government justified getting rid of the long-form census because it said it wanted to respect Canadians’ privacy. In that case, why is the government suddenly now concerned about where Canadians send their charitable dollars?

The net effect of these audits, according to some reports, has been to cause a “chill” among many of the charities being audited. They are forced to take time and money away from their regular activities to respond to the audits, and are uncertain whether they’ll even be able to survive.

That’s very bad by itself.

But what’s also very bad about these audits are the optics behind them. Why are all these audits happening now, all at the same time? It just reinforces the perception that the Harper government is attacking anybody that dares to disagree with its goals, particularly its energy agenda. This won’t build public support for the pipelines that are so critical for Alberta to get its energy resources to new markets.

All this does is make things worse for both Canadian charities and the energy industry.


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:40 pm
 


Politically active Charities should be limited to Canadian donors and should be required to disclose their donors. It doesn't matter if it affects charities bottom line, if there are donors who wish to remain anonymous, they either are not very dedicated to the cause or they are trying to hide their support.


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 3:57 pm
 


sandorski sandorski:
Politically active Charities should be limited to Canadian donors and should be required to disclose their donors. It doesn't matter if it affects charities bottom line, if there are donors who wish to remain anonymous, they either are not very dedicated to the cause or they are trying to hide their support.


And yet, the Fraser Institute insists its activities are "educational" rather than "political" in nature. If that's the case, what is the difference between the education provided by the charities the government is auditing, and the ones that it is not?

Let's have a look at what Stephen Taylor, head of the National Citizens' Coalition, Stephen Harper's former organization, has to say on the matter:

$1:


Question:

The Harper government has spent $8m to crack down on political activities of charities, specifically environmental ones. Harper himself was once a member of the National Citizens Coalition, which seems like a charity with political activities. Is the NCC a charity in the same sense as Tides Canada? Has there been any crackdown on NCC, or has the National Citizens Coalition been spared from the $8m crackdown? Do you agree with the $8m crackdown on political activities of charities?

Stephen Taylor's answer:

We are a non-profit corporation. I will say that I think that charities should be able to act politically. Why is it that only registered political parties can engage in this type of civic duty?



It suggests to me that we ought to have clearer rules on what constitutes political activity in Canada so that charities have better guidelines, at least. But I have to admit I agree more with Stephen Taylor on this one-provided that the charities are up front with their donors about their political activities, I have no problem with their doing so. That goes equally for charities like the Fraser Institute on the one hand and Tides Canada on the other.

And for that matter, why, again, are all these audits happening now,on charities that are known to be criticizing the government's agenda? Is that really a coincidence? How come none of the charities that are more likely to support the government's agenda being audited, if there's such a blitz going on?


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 6:08 pm
 


JaredMilne JaredMilne:
sandorski sandorski:
Politically active Charities should be limited to Canadian donors and should be required to disclose their donors. It doesn't matter if it affects charities bottom line, if there are donors who wish to remain anonymous, they either are not very dedicated to the cause or they are trying to hide their support.


And yet, the Fraser Institute insists its activities are "educational" rather than "political" in nature. If that's the case, what is the difference between the education provided by the charities the government is auditing, and the ones that it is not?

Let's have a look at what Stephen Taylor, head of the National Citizens' Coalition, Stephen Harper's former organization, has to say on the matter:

$1:


Question:

The Harper government has spent $8m to crack down on political activities of charities, specifically environmental ones. Harper himself was once a member of the National Citizens Coalition, which seems like a charity with political activities. Is the NCC a charity in the same sense as Tides Canada? Has there been any crackdown on NCC, or has the National Citizens Coalition been spared from the $8m crackdown? Do you agree with the $8m crackdown on political activities of charities?

Stephen Taylor's answer:

We are a non-profit corporation. I will say that I think that charities should be able to act politically. Why is it that only registered political parties can engage in this type of civic duty?



It suggests to me that we ought to have clearer rules on what constitutes political activity in Canada so that charities have better guidelines, at least. But I have to admit I agree more with Stephen Taylor on this one-provided that the charities are up front with their donors about their political activities, I have no problem with their doing so. That goes equally for charities like the Fraser Institute on the one hand and Tides Canada on the other.

And for that matter, why, again, are all these audits happening now,on charities that are known to be criticizing the government's agenda? Is that really a coincidence? How come none of the charities that are more likely to support the government's agenda being audited, if there's such a blitz going on?


If a Non-Profit is providing Data/Info about a subject, even if it's Ideological, as long as it isn't Monetarily supporting a Political Party or Candidate(s), I think it can claim to be "Educational".

Whether there is something nefarious afoot with current focus on the subject, I don't know. It's possible, but discussion on what should be allowed or disallowed is perfectly fine. Just as long as any policy enacted at the end of it is Reasonable and fairly applied.


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 6:34 pm
 


sandorski sandorski:

If a Non-Profit is providing Data/Info about a subject, even if it's Ideological, as long as it isn't Monetarily supporting a Political Party or Candidate(s), I think it can claim to be "Educational".

Whether there is something nefarious afoot with current focus on the subject, I don't know. It's possible, but discussion on what should be allowed or disallowed is perfectly fine. Just as long as any policy enacted at the end of it is Reasonable and fairly applied.


In that case, I think you and I agree. That's the thing about these charities-so far as I know (and I acknowledge I could be wrong) none of them have given any money to any political parties or candidates.

And, like I said, the optics surrounding these, even if there really is nothing underhanded going on here, are very, very bad. This gives ammunition to the Mike Hudemas of the debate, the guys who are so determined to put the brakes on oil and gas development altogether.


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