By: Arthur Drache
Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier has announced[1] that the CRA will collaborate with the Department of Finance to engage with charities to clarify the rules governing political activities. The online consultations are now open, and the in-person consultations which will be held in six cities across Canada will follow at a later date. The online consultations are the first step in a broader engagement process, and are open to all Canadians, including charities. All comments are requested by November 25, 2016.
Lebouthillier has established a consultation panel consisting of five individuals with expertise in the regulatory issues facing charities. These panel members are:
Marlene Deboisbriand – Chair of the Panel
- Current Vice-President of the Boys and Girls of Canada
- Current member of the Board of Directors at Imagine Canada
- Former Vice President of United Way of Canada-Centraide Canada
Peter Robinson
- Current CEO of the David Suzuki Foundation
- Current member of the Board of Directors at Imagine Canada
- Former CEO of Mountain Equipment Co-op
Kevin McCort
- Current President and CEO of the Vancouver Foundation
- Current member of the Board of Directors of Community Foundations of Canada
- Former President and CEO of CARE Canada
Susan Manwaring
- Partner at Miller Thomson and National Lead of Miller Thomson’s Social Impact Group
- Current Director at the Pemsel Case Foundation
- Past Chair of the Charities and Not-for-Profit Section Executive of the Ontario Bar Association
Shari Austin
- Actual Principal Consultant at Shari Austin & Company
- Former Vice President of Corporate Citizenship at RBC and Executive Director of the RBC Foundation
- Recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award of Excellence in Corporate Responsibility (2014) from Green Living
This panel will use feedback from the online and in-person consultations to make recommendations to the Minister that they will include in a report in early 2017.
Of these five people estimable as they may be, only Manwaring has hands-on experience in dealing with a variety of political activities cases as a result of her varied law practice. And we gather through the grapevine that she was a last minute appointment when the bureaucrats’ inclination was to exclude all lawyers with expertise.
We should say up front that we are always, based on thirty years of experience, sceptical about getting any meaningful results from such consultations. But in this case there are two positive points. The first is the apparently tight time frame which suggests that it might be possible that results could come by the time the next federal Budget is tabled. The second is the involvement of the Department of Finance which suggests that any “solution” will be legislated, likely as an amendment to the Income Tax Act. We have taken the position for twenty years that “improvements” to the charity tax regime must be legislated, not left in the hands of bureaucrats to deal with administratively.
We have the mess we are in because of bureaucrats’ interpretation of the law and the Federal Court of Appeal’s deference to these bureaucrats.
But as we note below…it seems like the leopard won’t change its spots!
From the CRA’s announcement of the consultation:
“As part of this engagement process, the CRA is collecting feedback from charities and the public. Feedback will be fully considered in the development of new guidance or educational resources for charities on the rules governing political activities.” (Our emphasis)
This is exactly what we worry about…the foregone assumption that the problems can be dealt with by “guidance” or “education”.
This online consultation will be part of a series of discussions between the government and the charitable sector on this issue.
The questions posed by the CRA are as follow:
“1. Carrying out political activities
- Are charities generally aware of what the rules are on political activities?
- What issues or challenges do charities encounter with the existing policies on charities’ political activities?
- Do these policies help or hinder charities in advocating for their causes or for the people they serve?
2. The CRA’s policy guidance
- Is the CRA’s policy guidance on political activities clear, useful, and complete? For example, how could the CRA improve its policy guidance on these topics:
- the description of a political activity
- the description of a partisan political activity
- charities’ accountability for their use of resources
- Which formats are the most useful and effective for offering policy guidance on the rules for political activities? For example:
- two to three minute videos
- videoconferences
- comprehensive guidance documents like those on the CRA website
- webinars or other types of presentations delivered by organizations other than the CRA
- other formats
3. Future policy development
Should changes be made to the rules governing political activities and, if so, what should those changes be?
Please email your comments to: consultation-policy-politique@cra-arc.gc.ca.”
It would seem that we will get some CRA answers to the political activities conundrum in a fairly expeditious fashion. Whether they duck the issues and offer cosmetic “solutions” remains to be seen.
[1] http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/whtsnw/pacnslttns-eng.html