By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC Anybody who works within the charitable world will be aware that the “relief of poverty” is one of the classic heads of charity and there are myriad cases which attempt to determine who is “poor”. But the issue can also arise very indirectly…which is what happened in a recent municipal […]
Validating Scholarships Limited by Gender
By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC A recent decision of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench[1] is an interesting exposition of the interpretation of a will clause which offered a large sum of money to the University of Manitoba. But for reasons which will become apparent, the University elected to go to court to get a […]
Third Party Fundraising
By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC A ruling letter issued early in 2015[1] by the CRA dealing with third-party fundraising offers nothing particularly new in the way of interpretation but does offer a bit of clarification. The question posed seemed to be by an official of a charity who was questioning situations where a third-party raised funds […]
Unpaid Pledges
By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC Several recent articles in the Globe and Mail dealt with the apparent failure of some major donors to honour pledges made in conjunction with the expansion of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. A Globe and Mail investigation[1] showed the Royal Ontario Museum is still owed $23 million in unpaid […]
Elections and Third Party Advocacy
By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC Most readers of this newsletter are well aware of the limitations which are placed on political activities by charities and in recent issues we have run a couple of articles on various aspects of this subject. The best explanation of what is or is not allowed will be found in the […]
Annulment Offers Second Life to Charity
By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC Revocation is not the only way that charities can lose their registered status. The following comes from the web site of an organization which was a registered charity called Dying With Dignity: Dying with Dignity Canada (“DWD Canada”)has learned it will lose its registered charity status as the […]
Ecological Gifts and Change of Use Tax
By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC A recent ruling letter 1 from the CRA highlighted what for most is an obscure provisions of the Income Tax Act which related to gifts of ecological property. Section 207.31 of the Act imposes a tax on any charity, municipality in Canada or municipal or public body performing a function […]
Reporting Social Assistance Payments
By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC The CRA recently published its response1 to a letter asking about the treatment of “gift cards” which apparently were received by an individual from a charity…though details were not given. But while the answer probably was not of a lot of help to the individual, the response did set out […]
Another Refusal to Register Appeal Fails at the FCA
By Arthur B.C. Drache CM QC It is more for the record that we report on the most recent failure of an organization to get registered as a charity and to have that rejection upheld by the Federal Court of Appeal. The organization, Humanics Institute,1 despite knowing that it has been more than a decade since […]
Web Site Risks
By Arthur B. C Drache These days there are likely few charities which do not have a web site which gives information about the organization, tells about its charitable objectives and often is a vehicle for fund-raising. But as important as the web site is, it is crucial that one carefully monitor the material which […]