By: C. Yvonne Chenier The Consultation Panel on the political activities of charities that was appointed by the Minister of National Revenue in 2016, recently submitted their report.[1] While the main recommendations of the Panel, were to “make changes to enable charities to fully participate in public policy dialogue and development”[2] , and to […]
Even In the Face of Disaster Charities Should Not Stray From Their Purposes
By: Yvonne Chenier, Q.C. Whether it is assisting Syrian refugees to settle in Canada or helping those fleeing from floods and fires, the goodwill of the people and charities in Canada always make headlines. In times of disaster, it seems many charities want to raise money and get on the bandwagon to help those in […]
Spring cleaning
By: C. Yvonne Chenier, Q.C Organizations that have Annual General Meetings at this time of the year look forward to new beginnings and welcoming new board members. Well-managed organizations also take stock, do a bit of spring cleaning, and have an eye on the risks that they can or should be managing. Those eager new […]
Why some charities lost their status in 2015
Why some charities lost their status in 2015. By C. Yvonne Chenier, Q.C. Every year the charitable registration status of a few charitable organizations, public foundations, private foundations or Canadian Amateur Athletic Associations is officially revoked by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). That means that the organization can no longer issue official donation receipts and […]
Angels We Have Heard On High
By C. Yvonne Chenier Last year at this time I was dreaming of sugarplums obviously when I ended my December 2014 article with hope for legislative reform to reduce red tape and help our charity and not for profit clients. Then on budget night in the early months of 2015, I was disappointed as it […]
Hope for clarity in all things social enterprise
By C. Yvonne Chenier, QC Now that we have a new federal government in Canada, one may wonder what they will do with the elephant in the room in the not for profit and charitable sector – social enterprise. As has been pointed out before in this newsletter and elsewhere, even though the provincial governments […]
“Matchy Matchy” is Back In… But Read the Fine Print
By C. Yvonne Chenier, Q.C. The off and on clothing trend called “Matchy Matchy” is seen as wearing an outfit that goes together too well making it looked forced and stylish. Something similar may very well be underway again at the Government of Canada with the Syria Emergency Relief Fund recently announced by Foreign Affairs, […]
Spotlight on Estate Gifts
By C. Yvonne Chenier, QC The 2015 Canadian federal budget contained good news for the gift planning community. Much has been written about the anticipated results of the exemption from the capital gain tax when someone wants to donate their private company shares or real-estate. Although we can surmise from the budget documents how the […]
Transparency in the Charitable Sector
By C. Yvonne Chenier, QC Donors are happy and charities are sometimes amazed (and perhaps a bit skeptical) when told that anyone can amass information about charities without even picking up the phone to call the charities themselves. Besides a few private research services that gather information about charities, much pertinent information about any charity […]
Alberta Law Reform Institute Report: Reform in Alberta?
By C. Yvonne Chenier, QC Those who want to incorporate a non-profit organization in Alberta are faced with the decision whether to incorporate under the basic Societies Act or the more complex Companies Act, Part 9 (if they choose not to be created under the new federal Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act). Any non-profits who come […]