Part II: The Nitty-Gritty on the Canada Elections Act Amendments for Non-Profits and Charities The next Canadian federal election is on October 21st, 2019, and many of our readers are curious about what they need to be mindful of if they engage in public policy dialogue and development activities near election time. Part I of […]
Those that have been following the political activities saga will be happy to know that after years of promises, a court case, a blue ribbon Panel, and some annoying dithering the Federal Government has finally tabled legislation in Parliament to allow charities to engage more fully in ‘Political Activities’. In a previous article on this […]
The issue of charities engaging in political activities has been a hot item since 2012. In that year the Harper Government gave $8 million to the CRA Charities Directorate to begin what has been termed the “political activity audits”. Budget 2012 also tightened up the political activity rules which were already in place. It is […]
By: Arthur Drache In mid-July, Mr. Justice Ed Morgan of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice determined that the Income Tax Act legislation and the CRA’s administrative practices relating to political activities of charities was contrary to the Charter of Rights when restrictions were applied to the (non-party partisan) political activities of charities.[1] The decision […]
With the Ontario general election coming up on June 7, registered charities should take a moment to review the restrictions on political activities. It is key to remember that registered charities are totally prohibited from engaging in partisan political activities. They can only engage in non-partisan political activities, and only to a limited extent. The CRA’s […]
Last week, 14 environmental charities met with Finance Minister Bill Morneau to discuss promised changes to the political activities restrictions on charities, and they appear to have come away worried. The federal Liberals campaigned in 2015 on a promise of reforming the stringent political activity limitations that had led to widespread audits of charities under […]
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 change how the Canada Revenue […]
When the Liberals came into power last year, the new Minister of National Revenue announced that she was putting a halt to the “political activities” audit of charities that the previous administration had been conducting for the past few years. In practice, this meant that the charities in line to be audited under the program […]
By: Sukhdeep Singh Sembi Following the dissolution, earlier this year, of the political activities audit program, the CRA wishes to receive input from the public in order to modernize the rules regarding political activities for charities. The process will consist of email submissions and in-person consultations with representatives from the charity sector moderated by an […]
When the Liberals came into power last year, the new Minister of National Revenue announced that she was putting a halt to the “political activities” audit of charities that the previous administration had been conducting for the past few years. In practice, this meant that the charities in line to be audited under the program […]