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 […]
Green Party’s Complaint Against Debate-Sponsoring Foundation Highlights Increasing Chokehold on Charities
By Alexandra Tzannidakis During this year’s long-haul federal election campaign, the rules about charities’ involvement in political activities have been tested left and right. A major challenge to the interpretation of the rules came from the Green Party, who fought back against the exclusion of their leader, Elizabeth May, from the Munk leaders’ debate on […]
Lack of Nuance in the Charity System Strikes Again
By Adam Aptowitzer The current media interest in the application of the political activities test for charities is indicative of the lack of nuance in our charity regulatory system. As we have written before on the history of the political activities test as it applies to charities, the provision in question, which allows charities to contribute up to […]
Fighting the Wrong Battles
By Adam Aptowitzer The firestorm of media attention which has resulted from the Conservative changes to funding for political activity is astonishing given the relatively small impact of these changes. More to the point the media almost never comments on changes affecting the sector, even when those changes are both expansive and arguably unconstitutional. One […]
Maiden Voyage for the New Political Communication Rules
Maiden Voyage for the New Political Communication Rules By: Brent Randall With the recent provincial election in Quebec, an upcoming election in British Columbia, and speculation that Ontario may do the same, charities across Canada may be considering the impact they can make in the political arena. While we previously wrote that Budget 2012 maintained […]
Lessons on Political Activity – From New Zealand
Lessons on Political Activity – From New Zealand By: Adam Aptowitzer Over the past few years the charity sector has become used to Federal budget announcements designed to put increased restrictions on its operations. Budget 2012 was exceptional only in that it provided an additional $ 8 million over two years to ensure compliance with […]
Personal Political Activity
Personal Political Activity By Arthur Drache, C.M. Q.C. About eighteen months ago David Suzuki, the high profile environmentalist, did a video endorsing the Ontario Liberal government’s environment policies during a the provincial election. Questions were raised as to whether this somehow would be translated into “political activity” by the Suzuki Foundation.a charge made by another […]