Political Activity: Canada Revenue Agency

Canadian Registered Charities Dept: Canada s charity law permits registered charities to engage in limited political activity for up to 10 per cent of their activity. The regulations define permissible activity. Excluded are partisan activities like supporting or opposing specific candidates or parties. The political activity must be related to the charitable purpose of the organization, and generally aimed at creating a broader understanding of issues and problems, according to The Star. Even among those charities that have an interest in public policy, there is a reluctance to engage, and few play anywhere close to the 10 per cent level. The reluctance arises in some cases from a lack of knowledge of the rules, or uncertainty in what they actually mean despite the presence of a useful memo from the Canada Revenue Agency on the matter , or a fear of incurring the wrath of government and the recent federal budget launched a shot across the bows of Canadian registered charities to be careful about how they engage in political activities. The shot was not really a surprise as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Natural Resources minister, Joe Oliver, had already aimed a few volleys at the sector in their promotion of the tar sands and the Northern Gateway pipeline proposal. Most Canadian charities engage in no political activities. They are the traditional charities familiar to the Conservative members of the Senate who in recent hearings expressed surprise that charities had any public policy or advocacy role. In fact, most charities do not engage in public policy or advocacy, have never seen it as part of their role, and are likely unaware that they are permitted to do so. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.