The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada has raised concerns about recommendations presented to the Canadian government calling for the removal of charitable status to spiritual charities and anti-abortion organizations.
The potential negative impact not only on the religious sector but the various people it serves could be immense, the group warns.
Details are buried inside a whole lot of recommendations made in a Finance Committee report tabled within the House of Commons on Dec. 13, 2024, which is a component of a consultation process before the subsequent federal budget.
Recommendation 429 calls for the federal government to “now not provide charitable status to anti-abortion organizations” and Recommendation 430 desires to amend the Income Tax Act to “provide a definition of a charity which might remove the privileged status of ‘advancement of faith’ as a charitable purpose,” stated the EFC.
Both recommendations are present in the report under Chapter Five, “A Competitive Fiscal Policy, Sustainable Finances and Efficient Government Operations.”
“Federal taxation plays a pivotal role in funding public expenditures and directing economic activity to sustain and enrich the Canadian economy,” states the chapter’s short preamble.
“Personal income tax is the biggest source of presidency revenues in Canada, followed by corporate income tax. Tax policy can be a serious mechanism to motivate taxpayers to have interaction in activities which can be deemed useful to society or, quite the opposite, dissuade taxpayers from engaging in activities which can be considered harmful to society.”
The EFC believed the wording of the recommendations echoed the British Columbia Humanist Association’s written submission to the committee. (The consultation heard from many businesses, schools and non-profit organizations offering written submissions with differing interests.)
The finance minister will not be obliged to adopt the recommendations for the spring budget, however the EFC stays concerned concerning the issue, calling the proven fact that a parliamentary committee involving all major political parties had called for such changes “significant” and indicative that the parties supported the ideas.
“The Conservative Party has a dissenting opinion within the report, and the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois have supplementary opinions, but none mention or oppose these charitable status recommendations within the foremost report,” stated the EFC. “These recommendations can have been missed among the many 462 recommendations made, but not one of the parties expressed opposition to them.
“This change, if adopted, would have a far-reaching and devastating impact — on religious charities, the people they serve, and Canadian society. Just over 40% of Canada’s registered charities advance religion. This proposal would destabilize the charitable sector in Canada.”
Furthermore, the EFC opined that committee recommendations can function a “trial balloon.”
“If a advice seems widely supported, or at the very least not opposed, it might encourage the federal government to maneuver ahead with it,” the Evangelical body noted.
“This is a crucial time to make sure MPs hear the concerns of Canadians about this proposal, now that the Finance Committee has put it on the table. It’s more practical to stop these recommendations from being introduced in a bill than to ask for them to be removed once the bill has been introduced.”
