The following is excerpted from Church for Vancouver by publisher Flyn Ritchie on Jan. 8:
Roughly 40 per cent of all charitable organizations in Canada are religious. Their status was threatened just before Christmas, when the Standing Committee on Finance released its “Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2025 Budget“ in the House of Commons on Dec. 13.
One of the report’s many recommendations was to “Amend the Income Tax Act to provide a definition of a charity which would remove the privileged status of ‘advancement of religion’ as a charitable purpose.” Local NDP MP Don Davies was one member of the standing committee.
The proposal has been overshadowed by the turmoil within the ruling Liberal Party. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland quit Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Cabinet following the weekend, on Dec. 16, instead of delivering the government’s fall economic statement.
Trudeau himself announced on Jan. 6 that he will be stepping down as leader of the party; he also prorogued Parliament (which includes ending committee activity).
And it is fair to say that even if the Liberal government were not in such disarray, it is by no means clear that this government would have acted on the proposal – or another, which called for no longer providing charitable status to anti-abortion organizations.
However, the issue is popping up more and more, and one local organization is very invested in the proposal.
Ian Bushfield of the BC Humanist Association posted a comment about the situation on Jan. 6, noting, “Both recommendations mirror submissions made by the BCHA in July.”
Last summer, the BCH wrote to the House of Commons Finance Committee with three asks for Budget 2025: No charitable status for anti-abortion organizations, Remove “advancement of religion” as a charitable purpose, and Repeal the clergy residence deduction. . . .
“Already, evangelical and conservative religious groups are in uproar over this suggestion. This is why we’re asking you to write to your MP to support these changes.”
He was right, at least, about the response from Christians.
The potential damage to churches and other religious organizations – and to the nation itself – could be very significant. The prompt response by religious leaders shows how seriously they are taking the issue.
Father Raymond J. de Souza, writing for the National Post on Dec. 29, acknowledged that the finance committee’s many proposals were broad-ranging and non-binding:
“The committee holds many hearings during the fall, inviting various experts, advocates and rent-seekers to make their case that the government should do this or that thing. . .
“The committee bundles it all up, decides what recommendations to adopt, and then reports it all to the House. Supposedly, the minister of finance takes all of this into account when drafting her budget. It’s not a careful exercise in policy analysis. The recommendations are a few lines at best, and there were a whopping 462 of them.
“Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois on the committee all supported the report. Conservatives added a dissenting report, but did not comment on either of the items referred to here.”
However, Father de Souza added:
“The second recommendation [#430] would be absolutely cataclysmic in its impact. Almost 40 per cent of Canada’s registered charities advance religion.
“The finance committee proposes to deny two out of every five charities their tax status. That would include the Salvation Army, which some of the committee MPs no doubt praise on their way in and out of supermarkets this season.
“The committee proposes the obliteration of the charitable sector.”
Deina Warren, Director of Legal Affairs for the Canadian Centre for Christian Charities, wrote a letter to Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc, as well as Peter Fonseca, Chair of the Standing Committee on Finance, and Élisabeth Briere, Minister of National Revenue.
In part, she said:
“It is almost incomprehensible to imagine a Canadian charitable sector absent religious organizations. Focusing solely on religious congregations (places of worship), research shows that the ‘halo effect‘ of these organizations is 10.47 times the value of any tax exemptions and credits.
“In an age of declining charitable donations, regular attendance at religious services increases amounts donated and the likelihood of donations by the average Canadian. In 2010, religiously active Canadians donated an average of $1,004. Those who were not active or not religiously active gave an average of $313. Social science research confirms the essential, positive contributions of religious organizations to civil society.”
Julia Beazley, Director of Public Policy for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) wrote a letter to Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc on Dec. 20, and the EFC made a statement on Dec. 31. The statement included this:
“Committee recommendations can function as a trial balloon. If a recommendation seems widely supported, or at least not opposed, it may encourage the government to move ahead with it.
“This is an important time to ensure MPs hear the concerns of Canadians about this proposal, now that the Finance Committee has put it on the table. It’s more effective to prevent these recommendations from being introduced in a bill than to ask for them to be removed once the bill has been introduced. . . .
“And remember to pray for our elected representatives, speaking to them with grace, respect and humility, as we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, the founder and perfecter of our faith.”
The Christian Legal Fellowship also issued a statement on Dec. 20: “CLF urges government to reject committee recommendation to remove ‘advancement of religion’ as a charitable purpose.”
ARPA Canada, which has an office in the Fraser Valley, concluded its Jan. 8 statement with these words:
Reach out to your MP and neighbouring MPs, making it clear that this is a very bad policy recommendation that would negatively impact not just religious organizations, but also the broader communities these organizations serve.”
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