As election expectations ramp up in Canada, here is a thing to know about charity organisations:
"Organizations that devote any part of their resources to the direct or indirect support of or opposition to any political party or candidate for public office will not qualify for registration."
That is at the registration stage, but it's true of maintaining charitable status as well. Charities cannot be politically partisan.
It's more difficult to restore charitable status than to initiate it.
@sumpnlikefaith interestingly enough, i have seen no christian churches lose their charitable status despite being very partisan & political during covid.
however, muslim & jewish statuses have been revoked over the past 5 yrs. 🤔
@singlemaltgirl I haven't heard much either, but there were churches who lost their status when they lost their minds and started defying Covid mandates.
Some were fined into oblivion. In some cases, that's the same thing -- the charitable status was eventually lost due to financial collapse.
A quick search let me to this article: https://carleton.ca/panl/2023/church-closures-and-the-loss-of-community-social-capital-by-don-mcrae/
Highlght:
"The data from 2022 shows that 299 Christian Churches were registered as charities while 364 were revoked."
tl;dr - churches had their charitable status revoked b/c they had to close b/c they weren't making enough money to upkeep their buildings & stay a going concern. not b/c of their political actions.
@singlemaltgirl You're right. There must be stats directly relevant out there somewhere.
Sometimes it's difficult to go after a charity for this regulation specifically because it requires proof, and matters like this are decided in complex, drawn-out legal proceedings.
Sometimes financial collapse is just the fallout of a charity caught in court proceedings.
While it's true that Covid defiance isn't *directly* related to partisan politics, as you say, the two now share a strong bond.
@sumpnlikefaith and that was my original point - both jewish and muslim charities, particularly faith based institutions have had their charity statuses revoked. and been vocal about it. cra has held firm. i would imagine christian churches would be equally vocal about revocations - but i don't think it's happened. unless there was a sex scandal that they wanted to keep schtum about.
i think vax mandates & public health measures are partisan issues b/c of how parties have adopted stances.
@sumpnlikefaith oh, i didn't hear about these but as i read the article, this isn't about christianity getting into politics but in closing due to finances b/c they've lost congregants.
many pastors in ab, for instance, cont'd to act in defiance & cosied up to the ucp in alberta & were forgiven for fines & such. but charities are regulated by the feds & nothing in this article indicates that charitable revocations happened b/c of partisanship.
thx for sharing the post. 😊