The OECD Report on Abuse of Charities for Money Laundering and Tax Evasion is well worth reading for anyone who cares about the Canadian charitable sector. On my quick read of the report it seems that Canada has probably more charity tax evasion than any other country. The complete report is at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/30/20/42232037.pdf I will be writing an article on the ethics of professional advisors, especially charity lawyers, being involved with advising and defending charity tax evasion schemes.
Here is a press release from the Canadian government with respect to the 20 countries that will be the focus of Canadian bilateral (government to government) aid and they include: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Caribbean, Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Mali, Mozambique, Pakistan, Peru, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Ukraine, Vietnam, West Bank/Gaza.
The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency has revised their form T3010A with a new form called the T3010B, and it is supposed to be used by Canadian charities for fiscal years ending in 2009.
The Millennium Charitable Foundation Case deals with abusive charitable gifting schemes. The Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) sided with CRA in this matter. It is well worth reading for anyone concerned with the charity sector.
In this article, I look at and criticize a sensationalist and inaccurate article in the Ottawa Citizen entitled “Downturn will sink 10,000 non-profits: think-tank: ‘We’re just beginning to see blood in the pool,’ expert warns”.
The Foundation Center’s Interactive Map of Direct Grants by U.S. Grantmakers to Non-US Recipients is helpful to see how almost $7 billion dollars worth of grants went from the US to non-US charities etc. It may be helpful to Canadian charities interested in working with a US foundation on an international project. Global giving is not a one way street- US Foundations Supporting Canadian Charities.
The Proclamation for the Registration and Regulation of Charities and Societies was passed by the Ethiopian government. It will limit the activities and funding by foreign NGOs and charities. It will make it harder for some foreign NGOs to operate in Ethiopia. Canadian Charities operating in Ethiopia should review whether the legislation will affect their operations. Essentially it sets out tough penalties for those who do not follow the law. It restricts certain areas of activity including gender or ethnic equality, human and democratic rights, the strengthening of judicial practices or law enforcement, or conflict resolution to only Ethiopian NGOs who are receiving less than 10% of their funding from outside of Ethiopia.
There are many legal and ethical issues with the donation of pharmaceuticals to developing countries. In this note I will touch upon some of the ethical issues.
In this article from Embassy Magazine entitled “Aid to Focus on Needs During Downturn: Oda”, Bev Oda, the Minister of International Cooperation who is responsible for CIDA provides some very interesting insights into questions that many have wondered about in terms of the direction of CIDA. For those who want to understand CIDA this article is very useful. The article by Lee Berthiaume covers many issues including why aid was not discussed in last budget, doubling aid to Africa, Food Aid Convention commitments, untying of aid, relative importance of Africa versus South America, and aid effectiveness.
Mark Blumberg is a lawyer at Blumberg Segal LLP in Toronto, Ontario.
To find out more about legal services that Blumbergs provides to Canadian charities and non-profits please visit www.canadiancharitylaw.ca or www.globalphilanthropy.ca
Here is a research paper prepared by Betty Plewes for the CCIC entitled “Global Philanthropy and International Cooperation: A Guide to Trends and Issues. ”
http://www.ccic.ca/e/docs/002_voluntary_2008-12_philanthropy_article.pdf
This CIDA and Save the Children Canada workshop sounds really interesting on “Understanding and Using the Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies (MSEE), Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction.”
This CRA Charities Directorate Update presented in November 2009 provides some interesting information and statistics on compliance issues for the sector.
Since September 30, 2008 charities who telemarket must register. The Federal government recently rejected an attempt by AFP and Imagine Canada to exempt charities from any registration requirement. Here is my article on the Do Not Call List (DNCL) and Canadian charities.
Most of CRA’s view on political activities by Canadian charities can be found in Policy Statement CPS-022 Political Activities. (see Political Activities (CPS - 022) located at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/plcy/cps/cps-022-eng.html I highly recommend that any charity considering conducting any activity that could be construed as political, review in detail the CPS-022 Policy Statement on Political Activities. In addition, here are some other CRA policies, commentaries and information letters dealing with political activities that also provide some insight into CRA views and obligations of registered charities.
Political_Activities_and_Canadian_Charities_-_Some_CRA_Policies_and_Information_Letters_on_political_activities.pdf
If you require legal advice with respect to Canadian or Ontario non-profits or charities please contact Mark Blumberg
