The Globe and Mail is doing a number of articles on giving and philanthropy this week.

For example Paul Waldie wrote a piece entitled “For Canada’s charities, this is a time of crisis and a moment of opportunity”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/giving/giving-news/for-canadas-charities-this-is-a-time-of-crisis-and-a-moment-of-opportunity/article2218067/

There is a nice interview with Governor-General Johnston entitled “Governor-General says time, talent, treasure keys to philanthropy” by Erin Anderssen
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/giving/giving-profiles/governor-general-says-time-talent-treasure-keys-to-philanthropy/article2218533/

There is also an article “Science for sale: A new kind of donor is transforming medical research” By Carolyn Araham which discusses how entrepreneurial philanthropist can be helpful in raising funds but there are pitfalls.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/giving/giving-news/science-for-sale-a-new-kind-of-donor-is-transforming-medical-research/article2218077/

On Friday there was an article in the Globe and Mail entitled “Ottawa looks at rewriting rules on charitable giving” by Bill Curry
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/giving/giving-news/ottawa-looks-at-rewriting-rules-on-charitable-giving/article2216738/

One could write a book about media coverage of Canadian charities: the good, the bad and the ugly.  I applaud the Globe for putting some emphasis on charities.  I think it is remarkable in Canada we don’t have even one full time charity reporter.  How many sports reporters are there?  How many reporters that cover the auto sector?  The charitable sector is large and has tremendous impact on the lives of Canadians and the depth of analysis should be much higher.

In February I will be helping the Charity Law Information Program (CLIP) organize a conference in Toronto and we will be raising a number of important issues in terms of governance, transparency and compliance.