Now's the time to support @PENCanada, faced w. a punishing audit by
#HarperConservatives. Why does freedom of expression threaten them?
— Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) July 22, 2014
It’s most interesting to see Ms. Atwood advocating for “freedom of expression” when, just a few short years ago, she was actively trying to stifle the public “expression” of her fellow Canadians. Some might call that hypocrisy. Others might use different language.
As for the topic at hand, why is it so difficult for Leftists like Atwood to understand a simple rule: Not For Profit Organizations Charities* Cannot Spend More Than 10% of Their Funding on Political Activities?!?
* – Correction pointed out by Margaret
Sometimes, free speech is important.
“Not For Profit Organizations Cannot Spend More Than 10% of Their Funding on Political Activities?!?”
It is quite simple, those afflicted with progressivism cannot do math.
It surely is a mental disorder.
They love their taxpayer subsidized freedom of speech to restrict the freedom of speech of those with whom they disagree. Mde my day!
Actually it is charities that cannot spend more than 10% – all charities will be non-profits, but not all non-profits will be charities.
I sit on a board of directors of a non-profit that just dumped its charitable status because reporting is very complex. The organization got its charitable status about 40 years ago when they were given out like candies – we didn’t need it as we didn’t do a lot of fundraising and our supporters would give us money regardless of getting a tax receipt.
I suggest that PEN do likewise – remain a non-profit but give up their charitable status and then they can critize the government all they want. Simple solution. If writers want to support PEN they can continue to do so and not get a tax receipt, which is no big deal since the actual write off is pretty measly.
The issue to Lefties is pretty simple. Their hearts are pure and ours are not. Sooo, by definiton, their free speech is worthy and ours is not.
They’re not silencing them in the least. They’re just reviewing their applicability for charitable status.
Leftists like MaggieA believe that the righteousness of their cause places them above the law. The end always justifies the means.
you mean you actually want us, the great unthinking leftards, to follow the rules? /s
Brilliant — and so simple.
When one’s entire career has been promoting one’s drivel and then, having risen to an undeserved height, using one’s lofty position to quash more relevant speech, this sort of whining is to be expected. In typical leftists fashion, Miss Atwood believes it is not only her right to take a tax receipt from a government she despises but that she is doing everyone a world of good. If she really cared about free expression, she would burn her own books as a sign of protest.
I’ll help her.
Not quite Mike.
Their free speech is worthy; but ours is worth hostile S.13 HRC fines and execrable rulings.
They want their ‘free speech’ AND tax exempt status, while those on the right should be muzzled and fined through harassing legislation via HRCs.
We’ve seen all we need to, when it comes to the ‘left-o-spheric’ version of ‘level playing field’ in regards to ‘free speech’; namely it approaches simple fascism.
The Margaret Atwood’s of the world would prefer that people like Ezra Levant would have no opinion heard, nor a soapbox upon which to stand; but would rather have them fined for having ‘politically incorrect’ opinions.
No one held a gun to Ms Atwood’s head, and said ‘You should petition that Sun News Network shouldn’t have a channel.’ She likened them to ‘Fox News North’.
Naturally, she doesn’t have to watch, she can tune into taxpayer funded CBC to get all the skewed news that left-o-spherics love and thrive on, unrelenting Harper bashing…
She should ‘enjoy her CRA audit’; I’m sure she has boxes and boxes of receipts to demonstrate the ‘purity of her cause’ and its ‘non-political status’.
If she wanted to express a ‘political opinion’ within a writers group she has all the wherewithal to start such a group and organize petitions accordingly.
Ms. Atwood’s group doesn’t need tax exempt status to do that…
Cheers
Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
I don’t twit or tweet or whatever. Can I reach her by email?
Wait a minute – it just occurred to me.
Isn’t PENCanada a . . . (wait for it with ominous music) . . . CORPORATION? One of those ‘corporations’ that are always doing insidious things to people? And she’s, she’s defending this ‘corporation’? She must also be evil!
How does one determine when an audit is “punishing”?
I’m guessing the adjective refers to any audit of any organization that Ms. Atwood supports. Of course, then if CRA wants to have a look at my books, that’s just an audit, routine and necessary to keep the flow of funding going in the “correct” direction.
Marc what you wrote actually made it more clear for me about how Progs and Liberals act. So I am taking what you wrote and adding a bit to it for my own thoughts on how I have experience interactions with Progressive/Liberals.
————————————————-
Progs/Liberals:
Sometimes, free speech is important
other times stupid haters disagree with my important thoughts and just need to shut up.
————————————————–
Personally, I think all speech is important, else it is not a dialog or a conversation.
Stupid progs think free speech is someone else paying them to talk.
Don’t the idiots know that they can start political parties and get a better tax break on donations than for registered charities albeit with limits. How thick does one need to be not to know that? I guess as thick as Atwood.
Somehow the first link doesn’t work for me.
Tom B.
Pierre Trudeau in drag.
This Women has been wrong in every endevor she alludes to. No not even right once. So who cars about her?
Yeah… I just thought I’d throw that out there and see if it rattled any cages. 🙂
I like free speech. Not too willing to compromise on that one.
What’s an Atwood?
Or, maybe we should just dispense with tax breaks and lower taxes across the board/ditch the progressive tax system.
Indeed Elvis Presley is spotted pumping gas or chowing down ia a Dixe diner.
Pierre put on a dress and started writing ficton, he had a big head start with the Charter
I’ll support PEN when Ms Atwood supports SNN.
Thanks for the clarification, Maureen.
Margaret Atwood?
Isn’t she the main character in that book by Alias Grace?
Thanks to Robert, this tweet by “Peggy” Atwood is the first thing of hers I’ve actually read all the way through.
And I’m not kidding.
I’m surprised they don’t just launder their donations through Tides like all the other politically active lefty “non-profits”.
Say . . . where was Atwood when Canada removed charitable status from most Pro-Life groups in the land?
Or did that not register on her radar?
Margaret Atwood is a leftist?!
Good thing I’ve never bought any of her books.
Wait….
She writes books?!
I’ve never heard of a “punishing audit” before. This is not about Harper’s government feeling threatened by free speech – it is about @penc feeling threatened by having their finances made public. Their freedom of speech is not affected whatsoever – only the secrecy of their donations and expenditures. Funny…any group I have ever been involved with has welcomed audits, so all would know that finances were raised and spent properly.
Correction pointed out by Maureen.
Margaret’s the post modern, entitled, laurentian, prog, elitist.
I could not agree more, without the support Maggie gor from the taxpayer over the years her best line would be would you like fries with that?
The guvmint in your change purse ?
Margaret Atwood – meet Lois Lerner. Lois – Margaret.
Margaret is author of dystopian novels such as ‘The Handpersons Tale’ whereas Lois has yet to find her original manuscripts.
She would be pounding out Harlequin romance novels.
She is a blowhard and always has been. That she has the audacity to expect a benefit for criticising the government is the limit.
I remain completely astounded by Lord Black’s insulting attitude to those who support him the most — Margaret Atwood, sir, might be part of your alternative universe, but she’s not part of mine. Lots of people have supported you for a long time — as a general proposition, if it’s not too much to ask, would you mind, at all, getting in the real world.
David, I’m with you on that. I completely fail to understand Black’s love affair with Atwood, leftist freak of nature that she is. They have been in love with each other for quite some time. I think he dreamed about her naked body in his jail cell.
“I think he dreamed about her naked body in his jail cell.”
Well thank you very much for that image! Now I gotta clean my brain with some bleach. Although I wouldn’t know,maybe Maggie has a better body then whats-her-name that he married? Just askin’
“Why does freedom of expression threaten them?”
Better question: What is PEN Canada so eager to hide?
“Better question: What is PEN Canada so eager to hide?”
Even better…..what is Maggie so eager to hide?
I’m off to the bathroom to ponder the situation while mimicking the creation of a Maggie Masterpiece.
I SURE HOPE they don’t find anything like foreign money being funnelled and laundered through her group.