Toronto Star- Heads of 17 Canadian environmental charities collecting major compensation packages
An analysis by The Canadian Press identified 17 charities whose top executive drew annual compensation that was in the $200,000 to $250,000 range or higher, according to filings with the federal government made in 2022 and 2023.
The review focused on organizations recognized by the Canada Revenue Agency as registered charities in the categories of “environment” and “animal protection,” which include several conservation organizations. The group of 17 with the highest salaries represents just over one per cent of all charities in those two categories.
But wait there’s more
The charity with the highest-paid executives was Ducks Unlimited Canada, based in Manitoba. Its 2023 declaration indicates that two people earned more than $350,000, three others received between $250,000 and $300,000, and four received compensation between $200,000 and $250,000. The organization has 565 full- and part-time employees. Governments contributed just over $27 million to Ducks Unlimited for its year ending March 31, 2023, and a quarter of its $140 million in revenue came from donations.
Charity begins at home and my home needs a lot of … support. USPS is an organization that delivers, on a daily basis, tons of requests for more money for this purpose. Oh, I did get a couple of Christmas cards.
I am NOT surprised by this revelation. I have known since the late 1980’s that most charities are in the business of giving to themselves. I stopped giving to the United Way in 1988 when I received a letter after they had received my annual cheque. The letter stated that they “knew that I could give more, so why did I not?” At that time, I was making good money and I believed in giving back. So I gave to Cancer Canada, the United Way, the Toronto Humane Society, the Heart and Lung Foundation etcetra. When the recession of the 1990 to 1993 hit, design and construction was the first to go. I stopped giving to all and concentrated on my daughter and myself.
I now only give to the Salvation Army and to Operation Smile.
the United Way is one of those organizations that appears to just be a money transfer spot, where only 9% of their revenue is spent on “charitable activities” but 78% is transferred to other organizations.
Organizations like Ducks Unlimited canada in the amount of $1,283…
They also pay at least 1 person more than $350k a year
The biggest JOKE in our Tax Codes is “non-profit” business. Some of the largest compensation packages go to the executives and staff of “non-profits”.
“Non-profit” = no $$$ for YOU! … just the Elite Oligarchs
Ducks Unlimited has been siphoning off taxpayer millions for years and years, all the while fooling silly hunters into thinking that their memberships support a “hunting” organization.
Ducks Unlimited preserves wetlands for ducks so that rich duck hunters, including billionaires, with very expensive retrievers can hunt them.
“Ducks Unlimited preserves wetlands for ducks so that rich duck hunters, including billionaires, with very expensive retrievers can hunt them.”
And yet does not care one bit about preserving the rights of gun owners.
L – When the Liberal gov’t.(1994 white paper) 1995 – C-68, decided to make the
simple possession of firearms a criminal offence, a clear violation of 3 Common-
Law Rights. Millions of Canadians, many of them hunters, looked to Ducks Unlimited, for political support… and only heard crickets.
Now with the Trudeau Liberals planning to have more Canadians eating crickets
than eat wild game. This rare act of Journalism, by the Cdn. Press, explains why
the sound of silence, of bowing in obeisance to the State, is so pervasive.
in violation of a fundamental and
historic Common-Law Right of individual citizens, for reasons
Hey!!! You just described my best clients!!! The same ones who have their butchers prepare duck sausage for me. And they all pay their bill promptly … unlike my poorer clients.
Apparently “charity begins at home” is taken very seriously by executives on the receiving end of taxpayer funding.
NGOs don’t like the light of an audit any better than any government organization.
To paraphrase Eric Hoffer, “good causes turn into businesses and then rackets”. So often these entities are tax dodges, money laundering schemes or fake make work employment for the otherwise unremarkable children of the rich and/ or famous.
Ducks is in the business of controlling property! And only that.
If the welfare of ducks was the goal they would be pumping water to fill ponds during droughts.
They could sell property to pay for pumps and power.
I have suggested that to them when ever I see them at shows.
I also point out that a duck doesn’t know if it’s duck land or my land that it lands on.
Drought is part of the natural cycle. Where would the water come from to fill ponds? From already depeated lakes?
I’ve been a duck hunter all my life. I have good retrieving dogs. I like what DU does on the landscape and support them – voluntarily.
Rivers.
Rivers suffer from low water levels during drought. Take a look at the water flows in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan the last 3 years.
Look at Delta Waterfowl, you may find they do better what Ducks Unlimited claims it does. If not, you can feel even more sure about your contribution to Ducks Unlimited.
I support Delta as well. They both do good habitat work.
Well … during drought periods in CA … the so-called “ecologists” unnaturally dump our reservoirs to keep river levels constant. Because …
Baitfish > little girls
Grift. all is grift.
Most national and international charities are a scam. They do very little to improve whatever cause they claim to represent. It’s more of a marketing scheme where most of the money goes to wages and, I suspect, money laundering and off-the-books pay offs. I never feel guilty for saying no when retailers, banks and self checkout machines ask “would you like to make a charitable contribution to…”.
I haven’t given to national and international charities in decades. Community projects, school fundraising, local sports, hospital lottery tickets and kids knocking on doors selling whatever for their clubs is charity money better spent. No tax receipts necessary. No name added to pesky mailing or phone lists. The money goes towards something real and almost all of the organizations are run by volunteers.
“I haven’t given to national and international charities in decades.”
NATO is an international ‘charity’, we all have ‘given’ to for decades.
Anything funded by taxes or union dues isn’t charity.
After a lifetime of giving, much like you, I’ve whittled my giving down to local groups, almost all very small scale, especially those run by volunteers, where all of the money goes straight to the cause. One example of a real charity run on a shoestring that has done fantastic work for decades is Child Haven International. I have not been involved for a good ten years but a quick look at its website suggests it has not changed and has maintained its principles in practice and not become fat and lazy. Another is ScotDance Canada, all volunteer run, that organizes a combination sports & cultural activity for kids. It’s hard to give money away to real good, as opposed to fake good, causes. Some years ago I recall reading a quote from Bill Gates after he’d retired from Microsoft and started into charitable work, something to the effect that it was harder to give away money well than it is to make money. I think he’s proven the truth of that thought.
Helping local children’s sports has more positive impact for kids and the community than giving money to any national or international charity I can think of. Keeps the kids busy/out of trouble, helps them stay fit, learn sportsmanship and teamwork, forms friendships, they learn to cope with defeat and (hopefully) be gracious in victory. You just need to watch out for bad coaches and, of course, a few toxic parents.
It’s difficult not to notice that most corporate class charities never actually cure any diseases or fix any social problems. That would end their gravy train.
Yeah … didn’t Obama use taxpayer funds for “midnight basketball”? How’d that work out? Answer: not well for the crime ridden streets of Oakland
I don’t think sports programs for young people is causing crime in California. California’s political class and legal system are batshit crazy.
…and Canada under Trudeau is following California’s path.
LC Bennet: “I never feel guilty for saying no when retailers, banks and self checkout machines ask “would you like to make a charitable contribution to…”.”
What burns my britches is if you “round up” at the checkout or otherwise give to a business that promises to give to a charity, they take your money and get the tax write-off for it. You, the customer, are cutting their tax bill and increasing their profits. Give the money to the charity yourself and you get the tax write-off.
One other thing that people need to do is say “no”. The Mrs. and I give to only one charity, which funds Huntington’s Disease research. It’s woefully underfunded as most of the research dollars go to cancer or AIDS or some other high-profile disease. Everyone else with their hands out gets a polite “no”. If we have $100 for charity, then $100 goes to Huntington’s research. No guilt whatsoever.
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Hah! At the grocery store, where I already explained above that I never round up when they ask, my total happened by chance to come out to an even dollar amount. The cashier automatically asked if I wanted to “round up” and I said “Sure!” [**sudden realization**] The cashier was not amused.
Yep, tax write offs are probably the main reason for the annoying charity solicitation at major retailers. I suspect many big charity donations are done for tax purposes. The biggest “philanthropists” get rich by funding programs and foundations that direct money to their other business ventures and buy political favors.
I think I’ve reached peak cynicism for the year and it’s only January 4.
LC
“I think I’ve reached peak cynicism for the year and it’s only January 4.”
Thanks for the laff!
It’s all good. I got my adorable, Ducks to the Rescue blanket with my monthly donation.
Now let’s see the data from all the other charity categories. Let’s see the salary numbers for the top 10 percent. Most importantly, let’s see just how much of their income stream verifiably made it out to the causes they are supporting. And then trace that down too; not a penny of money given to any of those causes is allowed to be given to any other cause, especially not to political donations or back to the charity itself. And if those causes are themselves charity middlemen (fiscal redistribution centers) then it’s game over. I think too many of these groups are set up like the Clinton Foundation, which serves to do almost nothing except write checks to the Clinton family. Screw that.
And then let’s push for a law in both the US and Canada that says your charity loses its imprimatur if the output isn’t at least 80% of the input. Immediate cessation of all government funding if so, for a 5-10 year moratorium.
I can guarantee this would shut down BLM and United Way and many others in a heartbeat.
( this site is still not allowing commenter handles to include numbers. that’s stupid )
Drew
Thank NME666 for that, or maybe the bible pounders for their complaining BULLSCHIFF!
NME666
Thars money in them thar hills…
I give monthly to two animal charities, not a lot, but it adds up. I think they’re pretty good.
I give a lot monthly to one kid’s charity and it adds up (and I’ve got to scale that back as my income is much less these days).
But nobody forces me or anyone else to give and the books are open.
The charity I hate is the federal government.
I have no choice and their books really aren’t open.
Funny how Non Governmental Organizations end up with so much “government” money, eh?
THIS, in spades.
RNrn
like the WE charity . they got caught and headed stateside. liberal money in carpet bags
The government should not pick winners and losers in charities, any more that it should not for business.
NGOs are at best, government lobbyists and at worst government funded lobbyists. Charities are rarely efficient at doing what they claim to do, almost as useless as the state. ENGOs are the worst of the worst as they are corporations intent on continual survival and therefore incapable of being satisficed with any level of “environmental protection” (the “environment” is by definition everything that surrounds you and therefore those claiming to be environmentalists are claiming omniscience). They have become enemies of prosperity, civilization, liberty, and humanity. Prosperity is the only friend to any reasonable concept of a clean and green “environment”.
Obama has been supporting and contributing to this organization for years!
Oh, sorry, I just reread that, it says dUcks Unlimited. Wrong organization.
mid to late 60s.
the news story is the huge congratulatory banquet united way splurged end of the fund raising.
l havent donated to them since.
swung by Cdn Cancer Society one day with $500 donation.
receptionist kept insisting l provide an address to send the card in sympathy, didnt have it at the time told her l would take care of it later.
she goes back to insisting l provide an address for the card.
of which there are l would very roughly guess 10,000,000 in Hong Kong. my ex’s cousin had passed away. there’s a lot of cancer in HK from the environment.
so l said pick one and left with my $500 absolutely livid about this rejection.
that was around 2004. they get nothing now or since.
humiliated and ignored by officialdom for decades, l finally yanked my name off the organ donor registry. ‘you cant take it with you’. well some things you can.
so who does get my $charity? this outfit that just expanded their facility:
https://www.salthaven.org/
With MAID, anyone who signs their drivers’ license for organ donation is just asking for it.
Thomas
MAiD is not the problem, those who abuse MAiD are the problem.
The high salaries for environmental CEOs are needed to strongly advocate for fewer working-class jobs. We live in these times.
If you Run For The Cure, stop. They don’t want to find a cure and never will.
It’s too bad that the trust in charities has been broken. I think of the billions frittered away in the effort to cure Alzheimers. I don’t do that anymore. I also am appalled by the importation of family pets. Be very careful adopting a rescue animal. Lots of shenanigans and risk of importing diseases to afflict domestic pets. I do give locally.
Yeah like there aren’t enough domestic pets that need homes.
// Goodwill industries recently filed a Form 990 and revealed that CEO James Gibbons earned $598,300 in 2017. //
yes, they masquerade as a charity
Just to show how long this has been going on. here’s a peek at Ducks Unlimited 2011 CRA files:
Total revenue received from federal government 4540 $ 13,563,800
Total revenue received from provincial/territorial governments 4550 $ 9,371,548
Total revenue received from municipal/regional governments 4560 $ 2,515,309
Total revenue received from all sources outside Canada 4575 $ 37,550,559
Total interest and investment income received or earned 4580 $ 2,821,745
Gross proceeds from disposition of assets 4590 $ 2,970,326
Net proceeds from disposition of assets (show a negative amount with brackets) 4600 $ 472,001
Gross income received from rental of land and/or buildings 4610 $ 1,021,989
Non tax-receipted revenues received for memberships, dues, and association fees 4620
Total non tax-receipted revenue from fundraising 4630 $ 17,011,669
Total revenue from sale of goods and services (except to government) 4640 $ 1,691,373
Other revenue not already included in the amounts above 4650 $ 4,655,496
Specify type(s) of revenue included in the amount reported at 4650 (e.g., dividends)
4655 Exchange, Bad debts, Restoration Serv
Total revenue (add line 4500, 4510 to 4580, and 4600 to 4650) 4700 $ 106,845,566
No wonder we’ve got “The Best Health Care System in The Word”
To answer trapper a bit more directly the points he attempts to make. I’ll repeat. A duck doesn’t know the difference between my land and ducks land.
I understand they are the biggest land holder in my province. If they would sell off this empire and invest in pumps and pipelines they would not only help the environment for ducks but people too.
Infact I went to them with a proposal 24 years ago during the last major drought which they came and looked at. The plan was to take 3 phase power down to the North Saskatchewan river and pump water to a 80 acre lake that was dry and now is again. Once the water was up at that higher elevation from there farmers could have filled over 20 dugouts and ponds with in 10 miles.
How many ducks would that helped?? Plus people??
Rejected. That isn’t the goal.
I get it that your pissed over the fact that conservation groups own land. There are a lot of completing interests when it comes to land ownership. Farming is one of them.
Delta Waterfowl, The Nature Conservancy DU etc all secure land. I’m not a hydrologist and couldn’t begin to comment on why your proposal to pump water was rejected. Maybe it didn’t make economic sense?
I long ago stopped donating money to charities. I donate my time and skills to charities so that I can see directly in front of me the person I’m helping. I realize not everyone can do that. But it is certainly a blessing to be able to do so.
Awesome!
Ducks Unlimited. They shoot beavers.
Controlling beavers is a good thing ,they flood pasture kill trees etc.
Nice beaver.
( Homer’s voice )…….. Beeeeavers
When my 8yo son joined “Indian Guides” … and all the stuffed shirt executive dads asked what we wanted our “Indian name” to be … I answered: “Swims with Beaver”. The gathered men were NOT amused. Because they weren’t, and generally had no sense of MANLY humor … my son and I never returned.
Butt, Butt, Butt, it’s for the greater good…
Belonged to a service club for years. Raising funds was much easier than finding a good “clean” cause that the club could unite behind.
That’s a problem that shouldn’t exist.
The best response to requests for charity donations is “show me the books.”
We support a child in Ethiopia through The Christian Children’s Fund now Children Believe. I hope the child actually exists.
Charity, funny way to spell GRIFT!
Donating to SDA helps preserve sanity in Canada and elsewhere.
A side benefit is reducing ‘rescue dog’ industry.
To be clear, NGO’s are NOT Non-government. They are activist fronts with tax exemptions pushing government policy.
I don’t give anything to any charity that recieves government money since they already got my donation, and never asked. I don’t give twice. I government has already given themy money, I don’t need to.
Our not for profit health system is the same, the top admins sure are in it for the profits.
I had an older family friend boast to me of the package she received from the Cancer Society just before Christmas. Among other things it contained a pen, a couple of Christmas cards, a small pair of socks, when I asked her what she thought those gifts had cost she gave me one of those looks. I explained that the ‘gifts’ were sent as a guilt package to induce her to send a bigger donation. Charities should survive like businesses, by their actions not on government handouts or ‘guilt’ packages.
I’d like to know how much government money is handed out to the Canadian Cowboy in his work caring and helping abandoned animals.
TAX them.
I would like to know what charitable activities any of these organizations perform.
To sum up my attitude to “charities”, I had a “Feed the children” (forgot the actual name of the organisation) salesman/representative/beggar knock on my door at dinner time. I pointed out the irony that I was feeding the children.