The Niagara Independent- Canada’s sleeper election issue: the loss of charitable status for religious organizations
Last December, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance released Report 21, Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2025 Budget. The 300-page report included Recommendation 429: “No longer provide charitable status to anti-abortion organizations” and Recommendation 430: “Amend the Income Tax Act to provide a definition of a charity which would remove the privileged status of “advancement of religion” as a charitable purpose.”
I can hear gym cheering even from here!
Terrible that many organizations will pay the price for government’s hatred of religious charities, and I’m not talking about the charities themselves but also the organizations those charities support, for example, kids sports programs, but ignorant and myopic people like gym will see this as a win.
And yes, I knew about this “sleeper” issue months ago. Wondering what took the rest of us so long to wake up.
And if people like Eric Straus is wondering why I will not vote con this election, this is it.
Folks… I recently discovered that there is someone else on these pages posting comments as “fc.”
So I have to identify myself now as “the REAL fc,” and yes, I did post the comment just above, as well as this one.
Hopefully, the moderators will straighten this out in a timely fashion, otherwise, I will have to post under a different alias, or else (to some people’s content, I am sure) not post at all.
–the REAL fc.”
Are we being railroaded on sleeper issues?
Political donations receive a 75 per cent tax break. Unsurprisingly, the Finance Committee did not recommend an end to that.
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In for a penny; In for a pound. This is a perfect opportunity to call them on it. Start a nationwide movement to remove tax breaks on political donations under the same premise. Use their own reasoning against them. THAT is what your “conservative” politicians should be doing for you. But, they sit there like lumps or (even worse) jump on board with the selective targeting.
I think that’s what surprises me most about Canadian politics. There isn’t one individual that stands out as the bulwark against all of this creeping socialism. Not one individual in a position to do so stands up and says “ENOUGH!” I’m convinced it would resonate with more people than expected.
I would love to eliminate the tax breaks for both charitable and political donations. Where do I sign up?
I’ve decided to fight for the churches to the same extent they fought for us during the Wuhan flu bullshit.
thats a relly good take on all this.
myopic single issue blindered liberals.
As a confessing, believing … and I like to think – practicing Christian … I don’t really disagree with you. Yet … It’s hard to find myself on the same side as the Marxist rabble and LGBTQueers.
Once the church deducts all their charitable donations, operating costs including Pastor salary, Manse allowance, Mortgage, church Staff salaries, Deacons expenses, etc. the churches won’t owe any taxes anyway. You know … just like all David Suzuki’s “non-profit” “green” Foundations and whatnot.
How about a system where you get NO tax writeoff for a donation of any kind to any organization, political, charitable, religious or any other.
If you believe in the organization so much, suffer a little pain rather than get a tax break.
Wonder how the mosques and other non-Christian denominations will appreciate that?
No religion should get a tax break.
Charity’s are a different thing altogether, but they should suffer severe scrutiny – especially the Muslim ones.
The power to tax is the power to destroy. This is a violation of freedom of religious conscience.
The Liberals don’t want anybody to own firearms either. How about no one can be a member of the Liberal Party as long as they own any firearm?
How about no member of the Liberal Party can own a firearm, give commands or directions to or be protected or otherwise served by any person using a firearm for to carry out those instuctions or commands or provide that protection.
It was not about religions getting a tax exemption, but religious charities. Mind you, churches and other places of worship are included in that. When government does charitable work, 50-80% will go to administration, but when churches engage in charity (I can’t say what synagogues, mosques and temples do) they generally have very low administration costs, generally 10-20%. Many also employ the services of an audit organization, to maintain transparency for those who donate. Many of the people they employ are volunteers. I just read from the Central California Food Bank website, that the CEO’s compensation was $140,000+ and Second Harvest Minnesota CEO stepped down when it was revealed she was paid $721,000. These are not religious organizations and yes, I know they are not Canadian. Take that you Humanist Mannifesto thumper!
on the question of tithing l chatted with a tither agonized should he tithe with his tax refund.
as if it was brand new wages. he cdn’t fathom t*hat* money was left after taxes was paid on his income. . accounting for the fact $ his tithe was not taxed.
nor should his refund a second time.
No organization of any kind, whether a religious or charitable one.
If they get a tax break, then I am forced to make up the difference in they tax they would otherwise have to pay. That, by extension, forces the me to support religions and charities that I do not agree with.
The same goes for this Liberal government “every dollar you donate to the Red Cross for this [insert faux disaster du jour here] will be matched by the Canadian government” Again, if I do not want to donate to that organization, why should I subsidize somebody else’s desire to give them money.
I take the opposite position of most commenters above. A tax break is never out of order.
Churches should get tax breaks.
Businesses should get tax breaks.
Individuals should get tax breaks.
Everybody should get a tax break, every year, all the time, from town, province and federal taxation, until the government is run as a charity and gets all its money from tariffs like the old days. That is how it should be.
Because taxation is theft, and why would we put up with that?
I agree. Why is it that whenever there are savings to be found in a government budget, it never gets returned to the taxpayers in the form of a lower rate or refund. They always want to find a way to spend it.
I believe this is a small part of the freak out south of the border with DOGE. Other than the evaporation of their means of outright theft, their kingdoms are melting away.
Eliminate all charity tax breaks, charities are just sinecures for rich bimbos with arts degrees.
My Lord, how wrong you are! There are many, many churches hanging on for dear life – just a bad quarter from closing their doors.
Why? Maybe because government continues to take more and more. The city of Edmonton imposed a +6% increase 2 years back, almost 10% last year and +6% again next year. So we are left to the conscience of the feds! And now here we are!
Any thoughts on what the charities are going to cost the taxpayer if government is left to finance them?
A proper church steps in and fills voids that no one else does. They feed the poor, they give money to those in need. They make meals for the bereaved and they support drug rehab organizations. They donate to overseas projects that do the same as above. They shingle the houses of the needy. They fix furnaces, plumbing, and cars for widows. They sponsor children in Haiti. They support the children in the community.
But the most cool thing a Bible believing church does? They share the gospel of hope, (Jesus), that changes lives and gives people peace. Pulls them from their addictions and crime. Sets their feet on a solid path. Nothing else has ever pulled people out of the pit of despair like the gospel message has. Prove me wrong. Lives are changed, saving society billions of dollars.
Yeah, let’s punish these churches that pool their resources to do that which no one else will do. All because they are against killing the unborn. Think about that. That is the reason these filthy liberals used to pull charitable status. We don’t want to kill unborn babies, so they want to ensure we don’t do for free, all of the above things mentioned.
Nobody hates a morally upright and industrious congregation more than the government.
Did you forget Covid already? Did you forget the guy they arrested for holding Sunday service on the front lawn of the church, because the cops had locked the building? Kitchener, I think.