Transcript

Slide 1:

Welcome to segment 4 called "Representations to government and Personal political activities of the representatives of a charity," part of the "Political activities (Policy statement CPS-022) webinar.

Slide 2:

The CRA`s policy on political activities, Policy Statement CPS-022 has a very specific definition of political activities.

If an activity fits any of the four types of political activities in this definition, the activity is a political activity—with one important exception.

That exception is if a charity is making a representation to an elected representative or public official.

Charities have long been able to provide advice on public policy issues to government, since they often have a great deal of practical experience from working in their particular field.

For that reason, if a charity makes a representation to government, by which I mean an elected representative or public official, this is generally considered to be a charitable activity, even if it calls for a change in the law, or otherwise is an activity that would meet the definition of a political activity.

Slide 3:

There are still criteria that a charity must meet for its representations to be considered charitable.

These criteria include the requirements that a charity's representations always remain connected and subordinate to its charitable purposes. Representations must be a relatively minor activity carried out only in support of a charity's charitable purposes.

For example, a charity that advances education by providing scholarships could not begin devoting all of its resources to making representations to the provincial government calling for a reduction in sales tax.

Whether a representation meets all the criteria to be considered charitable will always depend on the specific facts of any individual case.

Examples of when a representation might meet the criteria of section 7.3 of Policy Statement CPS-022 on Political Activities, and be considered charitable might include:

1. a meeting at a member of Parliament's office where the charity delivers an oral argument urging the member to introduce a private members' bill that is related to its charitable purpose;
2. a presentation delivered to a public official at the charity's headquarters building to explain the charity's findings on a public policy issue that relates to the charity's purposes, and call for a particular government policy to be cancelled;
3. an appearance before a parliamentary committee to speak about the charity's experiences in its field of operations and to urge the committee to approve proposed legislation; or
4. a presentation at a municipal government town hall meeting to provide the charity's views on the benefits to its programs of proposed changes to a municipal government policy, and call for those changes to be implemented.

Slide 4:

A charity may want to release the text of a representation it has made, or is going to make, to an elected representative or public official.

This will be considered a charitable activity as long as the entire text is released and there is no explicit call to political action either in the text or in any reference to the text.

A charity can issue an entire representation to the public by: news release; on its website; or explaining in a newsletter that it intends to make, or has made, the representation and is willing to distribute the information to anyone who wants a copy.

In all cases, the whole representation should be made available.

If a charity makes an explicit call to political action in any part of this representation or in reference to it, the activities could be regarded as political activities and, as a result, all resources and expenditures associated with these activities could be considered to have been devoted to a political activity.

For example, if a charity placed the text of a presentation on its website, and positioned the text so that it was adjacent to a call to political action, this would likely be considered a call to political action made in reference to the text of a representation; it would then become a political activity.

Slide 5:

Representatives of a charity, such as employees, directors, members, or volunteers, may be involved with an election, political campaign, or any other political activity in their own capacity as individuals, whether during an election period or not. The Income Tax Act's restrictions on a charity's political activities do not apply to representatives of a charity as individuals.

But, a charity's resources (for example, office space, supplies, phone, photocopier, computer, publications) must never be used to support an individual's personal political activities.

However sincere or well-intentioned an individual's motivations may be for speaking out on an issue he or she considers important, there is a separation between a charity's political activities and an individual's. That line must not be crossed, or it may put the charity's registration at risk.

The Canada Revenue Agency suggests that charities consider developing an internal policy and/or guideline to make sure that there is a clear and explicit understanding regarding the use of a charity's resources for political activities. Such a policy or guideline would address the distinction between a representative's personal political activities and a charity's political activities.

In situations outside charity functions and publications, representatives of a charity, particularly leaders, who speak and/or write in their individual capacity are encouraged to indicate that their comments are personal rather than the views of the charity, when there might be any doubt as to whether this is the case or not.

This is particularly important in the case of social media, where it may be difficult to tell whether a representative's messages represent his or her personal views, or a charity's political activities.

Slide 6:

Finally, I'd like to mention that you can comment on all of the Charities Directorate policy and guidance documents, including our policy on political activities, by sending an email to our policy consultation inbox.

For example, you can let us know if there are any areas in our guidance documents that need more clarification, or if there are any topics you'd like to see addressed in a future product.

We do not send replies to these emails, but we do read every comment we receive and give them careful consideration.

Slide 7:

Thank you and we hope you enjoyed this webcast. If you would like more information on this topic, please contact our Client Service at 1-800-267-2384. If you haven't already signed up for the Electronic mailing list, we invite you to register on the Charities and Giving website. Once registered, you will receive emails as new information and updates, affecting registered charities, become available. The Electronic mailing list is also one of the communication channels we use to let you know when the next Charities Information webinars will take place and how to register.