Politics and Advocacy

1
Politics and Advocacy

• byRobert B. Hayhoe, Miller Thomson LLP
• Canadian Council for International Co-operation
  AGM
• Ottawa, May 26, 2005

2
Common Law Definition of Charity

• Heads
• Advancement of Religion
• Relief of Poverty
• Advancement of Education
• Other Purposes Beneficial to the Community
• All heads must be carried out for public benefit

3
Income Tax

• Registered Charity
• must have exclusively charitable purposes

4
Political Purposes

• By definition, cannot be charitable

5
Definition of Political

• Purpose that
• supports or opposes a particular political party
  or candidate
• seeks to retain, oppose or change the law, policy
  or a decision of any level of government in
  Canada or elsewhere

6
Theory of Political Activity Prohibition

• Charity must be for public benefit
• political purposes requires debate about
  desirability of the purposes (questions public
  benefit)

7
Stated v. Unstated Purposes

• CRA looks behind stated purposes (in corporate
  objects) at activities and purposes

8
Incidental Political Activities

• Common law and ITA permit incidental political
  activities if carried out for a charitable purpose

9
Political Continuum

• Prohibited Political Activities
• Permitted Political Activities (limited)
• Permitted Charitable Advocacy Activities
  (unlimited)

10
Prohibited Activity

• Illegal Activity
• illegal defined by Canadian law
• Partisan Political Activity
• direct or indirect support of a party,
  officeholder or candidate

11
Coincidental Policy Position

• Support or opposition to a policy that is
• supported by a particular party
• Permitted, provided
• charity does not explicitly connect views to any
  party
• issue connected to purpose of the charity
• well-reasoned position
• campaigns are not charitys primary activity

12
Limited Political Activities

• Permitted if non-partisan, and connected and
  subordinate to charitys purposes
• Substantially all resources must be donated to
  charitable purposes other than politics
• traditionally 90

13
Substantially All Revisited

• Annual income of up to 50,000 up to 20
  political
• Annual income of 50,000-100,000 up to 15
  political
• Annual income of 100,000-200,000 up to 12
  political
• Two year carry-forward of substantially all
  percentage
• based on T3010A data

14
Permitted Advocacy Activities

• Communication with public
• issue related to charitys programming
• subordinate
• promoting point of view is not charitable by
  itself
• well-reasoned and accurate position
• limited emotion

15
Permitted Charitable Activity

• Distribution of research
• to public
• to politicians
• to press
• Policy Development
• even with government

16
Politics and Advocacy

• byRobert B. Hayhoe, Miller Thomson LLP
• Canadian Council for International Co-operation
  AGM
• Ottawa, May 26, 2005