ADVOCACY LAW FOR CHARITIES

Gordon FloydVice-President, Public Affairs

Canadian Centre for Philanthropy

Part of Our Mandate• “Charities have a wealth of knowledge and

experience which they can contribute to the solution, as well as the treatment, of problems relating to their area of work”

• Charity Commission or England & Wales

• “Direct services can meet immediate needs of hunger and pain. But advocacy provides the greatest chance of addressing the causes of poverty and disease.”

• John Garrison, CEO, American Lung Association

3 Types of Advocacy• on behalf of individuals (eg. immigrants,

patients, developmentally-disabled people)

• to change behaviour (eg. anti-smoking)

• on matters of public policy (eg. legislation, funding, program design, service delivery, taxation, etc.)– the topic of this presentation

A ContinuumEducation

Public Awareness/Public Education

Advocacy

Political Activity

Partisan Politics

Education• One of the 4 “heads” of charity:

advancement of education

• Must be: – “structured” (eg. with a curriculum)– formal “training of the mind”– reasonably objective & factual; not one-sided

or based on an appeal to emotion

• Can include workshops (only since 1999)

Public Awareness/Public Education

• Research is educational only if it is:– objective; not designed to support a

preconceived position– published or otherwise disseminated

Public Awareness/Public Education

• Not allowed as a “purpose” or “object”

• allowed as an activity, provided it is:– “incidental” (less than 10% of resources)– “ancillary” (relates to the mission/objects)

Partisan Politics

• Absolutely NOT allowed– no donations– no endorsements– no provision of volunteers, space, equipment

• Cause for de-registration

“Political Activity”• Courts (common law): Not allowed

– activities must be exclusively charitable

• Income Tax Act: – “substantially all” activity must be charitable

• CCRA:– “substantially all” means 90%– therefore 10% of resources can be used for

political/advocacy activities

“Political Activity”/Advocacy • Does not include:

– “conducting day-to-day business with government agencies”

– “providing governments or the public with specialized information at the charity’s disposal”

– “expressing the charity’s views to a governmental body on an issue affecting its ability to carry out its charitable mandate”

– source: CCRA’s Guide to the T3010

“Political Activity”/Advocacy

• Includes:– efforts to “influence public opinion on a social

issue” (indirect advocacy)

• Must be related to mission/objects

• 10% rule (spending limit) applies

• Direct advocacy (eg. meetings with government officials/politicians) are regarded as part of “charitable activity”

“Grassroots”/Indirect Advocacy

• Includes:– publications, public meetings and demos that

are produced primarily to sway public opinion– advertisements to the extent that they are

designed to gain support for the charity’s position on an issue

– mail campaigns (to members or the public) that include a request to contact government or the media

What’s Wrong?• 1601 concept of “charity”

– deal with symptoms, not causes

• out-of-line with modern democracy

• limits right to freedom of expression

• discriminatory– businesses have no limits, get a tax deduction– charities have tight limits, get de-registered

Who’s Left Out?• Environment groups• poverty/social change groups• civil liberties & human rights groups• health advocacy groups• groups promoting racial harmony,

peace/international understanding, national unity

• etc., etc., etc.

Part of Our Democratic Role

• “Pluralistic voluntary associations are a requirement for a healthy democracy … If it were not for the tens of thousands of interest groups in Canada, a lot more government activity would go unscrutinized”

• David Ross, former Executive Director

Canadian Council on Social Development

In the Public Interest• “Many of the major social changes in our

nation have come from voluntary sector lobbying and advocacy, including:– protection of women’s rights; child labour laws;

stricter laws against drunk driving and smoking; requirements for safe drinking water & clean air; civil rights; disabled persons’ rights; and many, many more”

– Independent Sector, USA