Finance committee  Yes. I would argue that there are very few charities that are actually engaging in political advocacy and that it's really not a problem. In fact, the big problem is that not enough are actually taking the responsibility seriously. CRA funds would be far better spent going after

Finance committee  For every dollar spent, increasing enforcement and going after tax evasion would generate at least $5 or $10 of increased revenue. That would be a far better way to spend the money.

Finance committee  I would recommend that all of the clauses of Bill C-38 that seek to curb political engagement of charitable organizations be removed. Thank you.

Finance committee  I'm the coordinator of Canadians for Tax Fairness. I thank you for the opportunity to share our concerns regarding this omnibus budget bill. Since I have very limited time, I'll address just two points: one, the need for a revenue-side solution to the deficit problem; and two, t

Finance committee  Can I just say one thing? It is important for governments to look at other ways to support charities than just through tax incentives. Direct funding for key programs is an important one, and often a more cost-effective one because when you're giving tax credits, that is a cost t

Finance committee  No, I don't think that's a big problem. The biggest problem is that so few charities are doing advocacy work. That is the problem I think needs to be addressed.

Finance committee  It's important to realize that according to a Statistics Canada study done a few years ago, only 46% of donors stated that they or someone else claimed a tax credit for their charitable donations. So it would seem that less than half of those who are actually giving charitable do

Finance committee  The figures I have show that people with incomes lower than $20,000 gave about 1.6% of their income in charitable giving, whereas people with incomes over $100,000, gave 0.5%. If you look at giving in terms of the percentage of income, low-income people actually give a lot more.

Finance committee  Corporate donations are actually not as large as donations from individuals. They get a lot of publicity, because usually when they give they ask that their name be prominently displayed.

Finance committee  So there is a perception that they give more than they really do. It is not as big an amount as one might think. I don't know the exact figures on it, but I don't think they can be.... One of the problems we have is that corporations and rich individuals tend to give to large o

Finance committee  So far more than 3,000 Canadians have signed on in support of our organization, and we're associated with other groups, provincial groups, that have also been campaigning on tax fairness issues since before we were established. Generally, they are Canadians who are concerned abou

Finance committee  We have donors and we have people who have just signed up in support—both.

Finance committee  We are funded by donations from individuals. We are not a registered charity, precisely because a lot of our work is advocacy and we wouldn't qualify as a charity. But we also receive funding from development NGOs and labour unions.

Finance committee  I don't think that what's being proposed is for corporations, but for individuals. In the case of corporations, I'm not sure about the rules that apply to them.

Finance committee  I don't have an answer to that, but would just point out that even though it's sometimes assumed that charities can deliver programs more efficiently than government, that's not always the case, precisely because of the costs of fundraising. That is a big cost. It depends, and it