First, there's actually one correction about how Revenue Canada treats advocacy versus charitable organizations. If a charity exists, they're permitted to issue a tax receipt in their work. Their advocacy organization, their lobbying, if you like, is limited to 20% of their budget. Advocacy organizations do not have charitable status, but they then have no limitation placed on their advocacy of ideas. So there is a difference between charities that are actually doing work or educational work and are delivering services and an advocacy organization, which is what the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is. We promote ideas, we push ideas, and then we talk about them in the public square.
Every year, the Government of Canada spends $26 billion on grants and contributions to organizations large and small, big businesses, libraries, up and down, throughout society. Of that, $6 billion to $8 billion goes to fund activities of special interest groups, non-governmental organizations, and third party groups. I can't stand before you here today and say that all of that $6 billion to $8 billion is being used for political pressure, and it would be irresponsible just to cut it out, because in that there certainly is some good work being done.
Having said that, the Government of Canada—or any government, for that matter—should not be funding political opinion. Far too often, what we hear from some of these groups being cut is that they truly believe they are actually neutral, that they are independent, and that they come to their conclusion without any political viewpoint, which is completely false.