While the Vancouver South MP's 17-minute speech made national headlines for its unorthodox statements mixing the Harper government, Jesus, CSIS and Air India, Canadian charity and philanthropy leaders noted the Tories' double standard:
“Essentially the Conservative government has gone after the top charities in the country who express any opinion on an issue they don’t like," charged Harvey McKinnon, an advisor for national and international charities and foundations. “They’re using the CRA to harass organizations where there is anything that would be perceived as different from Conservative Party policies."
But when it comes to advancing the Harper government policies, he explained, "They’re willing to put forward their political positions in front of charitable organizations and encourage them to promote these... Conservative Party positions. They are hypocrites.”
Meanwhile Debra Bowman, minister of Vancouver’s Ryerson United Church, took exception to Young's "flouting" of the CRA guidelines for registered charities in an interview with the Vancouver Sun.
“I really hope someone will track whether (such churches) come under the same financial scrutiny that many justice-environment-church groups have been experiencing,” she said.
Partisan political activity banned for charities
As a registered charity, the Harvest City Church is forbidden to engage in partisan political activity, which the CRA defines as “one that involves direct or indirect support of, or opposition to, any political party or candidate for public office.”
Where waters become murky, explained Canadian charity law expert Mark Blumberg, is in determining whether Young's comments were partisan, and whether the church participated in partisan political activity by hosting her.
“This is a little bit more of a quirky case as opposed to some of the ones that are more clear-cut,” said the lawyer, who is also an executive of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Charities and Not-for-Profit Law Section.
“Basically, to what extent is it legitimate comment by a member of parliament... versus something that is inappropriate? One would have to look at the full context and see what the story is.”
An example of clear-cut partisan political activity would be if the church’s pastor told the congregation to vote for a certain candidate, he added, but it’s not necessarily a problem that an MP made an appearance and expressed a political opinion.
“I wouldn’t be too focused on an individual speech by a particular person,” said Blumberg, “but this case (the charity) went further… they put it up on the web.”
The church did indeed post Young’s entire lecture on its YouTube channel under the title, Influencing the Nation.
Given that the channel has no other speeches from political candidates in its recent history, Blumberg said it could be seen as partisan support.
“That’s the danger,” he explained. “You can imagine that someone may be left with the impression that this particular institution has a close relationship with a particular political party, and supports that political party.”
Whether or not she crossed a line, Blumberg said the event is "an embarrassment" for Harper's Conservatives, who recently committed $13.4 million to audit the political activities of charities.
With the investigations of high-profile progressive and environmental groups including United Church of Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation, and Canada Without Poverty, critics have long suggested that the CRA charity audits are not random, but politically motivated.
In the midst of this crackdown Blumberg noted that in this instance, a member of the caucus has basically gone and "used the pulpit" to spread certain messages that may be partisan in nature.
In a statement released July 15, Harvest City Church said that it did not endorse Young’s comments or the use of its facility as a political platform, and that the MP’s comments were “her own.”
It would not provide further comment to the Vancouver Observer on whether it knew in advance that Young would be commenting on political matters, or whether she had spoken there before.
The question remains, then: Did Young's comments at the church cross a line?
Young 'did not behave in an ethical manner'
Though she did not comment on the church’s charitable status, Liberal MP for Vancouver Centre Hedy Fry said politicians have a responsibility to “be aware” of conflict of interest wherever they go.
“I would not have done it, I don’t think it was an appropriate thing to do,” she told the Vancouver Observer. “I think (Young) going to a church if it were a church she worshiped at is one thing, but to make a political speech and... make the kind of statements she did — I think she crossed a line and did not behave in an ethical manner.”
That isn’t to say MPs don’t belong at public events, including registered charities and religious facilities; last year Fry read a poem on Remembrance Day at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, and on Christmas Eve, a Bible passage at Christ Church Cathedral Vancouver.
Government representatives are always being asked to appear at public events, but Fry said she's always careful to stick to the script.
"They ask the mayor, they ask the premier — it’s part of celebration," she explained. “I am a Christian, and I celebrate, but I don’t ever feel I should be making political statements there.”
Young was not available to comment on this story.
As of publication, three years of CRA charity audits have failed to uncover widespread violations of political activity rules.
Original Article
Source: vancouverobserver.com/
Author: Elizabeth McSheffrey
No comments:
Post a Comment