I have been waiting for the right time to tell you about the
impending Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) audit. We like to keep focused on
the issues and providing you with information about threats to our
environment.
And I wanted to get our spring fundraising drive out of the way.
Then this morning, I read a totally misleading article by Rudy Griffiths in the Globe and Mail on the government’s audit campaign against environmental charities.
Our
democracy depends on freedom of speech and trust in law enforcement
institutions. We should all be concerned when government uses the latter
to silence the former.
I agree with Mr. Griffiths, a vital trust
is being violated, but the violating is being done by government.
Hysteria is a word used to stigmatize the victims and undermine their
complaints. The evidence does not support Mr. Griffiths' position that
CRA audits are not politically motivated or directed. They are.
Apparently,
he hasn't read the 2012 federal budget. Buried in the omnibus bill was
an $8 million allocation to the CRA to conduct political activity audits
of environmental charities. It was a clear and public direction of the
government to the CRA.
This followed direct public attacks on
environmental organizations by then Natural Resources Minister, Joe
Oliver, who issued an open letter in which he called environmentalists
radicals. Then Environment Minister, Peter Kent, accused environmental
organizations of “laundering money” -- a criminal offence – and never
provided evidence. These are just two examples that establish the
governing party’s animosity toward environmental charities. There are
many more.
The audit campaign began in earnest in 2013. Numerous
environmental and development organizations have been audited. The
number is way out of proportion to any normal approach taken by the CRA
in the past. There have never been this many audits of environmental
organizations happening simultaneously until now. I know of at least 12
and read reports of more than 20. Most organizations are hesitant to go public because they are waiting months to learn the outcome.
Information
gathered by The Canadian Press and published in the Globe and Mail
shows that at least half of the 10 political-activity audits slated for
2012-2013 were conducted on charities in one narrow category —
environmental groups, all of whom oppose government energy policies.
Clearly,
the governing party is targeting groups it sees as its political
enemies and is using the taxpayer’s money and a government enforcement
agency to do it. It is an intimidation campaign designed to harass and
distract organizations from doing the charitable work their donors want
them to do.
Sierra Club Canada Foundation was last audited in
January 2011. The auditors are returning on May 11th. There are about
100,000 charities in Canada. Have there been 99,999 audits of charities
in the last four years?
This campaign is placing tremendous
burdens on charities and diverting funds intended to support charitable
work. The audits themselves are unprecedented in terms of the demands
the CRA is placing on organizations. They are demanding to see thousands
of pages of documents and using thousands of person hours of staff
time. The governing party knows from its own experience dealing with
Elections Canada just how time consuming and distracting this can be.
More
importantly, it is an abuse of power. It violates the trust we put in
government. It violates the Canadian spirit of fair play. It is
certainly not hysteria to speak out against it.
To keep speaking out we need your help.
Please contribute to our Spring Speak Out campaign today.
Sincerely,
John Bennett
National Programs Director
Sierra Club Canada Foundation
613 291 6888