An August 15 joint statement from the Minister of National Revenue and the Minister of Finance announced that new legislation will be tabled in the fall to “allow charities to pursue their charitable purposes by engaging in non-partisan political activities and in the development of public policy. Charities will still be required to have exclusively charitable purposes, and restrictions against partisan political activities will remain.” The Ministers also announced that the Government of Canada will appeal the Ontario Superior Court ruling on Canada Without Poverty v the Attorney General of Canada of July 16, 2018 that said limits to the political activities of charities infringe on the constitutional right to free expression.
While Tides Canada is disappointed that the Government has decided to appeal the Ontario Superior Court ruling, we are buoyed by the announcement of new legislation that will remove the limits on charities to engage in mission-aligned non-partisan political activities. We look forward to reviewing the legislation when tabled.
