Charities

Charities, Discrimination and Tax Credits
The Canadian Equal Parenting Council has made a submission to the federal government suggesting that charities should lose their special tax status if they discriminate in violation of principles in the Charter and human rights.
How do charities discriminate?
Charities can discriminate by refusing to serve people based on their sex, race, religion or other defined characteristics. Similarly, they can refuse to hire people, or can engage in campaigns which encourage discrimination against target groups. Often, these campaigns are done in association with linked non-profits which share the same discriminatory ideology using funds raised by the charities with tax credits or with funds from foundations or government departments which share the same discriminatory ideology. Our submission is concerned mostly with discrimination by sex and gender, but we suggest that the same standard should apply to discrimination and hate based on other characteristics. Society and government have an interest in tax incentives not being used to divide and exploit groups, or used to promote discrimination and hatred.

What are the incentives for discriminatory charities?
First, a charity can raise money from donors who get a tax receipt for personal income tax.
There are two charities in Ontario providing family law services to women-only, using tax dollars. There are no charities in Ontario, or elsewhere in Canada that we can find which provide comparable (or any) such family law services to men.
Legal aid services discriminate against fathers in family law cases by creating barriers for men, which women do not face. One charity-linked organization in Vancouver, West Coast Women’s Legal services, received $300,000 from the federal government to provide services which exclude men.
Another discriminatory practice is rebating sales taxes to charities and non-profits if they are getting 60% of their funding from governments, they get GST/HST rebated. As the only organizations we can find which are funded by federal or provincial in the area of family law, domestic violence or parenting support are women only, this incentive effectively provides a discriminatory tax on organizations which serve men, or which serve both men and women in joint parenting situations. The tax system should not be used to promote gender apartheid in Canada.

What is the connection with equal parenting?

Most separating parents lose their children because they run out of money for legal services in family courts, not because they are unfit. If these parents are up against legal services provided by a discriminatory charity or non-profit, they are doubly disadvantaged. The target parent will have to pay for legal services in after tax dollars and must pay sales taxes on legal services. The target parent is usually unfamiliar with family court systems. Charities and others providing legal services have greater financial resources, access to experienced legal professionals and often get sales taxes rebated. Such charities, which for example discriminate by providing services to women only, have strong connections with the organizations which have trained the judges, and judges often have been involved with organizations ideologically linked to such charities before being appointed. Thus, the target parent, almost always the father, faces a hidden judicial bias, an overt discriminatory financial disadvantage and tactical disadvantage because of the links that such organizations have with allied domestic violence and other services. The discrimination is not just against fathers, but in favour of sole custody which is often how such charities measure “success” Children who lose a fit parent are profoundly disadvantaged and cost society greatly in social and financial terms. Equal parenting means both parents should have the same status, advantages, services and access to legal protections for their relationship with their children. Tax dollars should not be used, directly or indirectly to unnecessarily drive children out of the lives of their parents.

Will this mean closing women’s shelters?
No. There is an argument for shelters where women can feel safe. Domestic violence charities should need to provide services to both abused women and to abused men to keep their tax status. Charities would not be allowed to campaign against services for men (or any other target group). They would not be allowed to stereotype target groups as violent, or target them for discrimination, and still keep their special tax status. Targeting any group for discrimination, exclusion and bias is a form of violence, and thus is not in society’s interest and should not receive tax incentives.

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