So many charities, so little idea what goes on
Estimated $22 million went to terrorism
Michael Campbell
Vancouver Sun
January 20, 2005
I appreciate that, in light of the recent tsunami relief effort, it's not politically correct to wonder why Canada has registered more than 80,000 charities that receive special status from Revenue Canada.
Only the biggest S.O.B. would want to question the fact that there are more registered charities in the country than there are people in Nanaimo, Prince George, or Vernon and Penticton combined. Maybe that's why that, despite the fact that it costs the Canadian taxpayer in the neighbourhood of $6 billion per year in lost tax revenues, no one in government wants to know what's going on inside these charities.
I have no doubt that government officials and elected politicians had no idea that some of the funds raised -- and still more money received in the form of taxpayer-funded grants -- went to foster terrorism and violence in other parts of the world. I'm no expert, but my bet is that funding terrorism is not a "Canadian value."
Despite the fact that anti-terror legislation enacted in 2001 outlawed charitable fundraising for terrorist groups, the Financial Transactions Reports Analysis Centre of Canada estimates that $22 million in charitable donations raised between April 1, 2002 and March 31, 2003 went to support terrorism.
Isn't it at least a bit disconcerting that no one in government knows how many groups receive taxpayer-funded grants, how much money is involved, or what is done with the money. The last politician to try to find answers to these questions was former Liberal MP John Bryden, who in a 1994 study estimated that there are 130,000 charitable and non-profit organizations in Canada which receive total funding of a mind-boggling $49 billion a year from various levels of government.
With 80,000 registered charities and thousands of other non-profit groups, we can hardly expect the government to know specifically what they're up to. I wonder how many Canadians, in making their generous donations to charities, know specifically where the money goes.
My bet is that donors to the B.C. Children's Hospital didn't realize that the charity took some of the money and contributed it to the federal Liberal party. I wonder how many donors to the International Fund for Animal Welfare know that they have forked over $76,000 to the federal Liberals during the past 12 years.
Revenue Canada does perform a number of audits, but their resources are not sufficient to monitor the actions and expenditures of the vast majority of the organizations benefiting from special tax status and taxpayer grants. Given the numerous instances in which our elected officials haven't been able to monitor the spending in programs directly under their control, it is at best wishful thinking to hope that they can monitor the billions sent out in grants to charities and non-profit societies.
My bet is that most Canadians are naive about the size of the charity industry, and some of the multi-billion dollar charitable corporations that it has spawned. In the last year alone another 1,625 charities were registered and granted special tax status in Canada.
Doesn't it protect legitimate charities to weed out those with less than lofty aims? Surely with so many involved isn't there costly administrative overlap involved? With so many tax dollars on the line shouldn't someone in government know what's going on?
Estimated $22 million went to terrorism
Michael Campbell
Vancouver Sun
January 20, 2005
I appreciate that, in light of the recent tsunami relief effort, it's not politically correct to wonder why Canada has registered more than 80,000 charities that receive special status from Revenue Canada.
Only the biggest S.O.B. would want to question the fact that there are more registered charities in the country than there are people in Nanaimo, Prince George, or Vernon and Penticton combined. Maybe that's why that, despite the fact that it costs the Canadian taxpayer in the neighbourhood of $6 billion per year in lost tax revenues, no one in government wants to know what's going on inside these charities.
I have no doubt that government officials and elected politicians had no idea that some of the funds raised -- and still more money received in the form of taxpayer-funded grants -- went to foster terrorism and violence in other parts of the world. I'm no expert, but my bet is that funding terrorism is not a "Canadian value."
Despite the fact that anti-terror legislation enacted in 2001 outlawed charitable fundraising for terrorist groups, the Financial Transactions Reports Analysis Centre of Canada estimates that $22 million in charitable donations raised between April 1, 2002 and March 31, 2003 went to support terrorism.
Isn't it at least a bit disconcerting that no one in government knows how many groups receive taxpayer-funded grants, how much money is involved, or what is done with the money. The last politician to try to find answers to these questions was former Liberal MP John Bryden, who in a 1994 study estimated that there are 130,000 charitable and non-profit organizations in Canada which receive total funding of a mind-boggling $49 billion a year from various levels of government.
With 80,000 registered charities and thousands of other non-profit groups, we can hardly expect the government to know specifically what they're up to. I wonder how many Canadians, in making their generous donations to charities, know specifically where the money goes.
My bet is that donors to the B.C. Children's Hospital didn't realize that the charity took some of the money and contributed it to the federal Liberal party. I wonder how many donors to the International Fund for Animal Welfare know that they have forked over $76,000 to the federal Liberals during the past 12 years.
Revenue Canada does perform a number of audits, but their resources are not sufficient to monitor the actions and expenditures of the vast majority of the organizations benefiting from special tax status and taxpayer grants. Given the numerous instances in which our elected officials haven't been able to monitor the spending in programs directly under their control, it is at best wishful thinking to hope that they can monitor the billions sent out in grants to charities and non-profit societies.
My bet is that most Canadians are naive about the size of the charity industry, and some of the multi-billion dollar charitable corporations that it has spawned. In the last year alone another 1,625 charities were registered and granted special tax status in Canada.
Doesn't it protect legitimate charities to weed out those with less than lofty aims? Surely with so many involved isn't there costly administrative overlap involved? With so many tax dollars on the line shouldn't someone in government know what's going on?
